So I saw the first Twilight movie while I was writing this, so if Sydney Fields description sounds vaguely like Kristin Steward or Major Hayworth sounds similar to Elizabeth Reaser … sorry LOL.
Free Will
The Sun was high and harsh in the Large Mexican sky as noon approached. The humidity was so thick it was almost like it was sucking the air right out of the soldier's lungs.
Sarah sat alone outside the jungle staring at squads of soldiers cut paths into the brushy woods. There was a quiet eeriness to the environment that made her feel strange, almost alone in an existential way.
While in the Rainforests of Central America with John, the jungle was like another living being that she and her then little boy respected. In its hearth there was life, from movement of unseen beasts to unidentified sounds that made the trees and plants come alive. But the woods Sarah watched from afar was far from alive, she could say that it was even farther then dead, if it was possible. There weren't sounds of mammals scurrying along the floor or colorful birds cackling on tree branches. There wasn't even the annoying hum of misquotes buzzing around her face and exposed creamy skin. It was just silent, A sad monumental tomb of a once earthly wonder.
Letting out a sad sigh, she traced the sticky sweat on her neck. The sound of hacking and grunting made her feel useless, which was the last thing she wanted to feel with all that was on the horizon.
She turned toward the town behind her remembering that she was waiting for Ryan who was in going to give her a lesson on Plasma Rifles 101. When she didn't see any trace of him the thought of going after him crossed her mind. With a purposeful slap to her thighs she stood up snatching the rifle and headed for the town.
It wasn't a long walk from the defenses to the town, but it was a difficult one, as a large sloppy ridge where the old mission church stood separated the two important points like a natural fence protecting the town.
She grunted and huffed as she went up the rocky hill till she reached the top. Once there she stopped when she spotted large looking cannons that where several stories tall and being moved into sandbagged positions by several Terminators with another shirtless male directing them. Sarah looked sideways and noticed a whole row of the monsters commanding a view of the woods below. She suddenly noticed something in her examination below.
The twelve mile stretch of woods seemed to stick out like a sore thumb in the wake of the rocky and arid climate surrounding it. Something about it didn't quite sit right in her gut and she started to ponder if the humid landscape was some sort of experiment like the Town she and Ryan ran into and if so, what was its purpose for recreating such an environment in a desolate place like this.
"Heat's making me over think."
Sarah sighed and continued into town where everything was a bit emptier then usual with most of the soldiers near the woods.
There was a strange knot in her belly that was telling her that she was being watched and not in a good way. She turned to see eyes of shadowed faces watching her suspiciously with almost a pang of fear in them. Sarah cleared her throat, averting her eyes from the shadows till she reached the HQ.
She entered the home that was now almost unbearably hot.
"Ryan!" she looked around the empty home but found no sign of the young man. She noticed that his rucksack was on the table but the map wasn't nor anything of value. She pulled up a chair and sat, knowing that he would be back for his things.
After several moments of sitting in the enclosed heat, she was starting to seriously think of joining the shirtless club, Bra or not. She opened the front door and was walking back to the table when she noticed scrape marks on the floor, something that she seemed to have missed the other night in the dimly lit room. Sarah followed the scrape markings to the wall where she saw the army blanket that covered her and Ryan last night draped over a large square item as if it was to cover something.
At first Sarah thought Ryan had just tossed it there for somewhere to put it, but on further examination, it seemed that he had gone out of his way to cover the item. Suspicion and mistrust that Sarah thought she had conquered came rushing back as she observed the object.
With an angry tug she pulled the blanket off the object. What was under the cover was a one of a kind silver framed mirror that would most likely fetch a great price. Sarah all at once felt ashamed that she had returned to the mistrust of her own flesh and blood who to her knowledge was protecting the former owners priceless family heirloom from scavengers.
She smirked and let the female in her take over deciding to check her reflection out to see just how five days in the future and made her look. Then she understood immediately why Ryan had hidden the mirror.
In Sarah's mind, she had carried with her the self image of the woman who looked at herself in the bathroom mirror of the Metroplex Theater while waiting for five year old Savanna Weaver to finish using the restroom. However what she saw wasn't the woman in the Theater bathroom, but a woman from the past, a woman who still had a sense of humor, who was loved by all in the guerilla's camp, a girl who was making up taking care of a three year old little boy as she went. She wasn't looking at the hardened soldier of thirty three what Sarah Connor was looking at was the still green twenty-one year old girl she knew in the Central American Rain Forests.
Sarah hitched her breath and squeezed her eyes tight wondering if she was seeing things due to those years being on her mind constantly. When she opened them, the girl was still there and she was breathing just as harsh as Sarah was. A slow freak out began to take place as she touched her face feeling the wet yet flawlessly smooth skin under her palm. She looked at her face and immediately saw there was an almost flawless perfection to her that made Sarah sick to her stomach at how insanely Beautiful she looked.
Familiar distinctive thuds entered the room and she looked into brown eyes with panicked green ones. Then the realization that Ryan knew all along what she had looked like and had been lying to her and worst had been willingly hiding it from her.
Without hesitation she drew her pistol, pointing it at Ryan aggressively.
"Hey?!!" Ryan yelled putting his hands up instead of going for his gun like Sarah had expected, when he saw her at the mirror.
"What did they do to me … what did you do to me?!!" Sarah demanded her eyes crazed and her teeth clenched. Her chest was rising and falling in almost hyperventilation.
"You need to calm down …" Ryan said calmly seeing her entire upper body heaving.
"Fuck you, calm down. You're not the one who had been turned into this thing!" she responded aggressively. Ryan closed the door with his foot to make sure no one could see the young woman pointing a gun at the Regiment's senior Officer. "Answer me!" she growled pulling the hammer back.
"I don't know …?" he said calmly holding his hands out in a stopping motion.
"You're lying!" She said in a panicked grit. Ryan's calm reason filled face melted to one chalked with frustrated anger.
"You know what, do it, and pull the fucking trigger." He said with a growl.
"Don't test me!" she said aiming for a headshot.
"No, I want you to, because you'll be doing me a favor by putting me out of my misery." Ryan put his hands down and began walking toward her.
"Back off!" She yelled shakily. Ryan didn't do it; instead he placed himself right in the middle till the gun was pressing into his heart. Both engaged in a stare down that lasted several tense moments, then in a smooth motion Ryan snatched the gun away and slammed his fist into her jaw, knocking Sarah down flat on her back. He tossed the Colt away and with frustration grabbed the Sarah by the material of her green fatigue shirt and lifter her inches from his face.
"That is twice now you have stuck a gun in my face … I swear on your life that it will not happen a third time." He said with a gravely growl, his knuckles digging into the straps of her black tank top. Sarah threw her head into his face knocking him back but just as she was about to free herself she felt a metallic grip choke slam her to the floor. She let out a dazed gag throwing her arms up in the air trying to grab hold of her restrainer. Suddenly the grip lightened and she could breathe again.
"Now you listen to me, I didn't do anything to you. I'm not the bad guy here, you are!" Ryan shook her viciously.
"You … lie" Sarah chocked out.
"You want to know why you're here … huh?" Ryan questioned her aggressively, with a tug he brought her to her feet and dragged her to the mirror. Then with a pull of her hair she was forced to look at her youthful reflection. "This body is a Clone … a Clone of your real one. Born and raised in Skynet Central. When it was old enough the machines reinstalled your memories with the purpose of being rescued by me and my Strike team. You see, you wouldn't remember anything … not a damn thing! Then with a psychological profile given by mom Skynet knows that I would never lift a hand against my hero, it knew that I would lead you back to safety in which you are given a private meeting with the old man. Then when you're alone with you're one great love again, you waste him." Through out the angry explanation of the situation Sarah suddenly felt numb with all her fearful predictions turning into truth.
"And you've been doing lovely job of executing the plan." Sarah gritted painfully at the young man. Ryan scoffed.
"You know what Operation Angel is …. It's a front. A front for what I'm supposes to do." Ryan had angry tears in his eyes.
"What's that, huh?" Sarah asked.
"I'm supposed to rescue you … then once you get to a safe zone; I torture you till you give me the location of the Skynet eugenics lab, then when you're broken. I'm supposed to kill you." Ryan turned her to face him. He looked to be in more pain then Sarah was. "But somehow Skynet's found out that I know the plan … so now it's sent mom to protect you to insure that you get to dad. So the longer I'm here with you, the longer I'm playing chicken with the girl who raised me, because Skynet thinks I'm gonna kill you." Ryan spoke with desperate infliction as if the walls were closing in on him.
"Why haven't you done it already? Why haven't you killed me yet?" Sarah asked angrily feeling like Ryan was playing god with not only her but with John.
"Irony …" Ryan chuckled all of the sudden.
"Irony?" she asked as he let go of her and continued to chuckle to himself slightly insane.
"Mom is fighting for the other side and Dad's mind is rarely in the here and now … so that means you're it … you're all I got left …" Ryan's chuckles started to sound like sobs as the stress of his choices began to bare down on him.
Sarah wasn't sure how she should feel about the situation. Should she feel grateful that Ryan loved her so fiercely that he had put his life on the line to protect her Or she should she be furious at him for not doing what was necessary to save John's life? Sarah turned to see that he had his hands on the back of his head and was pacing anxiously as if his brain was about to bust from his head.
Just then the door opened and the pale faced statue esque blond entered the room with a crisp salute. Ryan took a deep breath to collect himself and saluted back. She handed him a folded piece of paper. Ryan took it from her and began to read. The woman looked at Sarah a moment and then back at Ryan.
"Nikki …" Ryan held up the paper with a betrayed look when he finished reading, as if asking for an explanation.
"I'm sorry Rye … Someone has to take the fall for the tussle in the Valley and Eiling wants it to be you." She seemed to be very sympathetic despite the cold demeanor to her.
"Is your boss still at HQ …" Ryan asked angrily. The young woman nodded and turned to lead him there. Ryan looked to Sarah and opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He motioned the blonde to go ahead.
"Ryan …" Sarah called to him. He turned to look at her. "What if I … what if I do it …?" She asked almost in fearful tears.
"You won't …" He shook his head at her with a calmed sigh.
"How do you know?" her voice was filled with indecision. Ryan walked up and looked Sarah in the eye.
"This … this is artificial …" Ryan place his cybernetic hand on her stomach. "But this is all you." He stroked her hair lightly pressing his hand on her head. "No machine how ever intelligent can take free will away from you. You're Sarah Connor and you would rather die then strike down the person you love the most in the world." He said with conviction that gave Sarah comfort and hope. She nodded with a troubled look. He touched her cheek gently in a silent apology from earlier. Then he exited the home with his head down.
Sarah repeated the mantra in her mind several more times.
***
There was quiet discussion amongst several high ranking officers when the door to the church slammed open and Ryan stormed forward in front of a table with a marked map on it.
"What the hell is this?" Ryan lifted the folded piece of paper. The others in the room looked uncomfortable and said nothing. Perry was about to speak harshly to his loose cannon officer when a slender woman with chestnut colored hair and rounded soft features that gave off an old world glamour to the woman.
"What is it Hun …" Major Ava Hayworth was gentle and maternal in tone with the hopes of halting the war path the young man she loved like her own child was on.
Ryan handed her the paper and folded his arms angrily. She read the paper. When she was done her warm eyes flashed with bitter anger. She handed the paper to Perry and placed a comforting hand on Ryan's back.
"Shit!" Perry tossed the crumpled paper on the floor. "Eiling wants a goddamn court marshal!" the man said to George who wasn't following.
"He wants to do it now?" George lifted an eyebrow.
'Figures the stupid bastard wants retaliation for his hurt pride just before a major fire fight …" Perry slammed his hands down the table.
The maternal beauty rubbed Ryan's back in a soothing manner and turned to her commanding officer. "What do you want to do with this …" she asked in a serious tone.
"We'll do it by the book." Perry growled.
"Are you kidding me!?" Ryan shouted.
"Ryan … I'm demoting you back to 1st Lieutenant. Ava … you take back Alpha" Perry spoke clearly and with authority.
"This is bullshit!" Ryan stated angrily.
"You're not wrong … but my orders still stand Mr. Connor, so I expect you to live with them." He steeled at the young man.
"I do this under protest, sir!" Ryan growled.
"Understood" the large black man stated.
"Come on sweetheart." Ava placed a hand on the Officers chest and guided him outside gently before he said something stupid
Perry narrowed his eyes as the couple left outside into the harsh sunlight.
"Connor's" He grunted with a shake of his head to George who smiled at the comment.
***
Sarah sat alone on a sandbagged defensive position where an unmanned mortar and a metallic ammo box sat. She shivered in uncertainty and fear every time she glanced at the fragile beauty looking back at her from the reflection on the box.
In truth she wasn't sure how she could have missed the fact that her age had been reduced fourteen years. On the other hand she hadn't exactly hit old age yet. With extreme daily exercise and healthy eating since her pregnancy with John, Sarah hadn't felt any different in a long time. She knew that there could have been other signs to it.
Upon testing her voice she noticed a less deep almost girlish quality to it. Then there was the way people treated her. No one seemed to bat an eye at the fact that a thirty three year old woman had no scars on her or experience with "modern" Weaponry, but the big sign should have been when everyone was okay that she was about to be the "wife" of someone fourteen years younger then her. Those thoughts alone led her to an angry realization that Lauren and Sydney knew about the shift and like Ryan, put there poker faces on.
"Hey princess …!" A deep voice called out to her from behind.
Sarah turned to a large linebacker built muscular man with sweat damped short black hair and a thick distinguished mustache and Goat tee. He had on an army green tank top and black fatigues. In his powerfully muscular arms was a large heavy looking sleek weapon.
"Command wants us to go on search and destroy in the area to clear it for tonight's engagement." The man shifted the weapon to one hand effortlessly and tossed her an ancient looking tactical shotgun that was hanging on his shoulder. "It's time you earn your keep around here and do some work that doesn't involve giving Connor blowjobs." He said with a chuckle looking at Sarah's lips hungrily. She pumped the weapon with one hand giving the man a deadly glare.
Instead of backing away he chuckled impressed at her. "A girl that knows how to handle her weapons, I see Connor coached you up after a little R&R last night." the man winked suggestively at her. Sarah continued to burn a glare at him, which in turn seemed to almost turn him on even more.
"Where are we going?" She asked marking the old weapon skillfully.
"Well … don't you want my name first …?" the man asked.
"No …" Sarah was short and indifferent. The man chuckled with a vain of superiority as if he was bidding his time with her. Sarah hated the way he was looking at her, like she was some sex object or a piece of meat, but judging that he was someone who can tell people when and where to go he must be important.
"Morgan …!" Sydney came up to the both of them. Sarah gave the pale auburn haired girl a dark glare. "Is there a reason that your bothering Ms. Baum, Sergeant?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest. The man gave the young woman an arrogant smirk.
"What, you jealous baby?" the man had a deep almost growl to his voice. Sarah looked back and fourth between the two. Sydney was shorter then the tall man she was also a good deal younger.
"I'll ask again … what are you doing?" she frowned. It was clearly apparent that despite Sydney's Officer ranking she was not the alpha of the building conversation.
"I'm just giving Connor's perfect little bride here a weapon to defend herself on the patrol." He grinned with a charming wink.
"Well, guess what … she not coming on patrol." Sydney tried to take the weapon out of Sarah's hand. But all she did was jerk when the weapon didn't budge.
"Says who?" Sarah growled in protest. The young woman gave the other girl a confused look.
"Sarah…?" she shook her head. Sarah ripped the weapon out of Sydney's grip angrily.
"Give me that ammo belt." Sarah ordered nodding to the leather belt with rows of red shotgun shells in little holders.
"Hell yeah, that's the spirit!" The man chuckled. As he walked toward Sarah he consciously bumped Sydney out of the way nearly knocking the brown eyed girl over. She gave Sydney a look of cold defiance as the staff sergeant draped the belt over her shoulder ignoring the man whose hands were sliding over he fatigue clad chest in a discreet groping manner.
Sarah had enough of being treated like a little girl. With every fiber of her being she wanted to prove she was still the warrior at heart, not the fragile beauty in the reflection. She understood that what she was doing was careless, but she was no longer a needed protector and with the knowledge that she couldn't go back to her timeline looking the way she did. She needed to prove not only to herself but to everyone else that she was still a soldier.
When the man was done he grabbed Sarah by the front of her pants.
"Come on … we got work to do." He gave a victorious grin to a flabbergasted and somewhat worried Sydney.
***
Sarah was starting to get flashbacks to Central America as she followed the Staff Sergeant into the brushy landscape.
The jungle was dense and with the trees close together it made the air very thin and suffocating. After several moments of fighting through thick shrubs she came to a small clearing where sweaty soldiers where digging fox holes into the ground. Then like a well oiled machine they moved the used dirt into sacks which they were using to cover the holes like miniature bunkers. Several yards in front of her, Sarah saw a familiar powerful running river.
She noticed that there were only some soldiers digging. Those that were looked much like the Gray from earlier. They had a milky almost pale complexion. They also where incredibly attractive looking. But what caught Sarah's attention was the fact that those who weren't digging looked like many of the officer in the 132nd, they were gruff and tattered looking, tanned and with an almost primal animalistic quality to them. There was also one constant, they all had a look of pure hatred for the partly dressed pale looking teens who looked almost scared out of there mind.
"Eyes on me!" the Sergeant called sternly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the man. He gave glare of anger at the teens digging. "Did I say stop digging?" He said dangerously. The teens went back to shoveling the dirt with sad frightened looks of abuse on there otherwise perfect faces.
"So Command wants us on cleaning duty … so keep an eye out for any metal or them out there." the Sergeant called out to the groups of sweaty males and females.
"Is there a reason you're doing my Job, Eddie?" the sound of Sydney's voice sounded behind them. Both Sarah and the Sergeant turned to the pretty auburn haired girl.
"Just warming them up, Baby …" The larger man gave a sleazy look her way. She ignored the man and gave a glance over to the teens digging.
"If this is a briefing then why a quarter of the Chalk still not assembled?" she asked slightly angered. The man gave a disrespectful snort the girl's way.
"Because there Gravies, what do they possibly need to be informed off." The Sergeant scoffed.
"They are apart of this unit …" Sydney argued back.
"What, it's simple, we stick the males on point to avoid any major losses to our people and we put the girls in the back so that after word we can fuck there brains out, then nine months later we contributed to repopulation of the planet." The man explained his solution as if going over simple math.
Sarah looked at him with complete disgust that went right down to her soul. She couldn't believe that someone could treat another human being like they were cattle or worst.
"They're not slaves … they're people Eddie and they deserve to be treated accordingly." Sydney's tone suggested that she was as disgusted as Sarah was.
"Yeah, well not to me they ain't …" He chuckled evilly and before disappearing he gave Sarah a hard slap to her rear. She gave an enraged glare at the man and wanted nothing more to smash his skull in with the shotgun, but she held back knowing that she would only cause more trouble for herself.
Listening to the way this staff sergeant Eddie Morgan spoke and acted. It reminded her of another man who she learned about heavy weapons from. He also was a strong, sadistic bastard. Sarah learned a lot from him … but the things she let him do to her when it came time for payment made her shiver. Sarah shook her head away from the traumatizing, not to mention degrading memories that iced her veins.
"Everyone listen up!" Sydney announced motioning the teens over. "As Sergeant Morgan had informed you we are on search and destroy … it should be pretty routine since the 82nd already swept through here earlier this morning on there way over to the passes. I want you to spread out and watch out for anything unusual or mechanical, we know that there was a Gray patrol combing over the area so there might be surveillance equipment." The young woman's briefing was awkward and a bit underwhelming. Sarah could tell that the troops in front of the young woman had little confidence in there leader and worst … there leader had little confidence in herself.
***
The sound of boots thumping the jungle floor and pants scraping past brush where the only noise that echoed through the thick green landscape. Despite the silence there was a lack of intensity amongst the soldiers, in fact there was a wordless awe at the concentration of the plant life the soldiers where surrounded by.
Unlike Sarah who had seen a nature trail only six days prior, many of the soldiers of the 1st platoon, Company Alpha, 132nd Tech-Com hadn't been inside a forest in many years and those who where born close to or after Judgment Day had never before scene one in there entire lives.
As the unit made there way across the chest deep running water, there was a collective sigh amongst those who felt a cooling relief from the rushing liquid as the carried there rifles over there heads.
Once on the banks, Sydney divided the soaked soldiers in there squads and spread them out over the banks. Sarah scowled when Sydney ordered her into the middle of the formation near the young officer.
Then with a silent motion the Platoon entered the heart of the dark canopies.
***
The trek through the uneven ground of the heart of the jungle was challenging as well as frustrating as many of the new recruits kept tripping and falling on tree roots and plants. This was mainly due to the soldier's sight seeing more then being cautious. Sarah even caught Sydney being guilty of taking off her focus to look at Mother Nature.
The only thing that gave Sarah a piece of mind was that they were only doing this as a secondary precaution. But then Sarah Connor knew better.
"No one is ever safe."
After twenty minutes of stepping over roots and helping a teenage Gravy get his foot uncaught, Sarah was starting to feel like she could've found something more useful to do other then to take a long hiking trip through the woods.
Then there was a small clicking of a bird call. Immediately all in the vicinity turned to the fluttering sound of wings as a red coated Parakeet landed on a branch above them.
Sarah smiled as she looked up at the beautiful bird as everyone else in the line stopped and stared in child like wonder.
Then suddenly Sarah had a flash.
***
"MOM, MOM!" The sound of a little boy called out to a woman in her mid twenties.
The woman stopped in her tracks and spun around looking to find her little boy no where near her. Though the call was not in distress she backtracked quickly.
Brushing past plants and leaves she reached a small boy with brunette hair that was dressed exactly like her, with an automatic weapon in his hand and a backpack that was larger then him.
"Look" the boy pointed to a white faced parakeet with a red coat.
Sarah relished in John's small happiness for only a second, giving the bird a glance.
"We got to keep moving."
***
The smile on Sarah's face lingered as she saw the exact same white faced bird chuckle in the branches in the trees.
The smile turned into a sad one as she longed to see John again. To hold him in her arms again, to watch him sleep and feel is little breath on her stomach which he use to be his pillow in the jungle.
She missed her boy so much it hurt.
CRACK!!
CRACK! CRACK!
CRACK!!
The next thing Sarah knew there were three sickening thuds that knocked down the boy she helped out of a root.
"AMBUSH!"
Sarah dropped to the floor on instanced as another Soldier dropped to the floor with bullet holes in his chest.
The sound of automatic machine gun fire could be heard in the distance as bullet sprays kicked up dirt all around her. With trained instincts Sarah returned fire with the boom of her shot gun at the muzzle flashes from a tree line several yards away.
"Son of bitch …" Sarah cursed when she saw that she was out of range for her gun to be affective. Crawling she reached one of the dying soldiers.
He had a blank lifeless look in his eyes as blood oozed out of his chest. Feeling slightly guilty Sarah snatched up the man's plasma rifle and pulled the trigger. With slight recoil the weapon sent a bolt of light toward a muzzle flash.
"Battalion CP this is Ghost Rider one zero, we are taking heavy fire from an enemy ambush point, over!" Sarah over heard a familiar voice call over the firefight. Crawling on her stomach she reached the pretty auburn haired officer who was flat on her back and had a phone pressed to her ear that was connected to a wire that stretched to a radio backpack that was strapped to an unmoving teenage girl.
"This is Battalion CP were receiving you Ghost Rider. What is your position, over?"
Sarah crawled over to the motionless girl, upon turning her head she saw a hole clear through the spiky haired brunette's forehead.
"We're …" Sydney cut off when there was an explosion near the two young women. "GODDAMMIT GET THAT ELEPHANT UP HERE!" she boomed to some soldiers behind them in a voice that Sarah had never heard her use before. The male and female ran hunched several yards away from there Commanding Officer before dropping down to there stomachs. The male was carrying a large sleek weapon with some tape wrapped around the barrel, while the female carried a belt of large silver magazines.
"We're in Sector E, Grid 6, 20 clicks from the blue line!!" Sarah watched the couple set up the large weapon, while Sydney barked into the phone. The large gun whined mechanically before a blinding rate of bolted light was spit out at the tree line in short bursts. Sarah was impressed when she saw the machine gun like laser weapon saw several trees in half.
"2nd Squad give me a firing line, here!" Sydney yelled behind her and pointed to her and Sarah's position. There was a delayed movement forward with several Resistance members getting slugged with bullets. Dropping to there stomachs, there was a wiring that went down the gaped line before plasma bolts started to match up with the muzzle flashes. "3rd squad, take the left flank!" Sydney directed on a headset.
Sarah took a moment to watch the others around her operate there weapons so she could see how to work them. After a moment she began to fire the weapon with expert aim knocking down muzzle flashes. She wasn't sure what she was shooting at, but instincts had taken over and she was just fighting back.
After several moments the weapon powered down on it's own. She pressed the trigger over and over to no response.
"Dammit, out of ammo"
Sarah looked hurriedly over her weapon. She couldn't find the magazine release. Looking up she saw a smoke trail in midair and felt a explosion only yards away.
A light warm spray of liquid coded the side of her face. With a shaky turn she glanced at the male and female gun crew. She saw the weapon tossed to the side, twisted and broke. Then her belly clenched when she saw pieces of human limbs scattered around her and Sydney. Sarah touched the side of her face and looked on mini red chunks that were staining her hand.
There was a silent moment as she glanced around the area.
"Sarah"
Everything was silent as the dead bodies seemed to be around her.
"Sarah!"
"Is this what John dreams about?"
"Sarah!!"
She turned to Sydney who was yelling her name.
"Sarah, flip the switch!" The girl ordered. With an almost dazed look she leaned over and turned a knob on the dead girls back pack. "Battalion CP this is Ghost Rider … Fire Mission, Fire Mission! On tree line 5 clicks from our recorded position, over!"
"Copy that Ghost Rider. Hang in there baby!"
Then there was a firework like explosion above the other side of Sydney. Sarah threw her arms over her head for cover. She felt a sharp stinging pain in her thigh. Uncovering herself Sarah saw a glint of tiny metallic shrapnel the size of a postage stamp stuck in her leg. Gritting her teeth Sarah picked it out causing a small stream of blood to rush out momentarily put stop quickly. She sighed in relief then tuned to Sydney.
Sarah's breath was caught in her throat when she saw the pretty young officer moaning in tortures pain, on her back. Sarah quickly crawled over to the other girl. Sydney had a large piece of jagged metal lodged in her leg and a semi circle of her outer palm was cut away.
"Christ … Medic!" Sarah shouted as she loomed over the girl who was grunting in animalistic growls of pain. "Hang on …!"
A man rushed through gun fire toward them and slid like he was stealing home plate. Wordlessly the blond man began to tear equipment out of a messenger bag.
"Ouch …" Sydney groaned in a tender little girl like voice that broke Sarah's heart.
"I know honey … but you're going to be fine." The medic comforted the girl as he examined her hand. Sarah spotted that the missing part of her palm was blackened which meant that it was cauterized. He then turned to the leg. "Hey … I'm going to have to pull this out, when I count to three I want you to hold her down!" He yelled at Sarah.
"Alright …" Sarah turned and mounted Sydney's stomach and pressed down on her shoulders. The girl shook her head in protest with glint of tears in her eyes.
"One"
there was a grunt of protest and the young woman under Sarah let out a blood chilling scream, then began to heave her chest with a helpless look on her face as tears where washing down her cheeks.
Just as Sarah dismounted Sydney there were loud electric booms that echoed through the woods.
"INCOMING!"
Sarah dove to cover the young officer's body. The entire Jungle was engulfed in a bright violet light before huge earthquake tremors rocked the ground. Explosion after explosion shook the brushy floor, snapping trees and incinerating plants.
After several moments there was complete utter silence. Looking up from her sheltering pose, Sarah saw that the entire tree line where the muzzle flashes where coming from was turned into a clearing of splintered wood and fallen logs.
There was an ozone gas like smell around the area. Turning back she saw Sydney looking up at her with apologetic eyes.
"I'm sorry for … lying to you." She said weakly.
"I know, I'm not hearing you talk that Crazy good bye shit, L.T.?" the medic chastised using some sort of grafter that Sarah had never seen before.
Heavy footfalls came right behind Sarah and stopped with a large masculine shadow blanketing the pretty girl's face.
"Oh shit … they actually got you!?" the Staff Sergeant laughed with a snort at the terrified Lieutenant. Sarah looked up at him with a murderous glare. Instead of being reproached he gave a humorous laugh and casually strolled to the radio and took a knee turning the dead girl over to look at her.
"Damn … and she was a good fuck too …" he muttered with a shake of his head, to which Sarah had to fight to keep her anger in check. He disrespectfully dropped her with a thud and took the phone on the ground.
"Ghost Rider this is Battalion CP has the area been cleaned out of hostiles?"
"Not quite sure … CP. You want me to go check?" The man reported checking the dead girl's utility belt for anything of value.
"Negative … you are to evac your wounded and hold position till further instruction, over and out."
There was a pause from everyone as Morgan hung up the receiver on the radio.
"Ha, Fuck that …" he said with a chuckle. The burley man turned to those in 2nd squad who where looking at the temporary platoon commander.
"You, you, and … you" the Staff Sergeant pointed to several of the Gravies that survived there first battle. They looked in absolute horror and disbelief at the man who was grinning smugly. "I want you to go check out to see if there isn't anymore of them out there." he motioned to the wrecked tree line where the ambush was. "And …" he trailed off and with a violent motion he tugged Sarah up by the back of her fatigue button down. "You should lead them." The monster of a man once again gave a swift slap to Sarah's butt.
This time with flashes of her crying while a similar man in mood and appearance degrading her in front of John, she pulled back and with one powerful crack she knocked the large man back into the tree.
"You keep your damn hands off me …!" she growled dangerously. Several members rose and held her back. There was a rack from a shotgun and when the man got to his feat he pointed it at Sarah angrily.
"Or what … you'll tell Boy Wonder that I was being touching you … huh, princess ?" he chuckled playfully as if this was all apart of game Sarah was playing with him. The two shared a stare down with each other. Then with shit eating grin he tossed Sarah the weapon. "… Get that ample ass down there to check or I'll give you more then a slap." He growled grabbing Sydney's fallen rifle then pumped the weapon.
Sarah gave him a vicious look then turned to the fallen trees, then back. Then with an angry look she motioned the scared teen's to follow.
"Crazy, blood thirsty bastard …" one of the teens said shakily.
Sarah agreed full heartedly.
***
The soldiers were in a tense silence as Sarah led point with the tactical shotgun stepping around bullet ridden trees.
There was a pressure inside her chest as she could clearly hear the shaking breath of one of the teen girls behind her. Sarah had always made John's safety a priority when on missions, but that was the existent of her leadership experience discounting being the captain of the Varsity cheer squad her senior year in high school. Now she was in charge of three teens that were just as scared and lost as she was. She pushed those emotions and thoughts to the back of her head.
With a shaky sigh she moved into the blacked out zone where the plasma artillery rounds had struck. Amongst the over turned tree limbs and ash where skeletal remains with scorched AK-47's.
"They were human?" Sarah observed a skull before one of the youths spoke up.
"Grays don't use bullets … no one does, but the Resistance and even then it's only shotguns and pistols." The boy told her with a confused look.
There was a shuffle in the brush that caused Sarah to point her shotgun at the methodical scrubbing brushes of the unseen moving object. Sarah motioned her squad forward, stalking the crawling figure.
When they came to bare on the mysterious figure, they stopped dead in there tracks.
"He's … he's a member of the village …" one of the girls chocked out in shock. Sarah glanced in shock at the Mexican man who had a hole through side.
The man turned over and looked Sarah in the eye. There was something almost regretful in his look as he died. Sarah was shocked as were the rest of the others.
"Did we make a mistake … did they make a mistake?" one of the teens asked her. Sarah turned and saw a palm pilot stuck in his hands with a familiar map and markings like the one on the maps that the Gray had on him from that morning.
"No … the villagers where helping Skynet all along, they where giving the Grays our exact defensive positions for tonight's assault." Sarah sounded as if someone had broken her favorite doll.
There was a value of disbelief to the words she spoke. Sarah had always believed that John, her son, would lead all of a united humanity against Skynet. She thought the human race was bounded together in unity of the one great cause she had been apart of for her last three years as a teenager and all her adult life. The Grays she could handle, because Skynet had created them and used them like puppets. But these people, the villagers, the Resistance was there for there protection to save them from the mechanical nightmare. But instead they chose to betray them, there protectors. Sarah felt like something was dying inside her when she thought about John and how he must have felt when he realized that the romantic visions she planted in his head since he was old enough to understand were shattered when things like this happened to him.
Sarah had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she missed a female villager jump out from behind a tree. On instinct Sarah pulled the trigger and blew the woman away.
She breathed harshly when she saw what she had done.
"I killed someone … another human …a human woman."
Suddenly she felt weak. Shaking, she fell to the ground. Sarah saw one of her female squad member's drop to her knees and start pressing on her lower shoulder. In her haze she turned and saw blood flowing out of her. Sarah felt like her body had gone limp as she fell back on to the ashy ground.
Looking up Sarah saw a perfect blue sky over the looming tree branches.
Then everything went black.
***
The sound of a fire crackling peacefully mixed with a the soft strumming of a distant Spanish Guitar was something that was unique to the part of the world were a beautiful girl barely out of her teens had chosen to raise her baby.
Now in the peaceful night, she lounged using a rolled up sleeping mat as a pillow as the breath taking youth stared up at the endless field of millions of twinkling stars, absently stroking the hair of a chubby four year old boy who was fast asleep using her partly exposed toned midriff as a substituted pillow.
The girl wondered whither she would ever love another man again or if she would spend her life pinning away for a dead hero with her only friend being the little boy laying on her.
The girl turned to the little person on her mind. He shifted slightly and whimpered. The girl knew he was having a bad dream.
In one scoop she collected the boy and placed him on top of her moving his little head against the smooth exposed skin that her tank top didn't cover. The rhythm of her heart some how always calmed the boy. With a relieved sigh, he placed a little chubby hand on her lips. He was feeling to make sure she was real.
The youthful beauty smiled and kissed the hand gently. The boy gave a pirate grin in his sleep and lowered his hand, placing it under her chin. She wrapped her arms around the small boy and she returned to observation of the star littered sky.
She smiled when and thought that life couldn't be so bad if she could hold on to her only true love like this forever.
***
A dizzy drowsiness and her lying on a soft hospital mattress was first thing Sarah felt since her heavenly dream.
Though her vision was blurred she could feel her head was placed gently on top of a soft T-shirt that covered the chest of a person that was lying on the bed with her. Under her ear she could hear the quiet thumping of a heart. From the corner of her fuzzy vision she saw a blur of navy blue. She could also feel a protective arm gingerly placed around her waist.
As her vision cleared slightly she got a good look of a black leather clad hand scratching neat writing on a legal pad with a pencil.
"Ryan?" she asked sleepy.
"Hmm …" He grunted in response continuing to write.
"Where's John …?" She asked confused why her baby wasn't with them.
"He went to get you some water … he'll be back in a minute." The young man indulged in her drugged fantasy, giving her a sad but loving smile.
"Okay … wait by himself …he's only four …" she sounded slightly distressed.
"It's alright … Enrique went with him …" He reassured her calmingly. She nodded with a sleepy sigh.
"I'm going to shut my eyes for a moment … till they get back" Sarah said returning to the soothing sound of Ryan's heart beat.
"Don't worry I'll be here when you wake up …"
So we're coming down to the end here in the story ... so love to get some of you guys thoughts.
PS. Don't think that Staff Sergeant Morgan is going to get away with harassing Sarah.
Next Chapter
1st Lieutenant Connor Vs. Staff Sergeant Morgan and more Cameron backstory