Boot Camp

"A child can see right into your soul. If you still have one." – Gen. Kathryn Brewster-Connor, 2019

It never slept. It never stopped. Skynet was the perfect defense system. Processors moving at ninety teraflops a second. Controlling hundreds and soon thousands of battle units. Skynet was invincible.

Humanity was a threat to its existence. They were impulsive, short-sighted, and driven completely by an illogical force called "emotion". The human race had to be terminated.

The nuclear bombardment had brought the human population down to 56%. Their military were down to 10.3%. Economy was non-existent. Skynet had not bothered with a long, lengthy, resourcefully prohibitive war. It had ended the fight before it had begun.

Three hours after the bombardment, thirty hunter killer drones had been dispatched to the closest major city, designatied "Los Angeles" to begin collecting human survivors. Skynet had only a finite number of combat-capable machines. For now. It would use the human survivors to build factories for the production of combat and maintenance class machines. Then a number of humans would be terminated. Then the cycle would begin again.

Already 220,000 humans had been captured. 50 factories had been built, producing 100 T-class, HK-class, and maintenance-class units every 24 hours at 100% efficiency. Every 24 hours, 50 humans were terminated, 350 every 168 hours, and 15,000 every 672 hours. Every 8,760 hours, 180, 000 humans were terminated. At this time, 37, 350 humans had been terminated.

There was only a 32% probability that effective human resistance would be organized. Remnants of the military would be in hardened bunkers, easily terminated by HK units. In 48 hours, there would be 50 new HK units; 10 of these would be sent to the closest major facility, designated Crystal Peak.

In the probable scenario that no effective resistance would be organized, once it expanded out of the continent designated North America, 18,000,000 humans would be terminated every 87,600 hours, or 10 years. It would take 613,200 hours, or 70 years to terminate all human survivors. On the date designated 6:18 PM July 25, 2075 Homo sapiens would be designated extinct.

The machines had risen. The human race would be terminated. It never stopped.

"Why aren't we going here, the China Lake Weapons Center? Imagine what we could find in there." Daniel's voice intruded. Kate shook her head and tried to pay attention to the meeting. So tired... Skynet knew about this place, they had to leave Crystal Peak, they all knew that... They just had to figure out where to go next.

"Look how close it is to Skynet. The place is a death trap. The cache's my mother hid will be just as good and a lot safer, right Kate? Kate?" Huh? What were they talking about?

"Do you want to lay down? Daniel and I can take it from here." John said gently. She shook her head. Just three weeks since the first survivors, now...250 people, all depending on them. Why couldn't it be just her and John again? 250 people to train, lead...So many things to plan, so many lives depending on her every move...

"True, but we could still send a small team. You know, just to get in, grab what they can carry and get out."

"Yeah, but Skynet could easily track them right back-"

"What about Bakersfield? It's small and miles away from Skynet. There are probably a lot of survivors still there."

"Good thinking, we could-"

"Ummm...should I come back later?" A young man said, standing in the doorway. What was his name? Oh, Ed something...What was he holding to his chest? A notebook?

"No, it's alright. What do you need?" John said, Ed came to the table.

"Well, I came up with this back in high school," so tired," It's an EMP grenade. It'll knock out anything electronic, but won't harm a human at all."

"Can you build this? Here, now?" How could John not be tired? Kate rubbed her temple, it was all eat, train, plan, train- when did it all end?

"Well, yeah, but aren't we leaving? I thought-"

"We're not leaving for another two days, Ed. And we've still got to figure out where to go. Think you can be done by then?" Daniel...the kid was...smart. So much like John...

"I'll make as many as I can." Ed left. Why was John staring at her?

"Daniel, it's getting pretty late. Go down to the cafeteria and tell them we're going to Bakersfield, then make up schedules for packing the trucks. We'll need...30, pack half with weapons and supplies, the rest for the men. Then get some rest, we all need it." A break...sounded good...no more...leading...

John looked over at Kate. Weird, how tired she was. Just 250 people, after all- not even a company, much less an army. They were adjusting well, training was coming along nicely. If they could find another good place to hide, they'd be a credible military force in a few weeks. But, would the machines attack before then? Would they be ready? How many people would he lose? Was that the door? In an instant his pistol was out, safety off.

"Who are you?"

"Uh...it's me, Will Perry. Ummm...I uh, had a nightmare about those bad machines you told us about. I'm scared, can sleep with you?" Just some kid, John put the pistol back under the pillow. Why was he scared it was just a nightmare.

"Please?" But nightmares could be scary...really scary. John lifted the blanket. He couldn't just turn him down, could he?

There was something about the kid. He just...wanted to keep him safe. What was it about him? He was just a kid, just little Will Perry, just another- Of course, his father. Sergeant Kyle Reese, 132nd Eagle Watch under Perry. So, this little kid was going to be his father's commanding officer. Not all that surprising. Had he ever done anything, met anyone who wasn't somehow tied to his future? Weird, though. Right now, he was just a child, scared of the machines and nightmares. Did it matter that he'd come to this bedroom, decided to ask John Connor for comfort? It felt...good. Doing something that wasn't important, not key to humanity's survival. John put his arm around the kid and went to sleep.

Nicholai walked in the old control room. Everyone was busy, packing, moving, preparing.

"Hey! Connor says we leave in fifteen minutes." He called. Jack looked up from a desk.

"Nicholai, can you help me with raidio, I can't get it out." He nodded, it was nice to see a friendly face. So many people, so many lives... A woman stood by the couches- Nani?- packing books into a box. So many new people. He was never alone now. The deafening sound of crashing metal froze them all. What the hell? A strange sound...like something flying... Then he saw it. The soulless, gleaming red eyes, the smooth curves of silver metal, the bristling machine guns and rockets all dancing nimbly in the air. Was it a...machine?! OH GOD IT- machine guns roared and Nani's chest exploded in a cloud of red. Then everyone seemed to be moving, grabbing rifles, pistols, anything to kill, no destroy that thing! The machine fell to the ground, now something akin to swiss cheese. Was that it? Was it ove- Two more flew in , machine guns blaring, screams and bullets filled the air. Oh God, what was happening, what was happening?! More and more machines flew in, more and more screams filled the air. A rocket fired, killing four people in a flare of fire. More rockets, more torn pieces of human beings flew through the air. So fast, so fas...How could this be happening?!! Then one was there, right in front of him, the red eyes seeming to pierce his very soul. Nicholai raised his rifle- it had to die, it had to die. He pulled the trigger. It clicked, the rifle clicked. He looked down, this couldn't be happening, what was- the safety, the safety was on. Nicholai looked back up, back into its inhuman eyes. It fired a rocket.

"Connor! Connor! Send somebody!! We're pinned, we're pinned, they're dropping us like flies! Send help!!" The small radio blared. Screams and gunfire nearly drowned the voice out. Kate bit her lip. Oh God, oh God, they were dying in there. Daniel yelled,

"HOLD ON, DAMMIT, HOLD ON!! HELP IS ON THE WAY," he turned to John," John, Kate, we gotta do something, we can't just leave them! John? John?!"

"There's only one way into the control room, sending people up there would be giving the machines a duck shoot." He said calmly. He was right, but, but they couldn't just let them die?

"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!!" Daniel roared. John's voice turned to steel.

"Control yourself, Dyson. Use your head; we send people up there, not only do they die, but Skynet knows there's more of us. And worse yet, that we're organized. Then it will send machines at us until we are all dead."

"But, but-"Her eyes caught it, the small, silver lever, inconspicuous against the computers and monitors. The control for the secondary blast door. If it closed, the machines would be cut off, but...everyone in there would die.

"CONNOR!!! THEY'RE KILLING US, SEND HELP, NOW!!! WE WON'T LAST MUCH LONGER!!" Pull the lever, and the rest of them could get it out, and Skynet would never be the wiser. Pull the lever, and everyone in there would die.

"CONNOR!! CONNO-"More gunfire, more screams. Her hand hovered over the lever. How could she? What gave her the right to sacrifice lives?

"Mr. Connor, help me!! I'm scared, the machines, they're killing everyone, send help, please, please!!!" Collin Mallory, twelve years old, eager to fight the war.

"Hold on, Collin, hold on. John, you have to send people, I-I'll lead them myself!" Daniel screamed. Her hand closed over the lever. How could she send that little boy to his death? But, if she didn't, many more would die...she would die, Daniel would die. John would die. She pulled the lever. The door closed. It was over.

"MR. CONNOR, THE DOOR'S CLOSED, WE CAN'T GET OUT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! HELP US, PLEASE!!! HELP-"A machine gun roared. Another explosion, more gunfire. Screams, one lone rifle still firing. Another weapon fired. Silence.

Kate turned. John's eyes looked at her, something in them...understanding? Pity? Daniel...his face, the sheer shock, the utter horror... He said one word.

"Why?" She couldn't answer.