Chapter 02; HQ

'MEDIC!' Will's voice echoed through the bunker as he run in. Quickly several people jumped up and looked at him. In his arms laid Cameron, her arm wrapped around his neck, but barely awake. Josh, Rim, Alec and Rick ran after him. The doctor gestured him to come and cleared the table. Will gently laid Cameron down, but she still moaned of pain. They had been send outside when several cyborgs had been spotted. They were fighting and pushing back the cyborgs, when suddenly one of the cyborgs jumped up and wanted to shoot Will down, as leader of the pack. Cameron had jumped before him and took all his bullets. It was only by a wonder that none of them had hit her lungs, brain of heart. But she was bleeding heavily. As Will explained what happened the doctor tore the shirt of Cameron's body and removed her shirt. Her rump was covered in blood. Bullet wholes were visible in her shoulder, arm, side, belly and in het leg. The doctor sighed.
'Get Derek over here,' he said.
'Is she gonna make it?' Will said, the doctor looked at him, and Will said again, screaming now. 'Is she going to make it!'
'I don't know, son,' the older doctor said, looking over his glasses, 'She's hurt badly.'
'She has to make it!' Will said and he looked at the girl. She was unconscious, but she still held his hand.
'Yes,' Derek entered the room and was shocked by the thing he saw in the room. The unconscious girl, covered in her own blood. Will with several blood stripes in his face and on his clothes, Cameron's blood. The teary eyed team. And than, the hopeless face of the doctor.
'Tell me,' he said to the doctor. The doctor thought for a moment and stared at the girl.
'I will do my best, Reese,' he said and looked at Derek, 'But she needs better medical care.'
'HQ?' Derek said short.
'It would be better for her,' the doctor said.
'Good, we'll leave when you're done,' Derek wanted to leave but was stopped by the doctor.
'The transport might kill her, Derek,' he said, 'But it's her only chance.'
'But than she will have a chance,' Derek said as he looked at Will. Will nodded.
'I will do my best,' the doctor promised and cleared the room. He carefully cleaned the wounds and bound them. None of them had hit any vital organs, but most of them did go deep into her body. Seven bullets he pulled out of her body. One in her upper leg. One in her right shoulder. One in her right upper arm. Two in her right side and two in her belly. He cleaned the wounds and bound them carefully. Cameron was still unconscious, but when ever he came close to the wounds, she moved slightly. She was in pain.

'Prepare the van,' the doctor said when he walked into the open space in the bunker. Will and the rest of the team had been sitting there since the doctor had send them away. Waiting. When the old man finally walked out, they had jumped up and looked at him. Curious and a bit anxious. But this was good news. Quickly they prepared an army van. Gently they placed Cameron on the stretcher. She was barely awake and now and then just looked at them. Derek would come with them, since he also had to arrange some other things at the HQ.

In the dark of the night the army van, an older Dutch type. Packed. Armored and above all: careful. With the slightest bump in the road, Cameron made a noise of pain. She was barely awake and most of the time she slept, but by all the bumps she woke up again and again. The doctor had drugged her pretty heavily, so she would not feel most of the pain and could sleep. But the road was long and dangerous and they could not afford it to be seen, so they had to have to speed. Everyone got cranky by the journey, but they knew they had to go on.
Alec just covered Cameron with a small blanket. The doctor had drugged her, again, so she could sleep some more this night. It had been eight evenings now and still they had not been noticed. It was only a day's ride or so before they would reach the HQ. She was asleep now, but he could still see her entire body was tensed. Suddenly gunfire was heard. It was coming their way. Quickly the van sprinted into the darkness and tried to disappear. But the cyborgs were fast and followed them by their heat vision. The group took their weapons and prepared themselves. Not shooting before they were sure to see a cyborg. Even though they did hear them, none of them actually saw a cyborg. Just when Tim wanted to make a lame observation, an explosion only a few feet away from them lit the sky. It burned the few things that still bloomed and showed some light in the night. Will looked at Cameron, she laid on her back and just looked at the ceiling. She was so far away, it almost made him laugh. Suddenly the van pulled over. The men looked at each other. When a body appeared at the back, everybody aimed their gun at the it. It raised it's hands. But by the light from behind it's back, it was just a black contour.
'Relax,' it said, human voice.
'Who are you?' Will said, loud and clear. Showing he was not afraid.
'My name is Kyle Conner,' he said, 'I'm here to get you safe home.'
'Show your face,' Will said, you could not be safe enough.
'Alright,' the so called Kyle Conner said. He removed the mask from his face and lit a light. His face was human, clear eyes. Normal.
'Will Green,' Will said as he lowered his gun. The rest followed him. Kyle looked in the van.
'What do you have there, Green?' he asked. He was younger than Will, probably 24.
'Wounded soldier,' Will said, 'Needs better medical care.'
'Well let's get moving,' Kyle said, he saluted slightly and walked back to his own vehicle.

If you did not know where the HQ was, you would never find it. Vehicles were abandoned all around the area. Which was possible since many other vehicles, including helicopters, plains and even a train, also laid around there. The HQ had several entrances, and was actually a big city under the ground. Most entrances were behind a rock, between the roots of a tree. Always small, fragile and hard to find. Which made it safe. It had never been found or even detected by any cyborg. Under the ground was the large city. It was probably the most populated place in what was left of the world. There were several small homes, a hospital, a large cafeteria, several armory and many other things. But all small and simple. John Conner had began building it quite quickly after Judgment Day. Most people declared that he had officially gone mad. But when it was done, it was one of the safest places on the world. Even for children. Sure, nowhere it could be absolutely safe. But compared to other places, it was extremely save. It was the centre of information, knowledge and hope. It was the home of the Resistance and home of John Conner, who lived there with his son; Kyle.

'Quickly, now,' the doctor said as he rushed before the four men. Will, Alex, Tim and Josh were carrying the stretcher with Cameron on it. She was barely awake, but she did hold the hand of Will slightly. Her face was turned his way and she glared at him. He had tried talking to her, but somehow she did not seem to hear him. Or she was just not able to answer, he did not know. Right now they had to get her to one of the many the medical rooms. She was going to make it, Will was sure of it. He could feel her heartbeat softly against his hand. They followed the doctor down many stairs and through many corridors. Until they finally reached a white room. It was indeed cleaner than their medical room and the mattress even just looked softer. Two nurses ran into the room and the doctor began explaining what had happened. After one sentence, one already began grabbing things.
'Come with me,' it was Kyle again. The men were tired and just followed him. They walked a few levels up again and Kyle showed them a room they could use. It looked a bit like their old one, only a big bigger and cleaner. Kyle took of his black tuque and ran his hand through his slightly longer brown hair.
'She your sister?' he asked, while most of the men laid down. Will looked at him. Cameron had indeed become like a little sister to them, like they had already been brothers to each other. They cared for each other and would die for each other.
'Yes,' he said, but Kyle understood that she was like a sister to them.
'You did well, bro,' he smiled and walked to the door, 'Get some rest.'

Slowly Cameron opened her eyes. She had a massive headache and the world was fuzzy and spinning a bit. Someone was beside her bed. What was it? Thinking hurt too much. She closed her eyes again and was lost in time and space. Cameron did not know how much time had past since the last time she had opened her eyes again, but she knew she had to get out. She could smell metal all around her. Feel the shocks of the large cyborg feet hit the ground and destroy it. She knew it. She could feel it. She was either in Skynet itself or in a smaller section of it. The bright light hurt in her eyes and she made small lines of her eyes. She could see no one of nothing. Quickly she stood up, but immediately had to sit down again. Her head was spinning and her body was yelling for rest. But she could not. Not if she wanted to live. She had to go on. Cameron saw her clothes lying on the ground, together with other pieces of clothing. She did not dare thinking of what had happened to those people. Suddenly a thought flashed in her eyes and quickly Cameron checked herself. A lot of bandage, but she could feel nothing odd. She had heard of cyborgs doing experiments on humans, or even using human parts for their own 'good'. When her head had settled down a bit, Cameron stood up and quickly pulled her old, torn clothes back on. As quiet as she could, she opened the door. It was not as dark and nasty as she had expected. It even looked cleaner than her old base, or it was just her. Cameron had not found any weapon, so she had to be very careful. As soundless and quick as she could she managed to find a way out. She came back to the surface right next to a destroyed truck. A bit weird, but you never knew with those cyborgs. Several times, Cameron had thought to hear human voices. But she was in no place nor condition to help anyone but herself. She would return for them, once she had found her team. Cameron was panting and tears welled up in her eyes. She was bleeding again and her body hurt like it was on fire. She heard yells from over her shoulder, jumped up and began running, but it was no good. She was wounded, bleeding and lost. Still, Cameron tried to run and kept looking back to see if the cyborgs were already gaining field on her. So far, nothing. Which was good.
'Easy,' Cameron ran straight into something's arms. She tried to hit it, but her legs failed her and she almost fell on the ground. It caught her and gently laid her down, still holding her. She blinked a few times and thought she saw a human face.
'Shouldn't you shoot me?' she said soft. She could feel blood pouring out of her. Her heartbeat, moving her entire body.
'Never kill a human,' the male face smiled, 'I'm just as human as you are.'
'Good,' she sighed and tried to calm down. She was shaking.
'You shouldn't be here,' the man said as he stood up and lifted her up. She hated it when people carried her. It made her feel helpless. Like she could not take care of her own.
'We have to run, the cyborgs-' she wanted to tell him.
'Right now, you're running nowhere,' he told her fatherly.
'I'm fine,' she said, which was one big lie of course.
'Sure,' he said, but she already did not hear him. She was unconscious again.

Shots. Doctor. Will. Van. Explosion. White room. Nurse. Headache. Nightmare. Escape. Man. Now. It all flashed by and Cameron sat up straight. Will and the others still had to be here. Right? They would not leave without her, she knew that. She felt better now. Cameron looked at her bandage, they were new. Slowly she got out of bed. Her body yelled to get back in, but she ignored it. If she could do it once in panic, she could do it again in calmness. Cameron saw that she was in another room. There were six beds in total. Four used, including her. She saw a large ,white closet. Out of it, she took trousers, a singlet, a vest, socks and boots and dressed herself. After it, she laid down in bed again for a moment. She slept for a while and then decided that it really was time to get out. Slowly she walked out of the room and just walked around. Not knowing where to go or where to turn too. Now that she looked around, Cameron realized this could never ever have been part of Skynet. It was neat. It was fresh. It was human friendly. But above all: it was bright. Cameron knew one thing, and one thing only: she had to find Will and the rest of her team. And her guns. Without them, she was helpless.

As she had walked up several stairs, Cameron heard several people laughing. She walked up the stairs, through a hallway and came in a open room which looked like a cafeteria. Several chairs and tables and a small kitchen. In 2032 that was one hell of a luxury! Cameron walked through the door and looked around. A group of children and some women sat in one corner. Playing a bit with small toys which were left. Here and there other people sat. Most of them relaxing, trying to escape from the hell they lived in. Thinking back to the days when the sun was still seen. When the world had still color in herself. When men ruled over machine.
'Feeling better?' Cameron turned around and it made her head spin. She looked at the face who she had seen the other day. Or was it a few hours ago?
'Yes,' she said and smiled.
'Still shouldn't be out of bed,' the brown haired man said, folding his arms and leaning in the doorway.
'And you are who to tell me that?' she said, folding her arms as well and raising her eyebrows.
'Kyle Conner,' he said, with just a bit to much arrogance.
'Impressive, or not,' she said simple, 'Do you know where I can find my team?'
'Your team?' he said a bit dazzled, most of the time people were impressed if the told them he was 'the son of'.
'Green, McCoy, Blake, Van Buuren, Flemings?' she asked, having an inside laugh about his stratled face, 'They're supposed to be here. I hope.'
'The ones who brought you here?' a small light began to shine in his memory.
'Yes,' she said.
'Your brothers?' he said, with a small teasing smirk.
'Yes,' she said serious and obviously not amused.
'This way,' he said and turned around.

'Where are we going?' Cameron asked when they were going down again instead of going up.
'You'll see,' Kyle said again. Cameron did not like that answer. Like she was going to be cut open. Just to be sure she was not made of metal. When they stood before a large metal door, Cameron could feel her mind was warning her.
'Where does this door lead to?' she said, before Kyle wanted to open it.
'John Conner, my father.'
'Look, I know you're a Conner, right? I got it! Stop bragging about it!' she snapped at him, 'And why the hell do you even bring me to him? I need my team.'
'Sure, after you've been to John.'
'No,' she said and stared at the guy. He was taller and stronger for sure. But perhaps she might hit him a good few times. If she needed to.
'You are going in,' Kyle said and began opening the door.
'No, goodbye,' she said and simply turned around and walked back to the stairs.
'Hello,' suddenly a tall man said. He had dark brown hair, a small beard and strong features. He narrowed his eyes a bit while he looked at her.
'Sorry, just passing by,' she said and walked on. Her team. That was the only thing she thought about. Nothing else mattered. You life for your team, you die for your team. How was she ever going to honor that code if she did not even know where her team was?