"Sarah!"
It was Reese outside.
For a second, Jane, Todd and I looked at each other in the darkness. Then we were shouting, "In here!"
With a rush of relief, the three of us piled out of the toilet and knocked down Reese in our haste to get out of there.
We got back up to our feet. Jane and Todd were staring up at Reese in awe while he gave them a look which said who-the-hell-are-these-guys?
But there wasn't any time for introductions. Grabbing my hand, Reese pulled me out into the corridor. Jane and Todd hurried after us, but at that moment the Terminator rounded the corner, eyes glowing faintly red behind the dark sunglasses.
Jane let out a scream and fainted dead away. I stared down at her – I understood her reaction, but frankly, her timing sucked.
"Hold it right there!" The two detectives, Argyle and Sanchez, stepped out into the corridor and aimed their pistols at the Terminator. When it made no move to stop, they opened fire. The bullets pelted into the Terminator's leather jacket torso but he kept coming. Hurriedly, we tried to revive Jane, shaking her, tickling her, doing everything to wake her up while the cops distracted the Terminator. But some distraction they proved to be - the cyborg simply lifted his AR-180 and fired. Their heads exploded like cans of red paint.
Oh damn. I gulped and shook Jane even harder. "C'mon, Jane, wake up! On your feet soldier!" That second phrase was worth a try – hey, it worked for Sarah Connor and Reese in the movie. Screaming, people dove out of the way as the Terminator advanced. Bullets raked the air all around us. While Jane was coming to, Reese mercilessly hauled her up to her feet and we raced down the corridor in the other direction. But clearing a corner, I skidded to an abrupt halt. The others cannoned straight into me from behind.
The T-1000, in its cop uniform, was striding calmly toward us from the other end of the corridor. It lifted a Browning Hi-Power to fire.
"Wait a minute, there's two of them!" Todd exclaimed in disbelief.
"This way! Go, go, go!" Reese shoved us ahead of him to the open elevator at the other end of the corridor while he covered the rear. Behind, the two Terminators pounded down the corridor after us. A nurse, also running for the elevator, caught a slug in the back and went down with a gurgling scream. We ran passed her twitching body and dove into the lift just as the doors were closing.
"Quick, shut the doors again!" I yelled.
In his haste, Todd pressed the 'Open Door' button instead. The elevator doors jerked back open. "No!"
Reese jabbed the 'Close Door' button. Huddling in the corner, panting, I looked up to see the T-1000 throw down his Browning and make a sprint for the elevator.
Before the doors could fully shut – a sword-like blade rammed between the doors – prying them open. Jane screamed out in terror. Reese looked just as stunned by these new turn in events as we were. He obviously hadn't seen these later Terminator models, but he reacted quickly to the situation with a soldier's trained response.
Reese fired his Remington. It caught the T-1000 in his shoulder, but he didn't let go of the doors. Slamming back another round, Reese fired again. And again. The T-1000 staggered back from the impact. The shotgun kept exploding while the doors began to close, one blast after another, brutally, savagely, unrelentingly. The T-1000's body was riddled with gaping holes which even as we watched were beginning to close up. Jane stood frozen to the spot, mouth agape and stuttering in total disbelief.
Finally, the elevator doors shut.
I let out a ragged breath of relief and sagged against the wall. Man, this wasn't happening. Tell me I didn't just see that…! Todd was already down on the floor, holding his wounded leg and groaning in pain. There was a big red hole in his calf.
"Oh my god! Todd, you've been shot!" Horrified, Jane clapped a hand over her mouth.
Reese knelt beside Todd to examine the wound. "It's clean, passed right through the meat. You'll live." He stood up again just as something heavy thumped against the elevator roof.
We looked up. Don't tell me…
A blade punched through the ceiling and speared down just inches from my face. I let out a scream and fell back against the wall. Without hesitation, Reese opened fire right through the roof. Lightning fast, the blade withdrew and thrust down again and again, slashing Reese's jacket. The rest of us hit the elevator floor - staring up in absolute horror at the slashing blade as Reese dodged the deadly thrusts and kept firing upwards.
The doors pinged open to the underground parking lot. With me and Jane supporting Todd on either side, we staggered over to the nearest vehicle - a battered brown Datsun. Reese smashed the window and wrenched open the door. We all quickly scrambled inside. As he hotwired the engine, I looked out the window to see the T-1000 bash a hole in the ceiling big enough – to pour himself through. My jaw fell open. The silver mass dropped through the hole, only to reform perfectly back into the cop.
I gulped. "No way…"
Tires screeching, our Datsun shot forward. The T-1000 broke into a sprint. And man, could this guy run. Face a mask of inhuman determination, he landed on the trunk with a flying leap, slamming his metal crowbar hand on the trunk lid. Then, bit by bit, he dragged himself up along the back of the car. Reese swerved. The car fishtailed wildly, but the T-1000 held on. He smashed a crowbar hand through the back windshield and showered glass all over Todd and Jane in the backseat.
"Ahhhh!" Jane grabbed her bag and starting whacking it at the T-1000's head. It had no affect on him whatsoever. With a backhanded sweep of his crowbar hand, he flung her against the side of the car.
Reese was too busy trying to dodge the late night traffic. Without taking his eyes off the road, he shoved the Remington into my hands. "Here! Shoot him!" he roared.
I stared at the huge firearm. After that car accident I guess he didn't trust me to drive anymore - I didn't blame him either.
"Just aim and pull the trigger!" he yelled.
Gulping, I took the shotgun and lifted it. It was a lot heavier than it looked. Right, aim and fire. How hard can it be? I squeezed the trigger… The recoil slammed my back against the dashboard and the shot went way off. In fact, it almost took off Todd's head.
Ducking, Todd turned to me. "Him! Not me - shoot him!" He pointed at the T-1000's menacing face.
I winced. "Sorry!" I lifted the gun again. This time, I got it right. The head blew apart in gobbets of liquid metal and the T-1000 tumbled off the car, then rolled to its feet, and continued running. But it was dropping behind now.
My ears were still ringing from the blast and from Jane's shrill screams.
"You can stop screaming now!" Todd told her.
She abruptly stopped.
"Oh God. He – he – that – that was…" she started hyperventilating.
Todd was more direct. "What the fuck!"
Yep, that pretty much summed up my feelings too.
A/N: Thanks everyone for your amazing reviews! I never thought I'd get this far into the story – all your support and encouragement have been fantastic. I like writing something different – you know, a story that's just pure fun to read. I'm glad you've all enjoyed it so far. Thanks again and keep reading:-)
