Chapter 12: Baptism by Fire

Summary

John reconciles with Cameron, The Resistance makes a bold move.


Sunlight pierced through the window, causing the brightness to strain on John's still-closed eyelids. "Ugh" he groaned to himself, his unwillingness to wake up vastly outweighing his will too.

I guess it couldn't hurt to sleep another thirty minutes; after all, mom's not here to enforce the rule... John thought jokingly to himself. He smirked and turned away from the window and went back to sleep. At least he tried to, with his bed being a bathtub and all.

Ultimately, his efforts were useless, when three knocks were heard from the metal door. John groaned, wanting nothing more than just to curl up and speak to no one. He came to the conclusion there was no avoiding waking up now.

"Yes?" he called to the door.

"John, it's Cameron." she paused for a moment. "I have your breakfast, I found some unopened MRE's in the mess hall. Savannah says they taste like 'sandpaper after being soaked in mud for twelve hours' but they were all I could find."

It wasn't a great sales pitch, but as Cameron said - choices were limited. Yeah, breakfast wouldn't hurt... he thought to himself.

He stood up, put on a shirt, and walked over to the door, opened it, and sure enough, a patient Cameron stood on the other side with a silver bag in her waiting hands, "Here you go, John." she offered. John smiled and took the bag.

"Thanks Cameron." he said.

"You're welcome." the machine replied.

He didn't turn around and walk away like the cold sonofabitch he could be, he simply stood in front of Cameron and briefly eyed her over. Cameron looked back at him curiously, wondering what was so interesting, "Are you okay?" she asked.

John snapped out of his brief trance, unsure of why he got so caught up in his state of shock, "Yeah! I'm fine." he replied with a bit of exaggerated happiness. Of course, his strangely presented retort warranted a curious look from Cameron.

"Hey, Cameron, would you take a seat for a minute? I have some things to get off my chest." he requested.

Cameron didn't say anything, she wondered what John had on his mind, but she decided not to question anything she, didn't want to stress John further. She smiled, nodded, walked into his room, and took a seat on the rim of the tub. She then looked at him patiently.

John sat on the rim opposite her. He took a deep breath, and began to speak, "...Cameron... I need to apologize." he started. Of course, he paused and took in Cameron's reaction. It was a simple tilt of the head, a feature of which John would point out to himself she does rather often, enough to be called her 'quirk'.

He noticed Cameron changed her posture slightly, "I don't understand, John. For what?" she asked.

John sighed and looked away. For some odd reason, the innocent look of Cameron solidified John's guilt. All she had wanted to do was protect him, and he'd thrown it in her face. Every moment in the future he'd spent was in pursuit of one goal: find Cameron. He had, and he wouldn't cheat himself out of a happy reunion because of his conflicting feelings.

Time to man up, John. You're not in the third grade, it shouldn't be hard to say, "I'm sorry."

John took a deep breath, "Cameron... I shouldn't have reacted the way I did last night. I was mad, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It's just that I've been under a lot of pressure, and I'm not sure what to make of this whole situation I'm in." he admitted, he watched Cameron study him.

Suddenly, he did something that surprised them both, he reached over, and tenderly took her hand, and looked her straight in the eye, his heart was heavy with emotion, "Cameron... you are my best friend. You've been my best friend ever since you saved me from Cromartie and the other Terminators - which you still do." he added.

Cameron continued to remain silent, although her expression signified worry, John was too caught up in his words to notice, "I just... don't think I ever thanked you. So... thank you." he said. He looked Cameron deep into her eyes, hoping he could see the glint that would confirm her own version of hidden humanity. For some reason, the metal side of her face which exposed her red-eye made her more of a person to him now than it ever did.

Cameron's bottom lip hung slightly, unsure how to respond at first, but then she began to speak. The words that left her mouth were laced with... sadness? Or was it sorrow? "I accept your apology, John." she said.

John's pulled himself closer to Cameron and embraced her. He tried to find words to speak, but no success was given. He decided to bask in the silence, just happy to hold Cameron again.


Savannah slammed her fist onto the door. "John! Come on, get up!" she screamed.

John and Cameron looked to the door, with the loud pounding erupting from the other side. "John!" a shout was heard. John noticed he was holding Cameron's hand, and he released his grip and made his way to the door. He opened it and saw Savannah looking rather terrified.

"What is it? What's wrong?!" he asked her rather urgently.

Savannah's eyes widened. "John! Skynet's here! We have to go!" she screamed at him. John didn't even respond as he watched Savannah sprint down the hallway, only to address him by looking over her shoulder and yelling, "COME ON!"

John turned around to tell Cameron but found her brushing past him in haste. "We should arm you with a weapon at the armory." she instructed.

John was still trying to wrap his mind around what was going on, he had experienced shocking and sudden experiences before, but a Skynet assault force at seven in the morning was kind of pushing it. He and Cameron jogged to the other end of the compound and Cameron tore away the steel door that sealed the armory. She armed herself and John with a pair of M4A1 rifles and their respective magazines.

"We have to go." she said. John nodded in agreement, but before they could retreat, a thunderous crash was heard above them, and part of the ceiling collapsed down in front of the armory entrance; effectively blocking them.

John began to panic, "Shit! What do we do?" he asked frantically.

Cameron looked around the armory, she was unsure of how to escape. Suddenly, a loud hurricane of sounds hovered above them; Cameron and John looked upward to see an aerial Hunter-Killer scanning the room. And a blue light was seen forming near the barrel of it's mounted turret. Cameron reacted quickly and pulled John away from the plasma blast as it hurled towards him in the air, striking the ground with a burst of blue glow and energy.

John's heart was racing fast, he turned towards his savior and nodded his head in appreciation, "Thanks." he said.

Cameron briefly returned his worried gaze, "You're welcome." she responded quickly, and continued her scan of the room, she found a particularly vulnerable spot in the concrete wall that was holding the armory together, and she quickly began a physical assault. "Stay in cover, John!" she yelled at him. John nodded quietly, and he returned his attention to the H-K, fully expecting it to aim for another shot. He gazed in horror as the H-K turned it's nose away and showed it's rear towards the opening in the ceiling. It was then that he noticed that not only was it gunship... it was a dropship. The door containing god-knows-how-many machines opened slowly.

John looked towards Cameron and found she wasn't making very good progress when he found the concrete was still holding up rather well. Almost sensing John watching her, Cameron turned around and explained, "John, I can't damage the wall. It's reinforced by something." she reported. John felt his chest tighten, and he looked up towards the HK as it lowered itself closer to the ceiling. He looked around, searching for anything that could help them. He felt blessed when he spotted a package of C4 hanging on a rack near the guns.

Cameron saw where he was looking, and she retrieved the charges and handed them to John. "Here, set the C4. I'll cover you." she said, she tried to walk away to guard the ceiling rubble, but she felt resistance as John held onto her arm, and she looked at him in confusion.

John stared deeply into her eyes, his expression laced with worry, "Be. Careful." John instructed firmly.

He fears for my safety. He cares. she analyzed.

Cameron stared at him blankly, disregarding the data that told her to smile and slowly snaked her arm away reluctantly. John scooped up the C4 charge in his arms, and he made his way towards the impact point on the wall to set the charges. Meanwhile, the dropship was opening its rear doors, and a full Terminator squad was beginning to pour out. John stared in horror, there was no way Cameron would be able to handle four Terminators at once!

He tried to distract himself by continuing to set the charge, but he couldn't get his mind off of the overwhelming odds Cameron was facing. He tried not to turn around and face his fear, but he couldn't control his head which was practically on autopilot. Suddenly, he heard an explosion slam into the side of the Hunter-Killer, and he looked up to see the machine losing control. It toppled away from the opening in the ceiling, dropping one single triple-eight, and then crashing into the side of the Silo.

The triple-eight landed on its hands and knees, it stood up slowly and made a charge for Cameron. She did not react quickly enough however, and the superior weight of the larger machine gave her the misfortune of being tackled to the ground. The machine turned Cameron on her back and began to twist her arm around in an attempt to disable it, but Cameron countered by smashing the back of her metal skull into her opponent's nose; the initial force of the blow caused the machine to jolt it's head back, and Cameron used the small window of opportunity to recover from her vulnerable position, and she kicked the machine away.

Attagirl. John thought as he watched the fight.

He finished the C4 placement and turned around to assist Cameron.

Cameron stood up and grabbed the machine by its chest plate, and she slammed it against the concrete wall. Before it could recover, a hail of bullets tore into its servos, causing slight malfunctions in its system. Both John and Cameron knew those rounds wouldn't do a lick of damage to the endoskeleton, but it sure came in handy to disable the wires and possibly slow down the machine. Cameron sweep-kicked the machine onto the ground, it landed on it's back, and Cameron seized the opportunity for a devastating assault.

She began to use her fists as a small, mobile battering ram, and her strength alone began to tear away at the machine as it grasped for Cameron.

"Take out his chip!" John shouted. Cameron heard him, and she pinned down the machine by its arms. She looked up, "Hurry!"

John slid into position next to the machine's head, and he took a knife from the nearby crate and propped open the chip port. He saw the glaring red eyes of the metal head, begging, demanding for his blood. John tried his best to ignore it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sharp pliers and tore out the chip with effort. He sighed in relief as he watched the machine's eyes go dead.

Cameron stood up, she looked at John and smiled in appreciation, "Thank you for helping me." she said.

John replied with his own smile, "The least I could do is return the favor." he replied with his face going a little red.

John saw their friendship slowly begin to heal as he and Cameron stared into each other's eyes; unfortunately, he had bigger things to worry about. He and Cameron took cover as John pressed the detonator, and chunks of concrete and small bits of Coltan rocketed out of the way. The pair made their way outside and back into the hallway.


"John! Cameron!" the familiar voice of Savannah called out to them. The pair looked towards the right end of the hallway, and they both saw Savannah waving them forward with her right hand, while her left was occupied holding an anti-tank launcher, no doubt the one that brought down the HK.

"Go with her, John. I need to get John Henry's body." Cameron said.

John turned around and looked at his companion in shock. "What?! NOW? No, I won't let you go alone! I just found you!" he protested.

Cameron looked at him sadly, and she snaked her hand around his jaw; her smooth skin easing his mind, and then... she did something that made John's brain turn to mush. He felt Cameron's lips leave a mark on his right cheek, and he stared at her in utter shock. She had just kissed him.

She withdrew her hand slowly and took steps backward. "I'll be all right, John. I'll catch up." she said, and before John could speak his mind, Cameron broke into a sprint down the opposite hallway.

John stood in the middle of the hallway, completely unsure of how to respond, his brain was buzzing with confusing reactions. Suddenly, a piercing pain formed in his arm as a bullet struck him in the muscle. He screamed in pain, "SHIT!" he screamed, and he retreated behind the door that was open. Savannah watched in horror as a dozen machines came up the stairs, all firing their weapons in her and John's direction. She wasted no time aiming the launcher at the small group, and she fired-sending a rocket whistling down the hallway. It struck right above the wall that enclosed the stairs, probably taking out three of them.

John saw his chance to run, and he broke into a full sprint toward Savannah. His arm was gushing small amounts of blood, he and Savannah knew they wouldn't last long if they didn't get out of the hallway this minute. Savannah tore off a piece of her jacket and wrapped it around the wound. "We'll get the bullet out later. Right now, we need to get the hell out of here." Savannah said as she tied the cloth in a knot.

The pair took an alternate exit out of the facility, Savannah climbed down a ladder that led outside. She was followed by John, and the two eventually found themselves outside where they had parked the truck. They made their way towards the vehicle, and Savannah tried her best to start the truck, unfortunately, the fifteen-year-old engine was giving her problems. "Come on! Come on you piece of shit!" she vented as the key failed to produce a response.

John saw Cameron running outside carrying John Henry in her arms. She opened the back door and slid him into the back seat.

"Drive." she ordered.

Savannah slammed her arm into the wheel. "Shit! It won't start." she said as the truck let out another failed whine. The glass in front of her shattered, and Savannah ducked along with John. Cameron saw a firing squad of T-888s firing F-2000 Assault Rifles at them. It was only a matter of time before they were overrun. Then, like a blessing from the heavens, the truck rumbled to life, and everyone held their breath to see what the next few moments would hold.


Savannah floored the gas pedal, sending the truck screeching in reverse, and she quickly adjusted the gear into drive, before sending her foot plummeting onto the gas again. John looked behind him to see the truck was quickly leaving the Terminators behind, and he sighed in relief. John was almost out of breath, and he checked his arm to find the cloth that Savannah had wrapped around his wound was soaked in blood. It stung like hell too.

The sudden red outburst grabbed Cameron's attention, and her eyes widened at the wound, "John, are you okay?" she asked in a worried tone.

John nodded, "I'm fine. Just stings a bit." he replied as he tried to control his breathing. Cameron used her enhanced vision to determine the impact point, and how to get the bullet out.

5.56 NATO round. EXTRACTION CAN BE PERFORMED MANUALLY - SUGGEST MINIMAL PRESSURE TO MINIMIZE PAIN FOR SUBJECT.

Cameron looked at John, with dread very much present, "John... I need to remove the bullet. Please... don't move."

John began to protest, "Cam! Wait!" he yelled as he tried to halt her; only to be cut off by the sound of his own yelp of pain.

Savannah turned around for a brief moment, "Hey! What the hell's going on back there?" she asked in worry and slight annoyance. She was met with the sight of Cameron digging a small blade into the bullet wound in John's arm. Shocked by the sight, she felt the truck bump high in the air from steering off course.

Cameron snapped her head up and glared at Savannah. "Pay attention! I cannot keep the bullet removal process steady if you are not keeping the vehicle itself steady!" the Cyborg growled. Although Savannah was indeed scared by Cameron's outburst, it sounded like she had been actually angry with her. Not that she could blame her...

Cameron returned her attention to John. She reached over and gently stroked his jaw with her thumb, she looked into his eyes, "It'll be okay, John. I will not let you die." she promised.

John smiled at her, "I know you won't." he said as his eyes closed, he felt the world enclose around him, he couldn't hold on. His head drooped off to the side, hanging off of John Henry's thigh.

Cameron felt an unwelcome surge pass through her systems, "John!" she yelled. She continued to peel away the bloody skin, eventually revealing the bullet buried deep in muscle and tissue. She carefully plunged the knife into the unconscious John's arm and plucked away the shell. She watched it race through the air, before finally coming to rest on the floorboard. Cameron initiated a heart scan and found that John was still alive, but his heart was pumping faster to compensate for the blood that was lost. She quickly tore off part of her sleeve and replaced the cloth that Savannah had used.

Before she could proceed any further, she felt the vehicle come to a dead halt. She looked at Savannah who was staring straight forward at the road ahead. Cameron focused her attention to where Savannah was staring at, and she was met with the sight of two CH-47's landed in the middle of the road. She watched a large Afro-American man step out of the back and hold up a megaphone to his mouth.

"Savannah Weaver, John Connor, and those who accompany - you are traitor's to the Resistance and you will be court marshaled. Step out of the vehicle with your hands-up; if you don't, my troops have the authority to use deadly force." he said.

"Perry." Cameron muttered to herself. She observed the two squadrons of Resistance fighters aiming their guns at the truck. If they opened fire, John would be defenseless, and John Henry would be compromised. Savannah turned around and looked at her, unsure of how to respond.

"Do it." A text displayed on her HUD.

A moment passed by as Cameron failed to move. And John Henry wrote again, "You and John will be fine... I promise."

Cameron felt something in her chest. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like something was falling, but it was stuck somewhere and didn't. What was happening? She didn't have time to analyze it. She and Savannah stepped out of the truck with their hands up. General Perry gave the signal for his troops to secure the truck. Savannah looked at the CH-47 and saw Derek and Kyle. They were both standing with guns in hand giving her a hated glare that said: 'Traitorous bitch'.

Savannah felt tears threaten to spill. She had come so close, only to be stopped by the people she wanted nothing more than to protect. She had failed.