Chapter Four: No man may roam here
Summary
Ellison finds Savannah, John and his comrades prepare for their mission, John Henry and Cameron search for a way to enter Skynet Central
The school parking lot was full children flocking to their parents' car or the school bus. Savannah however; she had been sitting on the bench in front of the entrance doors waiting for her mother. This seemed unusual to her, as her mother would normally be already waiting for her by the time the final bell rang. She passed the time by dangling her feet over the bench and watching the other kids leave the schoolgrounds. Five minutes waiting quickly turned into ten, and Savannah began to worry. She stood up from her bench and began searching the parking lot for her mothers' car. Barely managing to avoid the vehicles rushing to get out of the parking lot and onto the street.
As Savannah squeezed in between an SUV, the driver rolled down the window and yelled, "Hey! Watch out squirt!" before quickly driving off. Opening way for the cars behind it to drive just as carelessly as the others. Savannah felt her cheeks get red, as she began to fear for her mother's wellbeing. The school parking lot was rather large, but it felt like it was getting smaller with the sheer amount of cars leaving; which resulted in the chances of finding her mother's car becoming slimmer and slimmer. As soon as she felt tears of begin to form in her eyes, she heard her name called from her side. She formed a relieved smile on her face as she turned to face the caller. What she saw was her principal, Mrs. Tatum waving her forth.
"Savannah! Come here, please!" she asked.
Savannah immediately began to become worried once more, why was the Principal trying to get her attention? Was she in trouble? Savannah's cheeks turned beet red, and she saw her teacher give her a warm smile. "Savannah, you're not in trouble honey. Just please come here." she reassured. Upon hearing these words, Savannah's smile returned again. Her reluctance to approach her teacher faded away, and she strolled over to the sidewalk Mrs. Tatum was at.
When she reached her, Mrs. Tatum knelt in front of her and gave her a reassuring smile. Savannah at first didn't notice the police officer behind her, and Savannah began to feel a little worried again. Mrs. Tatum put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Savannah, honey. This is Officer O'Neil, he needs to talk to you for a moment- so go with him, okay?" she explained.
Savannah gave her a worried look, and her eyes widened with every second. She reluctantly directed her gaze to the six-foot tall, buzz-haired man to her left. He saw her young features outline complete and utter fear, like a dog hearing a vacuum for the first time. The officer knelt down in front of her just like Mrs. Tatum did, and spoke in a calm, soothing voice. "Savannah, don't worry. You're not in trouble, I just need to talk to you about your mother." he said.
Savannah's eyes widened even more, and Mrs. Tatum gave the officer a worried look, obviously not happy with his wording. When Savannah spoke again, it was in a tiny, worried and sorry voice. "Is mommy in trouble?" she asked.
Officer O'Neil mentally kicked himself. "No Savannah. We just need to talk about your mother for a minute okay? Nobody is in trouble." he said in a calm voice. Savannah averted her eyes to the ground, and after a few seconds of tension-filled silence, she nodded...
Officer O'Neil barely managed to pick himself up without being met with a skull-burning glare from the clearly upset principle. He walked slowly away and watched Savannah sulk slowly behind him. Savannah spared a glance at her surroundings and watched her fellow classmates beaming warm smiles at their parents as they entered their respective cars. This only served to make Savannah more nervous; why was the policeman looking for her mother? Had she broke the law? He said she wasn't in trouble, but her mother taught her that policemen often say things that mislead you.
She followed Officer O'Neil down the hallway all the way down to the school's office. When she and the officer entered, he turned to face her and gestured toward the chairs near the window. "Savannah, will you please wait for me while I go get some things from Principal Tatum's office? I will be right back, okay?" he said. Savannah still didn't raise her eyes to meet him but nodded slowly and sadly at his request. Officer O'Neil frowned; he didn't have kids and based on the way he was handling this one... he wasn't exactly sure if he was qualified to have one either...
He left the sad Savannah alone in the office lobby as he awkwardly pulled away from his own internal conflict of whether to comfort her or not. She finally managed to look up slowly and watched the officer walk into her Principal's office. The child began to feel that painful loneliness she had felt outside when she was alone- waiting for her mother. The silence was broken when she heard a quiet rift pass in the room that carried her name...
"...Savannah!..." the almost inaudible male voice called to her.
At first, Savannah looked to her right, seeing only empty chairs and the unmanned desk of the school's secretary. She heard the whisper again...
"...Savannah!..." it called.
The young girl finally began to pinpoint the source of the voice; coming from the entrance door to the lobby. When she looked over, her face displayed nothing but utter shock at the person standing in the frame... James Ellison. He put his index finger to his lips in a 'shh' gesture and followed that with the universal gesture for 'come here' by waving his hand back. He saw the confusion race across the child's face, but he didn't have time to explain right here and now. He simply repeated the 'come here' gesture, and Savannah leaped off the chair she was sitting on.
When she got to the door frame, she looked up at the former FBI agent with those pleading puppy dog eyes. "Mr. Ellison! Where's mommy? Is she ok-" she was cut off when the Ellison cupped his hand over her mouth. Luckily the hallway was desolate, so when he entered he didn't have to clumsily weave his way through in an attempt to be stealthy. "Savannah, listen to me. We need to get out of here, and when we go find Sarah, we will talk about your mom, okay?" he said.
Savannah nodded, but Ellison could tell she was still confused and possibly scared. When he took his hand off her mouth, she spoke... "But the Policeman told me to wait here." she argued.
Ellison knelt down and gave the girl a warm smile. "Savannah, please. You have to trust me, okay?" he said.
He saw Savannah struggle for a minute, and Ellison was afraid she might rat him out to the cop, but she finally nodded. Ellison rushed her out of the lobby and down the hallway, just in time too, as he saw the police officer walking out of the principal's office shuffling papers.
2027
It was a barracks, no doubt. The musky scent of alcohol filled the air, mixed with the decaying scent of sweat. As soon as John walked into the door, he winced at the terrible combination of odors. Allison turned around and smirked at him. "Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to the smell." she said.
John barely managed to force a smile at her. As soon as she turned away, he snuck a quiet hack from his mouth to get the taste of what he could only describe as "grease flavored air" out of his mouth. As much as he hated the idea, he had to follow Allison inside. The smell only grew worse after every step he took, and eventually, he found himself standing in one spot next to Derek and Kyle as Allison walked over to one of the Resistance soldiers tending to his pack.
"Howard?" she asked him quietly.
The soldier turned around and smiled at her. He was a man maybe in his early to mid-forties, messy-brown hair, and he was fairly short for a man, John guessed around 5'6". "Hey, hey, hey, Al. How ya' doing?" he asked cheerily.
Allison smiled back and gave him a quick hug. "I'm great! How was the supply run?" she asked him.
Howard smirked. "Ah, standard stuff. Got a few water bottles, some rancid sardines from that supermarket that was blown to hell, axed a few trip-eights. You know- everyday stuff." he answered.
Allison turned around and gestured toward John. "Well, this is John. He's our new guy!" she introduced.
Derek stepped in at that moment, not even giving Howard or John a chance to speak. "Well, he's not one of us. He's just a temporary recruit that we have until he can prove to us he's not a Grey." Derek said.
Even though he wouldn't admit it openly, Derek's words stung John. It was weird, the previous Derek treated him like Family, like blood. But this one just saw him as an outsider, not even worth the dirt under his rotten shoe. He probably didn't think he could even fight, let alone be the messiah of the Human Race.
Howard cocked his eyebrows at this and looked between Allison and John back and forth with an amused smile. "So what do they have ya' doing?" he asked them both.
Allison answered, "John here is actually from a bunker near L.A. His sister took shelter there after the bombs fell, apparently they're stocked pretty well. We're going there to grab supplies." she said.
Howard's eyes widened. "You're robbing him?" he asked incredulously.
"Yup"... John thought.
Allison was quick to deny and shake her head. "Oh, no no!". She stumbled over her words for a moment, probably realizing there wasn't really a better way to put it than Howard had just done. "He's just willing to share his supplies with us." she clarified.
Everybody just stood there staring at each other awkwardly. None of them really knowing how to advance the conversation until Allison spoke. "Well... It's starting to get dark and Perry wants our mission to begin tomorrow morning, Derek and I have got nightly patrol. I'll see you all in the morning." she said, breaking the awkward silence.
Howard nodded, and Allison walked out of the barracks. When she reached the door frame, John couldn't help but sneak a glimpse of her nicely sculpted backside as she walked away. He felt a small nudge in his right arm and turned to see Howard eyeing him rather suspiciously. "Hey! Eyes to yourself Connor! Though I can't really blame you. She's quite a looker am I right?" he joked.
John laughed awkwardly at Howard's sense of humor, and with a playful slap on John's shoulder, they both parted, leaving Derek and Kyle standing alone in the barracks. Kyle looked up to his older brother, a very amused smirk pasted on his face. "Goddamn Derek, lighten the hell up. You look like you're about to tear the poor kid's head off..." he joked.
"We find this kid in the middle of the most fortified Resistance base in the sector, nobody knows him, yet somehow he knows us, his hair is more perfect than one of those Nickelodeon boy-band lead singers, and he smells the part too. That doesn't strike you as a little suspicious?" Derek replied in a confrontational voice.
Kyle shrugged, although he found himself agreeing with his older brother the more he thought about it. "Yeah... I see your point. But can't we at least give him a chance? Maybe he looks the way he does because of all that surplus cleaning supplies in the bunker?" he said as he scratched his head. "Usually you talk to Perry about these things though." he said.
Derek clicked his tongue in disagreement. "I don't know, Kyle. That's a bit of a stretch... the general can usually spot Greys like a Vulture spots roadkill. I wouldn't go so far to say this kid is definitely a Grey; but there's something about him that just feels... off." he said.
Kyle smile brightened, and Derek dreaded his response- because he knew exactly what it was going to be. "Awww! You don't want little Johnny fooling around with Allison, huh?" he teased.
Derek shook his head in annoyance. "No, Kyle. First off, I would hope Allison has a better taste in men than that. Hell, I'm pretty sure Howard would be a better match for her!" Derek said, clear venom and disgust dripping from his tone. "Second, Allison is like my little sister, if he ever laid a hand on her, I'd break it off!" he said.
"Oooo Kayyy." Kyle said mockingly. He slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get the hell outside, our patrols start soon."
John Henry awoke from standby mode. He felt his circuits slowly breathe life into his systems. He quickly scanned the room to make sure he was the only one there and stood up from the stool he had been sitting on. He walked up to the stairs and peeked out into the shredded landscape. From the cellar door frame, he saw the light consume the darkness on the Horizon, only to be met with the sprawling blue searchlights of Skynet central.
"Where are we going next, John Henry?" Cameron's text asked him.
John Henry pointed toward the fallen Los Angeles. "There... Skynet central; the place where no men may roam." he answered.
"It is dangerous there. But there is a way we can sneak past the patrols there without a chance of getting caught. When the Resistance re-programs a Terminator, it wipes the ID code from the machine's systems; that way the Resistance can't use that machine for infiltration. However, if you download an ID code into your own systems from a Terminator, you may be able to successfully infiltrate the base." Cameron explained.
John Henry was rather confused at her logic. "How will I download the ID code without removing my own chip and replacing it?" he asked.
"The chip my model possess has a small slit that can hold the very tip of another Terminator chip in the case that nobody can remove mine and download the information by placing that chip in its place. You can select the item you wish to transfer and then you will have your own ID. You simply need to remove the port and insert the tip inside. Make sure you download a Triple-Eight's code, as if you download another model-such as a T-Eight-Hundred; it will reject the transfer and the likelihood of being compromised increases thirty-six percent. The ID code needs to match the chassis it was assigned for."
John Henry didn't reply, he simply directed his gaze back to the the city. He considered his options before he finally decided to agree on Cameron's plan. "Very well. We'll do it your way."
Chapter 4 of the REDUX. Uploaded July 6th, 2019.
Thank you for reading.
