CHAPTER 8

"You wanna explain to me exactly what the hell that was?" Savannah stated in a subdued yet annoyed tone as she walked along side John, ahead of Alison and Richardson. John could only shrug his shoulders.

"I don't know…" he replied solemnly. "I thought…" John cut himself off in mid sentence.

"You thought Alison was her…" Savannah stated in a stricter tone finishing John's initial sentence. John nodded his head.

"Yeah…" Savannah shook her head as they rounded a corner. As this occurred John noticed that the gunfire was now much more distant and far more sporadic. He took this to mean that Derek's forces must have been succeeding in repelling the invading faction.

"We can't afford to have you losing it out here." Savannah stated. "If you can't handle this…" John cut Savannah off.

"I'm fine!" He stated, unintentionally raising his voice enough so that Alison and Richardson were able to hear him. Both parties glanced at each other with a somewhat perplexed and disturbed look about their faces.

Coming around a second turn the group approached a doorway guarded by a few soldiers. Beyond the entranceway John could make out Derek, Kyle and several other men milling about inside of the room. Walking past the guards Savannah, John, and the rest of the group entered a larger room. Like many of the other rooms in this establishment it was poorly lit. However adding to the illumination, was the light from a few laptop computers that were scattered about the area. Each one had an individual sitting at it. In the center of the room surrounded by Derek, Kyle, Bedell and a few other men was a large square table. The wood finish had obviously seen much better days as deep cuts and scratches could easily be viewed. Strewn across the table were maps, some of which appeared to be hand drawn, along with other various forms of paperwork.

"Have the men push the Northwest Faction's soldiers back to corridor A1." Derek stated.

"That should give our guys enough cover to help to drive them out." One of the men standing across from Derek nodded his head and raised a radio to his face which he had retrieved from his belt and began to talk into it.
"Perry's growing bolder by the day." Kyle stated in an irritated tone.

"With his forces growing by the day I'm not surprised." Bedell responded and then continued. "Soon he'll outnumber both of us by at least two, to one." Derek sighed.

"If we could bring more factions over to us we may stand a chance."

"Many of them don't wanna go up against Perry though. They're concerned enough with Skynet they don't want to have to worry about fighting him as well." Kyle responded.

"Perry's not concerned with Skynet…not unless he's actually attacked." Derek said and then added,

"I think he'd be willing to share everything with Skynet if it would give him more power."

"You're right, if we didn't know any better…" Kyle stopped in mid sentence, "What's HE doing here?" Kyle then barked as he looked over at John who had just entered the room with Savannah.

"I brought him here…" Savannah snapped back at Kyle in her usual semi-arrogant tone. "If it wasn't for John, Perry's men may have been walking in here now." Kyle ground his teeth slightly in response looking back over at Derek and then over at Bedell who raised his hand slightly in a "calm down" motion.

Moving in behind Savannah and John, Alison made her way over towards the table and along side Bedell, attempting to get close to him without being completely obvious. Seeing her blood and wounds Martin's facial expression became one of immediate concern. Alison responded by shaking her head attempting to convey an "I'm okay" message. Martin retracted by allowing his facial features to relax slightly. He then looked back over at Derek.
"When I get back to my camp I'll see about having some more of my men positioned closer to our borders. They will at least be able to assist you in a more rapid fashion if you need them." Derek nodded his head upon hearing this.

"How soon can you get back?" Derek then asked, "I think we're going to need all the help you can give us." Upon hearing this Alison quickly looked back over at Martin, wanting to speak but saying nothing.

"It's not safe to fly this close to dawn. But come nightfall I believe that a return trip may be easier." Derek again nodded his head again.

"Agreed..." Alison sneaked a lingering glance at Martin. While it was not completely obvious there was indeed a deep sadness that could be seen in her eyes.

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"I don't understand…" Alison stated in an irritated tone as she walked across her room towards Martin. "Why him?"

"It's hard to explain." Martin responded attempting to be evasive as he zipped up a shoulder bag and then stood to his feet.

"He has to come with me."

"Why?..." Alison asked, "How can you trust him? We don't even know whose side he is actually on. Or if he even has a side. We don't even know what he's capable of. I told you what happened with the Northwest faction soldier after he killed him." Alison's voice grew more concerned as she continued to speak.

"Please Martin…" She replied. "Please don't trust him." Alison's voice now grew quieter as she spoke. Martin moved over closer to Alison and gently placed his arms on her shoulders.

"You don't have to trust him." He stated, "But you can trust me." Alison stood silently for a moment before her eyes began to glisten with tears.

"You trust me right?" Martin asked in a soothing tone to which Alison shook her head. When she did so the movement shook a single tear free from her eyes which now rolled down her cheek.

"I'll be fine…I promise. I just need to take care of some things." Alison remained quiet as Martin spoke. Bedell then slowly leaned forwards and kissed her passionately on the lips so as to say goodbye, and to promise to return. Martin reluctantly shouldered his pack and moved past Alison and over towards the doorway.

"Martin…" Alison stated without actually turning to face him. Bedell stopped in the door also not turning around to face Alison.

"I love you…" Alison stated in a weak tone. Martin stood silently in the doorway for a few moments before he actually responded.

"I know…" He finally whispered. Bedell then walked through the open door and down the dimly lit corridor leaving Alison alone in her room.

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John slowly ran the tips of his fingers down the soft skin of her back as he gently kissed her neck. Feeling the warmth of her body pressed up against his brought a certain comfort that John had not felt in a long while. Moving his hands back up her body he gradually slid his hands through her hair, which flowed down across her shoulders. John then felt her lips press up against his bare chest as she began to move down his body. Slowly exhaling he allowed himself to relax and pressed his head back against the soft pillow that rested behind him. As she slowly moved her head back up his body kissing his neck John took a breath and then in a soft voice he whispered,

"Cameron…"

John felt Cameron's tongue slowly running up the side of his neck as he pulled her closer to him. There was a slight moan on her part as she made her way further up John's body kissing him and kissing him again. John closed his eyes momentarily as he felt Cameron's hair fall down around the sides of his face as she pressed her lips against his. He could feel the world falling away from him, as he sought out Cameron's delicate lips.

It was almost too much to take in at one moment. He felt as though for the first time in his entire life, he was exactly where he was supposed to be, doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. Tensing his body slightly John pressed his hands harder up against Cameron's back as the pair continued their embrace, kissing all the while. At this particular moment, time seemed to stand still. There was nothing else in the world to John, except for Cameron.

But then she slowly pulled away from John, who continued to keep his eyes closed. Making her way around the side of his face Cameron whispered softly in his ear,

"John…" she said softly as John caressed her body.

"John…" Cameron said again in a delicate, almost weak voice as John kissed the side of her face as well.

"Why…" Cameron asked, still in her withered tone. At first John did not notice the peculiar utterance. Then as Cameron's lips touched the side of his neck she spoke again,

"John…Why…" She said, almost gasping for breath. John then began to notice something unusual. A certain cold, chilling sensation now pressed up against him. In his earlier contentment he had not immediately noticed this feeling, but it was now becoming more and more prevalent.

"John…" Cameron said again, "Why…" John felt himself becoming more and more confused as time now seemed to be speeding up rapidly, almost to the point where he could not keep pace with it. Cameron was still gently kissing his neck, and pressing her body into his. However, the chilling sensation that he felt was now beginning to take a hold of him and John found that he could not open his eyes.

"Cameron…" John said now, in a very concerned tone. "Cameron….What's wrong?" he asked, the worry in his voice now extremely apparent.

"John…" Cameron said one more time, her voice now shifting over to an emotionless blank tone, as she shifted her body away from him. John's eyes shot open and what he saw stunned him.

"John…" Cameron said, "Why did you do this to me?" she asked. She was still sitting on top of John, straddling him with her legs John looked on in horror. Cameron's expression was lifeless and her eye was dark, almost black. A metallic glint from where her skin was missing from the left side of her face could easily be seen even though the room itself was relatively dark.

"John…" Cameron said again in her emotionless tone as she leaned closer to John preparing to kiss him. "Why?" she whispered one last time as she grew closer to John's mouth.

"CAMERON!" John screamed as his eyes shot open. All of the soldiers inside of the Blackhawk looked over at him with a confused look about their faces. Breathing rapidly John looked around the interior of the helicopter which was only lit by a dull red light.

"Where am I?" John thought quietly to himself as he tried take in his surroundings. The seven man team inside of the passenger compartment of the helicopter continued to stare at him.

"Hey kid…" One of the men sitting across from John said.

"You alright?" He asked. The incessant thudding of the helicopter blades made it more difficult for John to hear exactly what the man had asked. Still disoriented and confused about what was happening on John spoke,

"Where is she?" he asked. The middle aged male solider who had initially spoken with John gave him a puzzled look.

"Where's who kid?" He asked. John opened his mouth to speak, but managed to stop himself before continuing. Glancing back down at the floor of the cabin John slowly responded.

"Nobody…" He said in a sad voice. Slightly raising his eyebrows in a "you're crazy" fashion the gruff soldier sat back in his seat and leaned his head up against the headrest.

John took a long slow breath and then exhaled as he looked out the window of the helicopter as it flew low and slowly through the black night sky. While it was relatively dark outside John was still able to make out the remains of what had once been a large city. Their was an eerier almost ghostly aura about the entire scene. In the distance flashes of light from both debris fire and what John could only assume was plasma fire could be observed. The scenery seemed to drift on for miles before eventually being swallowed up into a void of inky blackness.

Then John saw something in the distance, a small sparkle of light. He felt confused for a brief moment, uncertain exactly what this particular light source might be or why it had drawn his attention. Studying it for another moment John could see that the light was moving and appeared to be getting closer. Still with fatigue and confusion weighing on his mind, John remained unable to ascertain exactly what this light source was. His eyes followed the speck of light across the sky. Wrinkling his brow slightly John found it annoying that he could not piece together the mystery that was this particular object.

Suddenly, jarring John away from the simple confusion of what had initially appeared to be an insignificant puzzle, he heard a screeching alarm come from inside of the cockpit of the helicopter.

"Incoming!" Savannah shouted as John felt the Blackhawk bank violently to one side. His body was thrown into the soldier next to him; however he managed to cling to his place with the support of the safety harness that currently strapped him into his seat.

"Hang on…" The man sitting next to John said as the helicopter rocked back to the opposite side attempting to elude the missile. Looking back out the window of the Blackhawk John realized that he could no longer see the light that had been the incoming missile. That was not good at all. John could easily hear Savannah and Bedell speaking loudly to each other as they too searched the skies for the invading object. Looking out the window John sensed the waiting silence envelop the cab of the helicopter as everyone waited for the next course of events to unfold.

The silence ended. There was a loud explosion and the entire helicopter shuddered and John heard the metal frame of the Blackhawk groan. He was violently thrown to his left side as the fuselage of the helicopter began to spin violently. The entire sequence was a dizzying array of events as John tried frantically to hang onto something as the Blackhawk rapidly fell from the sky.

Craning his neck to look out the window again, John briefly saw the ground rushing towards him and then the stars in the sky as the body of the Blackhawk was spun around.

"Brace for impact!" Bedell shouted from the cockpit of the helicopter. Whipping around one more time John saw what appeared to be a peaceful starry sky followed by the rapidly approaching ground rushing towards the window. A split second later there was a harshly grinding crash.

John felt his body thrown forwards and heard the cracking and tearing sound of metal as the helicopter's metal body crushed in on itself. As he spun back around John's head slammed back against the hard metal body of his seat frame. For a brief moment he saw false stars and then almost instantly felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. Rocking back and forth he was able to ascertain that the helicopter was now rolling across the ground due to the impact. John suspected that he would not be awake long enough to determine the Blackhawk's final destination. The scene blurred and the sounds of the crash drifted away as he slipped into blackness.