Terminator: Resistance

Chapter Eleven: Sudden Savior

The only thing that Rivers could think to do as this man approached, was to keep his rifle aimed while ordering him to stop. All of the evidence pointed to the fact that this guy had killed Colin, and it wasn't unheard of for humans to kill each other, usually over supplies or a woman, or something like that, but usually the threat of a loaded M16 being pointed at them was enough to deter even the most hardened of killers. Not this guy though… even after seeing the Private cock the rifle and being ordered to stop a second time, the man just kept slowly walking toward him, just… staring at him with that blank expression on his face.

Unarmed or not, if this guy killed Colin, then he was a threat, so Rivers aimed a little lower, and then the factory echoed with the sound of a gunshot as the bullet slammed into the man's leg. Normally, being shot in the leg would cause a person to fall on the ground screaming, or at least stumble sideways and groan a lot if they were really, really tough, but this guy didn't even blink when he got hit, nor did the bullet in his leg even cause a break in his stride. He just kept walking toward him while the Private moved backwards at the same speed, until the man reached Colin's body… and reached down to pick up the rude guy's fallen rifle.

This, plus the fact that the back of his legs hit against one of the factory's deactivated conveyer belts, startled Rivers enough to make him pull the trigger again, this time causing the man's shirt to move when a bullet was sent right into his stomach. Even when wearing body armor, the impact of a bullet striking the metal plates was still painful and with a lot of force, but again the man didn't seem to even realize that he had been shot twice. He just kept coming, cold eyes locked onto the Private while slowly loading a new magazine into Colin's rifle, and Rivers finally had enough of this.

Using his thumb to move the weapon's function switch from SEMI to AUTO, the factory echoed loudly when the Private pulled the trigger, sending thirty rounds toward his stalker in only a few seconds. A few of them missed, sparking as the bullets hit metal machinery or the concrete floor, but most of them struck somewhere on the man's torso. He twitched this time, slowing down just a little in reaction to more than twenty bullets tearing into his flesh, and now there was blood staining his stalker's shirt.

Even if he were on some kind of crazy homebrew drug, even if he was wearing the best body armor available, that many bullets hitting a human being should have taken him down… but the only significant reaction came when one of Rivers' shots hit his stalker's rifle, forcing him to stop for a moment and inspect the weapon. How the hell was this guy still alive, the Private wondered in disbelief? He was bleeding profusely, the shirt almost completely soaked red, but the man's only concern was the inspection of the damaged rifle… until he tossed it aside and continued to walk toward the Private.

Genuinely frightened to the point of his hands shaking while trying to reload his own rifle, Rivers had to jump backwards, rolling his way across the top of the conveyer belt to avoid getting grabbed when his stalker reached him. Getting back to his feet as quickly as possible, the Private aimed and pulled the trigger again at point blank range, only to gasp when the man reached over and ripped the weapon from his hands with… incredible speed and force. With his free hand, the stalker backhanded him across the face, making Rivers' vision go white for a second as he reeled back into the next conveyer belt, and then slumping down onto the floor. His ears were ringing, and vision blurred, looking up at the man as he turned the rifle around and started to aim at him just as… just as the wall of the factory exploded?

No, the wall didn't explode, something slammed into it from outside, something big, and now that big something was barreling down right on top of him. No, wait… not right on top of him… but causing the stalker to turn toward it and fire a couple shots into the… into the very large truck just before it rammed right into him. With his ears still ringing, there was nothing to be heard when the truck pushed the man back hard enough to move and bend several conveyer belts until finally stopping against the other wall. Blinking and rubbing his eyes to try and focus, Rivers didn't see any sign of the man as he stood up… but then he realized that standing up was a bad idea when his vision tilted sideways.

It took the Private a second to realize that he had fallen back onto the floor, and… and, damn, that guy must have hit him in the head a lot harder than he thought, but… wait, something was moving. For a second Rivers started to panic when he saw a figure walking toward him from the wreckage that was now starting to burn, but it couldn't have been the stalker… no, he had been pinned by the front of the truck, and this new… hooded man had climbed down from inside the truck. But who the hell was it? Someone from the Resistance? No, they weren't wearing a uniform, and… and oh, God, the Private's head hurt to the point where he was starting to black out.

The hooded man was walking right toward him now, after stopping for a second to check the wreckage in front of the now destroyed vehicle. The ringing in his ears was fading a little, allowing Rivers to hear the stranger addressing him as Jacob, and asking if he was injured. Not a friendly tone, though, more irritated and matter-of-factly while constantly looking back at the wreckage. The Private tried to answer him, but this weak attempt at speaking only served to accelerate the process in which he was losing consciousness, and the next thing he knew, everything was different.

A clear, clouded sky was the first thing he saw the next time his eyes opened, and then Rivers noticed that the factory, the wreckage, and even that hooded guy were all gone. The smooth concrete floor he had been laying on had been replaced with the rocky blacktop of a… of a road? There were still buildings around, but they were small, nothing like what he had seen at the Warehouse District, and there were people. Everything was still a bit blurry as the shadowy figures rushed over to him, and only after blinking a few times did he realize that he knew them. The faces of Ryan, Erin, and Jennifer were over him now, and… wait a second, how in the hell had he gotten back to the hideout?

"Jacob, what happened?" Erin asked, taking out a small flashlight and shining it right into his eyes. "How did… Jesus, Ryan, don't move his head!"

"What? I'm just tryin' to get him off the ground." The older man replied, putting the Private's head painfully back down. "All that gravel can't be good for… damn, son, you must've taken one hell of a hit."

Yeah, he had, but unfortunately all Erin had for the pain was some long expired Tylenol that they found in one of the drawers while he and Colin were out… aw shit, now he had to tell them about Colin. After a long process of examining the Private's head, the three of them worked together to pick him up and carry him down the stairs into the hideout's main building, where they laid him on an old couch. The Tylenol was helping to at least take the edge off, and eventually Rivers was able to sit up, but now… now he had to break the new about the rude guy's death to her.

"So, he finally got himself killed, did he?" The older woman asked with a scoff. "Honestly, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Based on how Colin got along with everyone in the group, the Private hadn't expected her to fall to her knees and scream to the heavens or anything like that, but he was shocked by her complete lack of emotion… seemingly at all. I mean, he was one of them, probably for a long time. Erin, on the other hand was amused by his reaction, telling Rivers that the sudden death of a comrade was just something that people had to get used to, but also admitting that it was a lot easier to deal with when it was someone she didn't like to begin with.

"You know, I've only known these people for a short time." Erin continued, taking another look at his head. "Jennifer's father ran a shelter of sorts, but… maybe more of them would have survived if they listened to me."

Rivers wasn't sure what she was talking about in that last part, but based on the descriptions of what she tried to warn the others about at the shelter in Pasadena, it could have only been the Annihilation Line she was talking about. The older woman chuckled, asking if that was what he called the seemingly limitless army of Skynet's killers that was slowly marching across California. Yes, she had seen it, but the Resistance had always been able to keep the machines out of the city, so no one really cared, that is until the soldiers were suddenly gone and the new model machines marched right in. Then they were all ears, all right.

"So, you guys are all that was left from there?" Rivers asked. "How many others were…

"That's enough talk for now, young man." Erin interrupted, pushing him back down so that his head was on the old pillow. "I want you to spend at least the rest of the day off your feet, so take a nap or something."

With that, the older woman just got up and walked away, but then the Private realized that she was still taking care of that guy… what was his name, Mack? The one who got hurt back in Pasadena. That girl he had saved from the Scout Walker was there, too, trying to look after him, but from the little bits of the conversation Rivers could hear once Erin entered the other room to check on them, Laura didn't exactly know what she was doing. So, the Private followed her advice and tried to take a nap, but it felt like only a moment had passed before his eyes opened again in a place that was much darker.

No, it wasn't a different place, it was still the hideout, but the sun was just about down, and the basement had to be illuminated with the dim orange glow of what looked like oil lamps. Turning his head to get a better look around, the Private was startled to see that a shadowy figure was sitting there staring at him, but after blinking a couple times, he sighed with relief when he realized that it was Jennifer's little brother, Patrick. The little boy was just sitting there, but then he held out his hand, and opened it to reveal… a bullet? Huh? What?

"I got this for you." He proudly, but quietly declared. "Jennifer says I'm too young to be a scavenger, but see? I found this, so I can do it."

"That's, uh… great, Patrick." Rivers replied, sitting up slowly and then taking the gift. "Is, uh… your sister around?"

At first trying to decide what to tell Jennifer about Patrick's little adventure, the Private was distracted when the little boy told her that his sister had already gone out on a scavenging run. Apparently at some point Rivers had mumbled something about the university hospital that the Resistance might have taken over, and since he was out of commission, the young woman had gone there to try and make contact or at least find some more supplies for them… maybe some better weapons to defend against the new Terminators.

If the Resistance had taken over the hospital, then great, but the problem was that the intel only said they were watching the place, and not giving a reason. So for all he knew, the place could have been controlled by Skynet.