"Alright already!" I panted as I pelted up the stairs beside Reese-lookalike. "I'm officially scared. One hundred percent, piss-in-my-pants scared shitless. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Below, charging up the stairwell after us, Arnie/Terminator continued to squeeze the UZI. Bullets raked the stairs, ricocheting off the railing. My heart lurched in terror. Reese slammed his Remington over the side and returned fire.
I kept running. "You can drop the act now," I puffed. I still couldn't bring myself to accept what was happening. The alternative was just too unreal. "I said I was terrified. Isn't this the part where you and your side-kick take off your bullet-proof vests and start laughing and admitting to the practical joke?" I stumbled and he brutally pulled me up, hauling me after him without slowing.
"Not a side-kick!" Reese cut in. "A machine. A Terminator. Cyberdyne Systems Model 101." He was reloading on the run, the shells clattering down the stairs.
"Terminator – yeah – right," I panted, already out of breath. Reese however didn't look the least bit tired. Dammit, I'd better start laying off the fries and ice cream.
"The Terminator's an infiltration unit. Part man, part machine," he explained. "Underneath, it's a hyperalloy combat chassis. Microprocessor-controlled, fully armored, very tough. But outside, its living human tissue. Flesh-"
"-skin, hair, blood. Grown for the cyborgs." I finished for him. "I know – I've seen the movie too."
"Pay attention!" He snapped. "The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy. But these are new. They look human. Sweat, bad breath, everything..."
We finally burst out the door onto the rooftop parking lot. The glare from the sun blinded me for an instant after the dim interior of the stairwell. Blinking rapidly, I stared at the chaotic scene around me. People were jumping into their cars, blaring horns in their haste to drive out of there.
"Freeze!" yelled a voice.
