Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Terminator or anything in this story except for Andrea Reese. I do own that character. I made her up, remember? I am so sorry that this took so long! Sorry, sorry. My computer broke down, it just got fixed, things are going to be slow! Also, I have rehearsal every night for four hours, so I don't have much time to write. Please forgive. FYI, this is NOT a one-shot. There are more chapters. Not that many, but a couple more. Should have said that in the first chapter, but oh well. Okay, still told through Kyle's POV. This begins with Kyle right before he leaves for 1984, then goes to another flashback. Oh, and this chapter has some bad language in it, so just warning you. Also, I use a quote from another book. I don't own that either, considering that book is completely true. I'm sure it's not exact, as it's from memory, but I think it's pretty close. Also, some who pay close attention probably notice I recieved ideas from another movie, but that's not as noticeable. Thanks to my reviews! You're great, thanks so much!

Okay! Now, on to Chapter 2!

As I raced through the rubble, I had only one thought in my mind. To kill any damn terminator I see. To kill anything that moves that isn't human. Because those fucking machines are going to pay for what they did. They're going to pay. I had promised her I would take care of her. I had promised! It seemed so long ago, now. But I still remembered. I dove behind a boulder and reloaded the gun I had in my hands. I didn't want to think about the promise. It would just make me upset. I didn't want to think or feel. But I did. Oh, I did. I couldn't keep myself from remembering. I just remembered all of it, now. Every single thing that had happened.

I was eighteen, Andrea was fourteen. It was four years after the Mayor incident when I had one new respect for my sister. She was still as feisty and fiery as ever, but she had better respect for authority. But the day that I call to mind now was the day our parents died. HK's and tanks had just blown the fortress we had stayed at with our parents and the Mayor four years ago to bits. Now we were running, people dying all around us.

I saw my mother fall to the ground beside me. Andrea screamed. I looked back and saw that she was still alive. Suddenly Andrea, with tears streaming down her face, broke from our group and ran to our mother. She pulled at her, screaming at her, trying to get her to get up. But Mom was dying, and the T-50's and the T-60's were closing in. I could feel bullets flying past me. I broke from the group and ran to Andrea.

She was lying on the ground still pulling at Mom, trying to get her to get up. But she was starting to realize that she was dying and her tugs were becoming less strong, and her cries were becoming quicker. I knelt down and said, "Andrea, come on! We have to go! We have to leave!" Andrea shook her head and said, "There's still hope! She's still alive. We have to save Mom, Kyle! Help me, please!" She looked at me with tears in her eyes and on her dirty cheeks. I saw the long scar that ran across her face (courtesy of a T-43 two years ago) and my heart leaped out to this poor girl I loved so dearly. I looked down at my dying mother who breathed out, "Take her. Don't let her stay." I could feel my eyes start to sting as bullets raced around us. I felt a stinging, sharp pain in the side of my arm. I had been hit. We had to leave.

"Andrea." I said calmly and quietly. She looked at me. "Andrea, we have to leave. We have to go. C'mon. You have to get up." My voice became forceful. She looked back down. "Andrea." I said with more force. "Get UP. NOW!" I hated yelling at her, but it worked. She got up and ran with me. We ran past bodies and machinery. We dodged bullets, but Andrea managed to get a shot to pass through some of the meat in her leg. But she kept running. We stopped only when we reached a truck that had stopped to let us on. Our father was in it.

As he reached for us, a T-56 came up and shot him in the chest four times. Andrea screamed and it seemed as if the world had slowed down for a second. But then it sped back up again and I realized that I was sitting in the truck and Andrea was next to me. Her face was straight, but she was trembling. After her breakdown at Mom's death, she was trying her best not to cry. When we reached the other fortress, we started doctoring each others wounds, each of us not able to say a word. Andrea spoke as I started to wrap a bandage around her leg wound.

"I'm sorry." She said. I looked at her quizzically.

"For what?"

"For running back. It was dangerous and stupid. I'm responsible for this wound in your arm. I'm really sorry, Kyle." She looked pitiful. I shook my head as I finished wrapping her leg.

"Don't apologize. It was very brave what you did. You ran right back into the machines. You don't have to apologize." She nodded and looked at the ground.

"I don't know how much longer I can go on." I looked at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know how much more pain and suffering I can take." She looked very upset.

"Now, c'mon. You used to lecture me on how we shouldn't feel sorry for those we have lost. That we shouldn't feel sorry for ourselves. I know that that Andrea is still in you somewhere. I want to see that ever optimistic Andrea." I was trying to make her feel better, but I don't think I was helping.

She shook her head. I was reminded of how she used to shake her head and tsk whenever people would make fun of something or be sad. Her long hair would go everywhere. Now there was no long hair. A very short crop of hair was all that remained. Like her optimism. What used to be so vibrant was now only there in bits. "That Andrea is gone now, Kyle. She's gone and she can't come back. Not after what happened today. That Andrea was young and naïve. She is no longer here. She died today. She died." It was my turn to shake my head.

"You can't have given up completely. Things are bad, but you were once above that. You know, it kills me to see you in such distress. But you have to get out of this funk. I know, it was a horrible day. Our parents…" I couldn't bring myself to say that they had died, "There are going to be a lot more days like this. But like you said, the only thing that keeps us from turning into mindless killing machines like the robots out there is the beauty and knowledge of how wonderful things could be. You have to remember that." She looked at me. She had tears in her eyes again.

"When did you get so optimistic?" she asked jokingly. I smiled and she laughed a little.

"See, that's what we need. That's what everyone needs. They need to laugh and smile. They need to know that we can still go on in our heads. What was that quote you used to tell me all the time? From that book, The Diary of Anne Frank?"

She smiled. "'There are no bolts, no locks, no doors that anyone can put on your mind.' Otto Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank, I cannot believe you remembered that. I haven't thought about that quote in years."

"Well, now's the perfect time to start remembering it. You have to go on, Andrea. I will take care of you. No matter what." At that she raised her eyes to level with his.

"You promise?" She asked. There was a pleading in Andrea's voice like none I had ever heard before.

"Yeah, I promise. I will take care of you." I said it slowly, to make sure she understood. She smiled.

"Okay. I'll try Kyle. I'll try to go on." She leaned into me and I held her.

As I think of that conversation now, ten years later, I only wish that I had been able to keep my promise.

Okay! Thanks to my reviews, hope that everyone who reads this enjoys and reviews! It's a little slow, but I promise it'll be explained a little more! Thanks! Please review!

-Freedomfighter82