They had been in Los Angeles for just under a year, John continued to send patrols out at night. So far they had destroyed 23 bipedal HKs and 4 T-1s. They had lost 14 people to attacks; one from a biped HK, and the others from an airborne HK that had targeted them through infrared scans. So far Skynet did not know where they were hiding. One night while they were out, they checked out the parking garage where they had left their vehicles. All that was left was the twisted, burned remains of the vehicles. Skynet had found where they were hidden and destroyed them. From now on they would have to travel on foot.
Sarah was almost 2, Kyle was about to celebrate his first birthday. John was very protective of him. He knew that he owed his existence to a child that was about 30 years younger than him.
They continued to monitor the radio they had brought with them from Crystal Peak. They only used it for one hour a day so that the batteries would last longer. Late one evening they received a message from Carlos Valdez. He and his group were on their way to L.A. from Texas. They wanted to join John's group and needed directions on how to get to them. John told them that he would have a group meet them on the southeastern outskirts of L.A. in two weeks.
The two groups met at the agreed upon location two weeks later. Carlos had Michael Quintanilla and David Harper with him, along with a couple dozen adults and 10 children.
"What made you change your mind and join us?" asked John.
"This Skynet you were talking about decided it needed fuel so it sent a ship load of those HKs to the refineries near the Corpus Christi ship channel. Some of our people were fishing in the area and saw the ship come in. They hid real quick and watched to see what would happen. Those monsters started pumping fuel from the tanks to the ship. They must have seen some of our people because the next thing we knew we were under attack. A bunch of us took refuge out on Mustang Island until they left, and then we decided that we were not so safe after all. So, we decided to join you guys and fight Skynet." replied Carlos.
"Yeah, they took all the fuel they needed and then started bombing the refineries and everything else in the area that was still standing." added David.
"After we got in touch with you, we headed south to Mexico, and then made our way here." Carlos continued.
"Well, we are glad to have you. We can always use the extra fighters and you all look like you could use some rest and food." John said.
"John, there are people in Mexico that are in secluded areas and they are able to plant gardens and raise livestock. We might be able to get down there and get some food from them" reported Carlos.
"That's a great idea, Carlos. After you have gotten some rest maybe you could lead a group down there and bring back some supplies"
He led the new group back to the tunnels and introduced them to everyone. John would let them rest for a couple of days and then he would begin training them too.
A few nights later while out on patrol the group had to hide under some slabs of concrete and wait for airborne HKs to pass. While they were waiting they heard what sounded like an army headed their way. John made his way out so that he could see what was going on. What he saw made his blood run cold. There were dozens of bipedal HKs, all heavily armed, searching for human survivors. He had never seen so many HKs before. They decided to get back to the tunnels and seal up the entrances. They made it about halfway back before coming under attack by two HKs. Tom Krueger and Stephen Blake were killed immediately. Gus and Patrick Brooks fired on the HKs, destroying both. Before they could celebrate two more HKs appeared and attacked their group. John watched in horror as Dennis Reese was killed. In his rage, John began firing on them, destroying both of the machines before his comrades could react. They quickly picked up their fallen friends and made their way back to the shelter and warned the sentries about the HKs. They all hurriedly barricaded the entrances and let the others know what was going on. He had the children moved into hidden service areas, all of the adults were given weapons in case Skynet found out where they were. Then he found Elizabeth and told her that Dennis had been killed while on patrol. Kate took the devastated woman back to her sleeping area and stayed with her all night.
It was one of the longest nights anyone could remember. All they could do was to sit in the dark and wait quietly, hoping that they would not be found. They could hear the HKs moving about in the dark, shooting at shadows, but none of them found the human's hiding place. Only the children got any sleep that night. John knew that the battle with the machines had really begun. Skynet was beginning to mass produce HKs. Soon they would start making Terminators.
The next day John decided that they should all stay inside for a few more nights. This would give Skynet a chance to search the area again. Hopefully, when no one was found it would move the HKs to a different part of the city.
They spent a week underground, trying to be as quiet as possible. John had posted extra sentries at each entrance. He also made sure that everyone had access to extra weapons. They continued to hear the HKs patrolling night and day, and there were more airborne HKs in the area than there had been. Worrying about the HKs kept him from sleeping so he spent his time checking on the sentries. He liked to make sure everyone was on their toes and staying out of site of Skynet's machines. On one of these nights, he was checking on the sentries and caught one of them smoking a cigarette.
"Put that thing out now, mister!" he yelled at the guard.
"Why?" asked the man. "And please don't tell me it's not good for my health. My life expectancy isn't exactly great."
"I'm not worried about your health. HKs could zero in on the smell of the smoke or the heat and know where we are. They could see the glow of the tip of your cigarette. You are putting us all in danger. Put it out!" repeated John. "And pass the word, the next person I catch smoking anywhere will be put on report and could be kicked out of expelled from the group."
With this, John stormed off hoping he had gotten his point across.
When he finally felt it was safe, John led the first patrol out. They were all heavily armed and very alert. He knew that he could not let his emotions distract him from what had to be done. They had to find where Skynet was building the HKs and destroy it before more could be made. They had plenty of explosives. John decided that his group would follow the HKs and see where they went after their patrols.
They scouted the area for a couple hours before they heard the telltale clank of metal on concrete that meant there were HKs approaching. John motioned for the others to take cover. They watched as a group of 8 HKs passed them. As soon as they were a safe distance away, John's patrol began to quietly follow them. The HKs searched until just before daylight before they paused. John thought they had been discovered and motioned for his patrol to get under cover. The HKs started walking again, this time they did not appear to be searching for anyone. Their pace increased until they were difficult to keep up with without being heard.
"I think they are headed back to their base." whispered John.
They followed them to a large, brightly lit structure several miles from the subway tunnels. It was the only building standing in the area. There were so many HKs guarding it that John didn't bother trying to count them all. They watched the factory for a few minutes, and then quiet made their way back to the tunnels.
John called a meeting for early the next morning to discuss their find. He wanted to get input from Colonel Perry as to how they should plan their attack. John drew a quick layout of the building, along with the various ways in which they could approach it. After discussing all of their options thoroughly, Colonel Perry suggested that they attack on a night when they were having a heavy rainstorm. Skynet might not expect anything on a stormy night, and the noise from the rain could cover their approach. They had made quite a supply of plastic explosives. These used along with the grenade launchers would cause quite a bit of damage.
They got everything ready, now all they had to do was wait for a rainy night. Since Judgment Day the weather had been very unpredictable. Storms were more frequent and more severe. It shouldn't be too long before they had a night that was perfect for their attack. A little over a week after they discovered Skynet's factory, a storm blew in off of the Pacific. If the rain and wind didn't mask any noise they made, the thunder and lightning would.
John and Colonel Perry led the group of 25 men and women. Each person involved in the attack carried 5 pipes packed with plastic explosive, and either a grenade launcher or a high power rifle. Colonel Perry has told them to surround the facility and move when they saw him wave a flag. They arrived at the factory just after midnight. The storm was extremely fierce when they arrived at their destination. Everyone took their places while John stayed back and watched them prepare for battle. There were very few HKs out in the storm. John wasn't sure if this was because they didn't expect humans to be out in this weather, or if the HKs were not advanced enough to be out in the storm. He briefly wondered what would happen if a HK got hit by lightning?
When everyone was in place, Colonel Perry signaled, and they made their move. Ten people made their way closer to the factory with their pipe bombs. They sheltered their fuses from the rain, lit them, and threw the bombs. Ten more ran forward with their bombs while the first group covered them with grenades and automatic rifle fire. Explosions rocked the night and lit up the sky, while HKs poured out of the buildings and turned their weapons on their attackers. Screams of humans being killed mixed with the explosions at the factory and noises from the storm. John watched in horror as people he had known and worked with were killed. They lost 14 people that night, but managed to severely damage Skynet's factory and destroy at least 46 HKs.
They broke up into small groups to make it more difficult for Skynet to follow them, and made their way back to the subway. They covered the entrances and posted extra sentries. If by chance any HKs had followed them back, they would need to be ready.
They passed an uneventful night. John decided that they should stay underground for a few days and nights. This would give Skynet a chance to look around for their attackers.