John knows that this war has to end.
He cannot allow his people to keep dying and losing their family members anymore. So, when his commanders say they can launch a final assault at Skynet and destroy it once and for all; he knows he has to agree despite the costs it will take. This attack will be immense and painful, but in the end this is what will save them. However, he also knows form his mother that he needs to send back a solider to protect her. If she dies, he would never be born. The resistance would not have a leader.
Skynet has a machine that will send back a Terminator to 1984 and John will do the same. He knows he has to send Kyle back, but he cannot force him. Kyle has to volunteer and want to do it himself. He will fall in love with Sarah on his own, perhaps he has already. John has filled his head with tales and stories of his mother and has shown him the photos. He will fall in love when he meets her.
The final Skynet attack will go ahead in four days. He has decided to bring four nurses on the field; Kate Lucas, Matthew Hepburn, Mason Rice and Quinn Abbott. Aaron Ryerson will be ready with a five person team back in the medical bay. He has to put his faith in his nurses. They can save his soldiers; they have before they can do it again.
John has to tell Quinn about his decision on her team, but she was not in the med bay. John rolls his eyes and rubs his brow with his hand. Keeping track of this woman can be difficult sometimes.
"Do you need any help, sir?"
John glances up to look at the source of the voice and finds Aaron. The blond man has his arms crossed and is staring at his leader with as a polite look as he could muster. There is a quiet tension between the two of them, but it is still clear. Ever since the time in the med bay when Quinn had the miscarriage and Aaron was furious and John protective, the two have been far from friendly. Just polite.
"I'm looking for Abbott." John replies. His voice is gruff as he stares at the blond man.
Aaron presses his lips together firmly before answering. "She has left the base. She went out with the girl."
John's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he perks up. "She what? Where are they? And under whose authority did they leave?"
"Um, I am not positive. Quinn, oh sorry, Abbott, said she needed more ingredients for her medicines and said she requested a leave with Laia so she could get some air. She got the acceptance from one of your commanders." Aaron answers.
John leaves without another word. His commanders should know better than to allow two people out without protection. It was plain stupidity. They're in a war zone but some people seem to like to pretend they're not. He goes to one of the computer logs in the control room and pulls up the information put in by Quinn a mere two hours before. His eyes scan the green screen, which is casting a soft glow on his face. According to the log, Quinn left with Laia to a location only a mile away due north and were on foot. They have a minefield set up for three miles, but the mines are only triggered by metal, so it was somewhat safe for Quinn to leave on foot. John knows where the location is; he was the one who discovered it. It's just a small patch of fertile earth with different plants growing, totally appealing to Quinn. He doubts she's brought any weapons though and is unprotected, and especially with Laia, he's not risking anything happening.
He closes the log and leaves the control room and begins walking to the exterior doors, grabbing a gun, plastic so he doesn't set off a landmine by accident, and strapping it to his leg before gesturing for the technicians to open the door. Before he can leave, a worried voice stops him. He shoots around and sees Kyle running towards him.
"Where are you going!?" Kyle shouts as he skids to a stop in front of John. His green eyes are wide and he's heaving from the run.
"I'm going to find Abbott, she has a child out there and it's not safe. I know you're going to ask to go, but you're not. Find out who gave Abbott permission to leave and remind them of the circumstances in which we live and also tell them no one is to leave this base without getting my permission first and unless there is a valid reason." John snaps then turns away and walks out the door without waiting for a response from Kyle. He has a duty to do and Kyle will have to do as he says.
Laia pulls at the daises in the ground, carefully attending each one. She is fashioning herself a little bouquet of flowers, complete with buttercups. Quinn smiles at the little girl who is so entranced with her work she barely notices. She still has her silver heart necklace fastened tightly around her neck.
They've been out for almost three hours, and Quinn knows it's almost time to return. John will wring her neck if she's out for too long and away from the base. Quinn knows this area is well protected and didn't expect to run into any problems, she just needed to get Laia out of the base and into the sun for a while. The child has been locked away for far too long. They spent the afternoon in the sun, with flowers and no one else around. It was lovely. It made Quinn feel… normal.
"Alright, come on, Laia. We need to get back," Quinn says as she stands up and extends her hand. The girl grabs it and she hops up and the two begin walking back. "Did you have fun?" she asks Laia.
"Yes! Can we come out here again sometime?" the girl answers. She sounds excited, for the first time in weeks.
"Perhaps, I will have to check with- wait who's that?" Quinn suddenly asks mid-sentence. A tall figure is approaching them through the gravel laden path. She knows almost instantly form the quick gate that it's John approaching them. He looks concerned and quickly reaches them with his quick pace. He looks at Laia, making sure she was in one piece and then looking at Quinn.
"Why did you leave without informing me?" he asks her firmly.
She covers Laia's ears before answering. "I knew you would say no but I had to get her out in the fresh air." John opens his mouth to argue but Quinn sends him a look that says "just don't".
John doesn't bother respond but simply nods and then gestures for the women to continue walking down the pathway back to the base. Laia is walking along and twirling her flowers absentmindedly down the gravel path. But suddenly, she stops and stares at the sly with wide eyes and she begins to tremble.
"Laia?" Quinn calls out when she notices the girls sudden stop.
John steps forward and reaches the girl to see what she is staring at and what he sees make his adrenaline immediately spike.
"DOWN!" he shouts and grabs Laia and throws her to the ground before dropping besides her, covering her head with his hands. A terminator helicopter, using a cloaking device, had been slowly creeping up to them. However, the cloaking mechanism has one little give away; it shimmers in the sun and Laia happened to see it. Just as John, Laia and Quinn drop to the ground, two T700 machines are dropped from the helicopter and land with a heavy thud on the ground. John is waiting, and everything seems still. He can feel Laia trembling under his arm, he can hear Quinn's quick breathing. The T700's begin to walk towards them, but those steps trigger the landmines. The dirt begins to shake and suddenly seven mines fly up and secure themselves on to the machines legs. The explosions are so powerful, John can feel his body being thrown back into the air. He feels Laia's little body collide with his as they both crash to the ground. Quinn is not far behind them and she is screaming as her ears begin ringing loudly due to the explosions. John tightens his hold on Laia to keep her from falling, because he realized they were blown directly to the edge of the cliff they were walking on. His foot slips off the gravely edge and his heart jumps as he pushes himself up. He looks over to Quinn who is lying on the edge too.
He looks up and sees that the torso of a machine survived. Its blood red eyes stare at him, and its arm reaches over in their direction. John sees the dirt begin to shake and a landmine breaks the surface of the dirt. He's about to try and shout, to warn Quinn of the emanate explosion, but it's too late. The force of the blast hits them and Laia is thrown out of his arms and he watches, his breath caught in his throat, as she goes tumbling over the side of the cliff.