This chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but the ending seemed like a natural stopping point. I know I suck at writing action scenes so hopefully the second half of the chapter makes up for it.
Thanks again to reviewers, kaotic2, Leetmouse, acer-sigma, clearfanfic, ElusiveSanity, olischulu and TK-MR.
Analysis complete, match found...
Subject identified...
T-888
Cameron halted her advance towards the 'Buy More' and performed a detailed analysis on the Terminator.
He was wearing grey cargo pants, grey shirt and was carrying a large water bottle. His head was turning side to side in a very mechanical fashion scanning every face in the mall. She scanned the company logo on his left breast pocket.
It is looking for someone. I must get John out of here...I can't let anything happen to him.
She recognised the words as her own from the prison in Mexico. She suddenly felt overcome with emotions, anxiety, nervousness and even a little fear. The last one was new even to her and her highly advanced CPU. Back in Mexico she wasn't developed enough to feel anything as powerful as fear, but now it was on the verge of overwhelming her neural network. She tried her best to ignore the feelings and moved forwards with the intent of taking John out of the fire escape at the rear of the store.
Before she had taken two steps the Terminator turned his head and looked directly at her. His eyes glowed an evil red as his own facial recognition software matched her identity.
Identity confirmed – Cameron Baum – Model T0K-715
Action – Terminate
Cameron saw the glow and knew she'd been identified. Instead of doing as her tactical subroutines instructed and engaging the Terminator, the glow of its eyes added to her growing fear and she froze, literally on the spot. She stood about 30 feet from the machine with her back to the railing on the edge of the balcony overlooking the ground floor.
The machine dropped the water bottle and reached around to the back of its waistband and to the concealed 9mm. He pulled it out and quickly started to empty the clip in to Cameron.
The mall filled with screams as shoppers scattered in a frenzy. Some froze like Cameron, others hid and others simply dropped their bags and ran. No doubt thinking it was just another incident of gang violence, or a psychopath taking out his madness on the world.
Cameron felt the 'pain' of every bullet as they struck her, eight in her torso, three in her left arm and one in her right. The ones she felt the most were the four that sliced in to her beautiful face, narrowly missing her eyes. Her thought processes were so clogged with fear for John that she still failed to react to the threat the machine posed.
Having emptied the clip, the machine dropped the now useless weapon and charged towards his target.
Caution, target remains unresponsive...
Possible trap, disable target quickly...
The machine picked up its pace toward Cameron. Her tactical subroutines were advising her to use the machines momentum against it and force it over the railing behind her. She knew it was the right thing to do even without her systems advising her. It would buy her the time to get John to safety.
John.
I'm sorry John, I've failed you
She stood motionless as her body simply would not react to her tactical systems instructions. When the machine was around three metres away and starting to extend its arms to grab her, out of the corner of her eye she saw a dark coloured blur hurl itself along the floor in a baseball style slide. It put itself in the machines path and caused it to trip, losing its balance and sending it hurtling over the railing, bending it as it impacted, and down the 30 foot drop to the ground. It hit the ground with an almighty crash, leaving a sizeable crater in the patterned floor.
John stood up from the floor holding his ribs and looked at Cameron who was standing stock still. He hurriedly shook her by the shoulder.
"Cameron, come on, we gotta get out of here" he had to raise his voice over the screaming crowds.
Nothing.
"CAMERON, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" he shouted in a panic.
Still no response.
"I'm sorry Cameron but this is for your own good"
He pulled his arm back and gave her a firm slap across her cheek, his fingers brushing over the now exposed coltan as he did. His action seemed to have the desired effect as her eyes focused on him, as if seeing him for the first time.
"John?"
She roused from her near catatonic state.
"WE HAVE TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE"
He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the 'Buy More'. Thankfully she moved along with his pull. He hadn't the faintest idea what he would do if she still refused to budge. He broke out in to a run towards the back of the store still pulling her along. He shouldered the fire escape open and started climbing down the metal staircase. For once in his life he actually appreciated the training his mother put him through as he reached the parking lot at the bottom of the staircase. He quickly scanned the lot and located their truck, once again thankful his training told him to park next to a landmark, a lamppost in this case. He ducked down low and motioned for Cameron to do the same behind him. She complied and followed him behind the nearest car. She appeared to be working on autopilot to John.
He carefully poked his head up over the hood of the car and looked towards the mall entrance hoping to not spot the machine. He didn't. He breathed a sigh of relief before grabbing Cameron again and pulling her in between cars towards their truck, making sure he kept both his and her head down. They darted in and amongst rows of parked vehicles until they reached their truck. John prayed she wouldn't insist on him getting the door for her. She didn't. They both climbed in and John started the truck and quickly headed toward the exit.
After driving in a random pattern for about half an hour and back tracking a couple of times to ensure they weren't being followed, he changed course to head towards their home. On the way he kept looking over to his silent companion. She sat stiff as a board staring straight ahead with her unblinking eyes and blank expression. He tried to ignore her behaviour and concentrated on the road.
Soon the truck pulled in to the driveway of their home and John noticed their other truck already parked. Sarah and Derek had returned.
Oh crap, this is so not gonna go well
He put the truck in park and switched off the engine. Before he could turn and talk to Cameron she was already in the process of closing the door behind her and stalking off towards the house. John quickly sprang out of the car and hurriedly followed her. He just about caught up to her as she entered the house. He barely made it two steps inside when he heard his mother screaming.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE"
She took in the scene before her. John was holding his ribs and wincing slightly. Cameron however was a mess. Her top and jacket were covered in bullet holes and blood, and her left cheek had four large gouges with coltan shining through them. Sarah also didn't fail to notice her decidedly revealing choice of clothes and the liberal application of makeup on what remained of her face.
Cameron looked at Sarah for a moment before turning and trudging up the stairs without a word, leaving John to take the flak.
The future saviour of mankind watched his friend depart with a sad look on his face before turning to face his mother.
Alright Johnny Boy, be a man, show her you're not afraid of her
"Listen, mom..."
She tore her eyes away from the staircase and rounded on her son.
"Don't you 'listen mom' me. Now explain to me where you two have been and why. Why she has a body full of bullets and why you're holding your ribs"
She was struggling to control the volume of her voice and was clearly on the verge of exploding if she didn't like his answers.
Alright, you said be a man and real men tell the truth...sometimes
"We went to the mall"
"Why?"
He gave his mother a barely tolerant look before continuing.
"If you'd have let me finish I would have explained that I needed to go to the Buy More to pick up some computer equipment"
She eyed him warily before gesturing for him to continue.
"A triple eight showed up and attacked Cameron.
"Attacked Cameron?"
"Yeah, attacked her. It mustn't have recognised me because it just shoved me aside and focused on her. That's why my ribs hurt and that's why she's full of holes"
John waited with baited breath as she considered his answers.
"So why did it attack her and why was it at the mall?"
"I don't know mom, we didn't manage to pull its chip. Cameron threw it over a balcony and we got away"
"Alright. Let me take a look at your injuries"
She moved to help him take his jacket off before he stopped her.
"Mom I'm fine. She's the one that's hurt"
He gestured to the ceiling with a toss of his head.
"Damaged, John. She's damaged, not hurt. Don't ever forget that"
You'll never know the half of how much she's hurting right now
"Not now mom. I'm going to go help her"
He waited for a reply that never came and turned to head up the stairs. Sarah watched him leave and shook her head.
Dammit John, why couldn't you have sent another Uncle Bob for protection?
As she questioned the future General, someone else from the future sidled up next to her with a beer in his hand.
"What was all that about?"
Derek looked better than he had recently. He had taken Jesse's betrayal pretty hard and hadn't been around for some decent lengths of time. Today however his designer stubble had returned to a good looking length and he'd recently indulged in a haircut by the looks of it.
"Well...a triple eight showed up and attacked Cameron...and John risked himself to defend her"
"He told you that?"
"He's my son Derek. He didn't have to tell me"
Derek didn't quite know what she meant by that so he shrugged his shoulders and headed out to the back porch to drink his beer in peace. Sarah meanwhile hadn't taken her eyes off the stairs during the whole exchange.
John knocked gently on Cameron's door and waited for a reply. When he heard none he hesitated before slowly pushing the door open and peeking in.
"Cameron, are you okay? Do you need any help?"
John looked over to her. She was perched on the edge of her bed looking down at her hands in her lap. She didn't look up at him as he moved further in to the room and closed the door behind him. He came and sat next to her with their legs touching ever so slightly. She had her hands out flat on her lap looking at her perfectly manicured nails. The contact made her stir and she raised her head up to look at him before looking down again.
John sighed before reaching out and taking one of her hands in his and tenderly stroking her knuckles.
"Come on, let me help you with those wounds"
He reached under the bed for the tool and first aid kits he knew she kept there for emergencies.
Sorta like her version of a his and hers repair kit.
John laughed silently to himself at his personal joke. He laid the two kits out on her bed and noticed she still hadn't moved. He sighed and moved around so that he was in front of her. Bending over slightly he cupped her face in his hands, making sure to touch her coltan cheek as he did.
"Hey come on, snap out of it"
Still no response. Her eyes didn't even meet his despite being so close. John examined her face closely before continuing.
"Okay, if you don't wanna talk that's fine. But if you want to get those bullets out of you you'll have to get undressed first"
John realised what he had said when her eyes rose to meet his. He took his hands off her face and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I, er, I promise I won't look"
You idiot, she doesn't care if you look or not. You've seen it all before anyway.
She apparently agreed as she started to remove her now ruined jacket, followed by her ruined top and without any hesitation her bra quickly joined the pile. John immediately went bright red as the gorgeous girl in front of him stripped to the waist without any reserve or shyness.
Quit staring and do what you came here to do
John closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He opened them and reached in to the tool kit to retrieve the needle nosed pliers. He set to work on removing the bullets while trying not to let his eyes wander. He worked silently and delicately, not wanting to cause her any additional pain. He would remove a bullet, clean the wound with antiseptic and place a bandage over it. She only responded when John needed access to a wound and moved as directed. When he was finished he pulled back slightly to examine his work.
She looked like a rag doll with the amount of patches on her. He performed the same procedure with the antiseptic and bandages on her beautiful face. Her eyes never met his as he did. She stared at nothing and continued to avoid his gaze.
"Okay, I think we're all done. Did I miss any?
She said nothing but instead stood and walked in to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
You're welcome
He heard the shower start to flow and set to work cleaning and putting away the supplies. He put her ruined clothes in a pile near the door with the intention of putting them in the bin later.
What the hell is going on with her? First she freezes up against a Terminator, and she hasn't said a word since it happened. Well at least she hasn't tried to kill me yet.
The shower stopped running and she emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. John stood expectantly but she ignored him and headed to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a white tank top and a pair of pink pyjama bottoms similar to the purple ones from the day before. Without any warning she dropped her towel and started getting dressed.
Despite having just seen her topless, John was overcome with embarrassment and spun round to stare at the suddenly very interesting trees out in the back yard through the window. He heard the bed creak and turned round to see her resume her position from when he first entered the room.
John sat beside her and laid his hand on her knee in a comforting gesture, the embarrassment subsiding now that she was fully clothed again.
"So are you ready to tell me what's bothering you and why you haven't said a word since we left the mall?
She looked in to his eyes and saw nothing but kindness.
Her eyes started to glisten and she threw her arms around his waist. She clung on to him and started sobbing uncontrollably. She managed to squeeze out a few words in between the sobs.
"I'm...sorry...John"