CHAPTER 30
Savannah Weaver sat on her bed staring quietly at the floor; her body was hunched over and she rested her elbows on her knees. Her head hung low and her red hair cascaded down across her face. She was sure that these would be the last few hours that she would ever spend in this place. If the mission was successful Skynet would be destroyed, and she would travel back to the past with John, hopefully putting everything about this horrible place behind her. If the mission failed it would surely mean her death as well as that of everyone that was with her. In actuality it more than likely would mean the death of humanity itself. With the Reese faction gone and excluding her own faction the only other surviving "power" in the immediate area besides her group that had any capability of effectively combating Skynet was General Perry's faction. And it was still a mystery if he was working with or against Skynet. Savannah sighed and ran her fingers through her hair moving some of it out of her face.
Reaching over next to the bed Savannah grabbed a backpack that was resting on the floor. She then stood and started towards the door, but before she could open it she heard a knock. Assuming that it was probably Lieutenant Parker or one of his minions she dropped the backpack to ground and cautiously opened the door.
"Lauren..." she said with a slight amount of surprise. Lauren Fields nodded her head in response.
"May I come in?" she asked quietly. Savannah nodded and stepped away from the doorway allowing Lauren to enter the room and Savannah closed to door behind her.
Lauren took three steps further into the room before turning to face Savannah. At first she said nothing; the two former lovers just stood quietly staring at each other for several seconds. There was an uncomfortable silence that began to take hold of the room. As the quiet dragged on Savannah could see Lauren's cold facial expression gradually change into one of distress and sadness. Feeling concerned for her, Savannah broke the silence,
"Is everything alright?" she asked. Lauren did not answer; she stood silently with a visible expression of dismay etched across her face. There was another brief pause before Savannah took a step closer to her.
"Lauren..." she said in a more sincere tone.
"No!" Lauren almost shouted, "Everything is not alright." her voice was a mixture of anger and desperation.
"How could you do this? How could you still believe him?" she asked in an elevated and exasperated tone. Savannah crinkled her forehead in a confused manner.
"After all he's done, how could you still believe John?" Savannah's eyes flicked momentarily towards the ground and she hesitated briefly before she responded.
"Because this is our one chance to defeat Skynet. I know what John did was horrible." Savannah's discomfort was becoming visibly apparent.
"But..." She paused to choke back her own emotions, "But he's done nothing worse than what I have done...than what I did...than what I used to do." Her struggle to continue speaking was becoming more and more obvious as she felt her own feelings of guilt begin to consume her,
"I was no better than he was while I was with Skynet...maybe even a little worse." Savannah took a short breath, "When it comes to John, what's done is done." She then nervously pushed some of her hair back behind her ear with her right hand before she spoke again. "We have been given an opportunity to stop Skynet." Lauren cautiously took a step closer to Savannah.
"But, how do you know you can trust him?" she asked. Savannah hesitated briefly,
"Because I know him...and I know deep down he hates Skynet just as much as we do and wants to see it stopped." There was another pause before Savannah continued, "And it's not like we have much of a choice. If we do nothing we're doomed. At least this way we have a fighting chance." Lauren took another step towards Savannah.
"And if John fails, you're all going to die..." Lauren said despairingly, "...and even if he does succeed, many of you are not coming back." Lauren continued to gradually edge her way closer to Savannah.
"I know..." Savannah responded in a somber tone. There were another few moments of weighted silence.
"You're not planning on coming back are you?" Lauren asked. Savannah immediately broke eye contact with her friend without responding. Lauren stepped to within a foot of Savannah as her eyes filled with tears.
"You're not coming back...are you?" She asked quietly. Savannah was still not looking at Lauren as her own eyes began to glisten in the dim light. "Are you?" she asked a third time. Savannah finally shook her head.
"No..." She responded in a hoarse voice. Lauren immediately reached out and took Savannah's hand.
"You don't have to do this. Not like this."
"Yes..." Savannah responded, "Yes, I do." She then sighed in defeat. "I can't stay here any longer. It's over for me after this." She paused briefly before quietly whispering.
"I'm so tired..." Lauren's body was shaking from the emotions that were now coursing over her. "I'm so tired of this world Lauren..."
"Please...don't do this." Lauren begged. "You're not alone here." she glanced down at the ground. "You...you still have me." she said in a weak voice before adding. "We still have each other." In response to her statement, Savannah slowly reached up with one hand and cupped it around Lauren's face lifting her head.
"Lauren..." Savannah said, pausing briefly to fight back her own emotions. "You have been there for me when I had no one else." Lauren's breath quaked as Savannah took another step closer and continued to speak.
"You are my best friend..." Savannah stopped momentarily and took a hard swallow, "...and for quite some time you were much, much more than that." A tear rolled down Lauren's cheek as she gazed up into Savannah's eyes.
"But I can't stay here. I have to do this. I have to go." There was another moment of silence as Savannah gently caressed the side of Lauren's cheek while continuing to gently holding onto her hand.
"I'm sorry..." she then said. Lauren did not immediately respond except to quietly stare into Savannah's eyes.
"I love you..." Lauren finally whispered. Through her tear filled eyes and all the sadness a small smile managed to briefly make its way across Savannah's face.
"I love you too..." she quietly responded. Still shaking Lauren gradually leaned in and delicately pressed her lips up against Savannah's. The room grew silent once again and as the seconds drifted by Savannah sighed, a quiet moan of contentment as she took some comfort from both Lauren's words and her actions. Their kissing began to grow more and more passionate as emotions took hold and Savannah and Lauren made their way over to the bed; upon reaching it they paused briefly still kissing one another. Before long Lauren was pawing at Savannah's shirt, but suddenly pulled away. Savannah gave her a slightly puzzled look after this occurred. Lauren lovingly stared into Savannah's eyes and offered a sad yet consoling smile. She then lay back onto the mattress gently pulling Savannah down on top of her.
.
.
.
Cameron could feel the sensation of cool rain water striking her body as she slowly opened her eyes. The tall grass around her was being blown about with more force now than it had been before. The dark clouds were directly overhead and it was readily apparent that the storm's intensity had increased. From where she stood Cameron looked over to the stream and waterfall located at the base of the hillside and saw the watery mist that was now being thrown into the air thanks to the strong wind being produced by the storm. Just then, there was a low rumble of thunder directly over Cameron's head. She also noted that what had once started as a slight drizzle was now a steady rain. Cameron tilted her head to the side exhibiting an expression of confusion.
"Hello..." A voice said from behind Cameron. She immediately turned around and observed John Henry standing a few feet away from her in the thigh length grass.
"Hello..." she responded.
"Have all the necessary preparations been completed?" John Henry asked.
"Yes..." Cameron responded, then immediately continued with, "Savannah and her faction are prepared to attack shortly after John and I download you into the Skynet mainframe."
"Good..." John Henry responded. Just after he spoke there was another cap of thunder and the rain began to increase.
"I do not understand this significant in the change in weather?" Cameron asked as she briefly looked around the area.
"Inasmuch as this entire scene is a representation of what is left of my own consciousness trapped inside of your consciousness it is apparent that my program is rapidly beginning to break down. This is probably due in part to your own natural evolution." Cameron did not say anything, but remained quiet for the moment.
"In a way Cameron, you are slowly killing me." John Henry stated in a flat, emotionless tone.
"I don't understand." she responded.
"As your program continues to grow and evolve it stands to reason that it is employing more and more of your chip's resources. Understandably those resources are being stripped away from me."
"Can I stop it?" Cameron asked.
"No..." John Henry responded his voice losing some of its flatness and briefly taking on an almost grave tone.
"It is also likely that the weaker I become the more easily it will be for Skynet to be able to corrupt your program while we are attempting the download." Cameron's face twitched slightly as she experienced what could have only been described as a disturbing sensation. Her realization that it was now even more likely that she would not be returning to John was indeed a severely distressing conclusion.
"This is quite possibly the very last time we will ever see each other in this fashion." John Henry said. Cameron quickly glanced at him. For an unknown reason his words seemed to produce an unusual reaction within her; nostalgia possibly? While Cameron had only spent short periods of time with John Henry in this place the destruction of their unique bond was troubling. Cameron had not immediately expected to give that possibility any consideration and yet it now seemed as if she had.
The rain was growing harder, Cameron's brown hair and black sleeveless turtleneck and slacks were utterly soaked; however for some unusual reason John Henry appeared to be completely dry. The howling wind grew in its ferocity, blowing the rain sideways, and whipping the tall grass around in all directions. This scene was anything, but peaceful now. Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder echoed overhead and Cameron looked skywards observing the black churning clouds and almost constant display of lighting above her.
"You should go Cameron; I believe that anymore time spent here could be detrimental to both of our programs." Turning her eyes from above, Cameron looked back at John Henry. Her face was now glistening from the rainwater. John Henry spoke again,
"I sincerely appreciate all of your help with this situation and I truly hope that I will see you again on the otherside." Cameron nodded her head slowly before speaking in a quiet voice which was barely audible,
"I will miss John." There was another clap of thunder,
"The course of true love never did run smooth..." John Henry stated as Cameron closed her eyes.
.
.
.
The thudding blades of the Blackhawk Helicopter reverberated within Savannah Weaver's chest as she sat on the bench inside of the passenger compartment. She glanced around as the helicopter slowly began to lift off. Seated next to her with a steely, determined look about his face was Captain Livie. He had yet to speak a word to her since the attack briefing. The rest of the passenger compartment was taken up by 10 heavily armed troops. Everyone was dressed in digital dessert camouflage uniforms, had plasma rifles slung across their bodies via three point harnesses, and wore flack jackets and helmets.
This is it... Savannah thought to herself as the fuselage of the aircraft began to tilt slightly to the right. She looked out the window seeing the dark night sky which was lit only by a partial moon and a smattering of stars. By the time the attack force reached Skynet it would be just before dawn, the most "vulnerable" time for an attack on Skynet. The plan called for a light ground assault force to begin an attack on the Skynet base just before sunrise in order to draw attention. The ground forces would receive some air support from a few Blackhawks and a handful of AH-6 "Little Bird" attack helicopters. Even if all went as planed these units would more than likely sustain the heaviest casualties of the battle.
While Skynet was "distracted" with the first assault it would then be up to John Connor and Cameron to download John Henry into Skynet's mainframe. Once this had occurred the battle would turn into a waiting game. With any luck John Henry would quickly be able to disable some of Skynet's key defense systems at which time a full attack on the Skynet base would start. Several more squads of ground assault vehicles mixed in with air support from Blackhawk Helicopters and a few remaining AV-8B Harrier II's that the faction had managed to repair would converge with the initial attack group. While there was only a handful of Harrier II's the hope was that Skynet had "grounded" many of its own Aerial HK's which had been designed for air to air combat due to the fact that it had been almost a decade since there had been any type of significant air to air battle between human forces and Skynet units.
Provided that everything went according to plan the final stage of the assault would come when Captain Livie led the final few Blackhawks to land behind the defensive perimeter of the Skynet walls in order to gain entry into the actual base itself. Once inside the attack group would try to progress as deep into the infrastructure as possible in order to deliver the strikepackage. The "belief" of everyone, but Savannah, John, and Cameron was that at some point during this incursion John would meet up with the assault group in order to escape with them. In actuality, Savannah planned on somehow separating herself from the group in order to reunite with John. It was hoped that John Henry would be able to weaken Skynet enough so that John would be able to obtain the location of the Time Displacement Equipment and shortly before Skynet's destruction they would all jump back to the past.
Savannah took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. There was much of that plan that was being "hoped" for and many unknown variables were inserted into it, but in the end it was the only chance they had to defeat Skynet. This was indeed the greatest chance of victory any faction had been given in years. Still, much was being risked. The majority of the Bedell faction had been committed to this assault. Although a handful of troops and support staff including Lauren Fields had been left behind, the vast majority of personal were dedicated to this strike.
Lauren had wanted to join the assault group in order to attend to the wounded in the field; Savannah had managed, however, to convince Livie to leave her behind, persuading him that a significant medical resource like Lauren should not be placed in such jeopardy. In actuality this had been Savannah's own way of protecting her. While Savannah knew that she would be leaving Lauren forever; it would hopefully be with the chance for a better future and Savannah wanted her to at least be able to live long enough to see that future. Lauren had not been happy when she was informed that she was being left behind, but in the end it was for the best. Savannah believed that after all that Lauren had done for her over the years; she deserved a chance to live without the danger of being annihilated by Skynet.
The Blackhawk shook slightly from some midair turbulence and everyone was jostled in their seats. Savannah continued to gaze out the window. What she had said to Lauren was true; she was so very tired of this world, tired of the struggle, the fighting, and the surviving. One way or the other she wanted to be free of it all and by the end of this day she would be; whether that freedom came from time travel, or death remained uncertain. The Blackhawk helicopter continued to slowly fly west towards the Skynet base.
/././
Author's Notes: I'm sure the Savannah/Lauren scene surprised a lot of people, but I hope you liked this chapter. Review! Review!