Chapter 10
Three in the mourning, John found himself in the woods near his home. Holding a shovel in his hands, he drove it in to the dirt, in to the last of three large holes he had dug. He had spend nearly three hours digging these holes, trying to hack his way through the roots of the trees that surrounded him. Lying next to the first hole he dug, were the bodies of Derek, Jessie and Riley. John and Cameron had decided to bury them in the woods before leaving the house, not wanting to leave them there. Also, John, despite killing his uncle, still cared for him as he was his family and thought burying him was the best thing to do for him. Driving the shovel in to the dirt again, he thought back on the worst day of his life. How could a day, after starting so well, turn in to such a nightmare. Waking up with his arms around Cameron was the best start John could have for a day. Then the trip to Zeira corporation almost got them killed. Getting back, he watched as his mother died and then was forced to fight for his life against his own uncle and two machines at the same time.
John also had to breath through his mouth, unable to breath through his nose through the pain. Derek having broke it earlier, John had to suffer the pain of Cameron pushing it back in to place. After helping John carry the bodies in to the woods, Cameron loaded the two T triple eights in to Derek's car with the last of their thermite and took off to find a suitable place to destroy the remains. They had attempted to remove their chips beforehand but John had already destroyed one of the chips after destroying the entire head of the machine that almost killed Cameron. The second chip was destroyed when attempting to remove it from its port, the self destruct feature John had not figured out how to overcome yet.
Finishing with his final hole, he threw the shovel aside. Looking at the three bodies, he hated to idea of burying them, but with out any options, he stepped over and picked up Riley. Carrying her to the furthest hole, he lowered her in slowly. Letting her go, he moved her hair out of her face. Reaching in to his pocket, he pulled out the silver lighter Riley had stolen from the party she called him to. He brought her hands together and placed the lighter in-between, thinking it a nice gesture as she liked shiny things. Stepping away, he picked up Jessie and lowered her in to the second hole. He didn't move her arms together, he just left her the way he put her in the hole. He had only met Jessie twice, the first time she threatened to kill Cameron, the second time he shot her to prevent her carrying out that threat.
Before dealing with Derek, John picked up the discarded shovel and filled Riley's and Jessie's graves with dirt. His hands began swelling with blisters as he worked. A cracking sound made John freeze on the spot. Listening, he could hear footsteps approaching him. Dropping his shovel, he moved quickly and quietly behind a large tree, taking out a pistol from the inside of his jacket. Peering out, he couldn't see anything through the darkness. All he could do was listen as the footsteps got closer. Out of the shadows, a figure emerged. The figure stopped before the graves, looking around. John, holding his breath, aimed for the figures head. "Diamonds are a girls best friend". John, breathing out in relieve, lowered his gun and stepped out from behind the tree. As he neared, Cameron's face became recognisable through the darkness. "Any problems?".
"No, I found some warehouses near the pier, there was no one around, the T triple eights are gone". She stepped over the graves as she spoke, standing in front of John. John could now clearly see her face, large cuts in her cheeks were visible. "Once we're done here, we need to patch you up". He raised his hands, interning to hold her cheeks, but Cameron stopped him, holding his hands in her own, examining them. "Your hands, their covered in blisters, you need to rest". "I'll rest once we're finished here and after I've patched you up". He turned and took Derek's arms and Cameron took his legs, together, the threw him in to the last grave. John stepped in, taking Derek's arms and put them together. "Bye Derek". He got out and reached for the shovel. Cameron had already taken it and was filling the grave. John watched as his uncle disappeared under dirt slowly but surely.
The walk back to the house was easy through the dark, Cameron having memorised the route through the trees. Stepping in to the house, They looked at the large hole in the wall from when Cameron was thrown through the wall. "I'll start packing, you better get those bullets out". Nodding, Cameron headed for the bathroom to remove the thirty or so bullets from her body. John headed for his room, took two large bags from under his bed and started packing his things. They couldn't stay in this house, the T triple eights turning up suddenly means staying would be inviting Skynet to kill him. John didn't even know where they would go, they had plenty of money, but going out in to the world without his mother was a large step, even for him. He did have one thing that would help him in the times ahead, and that was Cameron.
His clothes only filling up half of the first bag, John threw the spare guns in with them before zipping the bag up. He took the second bag in to his mothers room. Sarah's body still lay on the bed, seeing her lying there brought feelings of remorse to John, almost overwhelming him. Tying to keep focussed, he packed Sarah's things in to the second bag. They had to take her things with them, as leaving her things would seem suspicious, especially if all John's and Cameron's things were gone. Like John's, Sarah's clothes only took up half the bad space. Leaving the room, he headed downstairs with both bags.
Taking all the other guns from their hiding places, most of them just pistols, he put them in Sarah's bag before heading out to Derek's car. He opened the back of the car, he found all of the gun's Derek had taken when he left, He also found plenty of thermite and C4 explosive. He loading the bags and headed back to the house. John gave a small smile, knowing the C4 would come in handy when they go to destroy the Turk and hopefully Skynet.
Heading back upstairs, he found Cameron, topless in the bathroom. She had removed the bullets from her chest but was having trouble reaching around to her back. "Here, let me". Smiling, she handed his the pliers she was using and John set to work. Removing the bullets was a lot easier then removing Shotgun shells, however, John still worked slowly, taking his time not to cause to much pain to Cameron. "John, just take them out".
Blinking, he remembered that Cameron didn't feel pain like he did and he was grateful for it. She would be in agony pulling bullets out of her with a pair of pliers. John, smiling at his stupidity, removed all the bullets with in a minute. Cameron then handed him a pile of bandages and he applied them to her wounds. Once done, she pulled on her bra and t-shirt. "Thank you". She kissed him before heading to her room to pack her things. Twenty minutes later, Cameron loaded her bag in to the back of the car, before standing next to John, looking at the house. John turned to her, his eyes falling on to the bandages covering her face. "Do I still look beautiful with all these bandages?". John almost laughed, it was a stupid question, even for Cameron to ask. "Always".
Thunder could be heard in the sky above them, followed by flashes of lightning. "There's a storm coming". Cameron moved herself next to John, looking in to the sky in wonder, having never seen a lightning storm before. "There always is, we better get this done before it rains". Cameron kept her eyes on the sky, looking and waiting for the next lightning bolt. After the flash finally came, she left her trance and opened the door of the car to the back seat. Leaving the car they headed in to the house, to Sarah's room. "Are you sure this is what happened, before?". "You told me in the future, Sarah was cremated, you scattered her ashes in to the sea". John had never talked with his mother about this, he had never asked if she wanted to be buried or cremated when she died, having avoided asking her this all his life, though he now regretted it.
He wondered if he had just asked, what else could he have learnt from her?, what other things didn't he know about her?. John picked his mother up, holding he in his arms. Cameron led the way down the stairs and out of the house, turning off the lights as she went before closing and locking the door. John lowered his mother gently on to the backseat of the car, before sitting in the drivers seat. Cameron took her place in the passengers seat. Starting the engine, they both looked back at the house one last time as it started to rain. "Did I tell you where I cremated my mom in the future". "Yes, just drive, I'll show you where to go".
John drove down the road, away form the house, only stopping to leave the house key for Kacy. They also left a handful of diamonds for her, as a parting gift for her and baby Allison. Cameron told John to head for the coast, then head north till they reach a forest. As they drove, they both kept an extra eye on their surroundings. Despite it most people being in bed at this time, they weren't taking any chances. They drove on through the night, eventually seeing a forest in the distance. "That's it, there should be a dirt road through towards the cliffs, overlooking the sea". "How do you know that?". "I didn't always sleep, I used to read a lot". Smiling, he turned the car up the dirt road when they came to it. Most of the road was overgrown with weeds and covered in rotting branches and leafs. They reached the end of the road, metres from the cliffs edge. As they got out the car, the rain began to lease before stopping completely. The sun began to shine from behind them through the trees, lighting up the water below them.
Cameron walked over to some old stones, that were in the ground in the form of a circle, around ten feet in diameter. Cameron played through her mind what future John had told her, about what John did here. John had done the task alone that time, he had no one to help him, to comfort him , but that John wasn't this John, this John had her with him, to help him through it. She didn't notice John standing next to her as she thought on it. "Is this where I did it last time?". "Yes, you were alone, you told me it broke your heart to do this alone, I didn't understand when you said that, but I do now, and this time, your not alone, you've got me". John, didn't know if he could do this alone, was grateful she was their with him. "Thank you, I mean that, thank you".
Five minutes later, Sarah's body lay between the large stones. Beneath her, was as mush dry wood Cameron and John could find. John tried twice to start a fire but the wind kept putting out the flames from the matches. Cameron also didn't have any luck with the matches. Remembering the thermite in the car, John poured a small amount of it under Sarah, between the wood. Cameron used her body to black the wind, which blew strong at the top of the cliff. John lit another match, dropping it in to the thermite. John and Cameron grasped each others hand as Sarah was engulfed in the flames. John was close to tears, watching as his mothers body burned, but with Cameron there with him, he was able to hold them back. They watched as Sarah's body gradually turned to ash. With the flames dying, the wind blew in the favour, blowing the ash over the cliff and out to the sea.
"Bye mom, I'll always remember what you taught me, to keep fighting, I already miss you, more then ever, I love you". John could feel Cameron's grip on his hand tighten, looking to her, she was smiling at him. "That was nice, what you said, that was nice". The flames died eventually as it began to rain again. John and Cameron got in to the car. With one last look at the sea, Cameron turned the car back towards the city. John, sat in the passengers seat, his head falling from side to side, he was exhausted, emotionally and physically. Cameron, looking over noticed he needed sleep.
Heading along a street seemingly full of motels and nothing else, Cameron drove slowly along, looking for one where they could have some privacy. Seeing a motel with some isolated rooms away from the road, Cameron pulled in to the parking lot, parking right at the back. John tried to get out but found he couldn't move himself. "Cameron, can you sort this?". "No problem". He handed her around a hundred dollars, knowing that she wouldn't need that much, but knowing it was better safe then sorry. Leaving him in the car, Cameron went to get a room. Stepping inside the little reception, Cameron pressed the bell and waited. "Alright, alright, I'm coming, kids today, the lot of them got no patience". An old man stepped out from the back room. His attitude changed when he saw Cameron. "Oh well, excuse me, I never knew, well, you're a pretty one you are". He didn't seem to notice the bandages and Cameron could have sworn that if she could throw up, she would have done. "I need a room for two, away from the road". The man seemed disappointed. "For two eh, that's a shame that is, I could have shown you a good time". Cameron's face fell in to pure disgust. "If you want I can being my boyfriend in here and you can repeat that to his face, I want a room for two, away from the road, now!".
The man stepped back slightly. "Now listen here you, I fought in Vietnam, I demand some respect from people like you". Cameron turned and made for the door. "I'll go get him, lets see what he has to say about this". "Okay, okay, hold up, no need for that, here's your room". He turned and took a key from the back wall. "Its thirty dollars a day". Not in the mood to argue the price, Cameron counted thirty dollars from the hundred. The man saw the money, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Did I say thirty, I'm sorry, I meant to say sixty a day". Cameron, smiling slightly at him, reached over the counter, grabbing the front of the mans shirt, pulling him forward so he was almost on the counter. "Me and my boyfriend have had a bad couple of days and we want some sleep. We aren't in the mood for old perverts like you making things harder then they already are, understand?".
The man nodded and dropped the key on the floor. Cameron let him go before dropping thirty dollars on the counter. Picking up the key, she looked once more at the man, who quickly retreated in to the back room. Smiling she left the reception and headed back outside. The room was thankfully, the furthest one available away from the road. Cameron led John inside, dropping all their bags on the floor by the door. Their were only two rooms, a bedroom and a bathroom. Unable to speck, John kicked off his shoes and collapsed on to the bed. Cameron locked the doors and closed the curtains, blocking out the most but not all of the sun. Kicking off her own shoes, she climbed on to the bed next to John, who was exhausted from all that had happened, fell asleep almost instantly after he took Cameron's hand in to his own. Yawning herself, Cameron closed her eyes, remembering her birthday, she remembered how it was one of the only times she, John and Sarah were happy together, like they were a family. As the minutes went on, she gradually fell asleep.
They slept through the rest of the day and through the next night. Cameron woke briefly as the night fell, long enough the throw the blanket over both herself and John before her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep again. It was Cameron again who woke up first. It was early in the mourning, the sun shining through the curtains with ease. Cameron, seeing John peacefully asleep, decided to let him sleep a bit longer. Kissing him on the forehead, she got out of bed. She removed her bandages fro her back and chest, finding her skin had fully healed as she had slept, though her face still needed time to heal fully. After taking a shower, she put on some fresh clothes and took out John's laptop from his bag. Knowing that she and John would return to the Zeira corporation to destroy the Turk at some point, she set to work in learning as mush as she could about the corporation as possible. Researching first on the T1001, she found she was in the form of Catherine Weaver, who was involved in an helicopter accident that killed her husband. Cameron quickly guessed that the real Catherine Weaver died with her husband in the crash. She also found that the T1001 was raising their daughter as part of its cover.
Cameron felt a small sense of jealousy, the T1001, despite killing her parents, was raising a child. Cameron knew she couldn't have children and she felt sad at the thought. Pushing it out of her mind, she pressed on, learning much about the corporations activities. It seemed John had downloaded most of the secret activities the corporation under the T1001's guidance had been conducting. A drone project was underway in the warehouse Sarah was shot in. Due to Sarah's being there, the place was abandoned and the project moved to another location. They were building prototype drones, which Cameron recognised as the younger version of the hunter killers in the future. It seemed the T1001 was building the technology earlier so to give Skynet an advantage in the war. Reading up on John Henry, Cameron was shocked to discover how close to being Skynet it had become. It was already a simple standard base code, the exact same code that Skynet was using when it began taking over. Cameron quickly realised that Judgement day wasn't going to happen in 2011 like it did before, it was happening sooner, within days, weeks or months, Cameron couldn't tell, but Judgement day was close, closer then she or John previously realised.
Leaving the laptop, she walked over to the bed before sitting on the edge next to John, placing her hand on his shoulder. "John, wake up". Two load knocks followed by the old mans voice woke John completely. "Time's up, you two want to stay longer, its thirty dollars". They could hear him laughing to himself as he walked away. Cameron looked at John as he sat up. "What was up with him?". Cameron explained what the man had said to her the day before. "I'll have a word with him before we go". They both got out of bed, agreeing that they weren't going to stay at this motel another night. John took a quick shower while Cameron packed the laptop away again. Once John was out of the shower, Cameron told John what she had learnt about Zeira corporation, Skynet and the possibility of Judgement day being closer then they thought. John, obviously shaken that Skynet would take control two years earlier then he thought. He calmed down quickly, thinking of what to do next. "We need to get to Zeira corporation, we need to stop Skynet, if we can't stop it, we'll cause enough damage to set Skynet back, give us time to plan our next move". Cameron tilted her head to the side, gazing at John with fascination. "What?" . She opened her mouth and closed it again, as if she was lost for words. "Nothing, It's just you said that exactly the way future you would say it".
John gave the key back to the old man, also giving him some words on what he would do to him if he spoke to Cameron the way he did again. He got in to the car and drove out of the motel parking lot. Cameron saw the old man watching them as they went and gave him a intimidating look, making him retreat aback inside the motel. She smiled smugly as the motel disappeared from sight. They quickly hit the traffic as people tried to get to work. "We should leave the car at the parking lot like last time, we can walk from there". John wasn't enthusiastic about walking through the city again, but had little choice as they were stopped at another set of traffic lights. Diverting down the an ally, they reached the parking lot half an hour later. Packing enough C4 to destroy the entire building in to their backpacks, they set off through the crowded streets. As they went, John was forced to drag Cameron away from some shops, notably selling shoes.
They turned a few corners, until the were on the street the corporation was based. They could see the entrance in the distance. As they got closer, both quickly realised that they weren't going to get through the front door this time. They stopped just over the road and observed the situation. Their were six security guards standing outside. Every person that entered the building was scanned using metal detector and had to show identification cards. "I guess the T1001 doesn't want us to go back in". John nodded in agreement. "Any ideas other then going in guns blazing or jumping out of a place to the roof?". Cameron looked up towards the roof of the building, actually considering in her head if it could work. She then looked at John to tell him it wouldn't before she saw his large smile. She smiled at herself and rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. "It wouldn't work anyway, we don't have a plane". John gave a quick laugh before looking towards the building again. "I doubt we can walk through the back door either, how are we going to get in?". "He's going to help us". She pointed towards the entrance. Getting his identification scanned by one of the security guards was James Ellison. Cameron looked towards John. "Stake out?". John looked back at her. "Yeah, lets go". They turned and headed back down the street towards the parking lot as quickly as possible.
They pulled up twenty minutes later opposite Ellison's house, at the same place as before. They didn't have to wait long for him to turn up. They waited until he went inside the house before getting out of the car and following. Cameron resisted the urge to just kick to door down and knocked three times instead as John stood next to her. "Who's there?". Ellison's voice came from inside. "We want to talk, open the door", John called back. Cameron, listening hard, heard the loading of a gun from behind the door. Reacting quickly, she kicked the door off it hinges. Stepping inside, she quickly disarmed a shocked Ellison and threw him across the room in to a bookcase, shattering it. John followed Cameron and picked up Ellison's gun. Ellison gradually got to his feet. "John said we wanted to talk, why did you get a gun?". Ellison looked fearfully at Cameron, who looked primed to attack him again. "Okay, lets talk, what do you want?". John placed his hand on Cameron's shoulder, who took a small step back, bringing a relived look to Ellison's face.
"I thought you were on our side, fighting Skynet and stopping Judgement day". Ellison was instantly confused. "I am on your side, I helped you in Mexico remember". While they talked, Cameron took to looking out the window, watching a group of children play in the garden next door. "Yeah, I also remember you telling us that you didn't dig up Cromartie the last time we were here, you lied about that". Ellison held his head in shame for a split second. "Then we break in, hack in to the computer system, we see you on the camera's playing chess with him, and enjoying his company by the looks of it". "It was you two we broke in?, they had the building locked down for hours, they couldn't find out what you took". John, looked around at Cameron, still watching the children play before turning back to Ellison. "Did you know that the AI using Cromartie's body is quickly becoming Skynet?". Ellison looked like he was having a heart attack by the look on his face. Cameron spoke from the other side of the room. "Or that the real Catherine Weaver is dead and a machine has taken her place".
Ellison didn't say anything for the batter part of five minutes, shocked by what they were telling him. "How can she be a machine, she has a daughter, she saved me from prison". Cameron retook her place next to John. " That didn't stop her nearly killing us when we broke in, didn't you ever notice anything off about her?". John looked at Cameron with surprise. Cameron was clearly thinking about how badly she used to looked half the time when interacting with other people. Ellison thought hard, before nodding his slowly. "Sometimes, she did things, said things that seemed strange, but I didn't think anything of it at the time, I swore I wouldn't do the devils work, but I've been doing the work without knowing, what are we going to do?, I'll help in any way I can". John and Cameron were a little taken aback that he was willing to help so easily. "We need to find a way to get me and Cameron in without trouble". Ellison looked confused again "Just you two?, what about Sarah and your uncle?". John went quiet, not wanting to answer. "Its just me and John left now, just us". Cameron moved her hand next to John's, their smallest fingers overlapping each other. "I'm sorry, I didn't know Sarah was…, I didn't think…. I'm sorry". John moved his hand, taking complete hold of Cameron's. "Forget it, we have bigger things to worry about".
They spend the next three hours coming up with a plan to destroy the Turk, Cromartie's body avoid the T1001, knowing they couldn't destroy it with out a vat of molten steel or some weapons from the future. The plan was for Ellison to tell the T1001 he had found another machine out of the city. With her out of the way, Ellison would let them in through the back door and they would head to the basement to destroy the Turk before it becomes Skynet. They decided to put the plan in motion the next day, giving Ellison enough time to figure out away to get them in to the building. John and Cameron left Ellison's home after helping him reattach his front door. They drove towards the street full of motels again. Cameron sat in the passengers seat, going over the plan in their head. The more she thought on it, the more she became convinced that Ellison was going to be a problem. "Are you sure we can trust Ellison?". John, concentrating on driving, answered truthfully, "No, not after he dug up Cromartie, but he's the best chance we've got at getting in that place". Cameron couldn't argue with him, there wasn't any other way in the building. They pulled in to the parking lot of the motel opposite the one they used the night before.
This motel was run a woman and was a lot friendly compared to the old man from the other side of the road. She offered them the honeymoon sweet as they were the only people to say thank you to her that day. Cameron was excited at this until she found that the room was more or less the same as every other room, much to John's amusement. John spend the rest of the day looking over the files he downloaded from Zeira corporation. Cameron removed the bandages from her face, finding the skin had finally fully healed and checked their guns and equipment, making sure everything was working fine. Closing the laptop, he lay down on the bed. Cameron, who had finished with the guns, stood over him, looking down. Looking up, John only then noticed that her face had healed. "Hey, you look great". John raised his hand, running his fingers across her healed skin on her cheeks. Cameron closed her eyes, her newly healed skin having never been touched before, reacted to his touch. John moved along the bed, allowing her to lie next to him.
He tried moving his hand away from her face but she held it there, moving his had in small circles over her skin. John smiled as Cameron let out a small moan. Opening her eyes, she learnt forwards and kissed John, muttering, "I love you", before their lips pressed together. She moved herself on top of him, continuing the kiss, refusing to allow him any control over it. John ran his hands under her t-shirt across her back. Her skin here also had never been touched before, reacted to his touch, taking Cameron's breath away, and in the process, she lost control of the kiss. John took the chance to flip Cameron on to her back, this time he took control as he kissed her. She responded by running her nails across his back, overwhelmed by the feeling she was receiving from him. She moaned as he began biting her neck, leaving light red marks as he went. It began to rain and it didn't stop until almost three in the morning, at this time, John and Cameron had only just fallen asleep.
John woke early the next morning, the sun shining through a gap in the curtains. Less then a centimetre separated his face and Cameron's. He could feel air leaving her nose on to his skin as she breathed. He took this moment to just admire her beauty again, watching her as she slept. Looking towards the clock, he saw that in was nearly nine. They had two hours before they needed to be at Zeira corporation's back door. He decided to let Cameron sleep a little longer before waking her. He got himself dressed and started packing the guns in to the bags, Cameron having just left them in a pile after finishing with them. He again looked towards the clock. It was almost half part nine. John remembered Ellison was supposed to call them to say that he was ready to tell the T1001 the lie. Opening his phone, he found he couldn't use it as the network was down. He looked around for Cameron's discarded jeans, finding them on the floor next to her side of the bed. Taking her phone out of the pocket, he found the same problem.
He checked the motel phone and found that the network was down their as well. Cameron moved around slightly, apparently woken by John's moving around the room. She slowly sat up, moving the blanket to cover her exposed body. She looked around the room till she found John. "What's wrong?". She was concerned by John's confused expression. "The phone's are all out, cell phones and landlines, nothings working". Cameron's face quickly turned to fear. "Give me the phones". John handed her their phones and she looked at both, seeing the network they were using was out of service, her heart rate increased ten fold. "It's already started, Skynet's taking over". John, shocked, took the phones from her as she flung the blanket off her, picking up her clothes and putting them on a quickly as she could. "What do you mean Skynet's taking over?". John threw her jeans towards her. "It's a virus, When Skynet took over, it used a virus to take down global communications and hack in to military installations. The US military activates its prototype AI to destroy the virus. Skynet takes the AI over, and then hacks in to the nuclear arsenals of every country. Hours later, it attacks". Cameron finished getting dressed and stood to face John. "Are you saying Judgement day, its today?". Cameron bit her upper lip, for the first time since John helped her learn to swim, she was afraid. "If we don't stop it, then yes, today is Judgement day".