Chapter 01; The Resistance
Cameron suddenly heard a sound and drew her MG4. She placed the gun in front of her and slowly walked on through the dark forest. She had been lost in thoughts for a while now and could be surrounded. Cameron tried to move and breath as slowly as she could, while she scanned the area. It had been almost two weeks since Amy and Jethro died and Cameron had been walking ever since. The down side of being alone the entire time, is that at one point you just walk because you have walked the entire time. You forget the situation and area you are in. Just when wanted to give up, someone jumped out of a tree behind her. Quickly she turned around and aimed her gun. The man who had jumped out of the tree, lost his balance and almost fell on the ground. Cameron hit him on his back and he fell. She pointed her gun at his head and spoke through the scarf that was in front of her mouth.
'Are you human?' she said.
'Are you?' she heard a voice from behind and felt the barrel of a gun against her head. For a moment she thought, but Cameron decided to play it safe and raised her arms.
'I am,' she said.
'Drop the gun,' the voice said. Cameron sighed, there was nothing to life for anyway.
'Alright,' she said and dropped it. Several men showed up from behind. They looked at her.
'What are you doing here, Red Riding Hood?' one of them asked.
'The same as Robin Hood and his marry men,' she snapped back.
'Easy, girl,' the same man said and prepared his gun.
'Would you shoot a human?' she dared him, and lied, 'An unarmed human?'
'You're not unarmed,' the man who she had hit on the back said, 'You have a Jericho 914 against your side.'
'Well, in that case, you should just shoot me,' she said.
'Enough,' the man who had aimed his gun at her head in the first place, who was probably the leader, said, 'You're coming with us. If you betray us, we will shoot you in the back.'
'Deal,' Cameron picked her gun up and followed the man. At least she was not alone anymore.
'Show your face,' the leader of the group said as he sat down in front of her. Cameron was led into a large bunker under the ground. She had seen several women and children as the men led her to the last chamber. There they pushed her in a chair. She was surrounded by five covered and armed men. Strong, tall and willing to fight for their freedom. Cameron removed the scarf and took of her hood. The leader took a good look at her and shook his head. He sighed and gestured to the men they could stand down. He took of his hat and scarf himself too.
'How old are you girl?' he asked and moved his chair closer to the table.
'Twenty-one,' she lied. He looked in her eyes and smirked.
'Liar,' he said, leaning forward.
'You don't want to know my age,' she said as she also leaned closer, 'You've already made up your mind, right?'
'Your name?' he smiled, she was good.
'Cameron,' she could see a small flash in his eyes. Perhaps he had known someone by that name. Cameron took a good look at the man. He had dark brown hair, standing up straight and a stubble face. He was muscled and had a pride but fatherly look on his face. This man had known pain and had suffered, she could see it in his eyes.
'Just Cameron?' he asked.
'Just Cameron,' she assured him.
'No last name?' he tried.
'Just Cameron,' she said again.
'Who were your parents, Cameron?' he asked.
'My mother was Katherine, but she died when I was young,' she said.
'And your father?'
'He did not want me,' that was what Jethro had told her at least.
'Alright,' the man decided not to ask more, 'Do you know where you are?'
'No,' she said honest.
'Where are you going?' Cameron sighed, would he ever stop?
'I don't know,' she said, again honest.
'Do you know who we are?' she looked around and nodded. Doh, look at the clothes!
'Of course,' she said, 'You're part of the Resistance.'
'Indeed,' the man said and finally leaned back.
'Who are you,' Cameron asked bold. The man looked at her, narrowing his eyes and smiled.
'Derek Reese,' he said and he could see her thinking, 'Uncle of John Conner.'
'I see,' Cameron said. She was a bit surprised she did not feel anything. No shame. No hate. Nothing. She really was Cameron, alone and without family. Good, she thought, it works. John Conner could be doing what ever he wanted, she did not care one little bit.
'How old are you, Cameron,' he asked, friendly and calm this time.
'Seventeen,' she said.
'Can you control that?' he asked as he pointed at her gun, which stood against her chair.
'Like I was born with it,' she smiled.
'Can I see it?' he asked. There was something about this Derek which made Cameron trust him.
'Sure,' she said and handed it to him after unloading it. He smiled when he saw what she was doing and took the gun.
'MG4,' he said and gave the gun back, 'Never seen that on a girl before.'
'Pure girlpower,' Cameron smiled as she placed the gun back against her chair.
'So, what are you doing next?' Derek asked. For a moment Cameron just looked at him.
'I don't know,' she said. She really did not know. She had nothing to life for, nothing to die for.
'I can give your life a purpose,' Derek said. Cameron looked in his eyes.
'How?' she asked.
'Fight with us,' he said. Cameron thought for a moment. Jehtro had taught her almost everything she needed to learn. Fight. Shoot. How to take care of several robots. She could do those things, sure.
'I don't think I'm good enough,' she said honest. It had always just been the three of them and there had only been some minor attacks. Actually even the attacks were so small, you could barely call them attacks!
'Come with me,' Derek said and stood up. Cameron followed him, together with the other five men. Cameron saw several people looking at them, as they passed by. They walked up to the surface again and walked up to a small field which looked like a practicing field. Derek looked at Cameron.
'Hit it,' he said, pointing at several 'targets', made out of several different fabrics. Cameron was a bit overwhelmed by it and just looked at it. Derek said it again and Cameron took her gun. She aimed and shot. A hit. Derek did not say a thing, so she shot again. And again. And again. Until Derek finally stopped her.
'Good,' he said, 'Can you handle under pressure?'
'I don't know,' she said, 'Guess you'll have to find out.'
'We'll find out when we have to,' he said, 'Come on, we'll find you a place to sleep.'
'Guys,' Derek opened a door. Five guys were standing, most of them shirtless. They looked at Derek and nodded at him as a salute. Derek pushed the door a little further and gently pushed Cameron into the room. It was a small room with three bunk beds, five of them taken and loaded with stuff. At the end of the concrete room stood a small desk. A small bulb hung at the ceiling and gave enough light to lit the room. The desk itself also had a small light. The young men, probably all around the twenty-six or older looked at the little girl.
'This is Cameron, she'll be sleeping here,' Derek said. Immediately the men jumped forward.
'Here!' one of them said.
'She can't come here, she's a girl!' another one said.
'She has to, there is no room anywhere else!' Derek said. The men were silent. Derek looked at them one by one. When he looked at Cameron she wanted to tell him she could sleep anywhere, including floors. But he spoke before she could.
'Don't kill them,' he smiled and walked away, closing the door behind him. An awkward silent followed. None of them knew where to look. Then one guy stepped forward and reached his hand.
'Will Green,' he said, she shook his hands.
'Cameron,' she said and looked at him. He was tall, muscular and had brown hair with a strong face. Just like the others. In their eyes grieve and battle could be seen. These men had fought, cried, lost dear ones and made new friends. They would fight to the death.
'Josh MacCoy,' the one with the sympathetic face shook her hand, he shook it less firm that Will.
'Tim Blake,' the tallest on said, he did have a firm handshake.
'Rick Fleming,' he had the darkest hair color and had large eyebrows.
'Alec Peterson,' the youngest one said.
'You can sleep over there,' Will said, he was probably the leader of this small group.
'Thanks,' Cameron said and walked to the end of the row. She would sleep on top of the last bed. She laid her small bag with only a few things she collected on her way against on the end of the bed. It was to big for her anyway. She hung MG4 besides the ladder on her bed.
'So, do you have a last name, Cameron?' Tim asked, while Cameron took of her coat.
'No,' she said firm and a bit fierce.
'How come?' he asked, not letting it go. He raised his arm against the bed and tried to intimidate her.
'How come? Let's see,' Cameron said, folded her hands over each other and dared him with her look, 'My mother died when I was very young and my dad just abounded me, probably because he did not want me. I was raised by people who also did not very much like me. And I never really knew my mom or her last name. so, that's 'how come'.'
'Clear,' Tim said a bit wide eyed.
'I hope so,' Cameron said.
'We have a few rules here,' Will just went on, 'No fighting. No stealing. No passing on information, not even to other parts of the Resistance. No shooting in the bunker, unless the attacker is inside. And never ever shoot a human.'
'Got it,' Cameron answered calm.
'Good,' he said, 'Besides that, we also have training here.'
'Training?' she said and looked at them.
'Yep,' Josh said and pulled on a sweater, 'And since you're in our room, you're in our group. We're training in fifteen minutes.'
'Fifteen minutes?' Cameron said puzzled, 'I'll be ready.'
'Here,' Alex handed her a big black sweater, 'you can borrow that.'
'Thanks,' she said and smiled. She pulled it over her head, it was far to big. But she did not mind. At least she had something 'handy' to train in.
'Just follow us,' Will said and sighed as he pulled on his sweater, 'Ready?'
'Don't slow us down,' Tim said. Will opened the door and they ran out of it. One by one, Cameron as the last one, closing the door behind her.
Training. It was hard. It was painful. It was good. After her first training, Cameron had rushed to Derek and demanded she would be put in another room. He refused and told her that she had replaced an old team member and that she could not let her team down. Cameron had cursed a lot and told him she was not part of any team. Derek still just send her back and told her to do something about her team spirit. When she entered the room again, her team mates were not really thrilled to see her again. Days passed by and Cameron almost lived to train. And if she was not training there were always other chores for her. Tim most of the time was teasing her that she could not do it because she was either too young, too small, or just because she was a girl. That only gave Cameron more energy to do her best and sometimes she even kicked his butt. She worked hard. She worked until her muscles ached and her body yelled for rest, but she still went on. She had to, she told herself. She would prove them wrong. She would show the Resistance women were just as good as men. And she was thankful that there were several other women were also in the bunker and also showed the men what they were worth!