SCC Ghosts of the Future Ch. 11

Derek kicked open the door, hearing the hinges break as he rushed through it, Cassie clutched in his arms, far too much of her blood soaking into his clothing. He pushed what was left of the breakfast dishes onto the floor, spilling milk and half eaten cereal as he lay her onto the table top, holding her down as she reflexively woke up and curled in pain.

John was right behind him, skidding to a stop in the doorway before running over, grabbing a towel from the counter and trying to hold it to her stomach and stop the bleeding.

"There's a magnet in my bag in the attic, John. Get it." Cassie said, her voice emerging from between clenched teeth.

"What? Why?" he reached for another towel, just as a barrage of gunshots broke out from outside behind him and he looked out through the open door to see Bion get up, from where Cameron had thrown him and start advancing towards the house. Cameron and Sarah were laying down cover, bullets striking and embedding into the terminator's metal frame but not doing much to slow it down.

"The magnetized bullets won't last forever John," Cassie gasped, "hurry."

He ran, taking the stairs at two at a time…one flight…then down the hall…damn, he rattled the door to the attic, the knob sticking before giving way…another row of stairs and he was in the attic, the room looking entirely different by day with dust catching the sunlight and tiny motes drifting in the air. Cassie's bag lay on the trunk by the far wall, and he upended it in his hast, hands searching through the clutter before coming to a metal box about the size of his palm. He grabbed it and raced back down stairs, catching the doorframe into the kitchen to slow him down only to have Derek push him back hard into the other room.

"Run John!" he yelled, bringing up his gun and firing as Bion reached the back door to the kitchen and stepped inside.

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Sarah watched as it reached the house, praying that John had run and by now was out front in the car ready to drive away. She dropped the gun, not out of magic bullets yet, but Bion was too close to Derek and Cassie to risk using it anymore-she might hit one of them.

Only one option then, and Sarah took a breath, hoping that John knew how much she loved him, that she wished she could have stayed with him, but that she would always give her life to protect him. She braced herself, ready to try and fight the terminator off with her bare hands-- and be killed in the process-- to give Cassie the time she needed to kill this thing for good and stop it from coming after John ever again.

But Cameron grabbed her jacket just as she was about to attack, pushing her back into the dirt before jumping Bion, forcing him away from the door just as John re-appeared inside.

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John ignored Derek, getting to his feet and rushing back into the kitchen he stopped beside where Cassie lay, pale but still breathing on the table.

"Got it," he said, pulling the box out. "Now what?" He looked back over his shoulder but the terminator was gone and there was the sound of gunfire outside again.

Derek grabbed his shirt roughly, pulling him away. "Now nothing John, you run, we fight."

John shook free, watching as Cassie struggled to flip the clasp and open the box with one hand, blood smearing its surface.

"Bull," John shouted it in Derek's face, eyes darkening and daring him to try and push him. "You can't secure the door and help Cassie," he said, winning the point as Derek swore, letting go and taking up a post by the door, breathing hard and gun at the read for when Bion was done with Cameron.

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Cameron's leap had knocked Bion away from the door, but it sent her tumbling also, and it was still closer to the door then she was. She rolled, trying to get closer as Bion recovered, getting to his feet and walking back towards the kitchen again…towards John.

You're failing your mission! A voice that was vaguely familiar yelled in her head, passionately. You're here to protect John Connor, if it gets him then you fail!

Cameron reached, seizing its leg and holding on, holding it still, her body a dead weight refusing to let him move.

He turned, looking down, half its face riddled with bullet holes and shining metal, a parody of the human being it had so accurately modeled. It kicked her, hard and she felt the impact as her body dented under the blows, but she didn't let go.

It reached down, grabbing her and trying to pull her off, prying at her fingers and she watched as one by one they came loose…freeing it.
It tossed her back, her body striking the side of the house and falling down, eyes registering static intervals inbetween clear imput that showed Bion moving towards the house again.

But Sarah was between it and the door, gun reclaimed and reloaded she fired steadily, making its head and torso even more of a mottled swiss cheese then it already had been. Bion ignored the bullets like they were nagging insects, catching Sarah by the throat and lifting her, fingers squeezing tight to cut off her air and snap her neck.

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"Shit!" Derek swore, abandoning the door and rushing outside.

John didn't let himself think about what was going on out there, it was enough that they were keeping Bion occupied, giving him and Cassie time and anything else…well…he could only help them one way now and that was by staying focused.

"Now what?" he asked, taking the box from Cassie's hand and flipping it open to reveal a medium sized black magnet that made the fridge rattle and spoons and forks from breakfast come flying at John. The metal door knobs started pulling the cupboards open and stray bullets from outside rolled in the door. When she said a powerful magnet would kill its chip, John didn't know she meant supernova powerful!

Just then Cassie screamed in pain and John jumped back as the metal of Bions' chip pierced through her closed fist, metal sharpening to a blade sticking through her hand before becoming liquid and trying to melt off.

Cassie clamped her other hand over it, only to have the metal again stab through her flesh, almost frantic in its attempts to return to Bions body.

"Give me the magnet!" Cassie yelled, and John dropped it into her open hand, watching as the blade of metal became molten again and then reformed into a chip on her palm, quivering but unable to morph and escape.

"Now John…hurry…" her voice sounded weak and as John took a step towards the table he slipped in her blood on the floor, streams running off the table and puddling on the tile. He picked up her knife off the table, using the sharp edge to pry open the chip, revealing the core inside and stabbing it with the knifepoint to pull it out. John lay the swirling metal core against the magnet in Cassie's hand, watching as it darkened and slowed finally stopping and melting to cover the magnet a dull and tarnished silver.

"You're safe now," Cassie said, her voice so quiet he could barely make it out. Her hands were shredded, but blood barely leaked from the gashes. "The future's safe now with you…" she reached out, thumb tracing the line of his cheek and fingers brushing his jaw before falling away to lay beside her still form on the table.

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Sarah saw the bright blue sky slowly replace the darkness in her vision and wondered for a moment if she was dead, but then she tried to move and felt pulled muscles and bruises that clearly meant life.

Hands helped her sit up, steadying her as she tried to speak, then winced, swallowed and tried again.

"What happened? Where's Bion?"

"I don't know," Derek said, arms strong around her. "He just kind of….melted…" he pointed past her to where a pool of metal lay in the grass, reflecting the sky above like an unnaturally still pond. Cameron stood beside it, and Sarah felt like she'd just fallen through the rabbit hole and nothing was as it should be.

"Where's John?"

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John stared, eyes unfocused looking at nothing….seeing nothing. It was so quiet…when had it gotten so quiet? And breathing was so hard…

"John?" Cameron…if she asked what was the matter with his eyes he might lose it.

"John…" his mother now, he heard the concern deepening her voice. "John, I'm sorry."

He jumped up, the sudden movement overbalancing the chair he had collapsed into and ran out of the room…only to be stopped and held in the doorway, unable to leave…unable to leave her alone. His fist struck the wall, leaving a smear of her blood on the wallpaper before he leaned his forehead against the wall, feeling wetness gather and obscure his vision.
She'd watched over him, fought for him, bled for him…died for him. Always alone and without anyone to look to for comfort or support, friendship or love….he wouldn't let her be alone now too.

He felt Cameron come up behind him, but she didn't touch him and he didn't turn.

"We have to dispose of the body John."

The lump in his throat threatened to choke him, cut off his air and he tried and failed to keep the image of her hair mingling with the dirt, the worms crawling over her skin…he gagged, stifling it by hiding his head in his arm.

"We'll bury her tonight, while it's dark," Sarah proclaimed. "Cameron go find the shovels."

"No, we can't."

John looked up surprised, for a moment believing that the words had come from his mouth, unbidden. They were so close to what he was thinking…screaming on the inside of his mind. He looked at Derek, feeling sick as Derek met his eyes then looked away.

"We have to burn her. We can't take the chance that anyone might find her body." Derek looked up at Sarah, the one person who if he convinced might be able to make it happen. "She's from the future, there can't be any DNA evidence for anyone to find…ever; it's standard procedure," he lied, hoping that she didn't see the glaring hole of why they hadn't burned the other dead future resistance fighters they'd encountered.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, clearly questioning him but she didn't voice them, only motioned to Cameron to come with her and find fuel for the fire.

"John," Derek tried to find where to begin…how to explain that there was no other way that this could have ended but with her death, that it was the path that she'd chosen long ago…but he knew it wouldn't make any difference. John bore the scars of every death under his command, Cassie's wasn't even the first and it wouldn't be the last.

"Just get it done," John said, his voice sounding rough and broken as Derek left him alone, and the tears began to fall, intermixing with the blood on floor.

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John carried Cassie's body from the car to the clearing in the desert, trying not to see how much brighter the stars were tonight then they had been yesterday on the rooftop…God it was only yesterday…it felt like years ago and at the same time only minutes.

He made his hands lay her softly down into the cool sand, but couldn't stop himself from brushing a stray ring of curls off her face, noticing again the small burns that marked her skin.

He stepped back, jaw clenched as Sarah and Cameron sprinkled white phosphorous over her, the powder looking like fairy dust in the moonlight. He held out his hand for the flare that Derek was holding, blindly, his fingers closing over the tube as it was pressed into his palm.

Ghosts don't die…ghosts don't die….ghosts don't die…The refrain echoed over and over again in his mind as he lit the flare, its red light seeming intrusive when everything else was touched with grey and white.

He wanted her to jump up, to brush the sand and powder from her clothes and smile at him again….he wanted to be able to fix her and make everything alright, like before.

He looked up, meeting each of their eyes in turn….

Derek stood a respectful distance away, eyes revealing nothing, hiding everything and waiting to see if John would live up to be the great leader he was supposed to be.

Sarah looked back at him, wishing that she could keep him safe from this all, eyes reflecting his pain at what he must do….at who he must become, but she didn't step forward and carry the weight of the future on her shoulders for him.

Cameron stood beside him, and her eyes expected nothing from him; they didn't question and gauge, or condemn, they simply watched him. Constant. He drew strength from the surety of her, from the unwavering faith he saw in their depths….and dropped the flare, the fire casting a red hue over the desert and all of them, alone in the night.

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*************Dedicated to English teaches who inspire their students,************* sit through draft after draft and question after question and read what must be a million spelling and grammar mistakes without ever so much as complaining.

Mrs. J, Mrs. B, and Mrs. A. I wouldn't even be able to write a sentence were it not for you let alone a story.

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