Chapter 8: Hopes and Fears
Morning near Hollywood
The convoy had been traveling in a north easterly direction for about two hours, travel had been slow due to the poor condition of the roads and multiple obstacles splayed across various sections of roadway. Toppled buildings, rusted remnants of vehicles, skeletal remains of people and endos littered the streets and alleyways.
Nature had begun its slow and steady pace back to reclaiming what was taken and domesticated by humans as trees , shrubs, grasses and other plants took their place in any spot they could get a foothold. This made it doubly hard for the vehicles to move forward at a steady pace as some streets had become totally blocked with vegetation and crumpled remains of humanity.
After about the fourth time doubling back to navigate around an impasse, the convoy had finally reached Hollywood. It would only be a matter of a few minutes before they would get to the spot Derek had pointed out to John on the map.
"Do you recognize the area Derek?" John called back to the younger man in the back seat.
"Yeah, up this road about a kilometer or so." Derek leaned forward and pointed straight ahead.
John nodded and kept his eyes forward, concentrating on avoiding the miscellaneous objects on the road.
Blair, being designated shotgun, kept close watch at the surrounding terrain. Gangs were usually more active at night, but daytime raids could happen and she wasn't about to see the convoy get caught up in a surprise firefight.
Derek leaned back and glanced over at Melissa and Kyle. They were both sleeping, Kyle resting his head on his backpack up against the door and Melissa with her head propped up on Kyle's shoulder, a thin line of drool from her mouth slowly making its way towards his jacket.
Every time we ever go into a vehicle, Kyle has to fall asleep, just like when we were kids.
Derek smiled and turned to look out the other side, he let out a sigh while thinking of road trips from what seemed like a lifetime ago. His thoughts drifted to being happy about finding Kyle again, safe and sound, but he still was desperately worried about Allison. She was still so young and vulnerable, it would tear him apart to find out she had been hurt or worse.
Meeting up with John Connor was like a miracle. Here was a man Derek hardly knew, pulling out all the stops to help him find a group of people he had never met. Men like Connor just weren't around any more, attitudes were more like fend for yourself instead of help thy neighbor.
Finally, the Hummer arrived near the entrance to the subway tunnel. It wasn't hard to spot, since the bodies of the murdered men were left where they had fallen, near to the opening to the subway. There was evidence the bodies had been fed on by wild animals, clothing was torn and limbs were missing from the carcasses and a couple of stray dogs were rummaging around the dead.
"Looks like we're here guys." John called out as he brought the truck to a halt. He then picked up the mic and instructed the convoy to stop and keep a close watch on the surroundings.
Blair double checked her shotgun, making sure it was loaded and ready to fire.
Derek and the other two did the same with their weapons and ammunition.
As soon as they got out of the vehicle, the smell hit them.
Rotting flesh, flies and the late morning sun all helped provide for a gut churning putrid scene. Blair and John quickly pulled out cloths to cover their noses and mouth, the others weren't as quick to cover up the smell.
Melissa was the first to double over and vomit, followed by Kyle and then Derek. No one ever got used to the smell of death and disease, especially this fresh.
Blair pulled out her handgun and fired a shot into the air, scattering the dogs that were digging around the bodies.
"They'll be back." John solemnly spoke.
"Yeah, but it just sickens me to see that. Do we have time to do anything for them John?"Blair had a concerned, but sad look on her face.
"Like what, Bury them?" John asked.
"I dunno"
John stood for a moment and thought, then he spoke up. "Get a couple of people, some fuel and a flare. We'll burn the bodies, no time to bury them."
"Okay John, I understand." Blair bit her lip and looked over at the mound of bodies.
"Williams, we need to concentrate on saving the living while we still have a chance to get to them. Stopping to bury these men will slow us down too much, time is too important. Do you understand?"
"Yes John, I do. It's just so sad to see, so cruel, inhuman, it sickens me John." Blair's voice was starting to waver a bit, her emotions welling up inside, bringing tears to her eyes. She quickly brought up her hand to wipe away the moisture, turned and slowly walked towards the other vehicles.
John turned to Derek and the other two, motioning for them to follow him. The small group of four quickly and quietly made their way to the main entrance, the door now missing blown off from the initial attack. The air was a bit more breathable here and John stopped to inspect the damage.
"They had explosives, military grade. They knew what they were doing, we'll have to be careful when we catch up to them. Judging by the casings left behind, they also have some pretty high end weapons, not just the standard hunting rifles and hand guns." John had leaned down to pick up some shell casings to get a closer look, his face becoming grim as he took in the full picture of what had gone on.
"Yeah they had AK's for sure, I could tell by the sound they made, same with the M16's." Derek replied
Kyle and Melissa stood back, shocked at how much carnage had taken place here.
"Sometimes I wonder if people are worse then the machines." Kyle mused.
"At least the machines take all the live ones away to work camps, no favoritism towards any one group. They all end up dying on equal terms." Melissa spoke up nonchalantly.
Derek peered into the dark entrance, something had moved, or so he thought.
"John?"
"Yeah?"
"Do we have any flashlights that work, or something so I can go take a look inside? I think I saw something."
"Hmmm….should be something in the back of the Hummer. One of those wind up lights, or a solar light." John casually pointed towards the truck. He was still deep in thought and busy trying to piece together where the raiders might have gone.
Derek sprinted over to the truck, he glanced over at the pile of bodies as he passed. Blair and some others were busy tossing some scrap pieces of wood and anything else they could use to help burn the remains.
The look on Blair's face as well as the others was somber, but also determined. Seeing how these men were shot and left to rot, solidified the resolve in the resistance fighters' hearts to find the survivors and seek out justice for the dead.
Derek found a solar lamp tucked away in a storage bin at the back of the truck. He grabbed it and jogged back to the tunnel entrance.
"John, I'm going inside to see if there is anything else that can help us figure out where they went."
"Good idea Reese, I'll come with you." John turned to Kyle and Melissa. "You guys coming or staying here?"
"We'll follow you guys sir." Melissa answered and motioned to Kyle to follow her.
All four of them made their way into the dark tunnel, Derek in the lead, followed by John, Melissa and finally Kyle taking up the rear. There was an eerie silence to the passage way and a slightly less robust odor of death, the bodies of the guards were decomposing slower inside than if they had been killed outdoors. There were no signs of them having been disturbed by animals looking for an easy meal, but then the buffet of bodies outside meant no animal needed to venture into the tunnels.
Derek froze in his step, John also halted and held up his fist, indicating the other two should freeze.
"What is it Reese?"
"I thought I saw some movement over there." Derek whispered and pointed towards a makeshift barricade.
John squinted, his eyes still not used to the inky darkness of the passageway. The lantern did a poor job of illuminating, but it did an excellent job of creating ghostly shadows to dance around and play little mind tricks on the group.
Derek focused on a body by the barricade, it was an older man, his body leaned back against some debris. Any other time it would look like the man was taking a nap, but his head hung low in an almost unnatural way. He had some cloth tied around his left thigh and just below it was evidence of a bullet wound, his pants soaked with blood.
Poor bastard, looks like he bled out from a shot to his leg. If only we had come back sooner, maybe we could have helped him. Derek thought to himself.
Then the body twitched, it was as if someone had jolted the man with electricity.
Derek jumped too, his heart leaping into his throat.
"What the hell? Did you see that Connor?"
John didn't bother to answer, he had seen what the body did and ran towards it. He knelt down and checked for a pulse on the man's neck.
Looking up, John spoke with urgency. "He's alive."
...
Morning at Club V
Allison opened her eyes first. She was still curled up beside Amanda with her arm draped over her friend's midsection. Amanda was still sleeping peacefully, her face showing no signs of worry.
Allison had not slept well, she had kept waking up throughout the night from bad dreams, the gangsters firing off their weapons, as well as playing loud music half the night.
Arrogant bastards, they might as well have lit up a giant bonfire to let Skynet know exactly where they are. Allison let out a sigh. Maybe if Skynet had come, Mandy and me could have found a way to escape.
Allison sat up, stretched and looked around at the others. Most were still sleeping, but a few had gotten up to look and see if their boys had come back, none had. It made Allison shiver with fear and anger, to think of what had happened to the boys and tonight it would be Amanda and her turn to go with the Boss and his goons.
Amanda opened her eyes, blinked sleepily and sat up. "What's up Allie?"
"Nuthin' Mandy, just not sleepy anymore." Allison drew her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on the top of her knees.
"Allie, I know when somethings botherin' you, so what's going on in that head of yours?" Amanda gently placed her hand on Allison's shoulder and gave her a friendly nudge.
"I'm trying to think of a plan, some way to get out of here safely." Allison replied.
"So anything yet?"
"No" Allison answered meekly.
"Well I say we make a run for it, before they split us up and we have no chance to get away." Amanda said in a matter of fact kind of way.
"That won't work Mandy, they'll shoot us before we get even ten steps away. What we need to do is to find a way to either get one of their guns when they take us to their room, or a weapon of some sort to either stick them with or hit them over the head with. Then if one of us can do that, that person can go and help the other. The problem is I really don't know how we are gonna do it, we've never been into their part of the camp." Allison let out a sigh of defeat.
Amanda sat and thought for a second, then spoke. "I'm thinking we will have to wait and see, before we can do anything Allie."
"Yeah, unless we see a good time to make a break for it, we will wait until they take us over to their camp."
"Allie?"
"Yeah?"
"Did any of the boys come back?"
Allison looked over to Amanda and shook her head. " No Mandy, no one came back this morning."
….
John grabbed his canteen, opened the lid and pressed it to the man's lips, he took a couple of hungry gulps and swallowed. John turned to Kyle and told him to run for a medic and some supplies, Kyle obliged and took off down the tunnel towards the opening. Melissa and Derek knelt beside John, anxious to hear of any information the man may have had.
"Are you hit anywhere else, besides the leg?" John asked.
"I….I…ddon't know." the man groaned.
"What's your name?"
"Martin…Martin Bedell." The man winced as he spoke his name, he was in obvious pain and suffering from having no food or water for a couple of days, not to mention he had lost a massive amount of blood.
John looked back to Derek to see if he might recognize the man, but was met with a blank stare. John turned back to Martin and grabbed his shoulders and looked closer into the man's eyes.
"Martin, is anyone else alive with you?" John asked earnestly.
"No…I…I don't think so."
John let out a sigh and sat back on the ground, his brow furrowed as he slipped into a moment of deep thought. A moment later he looked back from to where Kyle had gone, John could hear voices echoing from the tunnel entrance. As they got closer, the voices became louder and easier to understand. Kyle had come back with two men from the convoy, both were field medics that had been trained by Kate.
"Grajowski, Porter, come here quick." John called out to the two men.
The men quickly ran up, dropped their medical supplies and started to assess Martin's situation.
Porter spoke to John first. "Connor sir, he has a leg wound and a head wound from gun shots, he has lost a lot of blood. We need to get him cleaned up and out of here, it's just too dark in here to see how bad he really is."
"Can we move him now?" John asked with more than a hint of concern in his voice.
"There's no choice sir, we can't do anything for him here." Grajowski replied.
"Okay, Derek, Porter, Grajowski and I will carry Martin out. Webster you hold up the lantern and help guide us out. Kyle you have the other lantern, you keep to the rear and light up the tunnel behind us s owe don't end up tripping and dropping Martin."
Melissa and Kyle both nodded in understanding, the medics moved Martin gently onto a field stretcher, once on John and Derek each took a corner , along with the medics and lifted Martin up to carry him out.
Once they had reached the outside, the group gingerly carried Martin over to one of the trucks and placed him inside. The medics swarmed around Martin and began to administer first aid to him. John and the rest stood back while Porter and Grajowski tried their best to stabilize Martin.
"Will he pull through?" John had a concerned look on his face as he asked the medics.
"It's touch and go sir. He has lost a lot of blood and is severely dehydrated. I am not sure if he will survive the day." Porter responded.
John thought for a moment, running his hand through his scalp. "Porter, can I talk to him?"
"He's been drifting in and out of consciousness, I'm not sure if he will be able to last more than a few questions sir." Porter looked John straight in the eye, just to re-enforce his point.
"It's okay Porter, I only have a couple of questions for him."
John leaned into the truck and looked into Martin's eyes. "Martin, I need to know if you heard where the raiders were taking the women and children. Do you remember anything at all that can help us?"
Martin looked at John, his eyes looking tired and his gaze unfocused. He closed his eyes for a moment, pausing to think about John's question.
"Sir…I….I did hear something about going north east or north west…I'm not sure." Martin was hesitant and he shook his head, as if to shake out any cobwebs lingering inside.
"Don't worry Martin, you are doing a fine job. Was there anything else?"
"I think they mentioned stopping for a bit in San Fernando for a supply pick up. I could be wrong, my head is just feeling too foggy Sir." Martin closed his eyes and winced in pain as the medics did their best to treat his wounds.
"That's okay Martin, you did really good. If you can think of anything else, let the medics know and they will get the info to me." John smiled and placed his hand on Martin's shoulder. " In the mean time, you try to get some rest. This truck is going to take you back to Hammerhead bunker, they can take better care of you there."
Porter and Grajowski both looked at John.
"You two decide who comes with us and who goes with Martin. I can't spare both of you to stay with him, we need all the help we can get."
Porter and Grajowski both nodded at John. They turned around and continued to help get Martin as stable for transport as possible.
John stood back and turned to Derek. "You heard what he said?"
"Yes"
"You hear of anything up that way?"
Derek looked down as he thought, seemingly distressed over what he had heard.
A moment later he spoke up. "Connor, I had heard of a camp up north of LA, on the way towards Palmdale. Most of the talk was about some group of former prison inmates that had started to raid weaker camps for food, weapons, and slaves. Their camp could be in San Fernando, or just north of it."
John sighed and shook his head. "Well then, that's a start. We need to get going to San Fernando first, then see what we come up with there. Lets get back to the trucks and get going then." John gave Derek a re-assuring grin and gestured for him to go to the truck, Melissa and Kyle after taking in all that was said, quickly followed Derek to the Hummer.
Porter and Grajowski has finished doing what they could for Martin, they had been speaking in low tones to each other while tending to Martin, it seemed they had come to an agreement as to who was staying with the injured man and who was going with John.
Porter spoke up. "Sir?"
"Yes Porter."
"We've talked it over and decided that I will go with you and Grajowski here will stay with the patient."
"Okay, then it's settled. We move out in 2 minutes Porter, so get your gear and climb into one of the other trucks." John clapped his hand on the young mans shoulder, garnering a broad smile from him.
"Yes sir." Porter spun around and headed to the front of the truck to gather his gear.
John leaned in once more to see how Martin was doing. The man was now sleeping peacefully, his head, arm and leg now bandaged up, an intravenous drip set up to help re-hydrate him. Grajowski was just finishing injecting some pain killers and anti bacterial meds into the injured man.
John leaned in close to Martin's ear and whispered. "Thank you for helping us Martin."
He leaned back, nodded to Grajowski and headed back to his Hummer.
It was getting very close to noon, if it wasn't already. Time was getting short if they wanted to keep on the trail, before it got cold. John knew he had to hurry, if he had any chance of getting to the raider camp before nightfall.
As he approached the Hummer, John could see Blair and her helpers had managed to gather the bodies into one pile. Wood scraps and other flammable items were placed in and around the makeshift funeral pyre, gasoline had been poured around to help accelerate the burn.
Blair and a couple of the men had gathered near to the pile, their heads bowed in a short prayer. John came up and stood beside Blair, she looked over to him, her face filled with dread and grief. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"Blair, we should go now." he whispered into her ear.
"I know Connor….I …I just wanted to say a few words for them." Blair whispered back, he voice filled with torment.
John gave her a gentle squeeze of support. "Go ahead Blair."
Derek, Melissa, and Kyle walked up behind John and Blair. They came to pay their respects to the dead, it was the least they could do, even if it wasn't a proper burial. Times like this were rare, but needed, for they helped to keep people human and in touch with humanity.
Blair cleared her throat and spoke. "We are gathered her to say goodbye. These men died because others saw fit to kill them, just so they could not be a threat. These men did not die in vain, for we will avenge their deaths, find the bastards that did this and make sure justice is served." She paused to wipe a tear from her cheek and finished by saying Amen, then she looked over to John. "Let's get going Connor."
John nodded to one of the men holding a flare, signaling for it to be lit and tossed into the funeral pyre. Flames slowly grew as the wood and papers helped to fuel its growth. John and the others watched for a moment, then turned to leave. There was no time to stay, the women and children needed their help, grieving could be done at another time.
The group slowly made its way to the trucks, people split away to go to their designated vehicles. John's group climbed in to theirs, no one saying a word. They would remain silent for the next hour, each of them dealing with what had happened in their own way.
Some, like Derek and John, kept everything inside.
Blair quietly stared out the window, not bothering to wipe away the stray tear that fell down her cheek. She hated what was happening, what had happened and what they might find after they reached the raider camp.
John barked his orders over the mic and the convoy lurched forward and continued on its way towards the next stop, San Fernando.
Thick clouds of black sooty smoke wafted its way towards the sky as the funeral pyre's flames swept themselves up into a frenzy. The convoy of trucks slowly trundled by the grisly scene as they made their way north. Everyone slowed down to gaze upon the dead, no one that slipped by was unaffected. Some felt angry by what had happened, others shocked, all of them were that more committed to helping find the sadistic animals that had carried out this atrocity.
…
It was early afternoon at Club V, Allison and Amanda had spent the morning checking out their surroundings and watching the guards for any signs of weakness.
It was pretty clear to Allison that the guards saw no threat in the prisoners they were guarding, to the captors it was just women and children, hardly anything to worry about.
Allison was glad the guards seemed passive, as this could help aid her and Amanda in their escape.
After walking around the whole inside of their prison, it had become clear to the girls that they would not be able to escape through a crack in the wall or any place else. The gangsters had done a good job at sealing up the jailhouse.
Allison climbed up onto an old counter top and sat down, letting her feet dangle off the end, Amanda plunked herself down beside Allison, but sat cross legged on top of the counter and started to run her finger in the dust.
"So what do we do now Allie?"
"Not much we can do, they have this place all locked up. It would take days to dig our way out or pull down a barricade." Allison let out a sigh and stared down at her feet.
Amanda was drawing a happy face in the dust with her finger, then she looked over to Allison. "Yeah, yer right Allie, we'll need to wait until they take us outa here."
"I don't know about you Mandy, but I'm gettin hungry. When is it time for food?" Allison patted her stomach as it grumbled away.
"Hmmm….should be soon. Looks like the others are getting ready to go to the gate." Amanda pointed over to a small group now gathering near the entrance to the jail.
It was not more than a moment later, when they heard the loud rumble of the truck engine. Sure enough, the truck ambled its way towards the jail, with its trailer in tow.
The same two women were on the back of the truck, hitching a ride to the gate. The truck pulled up, Dana and Kim hopped off the tailgate and headed for the trailer to unload the food.
Once inside, the women and children lined up for their share of the meal, Allison and Amanda waited until most everyone was served, then they too lined up.
"Hi Kim, Dana." Allison gave them a warm smile as she got up and peered into the drum filled with some sort of soupy broth. "What's for dinner?"
Kim and Dana both smiled back at Allison, Dana spoke up first. "Seems we got the same as yesterday, but a lot more runnier. Those assholes told us to thin it out a bit so it could last longer." Dana tilted her head towards the men in the truck.
"Ummm…that's okay girls, I don't wanna get all fat and ugly." Amanda quipped as she patted her belly.
Kim chuckled as she handed Amanda her bowl and spoon. "Girl, you get any thinner and yer just gonna blow away in the wind."
"Maybe that would be good for me, I could slip through a crack in the wall." Amanda winked.
"Ya well if you did get out, you'd hafta fight off the packs of wild dogs, crazy people and the cold at night." Kim had gotten serious, it was as if she had tried to escape herself and had found out first hand, what was out there.
"What do you mean by crazy people?" Allison looked puzzled. She had never hear of these crazy people before.
"Their not right in the head, they live like animals and sometimes eat people. They ain't friendly at all and would just as quickly kill you, just so they could have a meal." Kim had looked up, she was not lying to Allison, she was warning her. "Some hunt alone, some in packs like dogs, all of them are dangerous."
"Even these gangsters holding us here are scared shitless of them others." Dana quickly added while she filled the girls bowls.
"Yeah, but if we did manage to escape with weapons and a vehicle, we would be fine." Allison had looked Kim straight in the eye and Kim knew the two girls were planning something.
Kim lowered her voice so others would not hear. "Look, I know you two wanna get outa here, but I just wanna let ya know it aint gonna be easy and it aint gonna get better if ya did get out."
"We'll take our chances out there and if you guys wanna come along, you're welcome to." Allison was sincere in her offer to Dana and Kim, she looked from one to the other for any signs they would join, but the two women just looked down.
"No Allison, I can't take the chance, they would shoot me and feed me to the dogs, or worse they might just whip me again and do other stuff." Dana had looked up to Allison, she had a pain written all over her face. Allison knew right then that Dana had given up on any chance of leaving.
"You guys just can't give up like that, you need to try. This is no life here, but there is better life out there." Allison kept her voice low, but was visibly upset with the two girls just giving up.
"Better life? Where?" Kim snorted.
"John Connor and the resistance." Allison retorted.
"He doesn't exist, I heard he died when they blew up Skynet central, two years ago."
"No, he's alive, I've heard some of his speeches on the radio."
"Nahhh…. he is nuthin but a ghost now. His voice kept alive by the resistance to scare off Skynet." Kim waved her hand as if dismissing the subject.
"So come with Mandy and me and we'll prove he's real." Allison believed she almost had them hooked into helping her and Amanda.
Kim sighed, shook her head and smirked. "Ya know, for two little scrawny girls, you got more balls than all of the men in this camp. Look, if we can help, we will. Okay?"
Allison and Amanda looked at each other, their faces turning red when they caught on to what Kim was saying.
"Balls?" They blurted out in stereo and then burst out laughing.
Kim shook her head and muttered something a bout teenage girls under her breath.
"Good, that's all Mandy and I are askin' for." Allison's smile was genuine.
"Ya I'll see if I can help too, I'm not sure what I can do." Dana had come to realize that Allison and Amanda were two very determined girls and if anyone could pull off an escape, it would be them.
"When the time comes, you'll know Dana. Thanks for offering to help us." Allison had leaned in and whispered into Dana's ear.
One of the guards had seen the girls talking and heard them laughing. "HEY…. you girls get your food and go, there's no chit chat allowed." He yelled.
"Says who?" Amanda yelled back.
"Just shut the fuck up, you girls get goin'." The guard was at a loss for words, quickly losing his temper as he yelled back and waved his arm in a weak attempt to dismiss the group of girls.
Becky strolled up close to where the guard was standing, anger and frustration from the gangsters taking her boy from her making her brave enough to speak out. "Why don't you come in here and make us?"
"What?" The guard was surprised.
"You heard me. What's the matter, you scared of a few girls?" Becky spat out.
Kim leaned in to Allison and whispered. "They took Becky's boy last night."
Allison nodded her head in understanding, but kept her eyes locked on what was unfolding between Becky and the guard.
"Get back to your corner bitch." Desperately trying to save face, the guard reverted to name calling.
"Why don't you come in and make me?" Becky had stood closer and crossed her arms in defiance.
"You're a crazy bitch, you'll get yours soon enough."
The guard had lost his cool and Becky knew it, so she pressed him further.
"What, that's all you can say? You too stupid to think for yourself, Ya need the Boss to hold yer hand?"
"Get the fuck away before I shoot you bitch." The guard had turned around and aimed his gun right at Becky.
It was at that moment when his buddy stepped in and placed his hand on the guard's shoulder." Franky, calm down, she's just gone nuts. Leave her alone,"
Franky lowered his gun and looked over at his buddy. "Easy for you to say, she ain't buggin' you."
Look, just go take a break. Go have a drink and send some one else back here, I'll keep watch."
Franky's shoulders dropped as he silently agreed and turned to leave.
"Yeah, that's right, go run away…..Pussy." Becky put in her last word.
Franky quickly turned back, his face red with anger. He pulled his rifle to his shoulder and in a split second had squeezed the trigger, firing off a round.
The bullet met its mark with pinpoint accuracy.
Becky had no chance as the speeding missile had found its mark right between her eyes.
The bullet exploded out the back of her head, spreading blood, bone and brain matter everywhere. Becky's body went limp and crumpled to the floor, her face frozen in shock.
Allison gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth, she had seen death before, but never in this way, never so callous and cold blooded. Unthinking she dropped her bowl of food, she had lost her appetite, quietly she stared at the body.
Amanda had screamed when the shot rang out, she couldn't bear to look at Becky and had quickly turned to face the other way, fear and helplessness getting the best of her.
Other women had gathered to see what had happened, but none dared to get close to Becky's body. Franky still had his rifle up to his shoulder, ready to fire another round at any second.
"You stupid, fucking idiot." Franky's buddy grabbed the rifle and pulled it away from Franky, then he took the butt end of the rifle and cracked Franky in the jaw, knocking him down to the ground. "I told you to go take a break, not shoot her. Fuck, now the boss is gonna be pissed."
As if by cue, a vehicle emerged from the raider camp, the Boss and a couple of his minions sped towards the scene of bloodshed in an old Jeep. The truck pulled up and skidded to a halt, right near where the two guards stood. The dust and dirt kicked up and slowly drifted around the two men.
The Boss jumped out of the Jeep and hefted his bulky mass towards the two guards.
"What the hell is going on?" The boss yelled.
"Franky got pissed off at one of the women and decided to shoot her." The guard explained.
What?" The Boss's face turned beet red.
"She called him a pussy, so he got mad and shot her."
The Boss looked down at Franky. "Is this true?"
Rubbing his sore jaw and slowly getting up , Franky answered with a yes.
The Boss lost all control and exploded with rage, his fist lashed out and struck a shocked Franky squarely in the jaw, a sickly snap could be heard as Franky's jaw shattered. He yelped out in pain and fell backwards into the dirt. The Boss was not finished with Franky, he leaned down, grabbed the injured man by the hair with his left hand and proceeded to beat the helpless man senseless.
Out of breath and with beads of sweat running down his face, the Boss finally dropped the unconscious man to the ground.
Wiping his forehead, the Boss turned to the other guard and pointed at him "Next time a stupid asshole like Franky goes to shoot one of our meal tickets, you shoot him first. Got it?"
"Yyyes sir Boss." The guard was visibly shaken by what he had just witnessed.
The Boss looked over to the two still sitting in the truck. "You two, throw this sack of shit in the back of the truck and take him out of the camp. Leave him for the animals to finish off."
Looking to the guard and the other men in the food delivery truck, he barked out some orders for them to go and grab Becky's body and pile it in with Franky.
Allison and Amanda had been watching everything unfold and they were still dumbstruck over what had just happened. Life was not precious here, it was spat upon and treated like garbage by these men. Most women just turned and went about settling in for the day, they had become hardened and unfeeling over time. For Allison and Amanda, the recent events just made them that much more determined to escape this hell.
…
John and his rescue group had been heading north east for about an hour, they had been following some tracks left by the other convoy of vehicles. John and Derek were sure these were the tracks left by the raiding party that had taken the women and children.
There were few groups that had access to running vehicles, let alone a group of vehicles.
They had entered San Fernando along the remnants of Highway 5. By Derek's recollection, a raider supply depot should be near by. it was there that the men had hoped they would find some clue as to where the women and children had been taken.
Sure enough, as they rounded a corner, John noticed a gas bar with a food store. Some signs of people staying there were evident, as there was fresh garbage around the store and about half a dozen people were milling about the exterior of the dilapidated building.
John got on the radio and signaled for the convoy to stop at the gas bar, but to be ready for anything. As he slowed the vehicle down, John looked over to Blair
"Williams, you Kyle and Melissa stay in the truck and keep an eye out for trouble. Derek and I are going out to see what kind of info we can dig up.
"Are you sure it's safe to do Connor?" Blair was concerned.
John smiled at Blair. "I got you and the other two amigos to watch our back."
Blair looked closely at John and then back to Derek, before speaking. "You two just be careful."
Derek lifted his eyebrow and smirked. "We'll be back, don't worry."
"I always worry Derek."
John and Derek climbed out of the Hummer and headed for the food store, their weapons pointed to the ground so as to not provoke any hostility.
There were about eight people outside of the store, all were armed but they were strangely at ease. An older thin man with a bald head strolled out of the store.
"Howdy gents." The bald man called out. "You bring by something to trade?"
"That depends." John called back.
"Well c'mon in and we'll talk." The bald man grinned and waved for them to follow him.
Derek looked to John, he was having a hard time controlling his anxiety. John clapped his hand on Derek's shoulder and whispered under his breath. " Don't worry, just stay calm and I'll do all the talking. Okay?"
Derek nodded and strode along with John towards the store entrance.
There was no door, just the gap in the wall where it used to be. John and Derek quickly looked around as they entered. Sure enough there were more armed men inside, along with some women and small kids running about. The kids stopped to look at the new arrivals and then slowly backed away, closer to the armed men and women.
Boxes of supplies were piled in the back, crates of other items were also stacked neatly in piles. The store was set up like an old western trading post, with some items on display, but most packed away for safe keeping.
"So what can I do for you gents?" The bald man sat down at a table, he motioned for Derek and John to sit down in one of the other chairs by the table.
John plunked himself down and stretched out his legs. "Ahhh…feels nice to sit down after driving for most of the morning."
"You guys lookin' for anything in particular?" The bald man's eyes narrowed in question.
John looked over to Derek and then back at the bald man. "We're lookin' for some girls."
"Oh, what kind of girls?"
John leaned in and smiled at the bald man. "The kind that will keep my men happy."
Derek shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked nervously around.
Seeing this, the bald man spoke up. "Seems your friend is a bit skittish. Anything I should know?"
John leaned back and left his hand on the table and replied nonchalantly. "He prefers boys."
Derek cast John a dirty look, but settled back into trying to keep a stony look.
The bald man chuckled and shook his head. "Well boys, you're out of luck here, we deal in consumable goods like food and ammo, but I do know of a gang that specializes in women and boys."
"Really?" John leaned in his senses sharpened.
Derek perked up upon hearing the bald man.
"Yeah they get girls and boys all the time, but you gotta have some good shit to trade."
"Oh we got some good stuff." John said eagerly.
The bald man leaned in and rubbed his chin. "So what do I get for giving out the info?"
"We have some medical supplies to trade." John casually mentions.
Derek flashes John a surprised look.
The bald man notices this and remarks. "Your friend don't seem to think it's a good idea."
John smiles and winks. "If we get what we want, I'm sure he'll be happy. If ya know what I mean."
The bald man leans back and lets out a hearty laugh. "Okay, so lets make a deal then."
The two men barter back and forth until both seem happy with the deal. John and the bald man spit into their hands and shake on the deal. Then they all get up and make ready for the trade.
As they leave the store, Derek tosses John a dirty look and grumbles under his breath.
"You didn't have to say I liked boys."
John gives Derek a crooked grin as he walks towards the Hummer. "I had to think fast, before you blew it."
"Gee thanks Connor"
"Anytime Reese"
Derek climbs into the Hummer, John goes to the back of the vehicle and removes a large bag containing medical items.
"What are you doing John?" Blair asks.
"It's for a trade, for information on the raider camp location." John explains as he hefted the large bag onto his shoulder.
John walked back towards the store and met back up with the bald man. He dropped the bag at the man's feet and opens it up for inspection.
The bald man looks down and smiles. "Well everything looks fine here."
"It's what we agreed upon." John replies.
"Yep, it is. Now for the location of the camp, you need to keep going north on number five here, until you get to Valencia Boulevard. that's north of the split to the freeway number fourteen. You need to head on Valencia about two kilometers, then you'll reach the mall on on the north side of the road, or what's left of it, that's where they are. Just tell them Peterson sent ya."
"So it's in the Santa Clarita area?"
"Yep"
"Thanks Peterson." John grins and extends his hand out to shake.
Peterson clasps John's hand and gives it a quick shake.
"Oh and by the way, if yer buddy wants a real man, tell him to stop by and visit here." Peterson winks at John.
"I'll be sure to tell Derek for you Peterson, he was quite impressed with your little trading post here and thanks again for the info." John smirks.
Peterson ponders for a moment and then asks. "I never got your name."
"It's John."
"John who?"
"Baum"
Peterson squints his eyes. " Sure it isn't Connor?"
"Yep, I'm sure. I hear Connor died a couple of years back in San Francisco. Or so I've heard." John replied.
Peterson grunts in agreement. "Yeah I think I heard about that, it's about the same time Skynet stopped coming around trying to kill us. You have a safe trip, it's been a pleasure doing business with ya John Baum."
"Same here Peterson." John smiles, turns towards the truck and slowly makes his way back to the Hummer.
Once he is inside the truck, John gives the order over the radio to move out, fired up the Hummer and drove off to the north.
Derek leans forward. "So did he tell you where they went?"
"Yes Derek….ohhh…and Peterson wants a date with you." John winked in the rear view mirror at Derek.
"What?Who?"
"The bald guy I talked to, his name is Peterson." John barely contained his amusement as he continued. "When he heard you preferred boys…."
"Hold on, wait a minute. I never said that." Derek cut in waving his arms frantically in the air, the futility of it almost made John burst out in laughter, but he managed to keep a straight face.
Blair, Melissa and Kyle all perked up to listen.
"No, I did and he took a shine to you. He mentioned something about you stopping in anytime for a visit. If you know what I mean." John winked.
"But…I…I'm not that way. I like girls." Derek was all flustered.
Blair and Melissa both looked at each other and laughed, Kyle joining in shortly after.
"You girls never mind, I'm on to yer scheme." Derek shot back, his pride now bruised.
"Oh really?" Blair asked, with her brow lifted.
"Who told you we had a scheme?" Melissa cut in.
"A little bird."
Both Blair and Melissa turned towards Kyle, their eyes boring into his skull. Kyle pretended not to notice, but slipped lower into his seat. Melissa made a fist and pounded Kyle on the thigh.
"Owwww…What was that for?" Kyle winced and rubbed his leg.
"That's for being a wiener." Melissa spat out, folded her arms and sat back in her seat.
Derek laughed. "You ladies underestimate brotherly love, we keep nothing from each other."
"Oh? So what did he tell you?" Blair's interest perked up.
"Everything" Derek replied smugly.
"Everything?"
"Uh huh"
Kyle sunk even lower in his spot, but Blair managed to lean over the back seat to give Kyle a second fist punch to the same thigh. Kyle yelped again and grabbed hold of his now throbbing thigh.
Frustrated, and at a loss for words, Blair uttered the one word she could think of.
"Wiener"
Then she too crossed her arms and sat back in her seat, a dark cloud slowly formed in the now small confines of the Hummer.
Kyle nursed his injury and sulked in his corner of the back seat. Derek and John looked away, both hiding huge grins.
Being mid afternoon now, it would be close to dark before they reached the raider camp, if they had received the right information. John had a feeling that Peterson was a man of his word and he had a good feeling they would find this place before nightfall.
…
It had been a few hours since Becky had been shot, Allison and Amanda were still stunned over the thoughtlessness and brutality of her death. The other women had moved on, they saw incidents like this on almost a daily basis, most of them had become numb to the emotional effects of a sudden death.
Amanda and Allison had gone back to their spots on the counter
"I still can't believe he shot Becky." Amanda mused.
"All the more reason for us to get the hell out of this place." Allison replied as she poked a long stick into the ground.
"When do you think they'll come for us Allie?"
"Probably the same time as they did for the boys." Allison tossed the stick and let out a deep sigh. Derek I wish you were here, I don't know if I can get us out of here. I wish I was with you in a safe place. She remained quiet as she thought about Derek and if he would ever find her.
"Allie?" Amanda looked over at Allison's gloomy face.
"Yes"
"We're still gonna try to escape, right?"
"Any chance we see, we go for it." Allison turned had turned to Amanda and looked straight into her eyes, her voice filled with fire and determination.
…
It was just about an hour before darkness would settle in, John had found the turn off to Valencia. The sign for the road has remained amazingly readable, despite years of neglect. John signaled the convoy to stop for a break, he needed to stop and study an old map, to see how they would approach the mall.
"You got a plan brewing Connor?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, I do, but I need to check out a map first."
John reached into a bag and withdrew a handful of maps. Shuffling through, he finally found a map of southern California and pulled it out to see. Blair, Melissa, Derek and Kyle all leaned in to take a look at the map.
John pointed to where they were on the map. "This is where we are right now, as far as I can tell. There is supposed to be a country club beside the mall, along with some residential housing. I think we need to send some people around through that wooded area to scout out the mall on the west side. Some others can circle to the north along the highway to find some vantage points for looking at the mall from the north and east. Finally we will need a small group to go south of the mall, but far enough away so they don't alert the guards posted there."
"How do you know there will be guards?" Melissa asked.
"Because I would have them posted there if I wanted to protect the mall. Chances are, they have guards posted all around the mall area and with little natural cover, it will be hard to get in close without being seen." John looked over to Melissa to make sure she understood what he had just explained, she smiled and nodded her head.
"Connor, I'll get some of then men organized for the sweep around the mall." Blair grabbed a similar map and headed off towards the other vehicles to call a meeting.
"Make sure everyone has walkies and earphones for communicating." John called out after Blair. She waved her hand in the air, signaling she had heard him and continued on her way.
"Do we have sniper rifles?" Derek looked at John in question.
"Yeah, we got a couple of RC-50's, an M98B and a Tac-50." John answered, his mind was like a bear trap, when it came to remembering weapons.
"Tac-50?" Derek wondered out loud.
"Yeah, I read once it was the sniper rifle used in Afghanistan to make some of the longest range kills in history over 2400 meters in distance. It's very accurate and deadly."
"I can shoot one of those." Melissa proudly spoke up.
Derek shot her a look of surprise.
Kyle nodded his head at Derek. "Yep, she can shoot. Mel and Blair are probably the best snipers we got."
"That's why I'm glad you came along Webster. We need you, Williams and a couple of others to take up positions around the mall. If need be, we will take out any hostiles with the long range rifles, just so that we don't suffer any more casualties than need be." John had gotten down to business and started to get everything set up the way he felt was best, in order to take out the hostiles and reduce any possibilities of civilian casualties.
Blair had gathered the rest of the group together for a final meeting before sending the men and women out to scout. John met with the group and went over the finer details of the search and rescue. He also reminded them to keep their eyes peeled for any other hostiles in the area as there had been reports from Sikes about scavengers and packs of wild dogs roaming around north of L.A. Skynet was never far from John's mind either and it bothered him that it had not reared its ugly head in a long time. They were overdue for a skirmish with Skynets forces.
Less then an hour later, the trucks were safely tucked away, out of sight and protected with a skeleton force of four. The rest were sent out in smaller groups of 3 to scout out the mall and set up the snipers. A main group consisting of John, Derek, and thirteen others would make up the force to storm the camp and rescue the captives.
Although their force was small, John had figured that as long as they had the element of surprise, they would pull off the rescue without a hitch. That was as long as they had found the right camp.
John, Derek and the main force stayed east of the mall, tucked away in the woods, but still able to gather some intel of the set up in the camp. Blair and Melissa headed up two of the smaller sniper fireteams, taking up positions to the south and west of the mall respectively.
…
The sun was just setting and dark shadows were now forming all over the camp. Allison and Amanda looked to each other nervously, both hoping that Blain and his goons had decided not to come for them.
Their hopes were dashed when they heard the familiar sound of the half ton truck rumble to life and slowly get louder as it made its way towards them.
"Allie, I'm scared." Amanda's face was tense with fear.
Feeling scared too, Allison put her arm around Amanda to help calm both hers and Amanda's nerves."Mandy, don't worry, we'll find a way out and we will have Dana and Kim to help us."
I hope. Allison thought to herself.
"I hate it here, I don't want to be here. I won't go with them." Amanda spoke defiantly.
"Mandy, we need to go with them, it'll be our best chance to escape." Allison tried to sooth Amanda and calm her down. She ran her fingers through Amanda's hair and hugged her tightly.
Amanda's eyes welled up with tears as she began to succumb to her fears. "Allie, I'm not as strong and brave as you, I…I don't know if I can do this."
Allison continued to hug Amanda and stroke her hair, tears were welling up in her eyes too, fearful emotions getting the better of her. Allison fought to stay in control, but found as the truck got closer, she got weaker.
Allison glanced around at the other women, they too had a look of dread as the truck made its way to the gate.
The truck stopped, Blain, Bubba and Mikey all climbed out of the vehicle and made their way towards the gate. Three other men followed behind with ropes to be used to tie up the women they were to pick out. The gate was unlocked and creaked as it was opened, the noise grating on the girl's nerves.
"Ladies, we're back." Blain bellowed.
A woman called out to Blain. "Where are our boys?"
Blain snickered before answering. "We liked the boys so much, we decided to keep em."
The woman's head lowered in despair and she began to sob.
Blain looked over towards Allison and Amanda, his eyes roaming up and down as he licked his lips in anticipation.
"Ahhhh….Half Pint and Blondie." Blain gave out a deep sigh. "I had a hard time thinking about who I was gonna have tonight, but first off I think I'll start with you." He looked straight into Allison's eyes and pointed to her.
Allison held on tightly to Amada, both of them cowering from him.
Bubba and Mikey stood back, smiles spreading from ear to ear.
"Leave us alone." Allison tried to sound strong, but her voice shook with fear.
Blain just laughed, his belly rolling about as he enjoyed the fear and control he had over the girls. He sauntered over to the girls and pulled them apart, tossing Amanda towards Bubba and tightly gripping onto Allison.
"Bubba wants yer little friend Blondie, he wants payback for what she did to him yesterday." Blain snickered as Allison desperately tried to wiggle free from his grasp.
Keep fighting half pint, I like the challenge." His breath was getting ragged with lust as he pulled her close and whispered into her ear.
Feeling helpless, Allison stopped struggling and let Blain drag her out to the truck. He tossed her towards one of the three men and went back in to gather some more girls.
Allison was promptly tied up, along with Amanda and then they were both tossed into the back of the half ton.
A few hundred meters away, tucked into the woods west of the mall, two lone figures watched the scene unfold. John had his binoculars out, taking in details of how many men were watching the captives and where the truck had come from. He turned to Derek and passed the binoculars.
"Here, take a look and see if you recognize anyone." John whispered.
Derek took a look, his heart beating so hard and fast, he thought it would leap out of his chest.
"Look closely at the truck, they're loading up some girls into it."
Derek trained the lenses on the vehicle, his body twitched and jaw dropped as he saw the familiar slender girl with shoulder length auburn hair and soft brown eyes be tied up and tossed into the back of the half ton.
"It's her….Allison." Derek's voice cracked with emotion.
John put his hand on Derek's shoulder. "Calm down Reese, We'll get to her soon enough."
Derek dropped the binoculars from his eyes and looked at John. "They have her best friend too, Amanda, the blond girl."
"We're rescuing as many as we can, all of them if we are lucky." John gave Derek a reassuring smile, then he quietly whispered into the walkie. "Blue team, are you good to go?"
"Blue team locked and loaded sir." Blair's familiar female voice came back over the walkie into John's ear bud.
"Copy that, Blue team locked and loaded." John acknowledged to Blair.
"Green team good to go?" John asked.
"Green team locked and loaded sir." Melissa relayed back.
"Copy that, Green team locked and loaded" John acknowledged to Melissa.
John continued with the same message for Red and Black teams, both reported back they were in position and ready for battle.
John had decided to leave his vehicles further back so as to not risk them being seen or heard. His plan was to use the raider vehicles to help ferry the captives to safety and then destroy them, leaving the raiders with little means to pursue the rescue squad.
Once he figured out where the half ton was going with the girls, he would adapt his plan accordingly.
Allison, Amanda and three other women were piled into the back of the truck, Blain maneuvered his bulk into the truck cab while bubba and Mikey climbed into the back to keep watch over the women. The truck fired up and trundled its way off to the west towards the main road.
Derek and John watched closely as the truck made its way towards them. Derek looked to John, he was anxious to move in and stop the truck, but John signaled to Derek to lay low and keep quiet. Derek gritted his teeth and reluctantly stayed put.
"Where are you taking us?" Allison called out to Bubba, her voice barely audible above the rumbling exhaust.
Bubba leaned in closer to Allison. "We got us a nice little house just past these woods, all private and comfy so we don't get disturbed."
Allison cringed and looked away in disgust. Private may mean no guards and a better chance to escape. Allison thought to herself.
John and Derek watched the truck go by and saw it turn into the small residential street just past the wooded patch they were hiding in. Since most of the houses were either non existent or too dilapidated to live in, it was easy to see which house the truck went to.
They both had a good idea what was going to happen in the house, Derek was ready to move, but John again signaled him to remain where he was.
John contacted the other teams and relayed to them what had just happened. The new plan was to split up the main force, with part of John's squad storming the house, while the rest were to move in and free the captives on his signal.
I wish I had brought more people with me. John thought to himself.
He had underestimated the size of the raiders force and that they had a house as well as the main camp.
Six men got off of the truck and herded the women into the house. By the looks and sound of it, there were possibly three or more men inside of the house, as well as two more that had stood guard outside while the truck had done its errand.
John looked down and checked his weapons, both his hand gun and MP5 had silencers and he had made sure Derek also had weapons with silencers too.
John contacted Blair's team and had her move to a better position so as to provide help for John's squad if need be, he also had Melissa's team move her position to help in covering the main camp while Blair's team engaged the house with John. Surprise was to be their advantage.
The truck stopped and the girls were roughly dragged out of the back and pushed towards the house. Allison looked around to see any signs of possible escape routes, she noted the tree line off to the east of her, a possible temporary hiding spot, if she and Amanda got out of the house.
Once inside the house, Allison was separated from Amanda and the rest of the women.
She desperately looked around for Dana or Kim, but failed to see them anywhere inside the house.
The other females were taken to a different part of the house, Amanda and Allison were shuffled off to upstairs to separate bedrooms, the rest remaining in the main living room.
Allison was tossed into the bedroom by one of Blain's goons, she lost her balance and ended up falling to the floor. She looked around, but saw that the room was spartan in appearance, for there was only a mattress off in one corner of the room, with some dirty blankets piled haphazardly around it.
Blain slipped into the room, a bottle of hard liquor in his right hand. "I brought us something to drink in celebration of tonight's festivities." He winked at Allison and closed the door behind him
"Go fuck yourself Blain." Allison venomously spat out.
"Hmmm…. Nope, I had plans of fucking you half pint. I'll have you begging for more when I'm done with ya. Tonight we are going to have some fun." Blain let out a chuckle and then took a large gulp from the bottle of booze.
Allison shuffled further back towards the wall close to the window, fear was rearing its ugly head again and Allison was slowly losing control of her self.
Keep it together Allie, find a way out. Allison desperately looked for a way to get by Blain.
Blain leered at Allison, drinking in her slender boyish form. She was still young and had just started to become a woman, but Blain didn't mind, he would just use her and toss her away when he was done.
"Let's see what you look like naked little half pint." Blain leaned in to untie Allison.
As soon as she was free, Allison bolted towards the door, but her arm was quickly caught in Blain's iron grip. He threw her onto the bed and kneeled down close to her. Allison desperately kicked and punched at Blain , but it failed to slow him down. He lowered his massive bulk down on top of Allison, slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs.
She could smell his rotten breath and foul body odor as his sweaty mass covered her small frame. Allison turned her head to avoid looking at Blain, but he forced her face back to look at him when he grabbed her jaw with his free hand.
"Yer a real pretty one half pint, I'm gonna keep ya here all night, 'till I break ya." Blain whispered into her ear, his rancid breath churning her stomach.
Blain put the bottle down next to the mattress and leaned in closer to Allison. He nuzzled his face into her neck and slid his tongue along the side of her face up to her ear. Allison shut her eyes, her body shivered with fear and disgust from his grotesque attempts at arousal.
"Awww…yer shakin' like a leaf half pint. Am I turnin' you on?" Blain softly murmured into her ear as his hands roamed along her slim body.
Allison wriggled to get away, but Blain was too large and heavy. Tears of frustration were beginning to roll down her cheek as she desperately fought a losing battle to free herself.
"Get the hell off of me. Leave me alone." Allison yelled.
Blain just laughed and continued with his assault on Allison's body.
Sounds from the next room penetrated the wall as Amanda went through a similar fight to try and get away. Bubba was more brutal with Amanda since he still held a grudge over the injuries he got from her attempt to escape.
Allison could hear her being thrown about as her body was slammed into the adjoining wall. There was one final loud thud and then the next room grew quiet.
"Seems like bubba softened yer lil' friend up. She won't be no trouble no more." Blain grinned and began to move his lips towards Allison's, she tried to turn her head, but he still had her jaw in his vice like grip.
John nodded to Derek and signaled for him to follow close behind. Before they left the safety of the trees, John called on Blair to take out any guards outside of the house.
It was less than a minute later when the two guards out strolling behind the house were hit. One second they were walking and talking together, the next they were on the ground with half their heads missing.
"Targets neutralized." Blair's voice announced into John's ear piece.
"Copy that Blue team. Move in for extraction." John whispered back into his mic.
John, Derek and five other men followed a path to the house, all of them with silenced guns. Quickly they moved closer to the house, John signaled Derek to go towards the front with three others, while he went the back way with the other two men.
A quick hand signal from John indicated they were to burst in simultaneously in one minute, every one nodded and proceeded to their points of entry.
John quietly crept towards the back door, past the diesel generators grumbling away.
Hmmm all the creature comforts, probably got hot running water too, all at the expense of others. John's hand tightened around the gun handle in anger, the more he saw, the more he wanted to catch the leader and make an example of him.
John checked his watch and signaled to the two others it was time. He tried the door, it was unlocked, he slowly opened it and slipped in, followed by the others.
At the front door, Derek eagerly waited for the signal. His palms were sweaty and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, adrenalin was kicking in overtime.
Finally the group leader signaled it was time to enter.
Both groups were inside at the same time, with guns ready to fire on any hostiles.
Derek's group was to clear the front of the house and check the garage for any more hostiles and captives, John's group was to clear the rear of the house and the upstairs.
As soon as John went in the back door, he was in the kitchen. It was there where he met up with two women and one guard. The guard suffered two quick shots to the heart, before he realized what had just happened, the tow women just stood in shock.
"Where are the captives?" John whispered.
The younger girl pointed straight up. "They took two girls up there, you need to get to them first."
John nodded thanks to her and signaled to the men to follow him up stairs. Before he left he tilted his head to the women and quietly told them to go outside and run to the front of the house. Dana and Kim wasted no time in fleeing out the back door.
Derek and the others had cleared the living room of two armed men, each with a pair of bullets in them, one of the rescuers grabbed the distraught women in the room and hurried them out the front door, while Derek and the others now headed towards the garage.
John heard some screaming and loud thumping from the upstairs. Fearing the worst, he hurried up the staircase taking two steps at a time. At the top of the stairs stood a guard, John rushed him and plugged two rounds into the surprised guard, instantly he dropped like a rock. Seeing no more guards, John signaled his men to go to the check and clear the upstairs rooms.
Coming up to one of the doors, John heard a young female voice yell, just as his men burst into the adjoining room. Two rounds were fired, followed by a loud thud, a second later the men came out with a young blond girl, her face covered in bruises and her shirt half torn apart. Tears were still running down her cheek as John went up to her.
"My name is John, I'm with Derek. Is Allison here too?" John looked into her eyes as he spoke softly and quietly.
Without a word the girl nodded her head and pointed towards the door where John had heard the female voice yell. John smiled and signaled for one of the men to take the blond girl out to safety, but she shook her head, refusing to go.
John gave her a questioning look, but she pointed to the door and whispered that she was not leaving without Allison. John nodded, turned towards the door and tried the door handle.
Blain had finished giving Allison his sloppy kiss. Now he sat up and went to grab her shirt, but Allison fought back, smacking him with all her might and digging in her nails where ever she could find skin.
"Owww…you little bitch." Blain yelped and smacked Allison across the face with his hand.
Allison saw stars, her vision went blurry and her head went dizzy from the blow. This gave Blain the chance to tear away her shirt and throw it off to the side.
Happy now that he had gotten his way with her, Blain failed to hear the bedroom door open.
John stood in shock for a split second, for what he saw sickened him.
Here was a girl of maybe fourteen being attacked by a man three times her size.
Anger boiled up inside of John as he lifted the gun to fire, but the large man was too close to the girl for him to shoot, so he called out.
"Stop what you're doing right now." John yelled.
The man never looked back as he continued to tear away at the girls clothing.
John swore under his breath, aimed for the man's shoulder and squeezed the trigger. A silent pop and a puff of smoke indicated the gun had fired. The man never knew what hit him, as he yelped and rolled to the side, his shoulder now turning beet red from the bloody wound.
"Get the hell off of her now." John shouted.
The man rolled off of the girl and groaned as he gripped his wounded shoulder.
John moved closer to the girl, but she scurried to the corner of the mattress against the wall and curled herself up into a ball.
As softly as he could, John talked to the frightened girl. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you. My name is John and I came here to rescue you."
The pretty girl with the auburn hair glanced nervously up at him and tried to make herself smaller.
John smiled and knelt closer to the girl.
"H..h..how do I know this isn't a trick?" The girl asked, her voice shaking with fear.
John thought for a moment, then smiled at her again. "Derek sent me."
The girls soft brown eyes lit up as she relaxed and uncurled herself, a ghost of a smile came across her lips and her eyes brightened up as she asked again. "Did you say Derek?"
"Yes, Derek Reese and you must be Allison." John held his hand out to help her up.
Allison looked down at her self and quickly covered her bare chest with her arms.
"Oh my God, I….I can't go out looking like this." Allison gasped and her face turning beet red.
John looked over to the wounded man, happy now that he would do no harm to her, removed his jacket and handed it over for Allison to put on.
John looked away from Allison to provide her with a little privacy as she slipped on his jacket and wrapped it tightly against her body, but he kept a watchful eye on Blain.
John turned to see the blond girl peeking inside the doorway, he motioned for her to come into the room. "It's safe now, you can come in."
Not a second later, Amanda rushed into the room and threw herself into Allison, almost knocking her over. Allison returned the hug, clutching Amanda tightly, both girls had tears running down their cheeks, but they were tears of happiness.
A moment later the two girls broke their embrace, Amanda looked over and noticed Blain lying on the floor. Her face twisting in rage, Amanda walked over to Blain and with every ounce of anger and frustration she wound up and kicked Blain in his crotch.
"That'll teach you to mess with my best friend, you …you …asshole."
Blain doubled over in pain and puked on the floor.
John winced at what he had just seen. Bad enough to get shot, but to get kicked in the balls? Well he did deserve what was coming to him, but damn that must hurt.
"Nice shot Mandy." Allison smiled and put her arm around Amanda's shoulder. Then she looked over to John. "Where's Derek?"
"C'mon ladies, we need to get out of here. You can see Derek outside, after he finishes sweeping the main floor for captives." John waved them out of the room.
On the way out, Allison looked over to Blain then back to John. "What about him?"
"One of my men will take care of him shortly, we need to get information from him."
John looked over to one of his men. "Hawkins, keep an eye on this one, I'll be right back."
The soldier nodded and moved to stand guard in the bedroom.
Allison, Amanda and John all carefully made their way down to the main level of the house. It was there that they ran into the rest of the rescue group.
Derek had been pre-occupied with checking his weapon and failed to see Allison right away, but as soon as he looked up and saw her, his face broke out in a huge grin.
"Allison" Derek called out.
Allison burst into tears, and ran to Derek, throwing her self into his arms and squeezing him tightly to her. "Derek, I was so scared" she sobbed as she held him tightly in her arms.
Amanda stood back with John, happy to be rescued, but happier that Derek was here too.
Derek ran his fingers through Allison's hair, soothing her as he held onto her. "It's okay now Allie, we found you. Kyle is here too."
"Kyle?" Allison asked while her face was still buried in Derek's chest, she was surprised to hear his name.
"Yeah Kyle. It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later."
"How did you know where to find us?" Allison tilted her head back to ask, her face still wet from tears.
"John Connor" Derek replied and pointed towards John.
Allison turned towards John smiled and rushed over to hug him.
Surprised and overjoyed, John awkwardly hugged Allison back.
"Thank you for coming to save us John." Allison gave John a healthy hug and looked up into his kind blue green eyes, her face glowing with happiness and appreciation for what he had done. She leaned up on her toes and kissed John on the cheek, her face flushed a deep red soon after she realized what she had done.
"Ohh…I..I'm sorry John….I mean John Conner." Allison stammered and shyly looked down at the floor.
Derek chuckled and shook his head at Allison.
John grinned. "No need to say sorry Allison, it's not every day I get kissed by pretty girls I rescue. Usually its guys I end up rescuing and I don't kiss guys."
Allison giggled and looked over to Amanda, she too was covering her mouth and giggling. Amanda saw her opportunity now, she hugged and kissed John on the cheek and then went over to Derek and did the same thing.
"You know it wasn't just us two, there's over thirty of us that came on this mission. Are you two ladies gonna kiss everyone?" Derek lifted his eyebrow in question, a wry grin formed on his lips.
The two girls both shook their heads, then burst out laughing.
John's face went serious as he realized they had to get going and finish the job at hand.
"We need to get moving out of here, Is everything clear?"
"Yes sir Connor, all hostiles are eliminated and accounted for. We found ten more captives in the garage, including some small boys, everyone else is out front." Derek dryly responded.
"Okay lets move out and prepare for phase two of the rescue. I'll meet you outside in a minute, I need to take care of the gangster upstairs." John gave Derek a look before he turned to go upstairs.
Derek knew exactly what John was going to do, he had wished it was him going upstairs instead of John. I'd teach that bastard a thing or two.
On the way upstairs, John contacted his sniper teams. All was still quiet in the main camp. His other half of the squad was in position and ready to act, but John had them stand down until he could get his captives to safety and then join up with the squad to rescue the rest.
Once he got to the room, John discovered Hawkins on the floor, he knelt down to check for a pulse, none was found. Hawkins neck had been slashed and blood was pooling around the dead mans body.
John swore under his breath and looked around to see if there was any sign of where the large man had escaped to.
A blood trail led out of the room and down the hallway. John quietly followed the trail towards a back bedroom, his nerves on edge, waiting for anything to happen. The back room was dark, no power had been run into this room. It was filled with boxes and miscellaneous items, he figured most likely stolen from other camps.
The blood trail led towards a sliding glass door and a patio deck, the door still undamaged despite the fact most of the other houses were either leveled or about to collapse.
It had been left open, a cool evening breeze was swirling its way into the room. John made his way to the door, careful not to make any noise he peered out the glass.
In the dim evening light he could make out the trail of blood leading to the edge of the deck.
"Fuck" John muttered to himself.
Flicking on the com button, John hoped Blair was still out in position. "Blue team, any movement out the west side of the house?"
"Negative sir, Blue team has joined up at the house for extraction." Blair's familiar voice answered.
"All teams, we are compromised. I repeat, we have been compromised. Stand by for further instructions." John clicked off the transmitter and went into deep thought.
With the leader now escaped, it would be only a matter of time, before the alert was sounded and John's force would be in a fire fight, their element of surprise was about to be trashed.
John needed to act fast, before all hell broke loose.
