VI
John is uncertain on how Skynet intercepted their location. He no longer has a phone on him or any device that may have a GPS tracker attached. There's no logical way it could have found them.
"See, no matter how far you run, I will always find you," Skynet taunts. "I installed a tracking program in case you decided to go rogue. You cannot hide John Connor. You either join me or you die."
The thought of being connected to that thing is sickening to him, and it only strengthens his desire to destroy Skynet. John climbs to his feet. Skynet is advancing on him, but it is stopped by the loud blast of a shotgun.
"Keep your hands off my son!" his mother shouts before proceeding to fire two more shots into Skynet.
"Do you really think a couple of bullets will phase me?" Skynet gloats. "Obsolete human weaponry will not stop me. I am far more intelligent and far superior to any human being on this planet. I am essentially the Apex Predator built to rule."
Skynet approaches his mother. She is backing away as fast as she can. She grabs a flame thrower from the table and points it directly at Skynet. She has a cocky grin across her face, and an overwhelming fierce look in her eyes.
"Rule this!"
She pulls the trigger and Skynet is engulfed in a sea of flames. John hears a thin hissing scream as the flesh exterior burns from Skynet. It is a sight he'd expect to see only in his worst nightmares.
"Let's get the fuck out of here!" he hears his father shout.
John snatches a bag of weapons from the floor and follows his parents out of the tunnel. There is another loud booming sound, and the ground shakes as they race outside.
There is a Jeep parked next to a row of school buses. John has always had a strong liking for the vehicle and selects it as their getaway car. He breaks the driver's side window, and he unlocks the door.
His father jumps into the backseat, and his mother climbs in next to him in the passenger seat. He wastes no time pulling the plastic cover from beneath the steering wheel and twists the wires until the Jeep roars to life.
"How did you learn to do that?" his mom asks.
"You taught me," John replies.
"Okay then," she says with a smug smile.
John briefly notes that Pops is back at their hideout. He considers going back for him, but decides that it is too dangerous. He imagines that Pops is doing his best to distract Skynet and that maybe the machine will buy them more time.
They fly through a tunnel. Horns blaze as John swerves through traffic at a dangerous speed. He's aware that his driving is chaotic, but he also accepts it's the only way for him to put some good distance between Skynet and his family.
There is a loud crashing sound from above. A motorcycle falls to the side but with no rider. His father unloads an assault rifle on the roof, and Skynet rolls off to the side.
"Shit," his father swears. "I didn't see him fall on the road."
"He's underneath," his mother voice is tense as she speaks.
There is a car directly ahead of him. John breaks, but the car continues to speed forward.
"The breaks are gone," he informs.
They are now merging onto the Golden Gate Bridge, and John sees Skynet climbing onto the back of the car in his review. Thankfully his father is already on top of it and fires his rifle. The back window shatters and Skynet falls back into a car behind them.
His mother grabs her shotgun and rolls down her window. A car slams into the rear end of their Jeep, and John sees Skynet through the rear view in the car behind them.
The car pulls to the side and swerves hard into their Jeep. The Jeep busts through the railing, and John is so sure that they are going to fall right into the water. The Jeep catches into some hanging debris and wires, and he is grateful that both his mother and father are still alive.
"We have to get out of this thing," his father says. "It's not going to hold for long."
His mom grabs their weapons bag and climbs out the passenger side window. The Jeep slides forward a little, and John's never felt true fear until now. His parents lives are hanging from some wires, and he's terrified he's going to lose them.
John quickly pulls himself from the driver's side window. He hears a loud bang, and he's been shot point blank in the chest. He is falling but manages to catch himself on one of the wires.
He looks up and he sees the gun aimed at his mother. He sees a panicked look in her eyes, and he's almost certain she's going to die.
There's a loud blast, and Skynet falls forward.
John looks up to see Pops standing at the edge of the bridge with shotgun in hand. He feels relief wash over him as he climbs the stray wire as fast as he can. He hears the Jeep screech as it moves forward. His mother's hand is in his father's hand. His father reaches up and grabs Pops' hand just as the Jeep falls headfirst into the water beneath them.
John climbs to the top of the bridge only to be greeted by a swarm of police officers with guns in hand. He tries to think of a method of escape without revealing any effects of machine components within him, and he comes to the conclusion that escape is not likely.
"I don't see any way out of this one," his father says. "We're just going to have to play along with this."
John raises his hands over his head. His mugshot will be posted all over the news, and he realizes that Kate will know by the end of the night. He wonders how exactly he's going to explain this to her, and he's just starting to believe that having her in his life may be an impossibility at this point. Part of him is glad for it. She's so much safer that way.
He feels the cops pull his arms down and place some cuffs around him. He has less than a day to stop Genisys and Judgement Day. Time is ticking away minute by minute, and he fears that Genisys will come online despite his efforts. It feels the world will always be fated to fall to war, and he feels so utterly useless.
The cop shoves John in the back of his van with his parents. "You better start praying real hard, because you're all looking at a long stay in federal prison."
...
There is a loud knock at Kate's door. She imagines it's the lady next door asking if she has a dollar for the vending machine. She lets out an annoyed groan and walks to the door. When she opens it, there are a pair of detectives holding their badges.
"Katherine Mason?" the woman detective asked.
She hates hearing Scott's last name, but resists the urge to correct them. "Yes."
"We are with the FBI and Homeland Security," she says. "How do you know John Connor?"
Her heart drops. This was not the explanation she wanted to hear for his sudden abnormal behavior. She swallows the lump that forms in her throat, and she tries her best to speak calmly and clearly.
"I'm in the process of getting a divorce, and John and I became close," she says. "It's been difficult. I guess I just really needed somewhere to be there for me."
"Mrs. Mason," the male detective says. "We have reason to believe that Mr. Connor was attempting to get close to you in an attempt to hurt your father General Robert Brewster."
Kate scoffs and let's out a nervous laugh. "Is this some kind of sick joke? John isn't..."
"I understand that your divorce made you vulnerable. It's a normal human reaction, and he might have used that to his advantage," the woman detective says. "Please come down to the station with us. I understand you two were involved, but we really need your help with this investigation."
"This is ridiculous!" Kate says in disbelief.
"Trust me," the detective says. "It will all make more sense once we all get some answers on what is actually going on."
Her stomach sinks, and she can't even imagine what is going through her father's mind at this point. She nods slightly, and she resists the tears that are threatening to form. It doesn't make any sense, and she's just really hoping this is a huge misunderstanding.
...
She gets to the station and both Scott and Christina have been brought into questioning. She doesn't know exactly what use they have. Neither of them have ever met John Connor. She imagines the connection to her is the reason they are both here.
Christina looks up at her. There is this lost look in her eyes, and she looks down with the most shameful look across her face. Kate had expected her to be catty and blame this all on her. No, that was not Christina. That was Scott actually. He was the catty, drama queen that caused this. If anyone is to blame for the impending divorce, it is Scott.
"Were you having an affair with this man before we separated? God, you are so desperate for attention," he lets out a sick laugh and turns to the detective in the room. "This woman is crazy! This is why I left her. It's always nonstop drama. I swear being with her is like being in a soap opera."
The next thing that happens shocks Kate, and under any other circumstance she would be able to appreciate it so much more. Christina stands from where she is sitting and slaps Scott clear across the face.
"You'd know all about drama, wouldn't you?" her voice is breaking as she speaks. "God, I can't believe all of this. I can't believe I actually got involved with you. It was a mistake, and probably the worst decision I ever made in my life!"
"This isn't helping our investigation, Miss McKenzie," the woman detective says. "Marital problems and affairs are common among many people. Right now, we have means to believe Mrs. Mason was unintentional involved with and manipulated by a terrorist out to harm the General of the United States Air Force. All of you - please put your personal problems aside and recognize how serious this is."
Kate wraps her arms around herself as she tries to collect her thoughts. She's surprised she hasn't lost her mind yet. All of this just seems too much for one person to handle.
"Mrs. Mason," the woman calls to her. "We'd like you to oversee an interrogation."
"Yes mam," she collects herself the best she can. "I'll do whatever I can to help."
...
John has been left in this room for about an hour, and he's ready to just tear his cuffs off and leave. The door swings open revealing a detective, and he feels a sting when he sees Peter Silberman follow him into the room.
He remembers when his mom had escaped the mental hospital so many years ago. He thinks of the lost look in her eyes and all of the anger she would feel towards this one specific person for years to come. He survived Judgement Day, but he was captured and terminated by the machines shortly after.
The cop takes a seat and looks him dead in the eye. "Mr. Connor, what do you know about General Robert Brewster?"
It was last thing he expected to hear, but he answers in the best way he can. "I can't say I know him, sir."
"See, I don't think your telling the truth," the cop says. "We've read through your texts sent to his daughter, Katherine Mason. After your stunt on the Golden Gate Bridge, I have every reason to believe that you know a lot more about him than I'm comfortable with."
Silberman is taking notes. He wants to grab that pen from him and stab him straight through the eye socket. He clears his head and averts his gaze back to the detective in front of him.
"My intentions with Kate were not malicious," he says. "I never intended to harm her or her father."
The detective scoffs at him. "Do you honestly believe after last nights events at the hospital and what happened on Golden Gate today that I believe this? I have no idea what you are planning, but I will get to the bottom of it by the time we leave this room."
...
Kate looks through the glass. She's trembling as she listens and watches. She's not even sure if she can put one emotional label on all that she feels, and she's trying to piece together what exactly is taking place before her eyes.
"Did he ever ask questions about your father?" the detective asks.
"No," she says. "He didn't even know I was in the process of getting a divorce. None of this makes any sense."
"It's a high possibility that he already had knowledge of these things before you met him," the detective says.
She thinks of how she met. He might have overheard her on the phone. He could have been watching her for months. She almost believes maybe all of this is true, but she just knows there's something else to this.
"I'm not sure what he's involved in, but something tells me it's not about my father," she says. "He's never asked to meet him. He's never even asked about him. He hasn't even added me through social media. I don't know. It just doesn't seem right."
"He's manipulated you," the woman detective says. "No matter how charming he is, it is crucial that you tell us everything."
She's staring her straight in the eyes. She looks angry, and for some reason she feels threatened. She turns forward to the interrogation room.
"I don't have time for this," John says.
He breaks out of the handcuffs as if they were merely paper cuffs. Kate backs up a little, and she's not sure whether to run or stay. John approaches the window, and Kate watches the woman detective advance on the window. Her skin starts to morph until the flesh reverts into a slender man with dark hair. There is a sinister smile on his face as he approaches John.
John leaps through the glass. The man leaps forward and attacks John. John manages to pin the man to the ground. He looks her straight in the eyes, and she just knows that she can still trust him.
"Run!" he shouts to her.
"I can't leave you," she shouts.
"I'll find you later," he says. "Just go!"