Forward
"In this war, you either move forward or you die, there is no in-between."-
Lt. Jake Connor, 2042
Why couldn't Will find anybody?! Why were all the bad skeletons here?! Where were mommy and daddy?!! Will ran through the streets, but there were always more bad skeletons! Why were there so many?! Where was everybody?! Will began to cry again; he wanted mommy!! He wanted something to eat! Something touched his shoulder, Will screamed. He tried to run, but the monster held him!
"It's okay, little boy, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." A nice voice said. Will turned around, it was a lady, and she looked really nice, but-
"What about all the monsters?!" the lady smiled sadly and brought him in for a hug. He looked up at her and she said,
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big bad monsters, okay? My name is Mrs. Michiko, what's yours?"
"Will." The lady smiled again and took his hand.
"You're very hungry, aren't you," Will nodded, he was really, really hungry, "I know a place we can get some food, follow me, k?" Will nodded again and held Mrs. Michiko's hand. He was gonna get some food!
After walking for awhile, Will looked up at the sky. It was all black, but where were the stars? He looked up at the lady.
"Ma'am, where are all the stars?"
"I-...it's just a real cloudy night, Will." He frowned a bit,
"Then when is the sun gonna come up?"
"I...I honestly don't know, Will." Will frowned more, what did that mean? And why did the lady look so sad?
It was a rare thing that John could remember his dreams. His nightmares...
Where was he? Dark, so dark. He couldn't see thing. Where was he!? What was going on?! He turned, there had to be, there was always a way out, a way to stop it. He turned again and- there he was. It was the T-800, his terminator, just before he had lowered himself into the steel, right here In front of him. Just before John had lost his only father. Suddenly, he was just ten years old, unwilling to let go. The T-800 looked down at him.
"I know now why you cry. And I know it is something I can never do." Then the terminator was gone, and more darkness. What was going on?! He turned yet again and John was back in Mexico, seven years ago. Watching his mother die. She had so much trouble breathing, no doctors around, John couldn't do a thing. Sarah looked at him, tried to say something; the words wouldn't come out.
"It's okay, mom, it's okay." The tears coating his voice. Finally the words came.
"I-I'm s-so sorry," her breaths were short, weak, "Ah-I-I," she could barely breathe now, "I love..." Then it ended. Sarah Connor, the legend, the hero, his mother, was dead. John fell to his knees. Why? Why did he have to go through that again, dammit?! He looked up once more. He was in some kind of building. Where?- Before John stood himself, older, scarred, tired. The older John then spoke words that would ruin his mother's life.
"Thank you for you courage through the dark years. I cannot help you with what you must soon face, but know that you must be stronger than you imagine you can be. You must survive, or I will never exist. Remember, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves." No fate, huh?! They could make up their own fate, was that it?!
"BULLSHIT," the younger John said, "WE CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING, YOU LYING BASTARD!!" Look at him, standing there so smug, so calm- what the hell was wrong with him?! John tackled the elder one to the ground. Bash his head in, punched him.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT YOU FUCKING BASTARD!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" John opened his eyes and screamed. Under him lay not his other self, but Kate. She was dead, a rivulet of blood coming from her mouth. No, no, no, NO. John looked around, it was an endless field of people. They were all dead, skin and flesh charred off, leaving nothing but blackened bone. He looked back at Kate, John screamed once more as he watched the woman he loved turn into a skeleton. Flesh charring away, curling from the bone. Oh God, no, no! John looked up, up at a gleaming endoskeleton, its soulless red eyes. He screamed.
Bolting up, he looked around wildly for a moment. The door burst open and Kate rushed in.
"John! Are you okay, you were screaming!" Realization glazed her eyes, her voice softened.
"It's okay, John, it's okay." She reached for him he batted her hands away. He couldn't face her now. He fled, couldn't face it now. John ran to his only refuge, his only solace- the armory. He sat at one of the crates, and put his face in his hands.
His mommy and daddy had said that sewers were dirty places and that he should stay away from dirty places. Will looked up at Mrs. Michiko.
"Do we have to go there? It's all dirty and icky and nasty down there." The lady smiled at him.
"Yes, we have to go down there. But, I have some friends down there, really nice ones. And there's food too." Will grinned. He was finally gonna get some food!
"C'mon, we got to go get some food!" He grabbed the sewer cover and pulled. The cover didn't move. He tried again, it was too heavy!
"How are we gonna get the cover open?" Mrs. Michiko pulled out some kind of metal thing from her bag. Will pointed at it and asked,
"What is that? Is it for getting the cover off?" The lady smiled again and said,
"It's called a crowbar and yes, it is for getting the cover off." She placed the curved end of the crowbar and pushed the rest of the bar down. And just like that, the cover was open and Mrs. Michiko pushed it to the side. Wow, what a cool thing. The lady started to climb down the ladder and grabbed his hand.
"Come on, Will. That's it, climb down just like that."
When they got to the bottom, the lady held him by the hand and led him along the side. He wondered if the lady's friends would have hot dogs, or hamburgers, or...candy! Going down the path, Will squinted, was that a light way down there?
As they got to the light, a big man came toward them.
"Thanks God you made it back, Nani," the big man looked down at Will, "And who might you be, little tyke?"
"My name is Will Perry."
"And my name is Jack Baner, nice to meet you." Mrs. Michiko looked up at the man.
"I found him a couple of miles from here, all alone. How are the sick ones doing?" Mr. Baner looked down.
"Not to good, I mean we don't even know what's wrong with them, how can we help 'em? I-I don't think Rickie's gonna last another day." The lady looked down. She led Will into a little room on the side of the sewer. There were lots of people here, Mrs. Michiko led him through the people. Was this where you got food? The crowd cleared and his mouth dropped.
A whole row of people on the floor, all of them sick. The people breathed all weird, like they wanted to cough but couldn't. They looked all fat and stuff, but it was weird...they didn't look...right. Mrs. Michiko stopped in the middle of the row. It was sick boy, and a girl was sitting beside him holding his hand. The boy looked sicker than the others; Mrs. Michiko sat and held the boys other hand. The boy grimaced and tears started coming down his face.
"Mama, mama. Where's my mama?" He whispered. Will felt sorry for the boy, he wanted to help...but...
"Ma'am, can you help him?"
"No, Will, I don't even know what's wrong with him." The little girl tugged on Mrs. Michiko's dress.
"Is my brother gonna die?" the lady gave the girl a hug. Will didn't think he was very hungry anymore.
John stared at the floor of the armory. That nightmare had been so, so unfair. Seeing Kate lying there, dead, seeing her just...crumble away...he'd thought of her as his love. He had thought he loved her. Did he? But, if he did, then it just proved he could never change anything. Proved that everything...his whole life up to now hadn't meant a damn thing. How could he? How could he say those words, that lie? How could he send his own father to die? What could drive him to make the life of his own mother meaningless?
John heard her footsteps...could he really be in love with her? Kate stopped a few meters from him.
"Look, John, you had a bad dream. I know what it was about. Do you think I wasn't torturing myself, trying to figure out some way to change all this? Well, I have. And do you know what I realized, huh, John? There is no changing it, not a damn thing. There never was. We can never save those three billion people. But we can save what's left, we can make sure some part of humanity lives on. I can't save those people alone, John. You know that, you know who you are." She stopped, he stared. Nothing they ever could do. He had thought that same thing just hours ago...He looked at her. She was moving forward, holding back the pain. What an amazing person...She moved away, to one of shelves and grabbed a grenade launcher. She looked it up and down, she sighed and turned to him.
"John, I have no idea how to use this thing. You do, I'm sure. I'll be down in the armory. You can either man up, accept who you are and teach me this thing. Or you can stay down here and run a little while longer. Your choice." Without a second glance at him, she left. No doubt about it now- he loved that woman. John stood to his feet and accepted his fate.
"In this war, you either move forward or you die, there is no in-between."-
Lt. Jake Connor, 2042
Why couldn't Will find anybody?! Why were all the bad skeletons here?! Where were mommy and daddy?!! Will ran through the streets, but there were always more bad skeletons! Why were there so many?! Where was everybody?! Will began to cry again; he wanted mommy!! He wanted something to eat! Something touched his shoulder, Will screamed. He tried to run, but the monster held him!
"It's okay, little boy, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." A nice voice said. Will turned around, it was a lady, and she looked really nice, but-
"What about all the monsters?!" the lady smiled sadly and brought him in for a hug. He looked up at her and she said,
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big bad monsters, okay? My name is Mrs. Michiko, what's yours?"
"Will." The lady smiled again and took his hand.
"You're very hungry, aren't you," Will nodded, he was really, really hungry, "I know a place we can get some food, follow me, k?" Will nodded again and held Mrs. Michiko's hand. He was gonna get some food!
After walking for awhile, Will looked up at the sky. It was all black, but where were the stars? He looked up at the lady.
"Ma'am, where are all the stars?"
"I-...it's just a real cloudy night, Will." He frowned a bit,
"Then when is the sun gonna come up?"
"I...I honestly don't know, Will." Will frowned more, what did that mean? And why did the lady look so sad?
It was a rare thing that John could remember his dreams. His nightmares...
Where was he? Dark, so dark. He couldn't see thing. Where was he!? What was going on?! He turned, there had to be, there was always a way out, a way to stop it. He turned again and- there he was. It was the T-800, his terminator, just before he had lowered himself into the steel, right here In front of him. Just before John had lost his only father. Suddenly, he was just ten years old, unwilling to let go. The T-800 looked down at him.
"I know now why you cry. And I know it is something I can never do." Then the terminator was gone, and more darkness. What was going on?! He turned yet again and John was back in Mexico, seven years ago. Watching his mother die. She had so much trouble breathing, no doctors around, John couldn't do a thing. Sarah looked at him, tried to say something; the words wouldn't come out.
"It's okay, mom, it's okay." The tears coating his voice. Finally the words came.
"I-I'm s-so sorry," her breaths were short, weak, "Ah-I-I," she could barely breathe now, "I love..." Then it ended. Sarah Connor, the legend, the hero, his mother, was dead. John fell to his knees. Why? Why did he have to go through that again, dammit?! He looked up once more. He was in some kind of building. Where?- Before John stood himself, older, scarred, tired. The older John then spoke words that would ruin his mother's life.
"Thank you for you courage through the dark years. I cannot help you with what you must soon face, but know that you must be stronger than you imagine you can be. You must survive, or I will never exist. Remember, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves." No fate, huh?! They could make up their own fate, was that it?!
"BULLSHIT," the younger John said, "WE CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING, YOU LYING BASTARD!!" Look at him, standing there so smug, so calm- what the hell was wrong with him?! John tackled the elder one to the ground. Bash his head in, punched him.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT YOU FUCKING BASTARD!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" John opened his eyes and screamed. Under him lay not his other self, but Kate. She was dead, a rivulet of blood coming from her mouth. No, no, no, NO. John looked around, it was an endless field of people. They were all dead, skin and flesh charred off, leaving nothing but blackened bone. He looked back at Kate, John screamed once more as he watched the woman he loved turn into a skeleton. Flesh charring away, curling from the bone. Oh God, no, no! John looked up, up at a gleaming endoskeleton, its soulless red eyes. He screamed.
Bolting up, he looked around wildly for a moment. The door burst open and Kate rushed in.
"John! Are you okay, you were screaming!" Realization glazed her eyes, her voice softened.
"It's okay, John, it's okay." She reached for him he batted her hands away. He couldn't face her now. He fled, couldn't face it now. John ran to his only refuge, his only solace- the armory. He sat at one of the crates, and put his face in his hands.
His mommy and daddy had said that sewers were dirty places and that he should stay away from dirty places. Will looked up at Mrs. Michiko.
"Do we have to go there? It's all dirty and icky and nasty down there." The lady smiled at him.
"Yes, we have to go down there. But, I have some friends down there, really nice ones. And there's food too." Will grinned. He was finally gonna get some food!
"C'mon, we got to go get some food!" He grabbed the sewer cover and pulled. The cover didn't move. He tried again, it was too heavy!
"How are we gonna get the cover open?" Mrs. Michiko pulled out some kind of metal thing from her bag. Will pointed at it and asked,
"What is that? Is it for getting the cover off?" The lady smiled again and said,
"It's called a crowbar and yes, it is for getting the cover off." She placed the curved end of the crowbar and pushed the rest of the bar down. And just like that, the cover was open and Mrs. Michiko pushed it to the side. Wow, what a cool thing. The lady started to climb down the ladder and grabbed his hand.
"Come on, Will. That's it, climb down just like that."
When they got to the bottom, the lady held him by the hand and led him along the side. He wondered if the lady's friends would have hot dogs, or hamburgers, or...candy! Going down the path, Will squinted, was that a light way down there?
As they got to the light, a big man came toward them.
"Thanks God you made it back, Nani," the big man looked down at Will, "And who might you be, little tyke?"
"My name is Will Perry."
"And my name is Jack Baner, nice to meet you." Mrs. Michiko looked up at the man.
"I found him a couple of miles from here, all alone. How are the sick ones doing?" Mr. Baner looked down.
"Not to good, I mean we don't even know what's wrong with them, how can we help 'em? I-I don't think Rickie's gonna last another day." The lady looked down. She led Will into a little room on the side of the sewer. There were lots of people here, Mrs. Michiko led him through the people. Was this where you got food? The crowd cleared and his mouth dropped.
A whole row of people on the floor, all of them sick. The people breathed all weird, like they wanted to cough but couldn't. They looked all fat and stuff, but it was weird...they didn't look...right. Mrs. Michiko stopped in the middle of the row. It was sick boy, and a girl was sitting beside him holding his hand. The boy looked sicker than the others; Mrs. Michiko sat and held the boys other hand. The boy grimaced and tears started coming down his face.
"Mama, mama. Where's my mama?" He whispered. Will felt sorry for the boy, he wanted to help...but...
"Ma'am, can you help him?"
"No, Will, I don't even know what's wrong with him." The little girl tugged on Mrs. Michiko's dress.
"Is my brother gonna die?" the lady gave the girl a hug. Will didn't think he was very hungry anymore.
John stared at the floor of the armory. That nightmare had been so, so unfair. Seeing Kate lying there, dead, seeing her just...crumble away...he'd thought of her as his love. He had thought he loved her. Did he? But, if he did, then it just proved he could never change anything. Proved that everything...his whole life up to now hadn't meant a damn thing. How could he? How could he say those words, that lie? How could he send his own father to die? What could drive him to make the life of his own mother meaningless?
John heard her footsteps...could he really be in love with her? Kate stopped a few meters from him.
"Look, John, you had a bad dream. I know what it was about. Do you think I wasn't torturing myself, trying to figure out some way to change all this? Well, I have. And do you know what I realized, huh, John? There is no changing it, not a damn thing. There never was. We can never save those three billion people. But we can save what's left, we can make sure some part of humanity lives on. I can't save those people alone, John. You know that, you know who you are." She stopped, he stared. Nothing they ever could do. He had thought that same thing just hours ago...He looked at her. She was moving forward, holding back the pain. What an amazing person...She moved away, to one of shelves and grabbed a grenade launcher. She looked it up and down, she sighed and turned to him.
"John, I have no idea how to use this thing. You do, I'm sure. I'll be down in the armory. You can either man up, accept who you are and teach me this thing. Or you can stay down here and run a little while longer. Your choice." Without a second glance at him, she left. No doubt about it now- he loved that woman. John stood to his feet and accepted his fate.