When Kyle wakes up, the first thing he notices is how sore his body is. He hadn't managed to make it back to his room, he had just passed out on the floor beside Summer's table. He stands up, stretching his arms and he can feel the snaps of his bones and joints as he does so. He looks around the med bay and sees the soldiers who are mostly asleep on the metal beds or one blankets on the floor. Kyle sighs and rubs his eyes, knowing they need to start renovating the med bay. It's too small, too dirty, and too old for this base.
Kyle looks down and sees Summer lying on the table. Her short titian hair has dried blood in it, and her face is covered in dirt. Kyle walks over to the other side of the med bay, where a pile of towels are laid beside the sink. He flips the tap water on hot and allows it run for a while to get warm. He takes a towel and holds it under the stream of water. Once it's warm and soaked, he rings it out then returns to Summer. He begins bathing her face, scrubbing the dirt and blood away. A moment later, Summer finally opens her eyes and she begins thrashing around and almost screams before Kyle throws the cloth to the floor then pins her arms to the table.
"Summer! Summer, it's me! Calm down! It's Kyle!" He exclaims as he tries to hold down the wild girl.
"Kyle?!" she chokes out. She hasn't spoken in hours, her throat is dried and her head is pounding and suddenly she's alert to a growing pain in her leg. The pain becomes so intense that Summer bites her lip when the urge to scream becomes almost overbearing. But then she remembers something that makes her forget about the pain. "Arthur… Where's Arthur?" she asks Kyle.
Kyle dreaded this conversation. But he knows he doesn't have the right to withhold such important information from her. So he just looks her in the eyes, shakes his head and then says, very softly, "He's dead, Summer. He never came off the battlefield. I'm sorry."
Summer doesn't say anything at first. She only stares at him with wide green eyes. But then she begins shaking her head. Shaking her head so quickly, as if she's trying to shake away the truth he just told her.
"Summer?" he asks carefully and touches her shoulder.
"No, no. No. No. NO!"
She's screaming now. Painful, angry screams that radiate through the med bay and carry on through the hallway. Kyle's begging her to calm down, other nurses have come running to try and help and the other soldiers are awoken from their sleeps and are staring at her with hazy eyes.
Kyle is at a loss as to how to handle Summer, but then someone grabs the deranged girl and holds a cloth under her nose. The cloth is laced with a strong liquid sedative, and Summer soon slumps down on the table, completely knocked out. The person who had done this was Quinn, still standing in the flimsy paper gown she was put in. Kyle can still see the remnants of the blood on her legs.
"Wait there, I want to talk to you." He informs her before turning his attention back to Summer. Another nurse has brought him restraints which they'll attach one end to the metal legs of the table, then lock the bands around her wrists and ankles. For her safety as well as theirs.
It takes Kyle only four minutes to do that, but when he turns back to Quinn's bed he finds it empty. The only sign she was there was the paper gown tossed on it. Kyle runs out of the med bay and down the hallway. No sooner does he run seven feet, red lights start flashing and a voice blares on loud speaker.
"Please report to the closest safety bunker. This is not a drill, please report to your nearest safety bunker as quickly as possible. You have six minutes."
Kyle knows what this is. Every person on this base knows.
An attack from Skynet.
Quinn hadn't listened to Kyle when he told her to stay. She wasn't in the mood for a lecture, or for someone to tell her how stupid her decision was. She knows already. So while he restrained Summer, she changed into her clothes then quickly left the med bay. She's not sure where she's going… maybe she'll sneak out of the base. She can get out through an old air vent she found years ago. She could leave… go outside. Take her risk with the machines. It may be better than facing what she's done. Yes, that's what she'll do.
She's just reached the small hallway with the air vent when lights start flashing and alarms start ringing. Soon, the grey hallway is flooded in red. It's an attack from Skynet. Air raid most likely. Quinn goes to run out of the hallway, but she hears small screams which make her skid to a stop. She whips back around and sees two pairs of tiny eyes peek out from behind some old crates.
She runs over to them and drops to her knees and pushes a crate out of the way. The two owners of the eyes scramble backwards, clutching each other. She knows these two.
"Kya! Ronnie! What are you two doing here?!" she asks. She reaches for Kya but the girl scrambles back, trying to hide behind a crate.
"We just wanted to play!" Ronnie responds. Another alarm goes off and the boy looks up, terrified. The red lights are reflected in the boy's wide pupils.
"It doesn't matter, listen we have to go! Come with me!" she commands. Ronnie listens and immediately jumps up but Kya doesn't move.
"I want mommy-"
"Kya, please come with me." Quinn asks the girl with her softest tone. But when she doesn't move, Quinn has no choice but to make her. "Now, Kya!" she shouts at the girl. Kya screams but does let go of the crate and Quinn grabs her and lifts her up. Kya is only five, easy to carry.
Quinn takes hold of Ronnie's hand and practically drags the young boy out of the hallway. It takes her three minutes to get to the nearest bunker, which is nearly crammed to capacity.
"Kya! Ronnie!"
Quinn looks over and actually sighs with relief. She sees their mother, Lydia, shoving her way through people to get to her children. She grabs Kya out of Quinn's arms and takes Ronnie's hand. But then her eyes widen and she looks around Quinn.
"Ronnie! Where's Laia?" she shouts at the little boy.
He squeals and looks like he's going to cry. "I thought she was with you!" he yells.
Quinn groans and looks out the door. The other child, eight year old Laia, is still outside. Lydia is about to run out when Quinn grabs her and shoves her back to her children. "Don't leave them! I'll get her!" she yells, trying to be heard over the loud voice that's telling the personnel they only have three minutes remaining until all he automatic bunker doors close.
And with that in mind, Quinn runs back out into the hallway to go looking for the girl.
Kyle fumbles with the restraints on Summer's wrists. It seemed he did his job a little too well when he initially put them on. The med bay has their own bunker, which automatically closes sooner than the others. A little glitch in the system. Kyle finally rips off the last restraint and picks up the unconscious woman and carries her in, just as Aaron takes in his last patient. Aaron had come running to the med bay when the alarms first began.
They settle the patients in, but then the sound of heavy footsteps enter. Kyle looks up and sees John standing in the doorway, looking around the room. He runs to Quinn's table but looks alarmed when he finds it empty. When he finally sees Kyle he shouts, but doesn't move.
"Where is she?!" John asks.
"Not in here!" Kyle responds. John doesn't stay. He turns around and runs back out the door. "John, no!" Kyle screams but it's too late for him to run after him, the med bay bunker door has slammed shut and cannot be opened until the air raid is done.
John runs through the hallways. There almost all deserted. Maybe she's gotten into a bunker? Which I what he should be doing? He's acting irrationally and he knows this. But the guilt he's feeling is overpowering his usual wise thinking.
There's a bunker just down the hallway, he can make it. But then, over the sound of the alarms, he hears someone scream for Laia. He can't go into a bunker without knowing the other personnel are too. He runs and locates the sources of the noise, incidentally finds who he was looking for. Quinn running in and out of the living quarters. John is about to call out to her when something hits the base. The impact of the shock makes John and Quinn fall to the ground. John groans and Quinn looks up and sees him.
"John!" she shouts as she scrambles to her feet. He does the same and goes over to her, grabbing her arms.
"What are you doing here?!" he asks her. Her face is lit up by the red lights and she can barely hear him.
"I need to find Laia!" Quinn shouts in response and shakes him off before running away. John is quick to follow her but is shouting at her the whole time. Quinn is too busy screaming Laia's name to respond. Another blast hits and John is knocked to the ground, but Quinn keeps running and calling for Laia.
Finally, she hears a response. From under a bed. Quinn drops to her knees, sees the frightened child, and pulls her out. As she does so, another blast hits the base. The bunker doors are closes, there's nowhere to go. Everywhere the sirens are blasting, red lights are flashing and the ceiling is starting to crack. Quinn feels like she can't breathe.
"John!" She screams. She's praying he's close, because she doesn't know how to handle this situation.
But not tend seconds later, she feels another pair of arms around her. And it's him.
"Get under the bunk!" he instructs. Quinn ushers Laia in first, then she slides in, then John. Quinn has almost half her body over the crying girl, and has her arms wrapped around her. John's behind Quinn. One arm is over Quinn and Laia's head, while the other is holding on to the two females and bring them closer to his body.
Another blast hits and the walls shake. A loud crunch is heard. Quinn cries out. "John!"
"Just hold on, Quinn. Just hold on-" he answers, but he's cut off. Because he sound of crashing rock overcomes the sirens, and soon all she can hear is the ceiling crumble in on them. John's voice is drowned out and soon the only thing she can see is darkness; but his voice has gone silent.