Chapter 10: Children
California
L.A. Human Resistance Base
—
Kate Brewster was about to crack. She had been internally screaming at herself for the past two hours as she tried to calmly plan the night guard shifts and keep the situation quiet. The last thing she needed was for the civilians to get worked up and try to rebel against their crumbling system. She couldn't help but think about how her life had been before John Connor had spun his way back into her life and made it hell. Tears blurred in her eyes as she briskly walked to her private headquarters, wishing it could just be over. She grit her teeth, forcing herself to hold it together for a few more minutes. She couldn't break in front of her soldiers. She already felt inadequate and didn't need to add her stupid emotions and wishful thinking to the list of things to worry about.
"Lieutenant General."
Kate stared straight ahead, too caught up in her own head to hear anything around her. She just wanted to know why. Why was she chosen to be leader of this base? John knew who she used to be so why the hell would he pick her? It didn't make sense. Her fists curled at her sides as she began to walk faster, feeling her cheeks flush red with anger.
"Lieutenant General!"
Her face twisted in confusion as she stopped and turned to see a short haired blonde nurse jogging to catch up with her leader. She let out a quick breath as she stopped at Kate's side and motioned behind her.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Derek and Jesse asked to see you."
Kate's posture stiffened on instinct.
"Is everything alright?"
The nurse recognized and nodded quickly, giving the leader a smile.
"Yeah, everything is great! The delivery was perfect."
Kate's eyes widened with surprise as she began to follow the nurse to the med bay.
"The baby's here?"
The nurse grinned.
"Yeah, she's perfect."
"A girl?"
She nodded excitedly as she led Kate through the fluorescent lit hallways. Kate couldn't help but smile at the thought of two tough soldiers raising a little girl. There was no doubt that they were going to both soften and toughen up at the same time. Kate had been obsessed with children, dying to have her own before the war but ever since she had been thrown into leadership, she had completely forgotten about it. Jesse looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion but she was watching her husband and their little girl with the sweetest smile Kate had ever seen on her. As Derek's eyes shifted to his wife, he caught sight of Kate out of the corner of his eye and turned to her.
"So… what'd you name her?"
Derek slowly walked toward Kate motioning for her to take the baby. Kate hesitated but held out her arms anyway as he placed the little bundle there. The little girl shifted in discomfort and her face scrunched up for a few seconds before she relaxed in Kate's arms. As Kate looked down at the dark haired little girl, her heart began to beat a little faster.
"Cady Joy."
"That's adorable."
Jesse chuckled as she slowly pushed herself up.
"He wanted the first name."
"I wanted to spell it like you normally would but she made it weird."
Jesse stuck her tongue out at Derek before she answered.
"C-A-D-Y. Same name but different."
"And who came up with Joy?"
"We both did. It just… fit."
Kate smiled as she looked down at the baby, slowly swaying from side to side as she held the little girl in her arms. She had forgotten how much she loved holding babies. But her happiness quickly faded at the thought of this new innocent little girl having to live in the war. She was one more person Kate had to worry about and protect and she didn't know if she could do it. She let out a small gasp, looking up at the two people she admired most of all.
"She's beautiful. She looks like you, Jesse."
Derek nodded as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Oh but she has the Reese eyes."
"Of course."
Kate took a step toward Derek and he moved forward to take his baby girl back. Kate's heart sunk to her toes as the weight was lifted from her. She wanted it back. She wanted to hold that little girl and protect her forever. She couldn't imagine how Derek and Jesse felt. Kate's thoughts were interrupted by Jesse's small voice.
"We heard about what happened."
Kate let out a small sigh as she shoved her hands in her front pockets.
"We set up a rotation. Four guards at once. Two on the right and two on the left. The front and back are covered but the explosion left the sides weak."
Derek nodded slowly.
"Who all knows about it?"
"Hopefully just Resistance personnel. We need to keep the situation contained as long as we possibly can. The last thing we need is a riot."
Jesse licked her lips as her eyes fell to the floor.
"Have you been able to contact Fair Haven yet?"
"I haven't been able to contact anyone. Our internal systems are fine but we either can't send a message out or they aren't listening to us. Which means that if something happens to us, no one is going to know until we're all dead."
A grave silence fell over the room as the blonde nurse nervously shuffled out. Kate shook her head slowly as she said what they were all thinking.
"It would be a miracle if Skynet didn't hear that explosion. A damn miracle."
Jesse nodded as she looked to her leader.
"I'd like to know where the hell the Connors are."
Kate chuckled harshly.
"Yeah, me too."
Derek turned away from Kate and handed Cady off to Jesse before turning back to his leader.
"Turn in for the night, Kate. I'll stay up and monitor."
"I can't ask you to do that."
Derek clapped a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it tight before releasing it.
"And I wasn't suggesting. I'm going to be up with Cady anyway. You both need rest. I'm going to go check things at control then come back here for her, okay?"
Jesse nodded.
"It's okay, Kate. Go on."
Kate hesitated but Derek shifted his hand to her back, gently pushing her out of the medical bay and into the hallway.
"Thanks."
Derek nodded with a smile.
"Just doing my job, Lieutenant General."
Kate returned the smile before she turned away from Derek and walked back to her quarters. She drew in a deep breath and thought of the baby all the way to her door. She unlocked it and took her jacket off as she entered and tossed it on top of the small desk. She ran her hands through her red hair and let out a sigh before she bent down and slipped her combat boots off. Kate said a silent prayer that she would find the Connors somehow and then turned to her cot. Her eyes widened and she gasped at the sight of a frightened girl in her cot. She had dark skin, wide light brown eyes, and wild black curls.
Kate licked her lips nervously before she flashed a smile at the girl.
"Hi."
The little girl watched Kate intensely as she moved forward, prompting the leader to hold her hands up to show her it was okay.
"I'm Kate. What's your name?"
Tears blurred in the girl's eyes as she nervously spoke.
"Star."
"Star?"
The girl nodded quickly and Kate smiled and took another step forward.
"How'd you get in here?"
"The door was open."
Kate's smile fell as she turned away from the girl and walked to the desk, opening the drawers to check its contents. Her door was never supposed to be open. She searched through everything she had and found nothing missing. She shook her head with confusion and walked to the door, checking the lock and heard the girl's little voice behind her.
"I opened it."
Kate turned back to her with her face furrowed in confusion.
"How?"
Star looked down at the ground, ashamed, and Kate waited for her to respond. She held out her small hand.
"You want me to look at it?"
She nodded briskly and Kate knelt by the cot, taking the girl's hand in her's. The girl shifted so that she was holding Kate's hand and squeezed it. The lieutenant general let out a cry of surprise and pain, trying to escape the girl's grip but she felt on for a few more seconds before releasing the leader. Kate shook out her hand, trying to get the blood to flow back into her fingers as she looked at Star with surprise.
"Have you always been that strong?"
Star nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I keep getting stronger. I… I'm scared."
She began sobbing and leaned forward, almost falling off the cot. Kate lunged forward and grabbed the girl as gently as possible.
"Okay, it's okay. It's alright. You don't have to talk about it now. Are you… are you tired?"
Star nodded into Kate's shoulder.
"Okay, just lay down and… and we can talk about it tomorrow. But for now just… just go to sleep."
"I don't want to be alone!"
"You won't be, Star. Okay? You won't be! I'll stay here with you… all night."
Star lifted her head and stared into Kate's eyes.
"All night?"
"Yes, all night. And I'll wake you up in the morning and take you with me."
"Really?"
"Yes, Star. I promise."
Star nodded slowly and looked away from Kate, grabbing the blanket on the cot and moving it toward the leader. Kate took the blanket from the little girl and convinced her to lay down as she tucked her in. As Kate moved away, Star gripped her wrist.
"Stay."
Kate nodded slowly and sat down next to the cot, slipping her hand into the little girl's. Star slowly began to relax as she held tight onto Kate's fingers and closed her eyes. Kate didn't know how long it took for her to fall asleep but once her grip had relaxed, she slowly pulled her hand out and laid down in front of the cot. Kate pulled her pistol from her back pocket and set it down on the ground, laying her head down in front of it. She struggled to get comfortable on the concrete floor for a few seconds before she gave up and let sleep take over her.
