Z Plus One Year Seventy Five Days

Eric Waters came into the Control Center, and checked the maps. Battle lines and troop movements were being marked with little more than post-it notes with arrows and labels marked on them.

Lt Oldham was remarking map according to his watch, updating where their people were. Connor had ordered that the Regiment be redeployed, into smaller units, with fewer people.

"What's the word?" Eric asked, by way of greeting.

"Two recon teams have checked in, reporting no contact, ditto for the scouts. One of our patrols got caught by a few machines. Flying H/K's only."

"Casualties?"

"Four wounded. On their way back here."

"Understood. I'll brief the Colonel."

"Yessir."

The war had yet to begin in earnest. The Machines weren't expecting there to be any fighting for what was left of the world, and what was left of Humanity had been wandering the wasteland without training or direction.

Connor had given them that.

But the machines needed time to prepare too. Their army might have rolled off an assembly line, but when Judgment Day came, their H/K's and ground troops were top secret, highly experimental military robots. Such things were not created on an assembly line, and while Skynet could design the perfect killing machine, it still had very limited engineering abilities, for the simple reason that very few of it's soldiers had hands.

Connor had theorized that the few humanoid Terminators they had seen were most likely built by enslaved humans. The order had been given to locate the factories, and do so quickly.

Eric had been very supportive of that order. The walking chrome skeletons freaked him out.

Kate woke from a light sleep, and the first thing she saw was a barcode.

Kate ran her hand down her husband's arm, until she reached the barcode he had burned into his skin. She shivered.

Waiting to either fall asleep again or for him to wake up, she reflected on the various military bases she had been in during her life as the only child of a Career soldier. She had told John that her father had not enlisted. He had been given an honorary rank and earned the respect and loyalty of his men through skill and perseverance, under extraordinary circumstances.

Just like her husband.

Every base she had been on had a different layout, depending on the purpose, the size, the environment of the area around it.

Underground bunkers by necessity were different, everything had to be built to contain and conserve. Conserve power, conserve water, and conserve space. Added to that, were the requirements of the layout itself. The latrines had to be away from food storage and the Mess, but if it were closer it would save pipe, manpower in digging, and water and power in use.

The Barracks had to be sized correctly, and positioned properly. Safety would demand spreading out some of the Barracks away from each other, but setting up more than one room underground took a lot of work, especially when you were trying to go unnoticed.

Kate and John alone had spent over a year in just such an underground bunker, and with John scrambling to prepare the Last Army, Kate had rolled up her sleeves and volunteered to organize some of the refugees into diggers.

John had checked her designs, and made one serious addition. A series of tunnels that spread outward in every direction.

And eventually, The Alamo had settled into a routine.

Connor had made a big deal about how the nature of war had changed with Judgment Day, and Kate and John were quick to get people ready. Kate had been organizing the civilians into a workforce, John preparing more troops.

John caught her hand gently and opened one eye to look at her. "Morning."

"Morning." Kate sat up. "Thought you were asleep."

"Mostly. I was asleep before you got back last night."

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I was organizing the tunnel teams."

"At two in the morning?"

Kate shrugged. "New people coming in, round-the-clock work…"

"Lt Ross working out?"

"Ross is thrilled. Said it's the first time in years he's been around Diggers full time." Kate sighed. "I don't really know why he's so excited about it…"

"Lieutenant Campell Ross is Ex-Australian Military. 'Digger' is slang for an ANZAC soldier." John murmured, sitting up. "Speaking of that, how goes the digging?"

"Making their quotas. We're far enough away from the city that we're not hitting anything. Why'd you want so many tunnels anyway?"

"Humans are an underground species now Kate."

"I checked in with Oldham on the way here. He says that one of our patrols met one of their patrols last night."

John's eyes opened wider. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Nothing anybody could do; so I decided to let you sleep."

"Don't handle me Kate."

"Get used to it John."

John smirked. At least she was honest about it. His mom would have said the same thing. "Were there any casualties?"

"Four wounded." Kate said. "They'll be here in an hour or so."

John got up quickly. "Did you sleep?"

Kate nodded. "Enough." She tossed him a granola bar. "I brought breakfast."

"Dry, stale granola." John opened the wrapper. "Breakfast of champions."

Kate sat up with him and ran a hand roughly through her hair. "I always dad was joking when he said soldier's sleep with their boots on."

"Sleep?" John repeated. "Enrico told it differently. Then Mom punched him."

Kate chuckled, when the radio buzzed. John reached over her to the floor beside the cot and picked it up. "Connor here."

"Sir, I have morning reports from our scouts ready."

"On the way." Connor responded.

Kate looked at him as he set the radio down. It was strange, watching him. When he was speaking to the other soldiers, or the refugees… or for that matter, anybody except her, his voice was crisper, his shoulders were straighter… He was a soldier. He was Connor.

But when he put the radio down, his shoulders dropped a little. He was John. He was just her John. "Want me to come?"

"I can handle it. Check in with the Medbay for me, let me know about the wounded before Boot Camp."

Kat nodded, shrugging into her khaki Jacket. Pretty much everyone wore one, only the soldiers wore ones with rank. "See you as soon as I can. Love you."

"Love you."

"Any sign that Skynet followed our wounded personnel back?" Connor asked by way of greeting.

Eric just stared at him as he came into the Command Center. He hadn't had the chance to brief any of the Command Staff yet. He'd only just got the word an hour ago from Oldham, and yet Connor knew. "I'm not even going to ask how you do that."

"I'm a rare and brilliant man Eric, answer the question."

"Not sure yet sir. We're still collating data on their troop movements. I've never seen maneuvers like this before."

"Grid search." Connor explained. "No Intel on our location, so they're breaking up the area into a grid pattern, and searching block by block. Machine thinking."

"They're certainly being methodical." Walters agreed. "But smart too. Every grid has one machine unit left, as well as a relay transmitter, to keep an eye out for us. The main bulk of the search teams move in tandem with each other. If any of them find anything, reinforcements won't be far behind. They're using recon patrols too. That was what hit our people last night. The other recon teams reported that they started moving toward the engagement. No word yet on whether they're tracking our people back. You want me to tell them to avoid the Alamo?"

"They can't; they've got wounded."

Walters kept his mouth shut, but it was clear what he was thinking. If Skynet was going to follow them back, better to cut their losses and protect the majority.

Connor could read his face easily. "We aren't machines Eric, we don't think like them yet."

"Yes sir."

"One more thing." Connor said, suddenly quieter, more personal. "Did you take a census? Not a head count, an actual list? Names, backgrounds..."

"We've got one set up, but we haven't been chasing it." Eric said. "There's no way to check any of it, but most people have put their names up. Hoping to find family members, that sort of thing."

"Where?"

Connor came into Memorial Hall.

The room was lit by candle light, and the walls were covered end to end in writing. Hundreds of messages, hundreds of different styles of handwriting. Pens and markers were left hanging on strings around the room. Photos were taped to the walls, endless names written over them with messages like "Have you seen this man?"

John could feel the emotion in the room. There was a lot of grief here. It reminded John of the bulletin boards he had seen on the news after 9/11.

The other side of the room had more candles, the writing better lit, easier to read. The message was written in large letters over the list:

We Are Survivors. Do You Know Us?

There were rows of names written under the heading.

John sighed, feeling the desperation. Hundreds of people had put up their name, just in case somebody recognized it.

He stopped at one name, written in a childish scrawl. The one he had come to this room looking for.

Kyle Reese.

Several hours passed, and the wounded had arrived. Kate had been the first one in the Medbay after the Medics were done. Kate had gone straight to Carla, who had agreed to meet her later in the Mess hall with the necessary information

Over instant coffee, Carla handed Kate the file and glanced over her shoulder.

Kate looked through the file as Carla fretted. Kate sent her friend a look, noting again the uniform and the medical insignia on her collar. In the Alamo, everybody worked at something, combat or not. Carla had been adopted into the non-combat units, and having received some medical training in the Prison camp from Kate, had quickly been entered into the nursing 'Boot Camps'. "Am I keeping you from something?"

"No Ma'am." Carla assured her.

Kate glanced sharply at her. Kate herself had spend the majority of her time flitting between the diggers to the soldiers, to the civilian populations, and hadn't really been settled anywhere. "Carla, I'm not a soldier. You don't 'Ma'am' me."

"Yes Ma'am." Carla said. "That's actually the problem. Dr Bowman isn't thrilled about you going through his files."

Kate accepted that without being offended, and slipped Carla the file back. "Bowman's the CMO Carla. This little slice of the war is his domain."

Connor caught up with Kate and Carla not long after, in the 'Post-Op' Ward. While being little more than a regular tunnel, it had partitions set up between cots, as well as various medicines stacked neatly on shelves against the opposite stone wall. This gave each patient a private room that could be easily closed off from the others.

"Morning sir." Carla said. "Speak softly. These partitions aren't soundproofed."

"Morning Carla, they keeping you busy?"

"Lessons mostly. Kohler is getting most of the attention today. He was hardest hit."

"Is he conscious?"

"In and out. If you don't need me, I should really get their Meds before Doctor Bowman arrives."

Connor nodded, and Carla saluted and left.

Kate nodded at the first partition, speaking quietly. "Martinez. Elder brother. Lost his sister today to Leukaemia. Just found out now. She'd been sick since the radiation got to her. He has leg damage. Full recovery."

John nodded, took a breath, and knocked lightly. "Martinez? Am I intruding?"

Martinez tried his best to sit at attention. "No sir Colonel."

John sat down. "At ease. I wanted to check up on you. I heard what happened to your sister."

The door closed, and Kate let out a breath. A few minutes later, the door opened, and John came back out. "Next."

Kate took a breath. "Kohler. From Philadelphia. Was south when Judgment Day hit, lost his family. Belly damage, fifty/fifty chance."

John nodded and threw open the door. Kohler had his eyes open. "Kohler! I know you miss the Cheese-steaks, but come on, Medbay food is not that good."

Kate smirked. Nobody shows tough love to a dead man. Her father had said. Make it seem like nothing they'll believe you.

Another few minutes, and John came back out. He gave Kate a dark look and shook his head hollowly. It didn't look good for Kohler. "Next."

"You don't have to do these all at once John." Kate told him gently.

"No time to do otherwise." John said. "Who's next?"

"Uh..." Kate shut her eyes for a second. "Dexter. Goes by Dex. Good quick-draw, superficial damage. Second time here."

John nodded, went inside, just as Carla came out. "Dex! How's the arm? Think you'll ever be fastest gun in the west again?"

"What do you mean again?" Dex shot back. "I'm just as good left-handed."

The door closed and Carla smirked at Kate. It was clear she liked Dex.

"Mrs Connor?"

Kate turned, and saw an impeccably neat man coming over to her. "I'm Doctor Jacob Bowman. I'm in charge of the Medical Facilities."

Kate shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"I understand you've been making inquiries about my patients."

"Today's wounded. John asked me to get some quick info."

"The Colonel asked you to." Bowman said.

Kate studied his response for a moment. It was not... confrontational, but he wasn't happy. Unhappy she was gathering information for John, or unhappy that she referred to him by his name, Kate couldn't tell.

"Mrs Connor, I do not want to offend, but Medical information, particularly about the soldiers, has to come from the physician of record. Unless it's a request that comes from a superior officer. Mrs Connor... you're a civilian."

Carla flushed. "Dr Bowman, Kate is included in all the high level meetings. The Colonel considers her one of his most trusted advisors."

Bowman turned his eyes on Carla, and she seemed to wilt under his subzero gaze. "I don't doubt she advises him, and if she's privy to the workings of the military, that's a matter for The Colonel and his staff."

The ward door opened and Connor came out. "Morning Doctor."

Bowman jumped and turned. "Sir."

Connor took in the scene very quickly and turned to Carla. "Carla, Dex needs help with his breakfast, and he's too proud to ask for it. Go in there and bully him would you?"

"Yessir." Carla was all too grateful to escape the scene.

"Major Bowman." Connor greeted. "I've been visiting the wounded. They seem to be in good spirits. You've done an excellent job of treating them under very difficult circumstances."

"Thank you sir."

"Kohler, what's the prognosis on him."

Bowman sighed. "Not good."

"I figured as much." Connor sighed, being more personal with him. "How long you been in the service?"

"They put me through Med School." Bowman said evenly, still unsure of his footing given the tension between him and The Colonel's wife.

"Loyalty. An admirable trait." Connor said. "Doctor, I've always had respect for combat surgeons. War is such a destructive, inefficient business, and medicine is the antithesis of that."

"Yes sir." On that, Bowman agreed wholeheartedly.

"I'm a soldier. We're both of us trying to keep our particular crusades against destruction running, trying to gain momentum and traction with whatever means we have."

Is he even aware he's doing it? Kate asked herself.

"Yes sir." Bowman agreed. "I was actually... just discussing that with your wife."

"And?"

Bowman seemed to shrink a little. "Sir... I like to avoid confusion in my line of work."

"Mine too. War doesn't tolerate ambiguities for long." Connor let that sink in for a while. "As you were Major."

"Sir." Bowman saluted. After a beat he turned to Kate. "Ma'am." he nodded respectfully, but didn't salute her too.

As he left, John glanced at his wife. "Problems?"

Kate shook her head, feeling foolish. "He's king of his particular hill."

"And doesn't like you planting a flag?" John guessed.

"It's not just him John. Nobody around here knows how to relate to me. At least, not the soldiers. I'm a civilian... worse; I'm the boss' wife."

John nodded grimly. "Well, until you get yourself a rank, we'll have to grit through it. Kate... you're my second in command. Or you will be. We know that, but I can't just declare you a soldier."

"I agree." Kate said quietly. "The soldier's wont stand for it. They tolerate me because of you."

"That's not fair." John protested. "Eric trusts you. So does Oldham, and Carla, and Mac..." he caught himself at Mac's name and winced.

Kate sighed, missing their friend as much as he did. "They all know me. I can't take the whole Army out for ice cream."

John nodded. "Have to think about that one."

Beat.

"Carla 'Ma'am-ed' me just now." Kate confessed quietly. "It's not the first time it's happened."

John chuckled and nodded to the Medbay door again. "Who's next?"

Kate was about to answer when John's radio buzzed. He answered it. "Connor here."

"Sir, we got incoming."

John sent his wife a look, and both of them rushed to get moving.

Walters was waiting at the Command Center. "I think our secret's out. Scouts report that Skynet's forces are advancing from all directions. They're coming here."

Kate licked her lips. "How long?"

"Two, maybe three days."

"And when you say all directions..." John started.

"I mean that Skynet apparently re-routed its patrol H/K's, plus the flying units."

"So that we can't evacuate our people." Kate thought aloud. "Can we keep them out?"

"We'll be under their feet and the flying H/K's are useless against underground targets..." Walters began.

"Doesn't matter." John interrupted. "If Skynet knows were here, it know we're underground. The flying Hunters are just to cover their ground forces. It'll put grunts on the ground, dig it's way into the tunnels from above." He glanced at Walters. "Are the Meerkat teams set?"

"Still in training."

"Two days until their first field test."

"You think you can fight them all off?"

"I'm absolutely positive we can't." John said evenly.

Long silence.

"How many of our people are still off base?" John asked Kate.

"About a dozen or so." Kate said. "Mostly our scouts looking for Skynet bases. A few people setting up relays, or prison hits."

"Which leaves most of our newer, less experienced recruits here."

"Should I call back our guys?" Eric asked.

"No. Against that many, a dozen won't be enough to turn the tide."

"What about that Regiment you found up north?" Kate asked.

"Too far to do any good."

"We've gotta break their lines before they get here." John said finally.

"Colonel, we can't take that many." Eric said bluntly. "Not at once. We're a guerrilla army, not Legionnaires."

"What on earth made you think we'd be Charging like the Light Brigade?"

Kate had been called away to settle a dispute between two of the digging teams, while John had gone to the Ammunition stores.

Kate had broken the news to the diggers that the new rooms had been put on hold. A fact that had not gone down well, given that everyone wanted more space underground, willing to sacrifice privacy for security only so long.

Kate had told the diggers to start building foxholes on the surface, and word had spread within an hour that the Machines must have been on their way.

Kate went to catch up with her husband, and found him preparing to roll out. A short convoy of jeeps, with one Army Truck was loading up.

John had a shovel over one shoulder, and was talking with a few of the men, and she headed over toward him...

When her husband suddenly turned to a boy, maybe six years old, rail thin, and handed him the shovel. The boy laughed and made his way over to the truck.

Kate felt her feet freeze solid, one hand going unconsciously to her stomach.

John hadn't seen her. He had called the boy back, and put a cap on his head. The tiny kid, barely up to Kate's waist, with eyes as jaded as Becky's were and with the shovel over one shoulder like a rifle; quickly stood at attention and saluted her husband.

John quickly jumped to attention and returned it crisply, and the boy went back to the truck with a big grin.

Seeing them together, Kate suddenly couldn't breathe, and she turned and quickly headed off, trying very hard not to run.

John looked around for her, didn't see her, and settled into the jeep.

The convoy rolled out.

Carla was on her way to check Kohler's vitals, and found Kate wandering around the Post Op corridor. "Kate?"

"Hi. Am I intruding?"

"Nope. Bowman's giving the Orderlies a training drill. You?"

"Digging's going okay and with John out on a mission, I think it would be a good idea if I didn't go back to our empty quarters and stress about him getting killed."

Carla nodded sympathetically. "Well, you're welcome to help out. I just released Dex and Martinez, I'd appreciate the company of someone standing up."

"How they doing?"

"Their injuries aren't slowing them down enough to keep a rack."

Kate smiled ruefully. "I can remember a time when they would have been kept for observation at least another week."

Carla shrugged. "My mom used to say, 'If you can walk, you can work.'"

Kate nodded. "Carla, can I ask you something I've got no right to ask?"

"Sure."

"When we were in that prison camp, I asked if you had kids."

Carla nodded, sobering, and giving her friend a sympathetic look. They hadn't spoken since the Connor's Wedding Ceremony. The day Kate had lost the baby. "Yeah."

"Have... had you ever thought about, having more kids?"

Carla took a long look at Kate. "You and John?"

"We... When I was pregnant, all either of us could think was how dangerous it was... but now..."

Carla gave her a smile. "You would be a great mom."

Kate smiled. "Thanks. What scares me isn't just that our baby could get killed, it's the thought that if we don't start making babies... and I mean all of us..."

The two women broke off their conversation as Dex came out of his partitioned room and quickly saluted both women on his way out.

Carla grinned at Kate. "Can I tell him it was an order?"

Kate burst out laughing. Carla joined in. The tension was quickly broken, and both of them cackled long and hard.

Kate wiped her eyes. "Thanks Carla."

Carla started to say something, when there was a sudden sharp gagging noise from one of the partitions. Kohler's 'room'.

Carla quickly pulled the screen back, and found Koehler had stopped breathing. It was clear what the problem was. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth, swollen enough to block his windpipe.

"Carla, get an Intubation kit." Kate said sharply.

Carla quickly moved down the hall, grabbing the box off the shelves, and rushing back.

Kate glanced around for disinfectant, found none...

Kohler was seizing, jerking up and down on the cot in convulsions.

Kate gave up looking, and grabbed the man's uniform, folded at the foot of the bed with his boots, and made a quick search of the pockets, pulling out a flask. She quickly opened it and doused the patient, the scalpel, and her hands with the flask.

Carla handed her the kit, grabbed the flask, and slugged down the rest of it.

Kate tried to get close enough to Kohler, gave up, and straddled him to hold him still long enough to make a quick cut into the man's throat. "Wipe!"

Carla quickly grabbed a corner of the bed sheet and wiped the blood away, holding Kohler's thrashing head down while Kate performed a quick tracheotomy.

With air flowing into his lungs through the tube, Kohler stopped thrashing.

Kate and Carla were both frozen in place, until the wheezing sound of breathing could be heard from the tube.

Carla was breathing hard, grinning madly. "Doctors?" She exulted toughly to Kate. "We don't need no stinkin' Doctors!"

Kate grinned and the two women traded a high-five.

"Well done."

Both women turned, and saw Bowman in the doorway.

Carla wanted to look at her shoes for some reason. Kate did not. "Doctor Bowman. We've managed to stabilize the breathing."

Bowman came over to Kohler and started checking his vitals. "Indeed. Post Op infection. Hardly surprising when you live underground. Carla, get Kohler an infusion of Penicillin. Fifty thousand units."

"Yes Doctor." Carla said promptly and quickly left the two of them alone.

"Do you have medical training Mrs Connor? Because that would have been something I'd liked to have known. I'm forced to make do with limited staff."

Kate took in a breath. Bowman struck her as an exacting man, who liked things organized in his world. She doubted that he would be satisfied with anything less than an MD.

"Surgical training." Kate corrected. "Some medical. Before J-Day, I was a veterinarian."

She wasn't wrong. Bowman made no attempt to hide the fact that he was checking her tracheotomy. "Well, this is pretty good for a vet. What's your practical experience?"

"I was a surgical assist at the clinic for four years; I was the On Call for eight months before the war. I took care of our medical needs in the fallout shelter, and since then it's been mainly field dressings."

"Carla tells me you were pretty much the only medical care in the Prison Camp."

"Yeah."

Bowman looked like he had a bad headache. "Being a doctor takes a lifetime of training Mrs Connor, but then so does being a Commanding Officer."

Kate did a double-check. Was that a dig at John?

"We're all trying to adapt to the criminal drop in standards across the board." Bowman continued. "Look around, my Post Op is a hand dug tunnel. My operating room is a Shipping Container dragged underground."

"It's tough, but it's the only way to survive." Kate said quietly.

Bowman seemed to dissect her with his eyes. "Mrs Connor, an operating table is not a good place to improvise or make do with less than what you need. But you're cool under pressure, you're clearly not disturbed by the wounded or the blood, you've got a good bedside manner." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It would probably be good to give you a post too. Something official. I've seen you with the people here. They all trust you, but they don't... forgive me for saying this, but with a lot of men here, you're still the Colonel's Wife."

Kate nodded. "I know. That's been bothering me too."

"I'm the only trained and certified surgeon here. Odds are we'll need more than that."

Kate nodded. "I'm ready."

"You're far from ready, but even a vet knows more than most. I'll have to teach you the rest."

Kate calculated the likely wounded that would be coming in a few days. "Let's get started."

Just then Oldham poked his head in. "Excuse me Doctor. Kate?"

"Yeah Sarge, what do you need?"

"Did you tell the diggers to abandon the new fresh water feed?"

"I told them to focus on digging upward from the supply rooms." Kate told him. "We need the foxholes for the Meerkat Teams in case John can't break the lines before the H/K's get here. John cleared it this morning."

Oldham heard that and was satisfied. "He did? Okay, just checking."

Oldham ducked out, and Bowman pointed after him sharply. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is why you need a fixed position here, outside the military hierarchy." Bowman said frankly. "The soldiers can't come to you over their own CO's. There's a chain of command for a reason. It needs to be clear."

They know that when they talk to me, they're talking to John. Kate wanted to say. I'm John's voice when he's away. His right hand. His second in command. His partner.

But she knew that wouldn't convince him at all, and nor should it, because civilians didn't give orders to soldiers.

Kate felt awkward. This used to be easier.

Connor took in the wide open space, as twilight broke over them. He was the first one out of the jeep, and the ones that came along were quick to fall in before him. A few soldiers, but mostly civilians, male and female, fairly young, fairly strong.

"Listen up." Connor said firmly, and they quickly faced him. "The Machines are on their way."

There was a low moan from somewhere. These people were refugees, not soldiers. There was a sudden feel of paranoia, people looking left and right, searching the horizon.

"Be calm." Connor commanded. "They are heading for the base, but they'll have to come through here. Odds are, we won't be able to fight them all off, so we have to do some damage before they arrive. We're going to mine them. The troop carrier behind you doesn't have soldiers; it has heavy explosives, rigged to work as landmines. We need holes dug as wide ranging as we can, row on row, tight enough that the Machines can't dodge in and out of them. If we succeed, by the time they get to the Alamo, all our soldiers will have to do is mop up what's left after they're done with you."

There was a chuckle at that, and the fear eased.

Connor slung a shovel over his shoulder. "Get to it."

The twelve or so people split into pairs and started digging.

Connor glanced over. The boy was still looking at him. "Kyle?" John said finally. "That's your name right? Kyle Reese?"

The boy looked stunned that The Colonel knew his name. "Yessir."

"Do you know who I am?" Connor asked, knowing the answer.

"Yessir." Kyle said. "You're Colonel John Connor. The man in charge."

"For now anyway." Connor confirmed. "I'm told you've been working as a rat-catcher and a scrounger, down in the tunnels."

Kyle nodded vigorously. "I had rabies shot just before Judgment Day, so I'm not scared of the rats."

"Good lad. I'm told you're the best there is."

"Thank you sir."

They dug for a while, not speaking, getting used to each other.

After a while, Kyle spoke. "They say you know the Machines. In the tunnels, they say that Skynet killed the world because we were too weak to stop it, and that you came to make us strong. They say the only thing Skynet is afraid of is you."

"What do you think?"

Kyle shrugged, not looking up. "I don't know."

"Good answer." Connor grinned. "My mom always taught me that you should never believe what you haven't learned for yourself."

Kyle nodded. He started to say something when his head suddenly cocked, and his eyes turned feral again, looking westward.

And a low whine on the horizon was audible a moment later.

Connor looked up sharply, and there, silhouetted against the sunset, was a huge flying machine. It had two turbines, one on each wing, and each turbine on a pivot. It had a thirty meter wingspan, and a glowing red eye on the front, moving left and right, with cannons slung underneath.

It was just like the Flying H/K's Connor had seen before, but much much bigger.

The H/K turned to face their direction, still almost over the horizon, and launched a pair of missiles that arced high, turned in midair and flew down hard and fast.

"DOWN!" Connor roared, and crash tackled Kyle into the hole they had just dug.

The explosion rattled Connor inside out, there was a sudden wave of heat with almost, but not completely drowned out the cries of pain that rang out, cut off far too soon.

"RETREAT!" Connor yelled from their hiding place. "Get to the vehicles."

Kyle's eyes were wide with panic as they scrambled up over the edge of the hole, where they both froze.

The Flying H/K had swooped in, and was easily gunning down the retreating diggers without pity.

Connor calculated quickly. The H/K was on top of them. If he shouted, there was little chance those people could find shelter, and a much bigger chance that he would draw the machines fire to him… and to Kyle Reese.

Connor pulled them both back into the foxhole and hissed at the boy to freeze.

Kyle was whimpering, but doing so quietly. Just as Becky had. Silence had been ingrained into all the Children of the Dust.

Connor was holding him down, covering the boy's body with his own.

The turbines faded as the H/K finished its strafing run. Connor knew it would make another pass.

"Closer to the jeep." He whispered barely. "Do it slow."

Connor and Reese inched slowly out of the hole and over closer to the blazing jeep. They froze solid when they herd the turbines get closer again.

The huge Flying H/K made one last pass. Its thermal scanners saw heat radiating from the burning jeep. There was no way to see the much cooler humans huddled next to it, almost in the flame. Its motion trackers saw no movement; there was nothing left to move.

Finally, the machine passed over from them, and moved on.

Kyle tried to raise his head, Connor pushed him back down. "Wait. Patience. Time is on their side. Don't rush."

Kyle nodded. "Why didn't they see us?"

"Heat vision. It could only see the fire."

Kyle grinned up at him. "Smart."

Connor grinned back. "Trick my mom taught me."

Ross poked his head out from below the surface too. "Colonel?"

"Lieutenant Ross." Connor called. "You all right?"

"Yes sir." Ross croaked. "First rule of the Underground. Never be far from a foxhole."

"Amen." Connor grunted.

"How the hell do we get home?"

"I told Walters we'd check in every ten minutes. Once we miss a check in, he'll send someone."

Connor looked out over the now burning battlefield. The first guided bomb had blown up half the charges. The second had taken out the troop carrier, where the heavy weapons had been stored.

The ground was littered with spot fires, burning debris, and motionless burnt bodies.

Kyle moaned and started walking, back toward the Alamo.

Connor put out a hand and caught him. "Where are you going?"

"Sir?"

Connor gestured to the bodies, picked up the shovel, and put it back in the boy's hands. "We've got ten minutes wait. Time enough for a burial detail, and a lot of people won't have that chance. A lot of people already haven't. So start digging."

Ross removed his hat, crossed himself, and started praying quietly over one of the bodies.

Kyle removed his hat, and drove his shovel into the ground. "Yessir."

The Colonel slammed down what was left of the smart bomb with pure violence on his face. "The missile was launched from the H/K. The design wasn't upgraded, just made bigger. A lot bigger. These missiles homed in on the jeeps and were fired from a full ridge away."

Walters and Oldham looked at the wreckage without being able to gain much from it. It had been totally destroyed. Kate was there too, but hadn't removed her deathgrip on John's arm since learning he had returned after the disaster.

"Makes sense." Walters said finally. "None of their aircraft have pilots, and smart weapons are the whole point of Skynet, so why shouldn't they have smart missiles?"

"Put the Think Tank on that one. In the meantime, we've got a more serious problem."

"The mines."

"The one that swooped in on us took out the mines before we had a chance to plant them. Nothing in their way now."

"So all of them are heading this way, and we can't take them." Eric summed up.

"Even if we could, there's nothing to stop them from sending more tomorrow." Connor said crisply. "Eric, prepare to evacuate the base."

"Yes sir."

Kate opened the trapdoor and squinted in the sudden twilight. "John?"

"Come on up Kate."

She did so, and closed the trapdoor behind her. She curled up under the netting beside her husband. Skynet had control over any remaining satellites, so anyone who held a post above ground stayed under camouflage nets at all times. "We haven't had a chance to talk since you got back."

"About what?"

"About what? John you nearly died today."

John sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah. But I didn't. Somebody else did. Just like always."

Kate kicked herself for bringing it up. She knew how much he hated this part of his destiny. It seemed that it was always the person next to him that got gunned down. Just because you're the only person he confides in about everything Kate, it doesn't mean he always has to. She told herself. Sometimes it's best to let it go.

"How goes the evacuation plans?" John asked finally.

"Packing and prioritizing. They'll be ready to move in a day or so."

"That's cutting it close."

"We knew it was going to be a running fight."

"Just glad that so many of the people Eric freed from that first prison camp decided to split up and go south. We can barely keep the hundreds we have here together.

Kate took a sip of the coffee and suddenly said what she was thinking. "John, what does it matter? There's nowhere for us to go! Skynet's got the bird's eyes view; it's got the superior firepower. Fortifications are good, tunnels are better, but they take too long to set up. Where the hell do we put all these people?! We've got no cover, no hiding place, no tunnels prepared."

"Yeah, but there's a place where we've got all those things waiting for us."

"Where?"

John handed her his binoculars. She put them to her eyes. John's hand took her chin gently, and turned her head to the East.

Where she could see the dead Los Angeles Skyline.

"LA?" Kate whispered. "John, it got hit by the first shockwaves..."

"Yep. But the shockwaves couldn't dig up the subways, the sewers, the maintenance tunnels..."

"What about the radiation?"

"Two years old, Santa Anna winds swept most of it over the ocean... plus it won't affect us as much while we're underground."

Kate thought it over. "The buildings... what's left of them would be good cover."

"Can set up sappers all over the place. Get the high ground back for a change."

Kate shivered. The idea of crossfire between the buildings... with the trashed skyscrapers as their weapon and shield... she could almost taste burning metal.

It bothered her how much she hungered for it. Dead machines. She ran a hand over her flat stomach. We're going to kill them all. She promised herself. "How do we get there?"

Kate's question was a good one. There were no safe surface roads left, and they had hundreds of people to transport.

"Two options." Eric reported. "The train tracks are still good. At least, as far as the suburban lines. The shockwave tore the tracks out closer to the city, but the overland tracks can get us close enough to reach the subway."

"How do we outfit a train, and load everyone into it without getting caught?" John asked practically.

"Actually, that'd be the easy part. The Alamo is set into a subway tunnel. There's a train depot not too far away. The construction for the town overhead used an above ground line to bring in supplies, because the underground line wasn't put in yet."

"Why would they use an overland train line?" Kate asked.

"So that they could start building the housing development at the same time, and build the subway from both ends." John said, still looking at the map. "Is the train depot far?"

"Not really. The overhead line actually comes pretty close to the edge of our base; we moved a bunch of things underground from the housing development. The trains had generators, metal, engines, steel plating..."

"Bad idea." Kate interrupted. "A train can only go one direction, no dodging, no evasive, no cover..."

"Lot of power though." John countered. "If we can rig a few engines together, we can haul enough carriages to take everyone."

"We can rig a regular train with one of our generators. We can get that to work, but Kate's not wrong about it being a clear target. Can an HK keep up with a train?" Walters asked.

"The original ones? Doubt it. But these new ones… I don't know."

Silence.

"The train's a bad idea." Kate said. "Skynet has ground forces on all sides. They'll be able to cut it off. The tunnel into the LA line's our best bet."

"It'll take too long to get them there." John protested. "Hundreds of people marching through the same tunnel from the same entrance? We can't hold the machines out that long. By the time we get everything packed, it'll be a fighting retreat. They get into that tunnel behind us..."

"It'll be a shooting gallery." Walters agreed.

"What kind of firepower can we mount on a train?"

"Mini-guns. Chain-Guns. The same kind we're mounting in the tunnels or on jeeps."

John looked at his wife. "Skynet's ground forces can't keep up with a train. Think Tank is working on the smart missiles..."

"I will say this again." Kate repeated. "They don't have to keep up. We're surrounded. They'll cut us off."

John studied the map. "Major, how wide is the entrance?"

"To the Alamo? Main entrance is a good thirty meters across."

"And how far from the main entrance are the above ground train tracks?"

"About 400 meters. Only twenty feet from where we'd be setting up the train. Why?"

John looked up finally. "What if Skynet thought that the front door was the only way in?"

While Kate was organizing the population into groups, John was pressing most of the able-bodied into service. But nobody could figure out the plan.

"Sir?" Oldham piped up. "Shouldn't we be mounting these guns at the entrance?"

"The fight will be here." Connor said. "We have the draw them in. Long enough to draw them away from the civilians."

"Colonel?"

"Come on, move it!" Carla snapped at the orderlies. "The Post-Op needs to be empty. Move them first, so we don't have to worry about tripping over them when the bullets start flying."

"Machines don't use bullets." Someone volunteered.

"Get Packing!" Carla snapped.

"No, Oldham, leave the hydroponics gear!" Kate snapped. "It's all scrounged stuff, and we're going to LA, we can scrounge replacements easily, there's no time."

"Eric, take the reloads for the heavier weapons, take the handguns and the ammo, leave the construction gear." John check-listed. "The light guns won't even scratch the terminators, and the fight won't go long enough to reload the heavy munitions."

"Are you sure?"

"If the fight goes that long, we've lost."

"We're going to need the construction gear as soon as we get there." Eric pointed out.

"Until the barricades and the mounted guns are set up, we keep the welding gear and the industrial drills. Take the generators out of the Barracks, the Storage rooms, the Lab, and the Ammo stores. Keep the generators for the lights in the main tunnels."

"The Lab isn't packed yet."

Connor looked at him sharply. "Why the hell not?!"

"Gould!" Connor barked. "This was all meant to be packed up an hour ago! What the hell are you waiting for?"

Lt Gould seemed to shrink a little under The Colonel's glare, and responded by fumbling with a new device, and flicking it on.

There was a squall of ear-splitting static from every radio in the place. Gould fumbled and turned it back off.

A beat of silence. Then Walters' radio came back first, then John's a second later with everyone yelling over each other for explanations.

John took the small box. It looked like an ordinary radio, with few exceptions. The battery pack had been doubled, the frequency dial was gone and the antenna had been replaced with something that looked almost like a very small satellite dish.

"This is to beat the smart bombs?"

"Yes sir." Gould reported. "The transmitter has been amped up mush higher than normal power, and there's no intake. It'll broadcast static at high power, on all frequencies."

"Ah. A poor man's jamming device." John commented.

"We are all poor men now sir. Guiding a radio missile takes a constant uplink. Flood the signal with static, and the control is gone. That'll work for ground and airborne smart missiles."

"Range?"

"About as far as our regular radio's get."

"Really?" John thought aloud. "Eric, get on the line and report to everyone in range what just happened."

Eric was still digging a finger in his ear from the electronic shriek. "Yessir."

Connor handed the jammer back to Gould. "How many do we have?"

"Five so far, give me half an hour, I can make it nine."

"Give three to the Train Crew, the rest to the infantry and the Meerkat teams."

"Yes Colonel."

Foxholes had been dug above the Alamo, and concealed trapdoors put in over them. Each foxhole held a man with a rifle, and a set of explosives.

Inside the Alamo, barricades had been set up every twenty feet between the entrance and the Main Tunnel. Every barricade was lined with armed soldiers, and Chain Guns and mini-guns mounted and manned.

Connor had set up the last of the barricades in the Main Tunnel. The central line was the backbone of the entire base. A long dark tunnel that led into a dead city, forgotten by all, not even on the maps yet. A dead monument to the industry of a dead world. And in it was built the first Command Centre of the Last Army, with their barracks, and bunkers, and storage, and homes dug outward from the centre.

And in this place, the crossroads of the entire base, the preparations were completed. John set down the welder, and looked around. The work was done, and there was nothing left but the waiting.

Kate, still the loveliest thing that John had ever seen, even with grease and dirt covering her face, sent a look around at the hundred or so men and women, gripping their weapons, looking nervously at their leader. She threaded her fingers through her husbands, and gave his hand a squeeze.

John looked at Kate, but it was something harder in his voice that made her straighten her shoulders a little. Connor spoke, clear and strong, so that everyone heard it, and when his voice echoed down the tunnels in the sudden silence, everyone heard.

"You're scared." Connor said. It was not a question. "That's fine. My father died before J-Day. He was a soldier. Mom always told me that he said, 'pain can be disconnected, felt and controlled'. She also told me, that when he went into battle, he was scared. She told me, that any soldier who never felt fear was either dead or stupid. We are neither."

Kate chuckled and squeezed his hand again. He was speaking to her only, but everyone was listening.

"In every culture, there have always been the few who stood and fought for the many. In every incarnation, the warriors of Man faced death. The Warriors of history have always had a special relationship with the Grim Reaper. Ancient Legend once said that when a warrior fell in battle, he would have his reward or punishment judged by the gods, based on the honor guard that escorted the Fallen. Their honor guard would be made up of enemy soldiers that each warrior had defeated."

His voice was carrying to the rest of the base. One by one, people started tricking in, following his voice, coming simply to see who was speaking in the quiet.

Connor finally looked away from his wife, in one movement seemingly noticing their audience, and at the same time, bringing them in, as though he had been speaking to each of them alone the whole time. "If I die today, I will stand before the gods, and I will say that the Machines destroyed the whole world. But they just could not claim the men and women in this room."

There was a rumble of approval at that. A simple reminder that they were survivors and that was no small thing in itself.

"I will say that I held the line against the soulless and the hopeless and that the men and women in this room stood with me." Connor's voice was building, getting passionate and strong.

Another sound of approval. Stronger this time. The room was filling, people reacting to the sudden change in atmosphere.

"And I will tell them, that when the Enemy saw their victims fighting back hard, I was there with them, from the very beginning. I will tell them, that when the Tin Can's came, my warriors stood with me, Proud and Defiant against their invasion. I will say, that the Last Army did not forget the Warrior Way, to be the thin line that stood, strong and irrefutable between the many and the storm."

Another answer, stronger and more certain...

"I will say, that Humanity showed No Quarter, and it will be my father's fire that kept me standing." Connor yelled.

Another yell answered him.

"And I will say, that when the Last Army fought beside me, we did it with the fury of all those we left behind. We Fight for their memory. We Fight for their legacy. We Fight in their names! And our Vengeance burns hotter than all the fire that Skynet could bring! And the machines will hear their names in the destruction we rain upon them!"

The entire base roared with furious bloodthirsty howls. The Underground rang with their passionate cries for revenge. Every voice screaming with Death and Destruction. Hundreds of humans, confined to their hiding place, who had lost everything, suddenly had grief transmuted to rage in one moment. The pure electric power of the moment raising a Death-Howl so loud that Kate was certain that Skynet itself had heard them and shivered.

And as the wordless yell finally ran out of power, a more fervent chant began, gathering momentum as it went.

"CON-NOR! CON-NOR! CON-NOR! CON-NOR! CON-NOR! CON-NOR!"

Z Plus One Year Seventy Six Days

On the surface, the sun rose on a day destined for battle, and the defenders waited.

John turned his periscope left and right a few times, seeing similar tubes sticking up out of the ground.

The Underground Minutemen. John reflected. He keyed his radio quietly. "Entrance."

The radio clicked.

"Key one for incoming."

The radio clicked twice.

"What are they waiting for?" Oldham whispered.

"Nothing." Connor said, calm and patient. "Machines don't wait. They just haven't got here yet."

"The suspense is killing me." Oldham muttered.

"Sarge, please, another choice of words." Eric muttered.

Connor just smiled. "We'd better get to the Intersection. The main fight will be there."

Connor, Oldham, Walters, and most of their unit moved from the lookout positions, to the main crossroads, with the Main Entrance not far ahead. At each branch in the tunnel network was a series of fortifications, with mounted heavy guns, each manned and loaded. As they walked, every soldier quickly saluted their passing Leader.

All but one. Kate waved John into the Barracks, her expression grim.

Connor waved his support on, and went over to her. She led them privately into the empty Barracks, all the furniture, sparse though it was, packed up and shipped out, ready for the withdrawal.

"How are you?" Kate asked him quietly.

"We're ready." John said. "As ready as we can be."

"John..." Kate began uncertainly. "That story you told, about the ancient warrior legend. You told it to me, in Crystal Peak, when we were both feeling maudlin over what we'd lost. John... You're scared. More than you were with the Terminatrix. What is it you're not telling me?"

John stared at her. "I knew the war was coming. My mom always warned me about it. She knew the time and date. August 29th, 1997."

Kate stared at him. "What?"

"We tried to stop it Kate. We changed things. But not enough. The second we tried, we screwed everything up. Mom told me, 'We're in uncharted territory now, making up the future as we go along'." He looked, for the first time, helpless. "This is not the war that my mother warned me about. This is not the war I'm sure I've won... everything is... so fragile now."

Kate stared at him blankly. The Great John Connor was taking solace in his own myth, only to have that shattered too? For a moment, she almost wanted to laugh. All the effort he had put into avoiding his destiny, and when it came he actually bought into it himself, certain in the knowledge that thus was a war he had already won... And without that prophecy to guide him, even he was suddenly uncertain of the future.

But Kate was not.

Kate reached up and took his face in both hands, willing him to feel as certain as she did. "I love you so much, you know that?" She told him softly. "Remember what you told me? That first week in Crystal Peak? You told me, that if you're going to win a war, then why do you go to the trouble of building a Time Machine? Skynet kept hunting you, even after you changed things."

John chuckled at that. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Maybe you didn't change the future enough to prevent this war. But Skynet didn't change it enough to win."

There was a vibration, probably building for a long time, but suddenly loud enough to be heard. It was unending.

Kate looked calmly at her husband. "They're here."

John nodded. "Action stations. It's game time."

His shoulders straightened, until he was The Colonel again, and he started out of the empty chamber. His wife caught his hand forcefully, and pulled him back for a passionate needful kiss.

After the longest seven seconds in John's recent memory, Kate released him. "Now, it's game time." She told him primly.

The ground was shivering. Humming with the noise of the incoming army. Every now and then a shiver of dust would rain down on the frantically moving humans. Kate had returned to her post, prioritizing what was ready to go, and what was needed still. She smacked a box shut and handed it to Dex. "Get that moving with the next group."

"We should be moving already."

"We do not move the civilian population until we're sure the Machines are occupied." Kate told him. "So go get them ready to move."

"Yes Ma'am."

Bowman was moving at a quick march through the room, Carla hurrying to catch up. "Connor, you and Carla better get scrubbed up so that they can take the wash basin. We're going to have wounded soon."

Kate nodded and rushed to the basin, where Carla was already pouring moonshine over her hands, the pipes and the water tank already packed and moved out.

Carla looked terrified. "I can't get the thought out of my head that the things we packed will be the things we need."

Kate smirked. "Probably, but we won't be here long. Just get the ones we can stable enough to be moved, and then run like hell."

Carla gave a bitter chuckle. "MASH was one of my favorite shows."

Kate chuckled. "Mine too."

Beat, as Kate signaled Dex to take the basin and the bottles of disinfectant.

Carla spoke again. "Kate, if I don't make it, I just want you to know, that the last thing I think as I fall, will be how proud I was to be here with you, and I will never apologize for anything that the Mighty Connors led me to."

Kate swallowed. "It's been an honor. But this isn't even close to the end."

Carla smiled with certainty. "I know. Want to know how I know?"

Kate smirked. "How?"

"Because John Connor said so."

And Kate Connor told him so. Kate thought silently. I hope it's enough.

John knew from the vibration. The Terminators weren't marching. The rumbling drone was unending. Wheels and treads. The H/K's were rolling over their heads.

Idly, John wondered if they would just dig down, but shook that thought off. Mud and soil did not take kindly to gears and pneumatics. The machines were regular attack drones. No diggers, so they'd fight their way in.

There was silence on the radio line. Every now and then the radio would click. No words were spoken. Radio silence until the attack came.

Connor turned to the man on his left. "Dex, get to one of the Meerkat teams. When they reach thirty meters, break radio silence and give me a range.

Dex nodded, and jumped the barricade, running off down one of the tunnels.

Over the Alamo, was the unfinished housing development. The roads weren't paved yet, but several foundations for the buildings had been set up. The ground based H/K's moved down these unfinished streets, making their way toward the base entrance. The flying H/K's were hovering slowly, scanning left and right over their ground forces, keeping their slow pace.

Connor's radio buzzed. "Sir. Read twelve or so T-1's. Read more than five troop carriers. Seven Aerial H/K's, and five ground based H/K's. Range. Thirty meters to entrance."

Connor answered. "Meerkat Teams, you are clear to engage."

As the Machines moved through, one head poked up through a concealed trapdoor, and tossed a bag under the passing H/K's treads.

The soldier ducked back into a foxhole, as one of the support machines swiveled its guns and fired at him.

In various places, more trapdoors opened, soldier's flanking the Machine invaders, tossing their cargo.

Skynet had computerized reaction times, and was aware of all its warriors viewpoints at once. The counter-attack was vicious.

Two trapdoors were shredded the second they opened, the foxholes suddenly filled with plasma-gun flame.

The other ground H/K's froze, suddenly aware that they were in a bottleneck, being driven closer together by their own wrecked forces.

"Colonel's got them tripping over each other!" One of the Meerkat teams yelled.

A cheer went up.

Connor could hear the cheer from the main tunnel but didn't smile. This was the overture. Skynet hadn't even started yet. "Meerkat teams, fall back to the tunnels."

The trapdoors were sealed, the foxholes were abandoned, and soldiers quickly started clambering down into the Alamo.

The huge war machines had stopped moving, holding their place, when suddenly they all opened.

Cargo hatches opened on the undercarriage of each flying H/K, and row upon row of Terminators dropped, and landed hard, not the least hurt or shaken.

The ground based H/K's withdrew their cannons, dropped their own cargo of chrome skeletons, and launched missiles; every action happening with zero delay or loss of efficiency.

Once their cargo was away, the H/K's started rolling again, moving away from the trapdoors, heading for the longer way around.

"Incoming Missiles!" Dex shouted, running back for the barricades.

"Jammers!" Connor roared. Almost as soon as he had said it, the radio was split by an electronic shriek.

The ground shook as the missiles lost focus and slammed around the Alamo in all directions.

Kate heard the squall come through her radio. "It's getting ugly up there." She mumbled to Carla.

"Getting ugly in here too." Carla siad, pointing at the entrance to the Medbay.

Wounded were being carried in, direct from the gunned down foxholes to the Medical Centre.

Bowman went right to work. "Carla, organize Pre-Op, the most important cases first. Connor, get to the OR."

Kate ran. "Carla, the neck wound first."

"Let Carla worry about the Pre-Op." Bowman told her. "Focus on your job."

The Terminators had marched their way to the entrance. The first to get there took in the barricaded entrance, and waited outside range of the mounted guns.

"Wait for it." Connor directed. "Don't waste ammo, pick your targets."

More Terminators arrived, reinforcing the ranks, getting into formations.

Connor dared to raise his head enough to get a decent look at the new Machines.

The Human-Style terminators had changed. They were sleeker, more refined. The limbs were thinner; the jaw now lacked a voicebox and seemed to have an actual jaw. The eyes still glowed an evil red, and the gun arm now had the rifle merged with the hand as a single piece. The previous model had regular hands that held a weapon.

The previous model that had fought John Connor lost their weapons to him.

They're learning. Connor thought grimly. "Dex, give me the javelin."

Dex grinned and brought The Colonel an RPG launcher.

"Remember me?" He shouted over to the Machines.

Connor rose from the first barricade, and lifted the launcher to his shoulder.

The Terminators all followed him with their eyes. Every single machine focused on him. But they didn't attack. They were outside the range of the human weapons. The humans were out of the range of theirs. Their program said to wait for their reinforcements and prepare the attack.

John Connor was not so content to wait. He fired the RPG. But not at them. The grenade came down a good bit shorter, in the no mans land between both ranks, and exploded violently on the ground. The explosion was much bigger than it should have been; tearing apart a line in the earth witch suddenly ignited a screen of smoke and hot flame that hid the enemy.

"There's the line. That's our range." Connor yelled to his men. "Anything crosses that smoke line, kill it."

The defenders of the base roared back, tensing and taking aim.

The Terminators moved, emerging through the smoke and fire, marching with unholy precision, lit by firelight.

Nobody hesitated, opening up with all guns, blasting away furiously.

Connor watched. The heavy mounted guns would chew up a Terminator. After a while. The rifles that most soldiers were carrying did nothing but slow them down. Grenades did damage, but not precise enough.

Dex turned and yelled at Connor over the gunfire. "It's not doing anything. They're shrugging off the bullets sir!"

Connor shook his head. "They're sturdy, but they aren't indestructible. Pour it on."

Martinez duck-walked past the barricade over to him. "Colonel, this really isn't a good time to wear them down. They're invading."

The volume of fire over the barricade intensified as the machines drew closer. The volley of fire from the humans intensified as their targets drew closer.

Connor pulled his radio. "Perimeter teams. Triangulate your fire. Focus on the same targets. Don't move on to the next one till you've knocked the first one down."

The order was heard, and the defending weapons fire focused on the closest Terminators. Concentrated heavy weapons fire tore up the outer armor, then the inner workings, knocking them down.

But they kept marching closer, even while being chewed apart by hot lead. By the time one fell, the one behind it was closer still.

Connor heard a low whining whistle and dared a quick look over the barricade. The ground H/K's had finally circled around enough to aim their missiles and cannons.

Connor grabbed for his jammer, turned it on...

Too late.

The missile was close enough to not need guidance, and it slammed into the centre of the first defensive barricade. A blast that rattled the entire base, and sent Connor deaf. He could see six of Martinez in front of him, clutching at the wounded leg. He tried to reach out for him, when his vision cleared a little further, and he saw the huge hole in the barricade; and the steel covered Grim Reaper that came through it.

"FALL BACK!" he screamed as loud as he could, and even he couldn't hear the sound of his voice. "FALL BACK TO THE SECOND LINE!"

Even if everyone was deaf, they had gotten that message on their own, and the first line of defenders broke and ran, as Terminators came walking straight through the breached wall, turning left and right, mowing down anything that lived.

Martinez did not run with them. He couldn't even stand.

Martinez saw his retreating friends and pulled out a grenade. "Screw it. I didn't want to live forever anyway." He threaded the grenade pin through a button hole, sat against the breached barricade wall, and pulled a handgun from his waistband, firing from the ground as fast as he could pull the trigger.

The nearest Terminator took every bullet, and didn't even flinch, turning to face him, firing it's plasma rifle from point blank range.

As Martinez fell, the grenade pin was pulled, and he managed to take a Terminator with him.

Dex came into the Operating Room at a dead run. "Major Bowman, we can't keep them out for long; what the hell are you still doing here?!"

"Mask!" Bowman snapped at him, wrist deep in his patient's leg. "We have some wounded that can't be moved yet."

Dex covered his mouth with a surgical mask. "How many?"

"At least four. More if you keep sending us customers."

"Tell it to Skynet." Dex complained.

"You aren't sterile, get out of my operating room!"

Dex sent Kate a look. Kate nodded discretely. It was getting close.

He hefted his rifle and ducked back out. "Three minutes Doc, then you'll have to take them as is or leave them."

Bowman did not dignify that with answer, sweat getting into his eyes. "Wipe." He directed his nurse who wiped his brow.

Kate glanced up. "Carla, bring that last guy in, and get me some gloves ready."

"Focus on the patient you've got." Bowman told her. "Arterial clamp."

Kate looked up from her patient. "Why are you so focused on the leg? Stop the bleeding, get him outta here. This place is under new management any second."

Bowman was overwhelmed. "I refuse to rush through an arterial reconstruction." He snapped at Kate.

"Reconstruction?!" Kate pointed at the third table, unattended between them. "You save that leg, you'll lose this life!"

"No choice." Bowman snapped at Kate.

"I agree." Kate told him. "Carla, put him under; make the first incision."

Carla was stuck at a table alone between Kate and Bowman, knife frozen in her hand, the rest of the medical staff trying madly not to notice the much smaller war going on in front of them, while the bigger one raged overhead, explosions still rattling the room.

"Belay that order Carla, you aren't a surgeon, you're a nurse!" Bowman roared. "We're not ready to get to work on him yet. Clamp!" he snapped to his nurse, who quickly handed it. "He has to wait, that's an order!"

"He doesn't have time, that's a fact!" Kate snapped back. "Carla, get started."

Bowman actually stepped away from the patient, threw down his scalpel, which clattered on the floor. "ENOUGH! Connor, you're not a doctor, you're a veterinarian. You don't give the orders in this room!"

Everyone stopped pretending they didn't notice the fight going on, and stared at Bowman in unashamed shock at his actions. The Doctor had abandoned his table to yell at his only surgical assistant in the room? The doctor had thrown down his instruments on the floor?

"Get back to your patient." Kate yelled at him as the room rattled again.

"I'm in charge here! You don't give orders to the nurses or to me! There are rules in the OR and just because you're sleeping with The Colonel doesn't mean-"

Carla punched Bowman square in the mouth, and he went down hard. He didn't get up again.

Even with the war going on over their heads; there was a beat of silence as all the nurses, medical staff, technicians, and one of two of the patients just stared at Carla in shock.

Carla looked to Kate. "Ma'am?"

Beat.

Every face turned to Kate expectantly.

Kate took a breath. She hadn't meant to take charge exactly. But then neither had John. "Carla, get over here and close for me. And somebody bring a bone saw." She stepped over Bowman's unconscious body and went to his patient. "You, give me your belt." She directed one of the soldiers at the door, who quickly took it off. She cinched it around the wounded leg as high and tight as she could. "Once I get the leg off, the tourniquet will prevent further blood loss, but it'll take both of you to get him out of here."

"The Colonel ordered that we protect-"

"Best way to protect us is to get us all out of here fast." Kate cut him off.

"Yes Ma'am."

Kate tightened the belt further and started to amputate the leg. "And somebody get Bowman off the floor!"

"Sir!" Dex yelled. "Should I blow the charges in the entrance?"

"Negative, we have to draw all of Skynet's forces in, away from the train tracks." Connor yelled back. He lifted his head and saw the Machines, pitted and scarred from the gunfire as they were, they were coming in numbers. "FALL BACK TO THE THIRD LINE!"

His men obeyed with grim fear. The third line was the final barricade. They had run out of real estate. Plasma-fire chased them as they dove over the last wall they had built and took up positions again. The air was thick with ozone and electrical discharge from Terminator guns, and the stink of gunpoweder and burned flesh on the human side.

Connor ducked behind the barrier and pulled his radio. "All Units, the Terminators have entered the tunnels! Repeat, the tunnels are breached!"

Kate voice suddenly came over the radio. "John! Get out of there!" She screamed over that report.

"Roll the train!" John roared. "DO! NOT! WAIT!"

"We're not leaving you in there!" Kate yelled back.

John opened up his rifle furiously on the first Machine around the corner. "Oldham! Roll the train! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"Yes Sir!" Oldham shouted over the gunfire.

"Clear the base infantry!" Connor yelled over to the rest of the men at the barricades.

And the mounted guns behind the fortified shields opened up again, drowning everything out for a while.

The machines were moving overland, in and out of the unfinished housing development that covered the surface of the underground Alamo.

One of the buildings at the outer edge of the development had train tracks leading to it.

The machines had ignored it. The fight was requiring more of their soldiers than Skynet could anticipate, and the humanoid Terminators were the best equipped and sized machines for underground tunnel fights. As the T-1's were cut apart, the troop carriers quickly stayed back from the engagement area, and delivered their cargo.

As the fight demanded more and more of their forces, the Terminators and T-1's abandoned the surface, making their way toward the entrance.

Away from the Train depot, which suddenly exploded into sound.

The large building on top of the train line suddenly opened, and the train inside, not so empty and abandoned as the machines had thought, began to roll.

Mounted on the front of the train were two mounted guns, each with an operator, who quickly opened up on the few machines still in the way, the rest distracted by the fight at the base entrance.

A few machines managed to get shots off, but not enough to stop it moving.

One lone ground based H/K was still in the path of it, and quickly moved to cover the train tracks. Both guns on the front of the train opened up furiously, chewing the metal roadblock to bits, before the accelerating juggernaut actually struck it, tearing it apart.

With steady, deliberate rhythm, the train shook off the impact and started moving faster again.

Connor knew when the train started moving. The invasion of machine's immediately lost its fury. The ones already shooting stayed and fought, but no new Terminator's came around the breached barricades.

"Colonel, the reinforcements are stopping, repeat, the next wave is falling back to the flying machines."

Connor pulled his radio and ducked back behind the barricade. "Let them go. Fall back to the Evac-point."

Sergeant Oldham pulled one of the Meerkat teams down and took his place, poking up the periscope to see above the surface. The Terminators were abandoning their assault and heading back to the airborne H/K's, drawn after the more populated target.

As the Terminators re-entered the machine, the doors closed and the Hunter Killer lifted off, turning as it rose.

"Guess we're about to find out how fast they are." Oldham mumbled.

Once the train had gathered momentum, the ground based H/K's couldn't keep up. The flying H/K's were much faster, turning their jets behind them, like their much smaller counterparts, flying after the train.

The lead H/K did a quick tactical scan of the moving train, and noticed that it was hauling more carriages than an overland train usually did, and saw the men manning the mounted guns, clearly expecting a running fight. The train had been armed with mini-guns at the front and the rear. The windows had been covered by metal sheeting, probably ripped off the buildings and rooftops themselves.

There were four Flying H/K's remaining after the diversion at the Base Entrance, all of them hauling a cargo of Terminators, managing to gain slowly on the train.

The machines had calculated the maximum speed of a train and decided that the most efficient way to end the chase was to derail it, or cut it off.

The Machines organized their flying H/K's into a triangle formation, all three continuing the chase.

The train itself was now at maximum speed, not stopping for anything.

The triangle formation of H/K's gained range, inching closer against the wind, one set of engines straining against the other, until they inched close enough to get in weapons range.

The two at the rear of the formation launched a set of guided missiles, which spiralled in much faster. The Static came over every frequency again, the humans defending the train ready and waiting for that move. The guided missiles went off target, losing all focus flying into the ground.

The guns at the back of the train opened up, at the edge of their range, firing a steady stream of bullets up at their pursuers.

The lead H/K opened fire again, this time with its plasma cannons, the glowing electric death splattering against the train's armored plating.

Up ahead, the train tracks came to a curve, sweeping around a steep rise in the ground. The men who were firing quickly ducked away from their weapons, back into the train...

The H/K's flew up and over the rise, gaining plenty of ground, firing on all their cannons, shattering the train completely, ventilating the train cars, front to end, smoke rising thickly from it's ruined shape...

Another curve, this one sharper, and the train took it at full speed, just as the Machines fired again.

The force of momentum, combined with the blast, forced the train to jump the tracks, the whole thing suddenly pitching up against the ground, the train cars coming apart from each other, as each one flipped and spun horrifically, tearing themselves apart.

The two remaining large flying H/K's came in at a hover near the wrecked train, and lowered itself to about thirty feet up.

The humanoid machines, marching out from the cargo bay, dropping the thirty feet down without injury, moved with unholy precision, overlooking the train, searching for survivors.

It found none.

Also no bodies.

The train was empty.

As soon as the machines saw this, their other number split up, four of them heading for the wrecked Engine car, the rest of them heading back toward the Alamo.

The four that moved into the engine car found bodies. Four of them.

One was still alive.

The machines moved toward him.

Shattered, nearly dead, the last surviving human was clawing for his radio.

The nearest Terminator reviewed his directives. The human was almost certainly dying already. It was clear that the train was a diversion, and if the survivor was reporting in, then it meant that the radio was keyed to a frequency that could be tracked.

The machine came forward and took the radio straight out of the human's weak fingers...

And pulled a thin cord that was apparently leading up the human's sleeve...

A trip-wire.

There was a momentary noise from somewhere in the human's bulky jacket, two quick beeps...

"Gotcha!" Snarled the dying man.

Even from the damaged, half missing skyline of Los Angeles, the fireball was visible from a rooftop. It actually plumed high enough to catch one of the H/K's turbines, and bring it down explosively.

Walters lowered his sniper rifle, and set the scope back to something a little less long range. "Corporal, send word to the Colonel. Diversion tactic was successful."

"Colonel?"

John lifted his radio. "Go ahead."

"It's over. They took the train."

"Understood." John said grimly. "Skynet's finished its offensive here. Once it realized the Alamo was empty, and so was the train, I think it sent its H/K's back on search mode."

Walters' voice took over. "It won't take them long to figure out where we are now."

"Doesn't mater. The new base will be a lot easier to defend than here."

"Still," Eric said. "It's the first base I ever set up. I'm gonna miss it."

"Me too." John sighed. "We're just mopping up here. We'll set the charges at the entrance to the base, and the tunnel, make it hard for them to follow us. I'll see you soon."

Connor flagged down his men, who waved back and the group of them followed their leader toward the tunnel.

As John passed one of the destroyed checkpoints, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

One Terminator was apparently still functional, though just barely. It was pinned down in wreckage, its weapon-ized forearm ripped away, and it's metal jaw ripped off. Its red eyes glared balefully up at him, and it struggled to move.

Connor's team saw it and lifted their guns, but he quickly waved them down. The thing was harmless. Could barely move.

John looked the shattered Terminator in the still glowing eyes. "You're still talking to Skynet aren't you? You're still transmitting." John sighed, and actually sat down on the ground, across from the Machine. "Six men. Men with lives. Men who had lost everything because of you, and knew what I was asking of them. Twenty more here. Twenty who volunteered to hold you back long enough with me."

The machine pulled itself free of the wreckage at last, everything below the torso gone; and started crawling toward John Connor, dragging itself by one arm.

John stared at it with weird intensity. His mother had told him of a moment like this with the first Terminator. You don't know what it's like to try and kill one of these things John.

Connor didn't move. "You can't figure out why we aren't all dead yet can you? You can't figure out why you haven't caught us all. The answer is simple. Humans are better at this than you. Look at yourself. Even in this state, even with most of your body gone, you still reach for me, your target, no more desperate than when fully assembled, no more malicious when wounded. Just a machine, still trying to obey its program, even when you have no hope... hatred, vengeance, fury, sacrifice... These things are alien to you. We'll show you the ways of war, and you won't know what to do against it."

The other soldiers were staring in silence at their Leader, having an intense heart to heart with the shattered enemy Terminator.

The ruined machine, its red eyes still blazing, crawled closer, straining for him with steel fingers...

John lifted his gun lazily, pulled the trigger; and the last Terminator went dark.

Meanwhile, the tunnel that led to the subways was safe, and the entire population of the Alamo began the long, silent trek toward the empty subways of Los Angeles.

City of Angels. Kate thought, as the crowd of survivors, keeping silent and cautious, walked onward in the dark.

Noise was muted in the tunnel, even the slight echoes of footsteps making people worry that the noise would lead the machines down on them.

Nevertheless, those that had been able to hear the radio transmissions knew the scope of what had happened, and the war stories began. Whispers in total pitch darkness about the underground Minutemen who held the line, and about the man who had come up with the plan. They had done it again. Against all the odds, they had lived, because her husband had found them a way out.

Kate shivered as she heard them all say it, one by one, silent and awed. Connor had done it again. Connor had got them out.

Behind them, there was a gasp.

"Shut up." Carla hissed somewhere behind them.

"I can't see." It was Bowman.

"That happens when you're underground." Carla told him. "Can you walk? There are people with actual injuries who could use the cot you're being carried on."

"I can walk." Bowman said meekly. "I can't believe you punched me."

"I can." Answered four or five voices, more or less at the same time.

Carla ignored Bowman, sped up a bit to catch up with Kate. "I keep expecting an ambush. Why didn't the machines know about the Tunnel from LA to the Alamo?"

"It hadn't opened yet." Kate explained. "It wasn't on any maps, and the only records of it ever being dug would have been nuked long ago."

"Skynet sort of bit itself on the ass there didn't it?"

"Yeah."

"He fooled them didn't he? He tricked them into ignoring the train tracks and attacking the tunnel, the tricked them abandoning the tunnels to go after the train."

"That was the plan. I guess it worked, we're still here."

"How'd he know?"

Kate pocketed her radio. She was part of the last group through the subway tunnel. The med bay had been spared after all. Once the Machines had seen the train, they had taken the bait and abandoned their offensive through the tunnels, the only ones still fighting their way in were the ones already fighting. The rest had apparently decided that their target was moving away.

Just as John had predicted.

The train had left after John's fighters had drawn the H/K's in, toward the entrance, away from the train, mechanically certain that the fight was in the tunnels itself, and once they had passed the exit, the train was safe to get away. If they had pressed the fight at the tunnels, they would have found the human population, never near the train, but in the main tunnel leading to LA.

A decoy, within a decoy.

Kate was proud of him, but tried not to think about how he knew this. He knew how Terminator's hunted. They had been hunting him forever. The Machines had taught him what the Machines would do. The only person in the world that Skynet had prepared as an enemy.

How did he know? Carla had asked.

Kate couldn't help the smirk. "He's John Connor."

"Oh ho!" Oldham chortled. "Man, we hit the jackpot sir!"

Eric looked around the aisles of canned food. "How many supermarkets in LA?"

"A LOT Sir."

"Too bad we can't use any of it."

"Sir?"

Walters pulled out his Geiger counter and ran it over the shelves. It crackled brightly into the Red. "Tins. LA got hit early. Metal holds radiation. All the tinned food in LA is hot."

Oldham looked like his puppy died. "Huh."

"Get the plastic tubs. And the sheeting. Anything plastic. We're making greenhouses, we're making hydroponics. We don't need this stuff."

"Yes sir."

Walters' radio buzzed, and he answered it. "Walters."

"Eric, whatever you're doing, do it faster." Connor answered. "The H/K's that gave up on The Alamo are moving. Looks like they figured out where the tunnel led."

"Yessir." Eric responded, and disconnected, turning to Oldham. "Move fast. Send the Think Tank upstairs. The electronics section. At least they can have salvage." Eric pulled out a list. "Here's the stuff Connor insisted we get. Tell our other recon teams to mark anywhere they find it, salvage teams will wait until the recon teams have cleared them."

"That'll take some time. Most of our recon guys are still searching the subways for cave-in and entrances."

"Tell them to find the end of their tunnels and start searching outward from there. The Colonel said to have incendiaries set up at three, nine, and twelve o'clock positions from each entrance."

"Yes sir."

The journey to LA took hours. Once the human population got to the rest of the subway network however, they found that things were already working. Major Eric Walters and a small band had moved down the tunnel on motorcycles immediately after the train had begun its move.

At this point, there wasn't much but a few lights set up at the crossroads in the empty subway tunnels, but when the escaped refugees found the lights set up, they knew the trek was over, and started spreading out, finding places to sit.

Walters and his men were already out of the tunnels, walking through the ruined LA. Walters dispatched his men in pairs, finding ways into the shattered buildings that still stood.

Once the rest of the soldiers made it, they joined him, setting explosives in the streets, planting thermal charges and incendiary bombs all over the place through the streets, and the buildings.

Walters and Oldham met up and started setting up surveillance posts that could watch most of the LA skyline.

The soldiers worked in a pattern. Four teams of two. Three teams would enter a selected building, one team after another. One team would set up thermal explosives that would burn white hot. The second team would enter as soon as they left and set up explosives or listening posts. The third would set up a jamming device. The fourth team would go across the street to another building and set up an ambush.

Everyone working on these teams could see the plan. The jammers would force Skynet to send in their forces. The heat seekers would confuse the enemy sensors, not knowing which heat signature was a human, or a decoy. The explosives and the ambush across the street would knock down whatever the Machines sent.

The City of Angels was fast becoming a Skynet Death Trap, while the humans had miles of underground tunnels to hide in.

Z Plus One Year Seventy Eight Days

Kate scrubbed her skin, keeping the water in the pan as hot as she could.

John came in, saw his wife washing, and quickly pulled the tarpaulin tent door closed behind him. "Hi."

"Hi. You done for the day?" Kate asked as she pulled her boots off.

"Yeah. Wanted to get these for you before I called it a night." John said, holding up a fistful of papers.

Kate took them off him. "Hmm." She said, smiling lightly. "Surveillance photos of LA."

"Sappers have been busy for their first day."

Kate flipped through the photos. Huge H/K's on fire, torn apart, fallen over from mined roads.

Dead machines... Kate thought, seeing her father's face in her mind, running a hand over her stomach, remembering...

Kate set down the photos and pulled over a tip cup. "Give me a hand with my hair?"

"Gladly." John drawled, and gathered a cupful of warm water from the basin, rinsing out Kate's hair.

"You want the water?" Kate responded, letting his hands relax her.

John nodded and shrugged off his combat jacket. "Saves having to heat up a new batch."

"How are we going for that by the way?"

"Drinking water? Not as well as we'd like, but the shockwaves screwed up the weather enough that there's some new lakes formed after the fallout. Bowman's testing it, looks okay. We're gonna have a problem with the Machines using Bio-Warfare for a while though."

Kate shuddered, rubbing soap between her hands, pulling the lather through he hair with her fingers. "We're going to need a lab set up fast."

"Fortunately, salvaging computer and laboratory equipment is easier in LA." John agreed. "So, I understand you had some excitement back behind the front." John teased as he rinsed her hair out.

"I think my dad would call it battlefield promotion." Kate said modestly when she raised her head.

"There were seven people in that Operating Room. Four of them saw nothing. The rest seem to think that Bowman slipped and hit his head."

Kate didn't look at him, wriggling out her toes, scrubbing them with the towel.

"Expect Carla of course." John continued, putting a gentle kiss on her shoulder.

Kate, slipping her boots back on, suddenly fumbled with her laces. "What did Carla say?"

"That he was being an idiot, so she punched him."

Kate snorted.

"She said he had a glass jaw too."

Kate snorted again. "I think I made an enemy there."

"Well he'd better get over it. You're his CO now, Major Connor."

Kate's head snapped around. "WHAT?"

"Two of the witnesses were Eric's soldiers. Bowman was right about one thing. There has to be a chain of command in an Army, and an Operating Room, and you were the right choice."

"Bowman has a rank. I don't, I'm a civilian."

"A month ago so was I. This isn't new Kate. Draftees with special skills, particularly in non-combat units, were given honorary ranks as necessary to keep the chain of command clear. It's how your father got promoted into the ranks, and we've all been drafted."

"John we talked about this. You can't just name me your second in command-"

"I'm not. This is coming from Eric."

Kate stopped short. "Really?"

"He told me that there was confusion in the Medbay, and that one of Bowman's surgical team stepped up when Bowman made a fool of himself, in such a way that it could lead to problems in the future. I told him to fix it. So he's drafting you. I'm just the messenger." With that, John picked her jacket up off the floor, slid a Major's Rank insignia from his pocket, and pinned it to her uniform.

"Bowman's gonna hate this."

"Do you care what he thinks that much?"

"Not him exactly, but his people know him. Better than me."

"His whole medical team saw him throw away a scalpel and walk away from a patient to yell at you while explosions were going off. And the ones that saw are talking about it. And about you. There's nobody in that room that wouldn't salute you. Bowman knows that."

Kate shivered at the thought and shrugged her shirt on. "My dad told me once, that the whole idea of Chain of Command is contrary to doing what you want."

"Put a man people hate in charge, and find out just how contrary it is." John said, pulling off his own boots. "Kate, frankly it doesn't matter what you were. We're sticking to the tradition of the old hierarchies, because the alternative is we fall on each other like wolves. These soldiers? They do what I tell them because I order them to. I can do that because they gave me a rank. They gave me a rank so that I could give them orders they could follow. If they decided not to follow my orders one day, there's not a damn thing I could do. There's no legal system, no jails, no courts; and all of us have guns. Bowman wants to press the matter, they'll side with you. Because they like you, they know you'll get things done... and because..."

"Because I'm you're wife." Kate finished, as John started scrubbing at his skin with the sponge. He took the sponge off her and slid back behind her on the edge of the cot. "Give me that. You've got to keep these new cuts clean. Can't waste antibiotics on anyone until we start harvesting penicillin from the bread mold."

"Army food. Find some bread that mold will touch."

"Bowman couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that the world ended. That's a problem, but not at all an unusual one, most people couldn't. Remember how you reacted when you realized you were pointing a gun at a Machine?"

"I was nearly catatonic in that graveyard." Kate agreed. "Use the toothpaste John, teeth are more valuable now."

John nodded and scrubbed his teeth harder with his finger absently. "Same story with that prison camp. Nobody could summon the will to react." John said. "Nobody believes it could happen to them. Not that badly, not that big. Then one day you wake up and the world has ended. These people are holding to us, because it's all they still have of what went before. Bowman just took too long to realize that his back was to the wall."

Kate watched him quietly, laying out her clothes to be in quick reach the next morning. "There's something I wanted to ask you, and this really isn't the time..."

"Ask me."

"Did you mean what you said, about how happy you were that we were going to be parents?"

John looked her square in the eye. "Yes."

She took his hand, pulled it to her, and ran it over her flat stomach. "I don't ache any more. The tenderness faded, the nausea stopped, the bleeding stopped. My body's healed."

"Have you?" John asked her gently.

Kate shook her head. "No. I saw you with those kids in the tunnel, and I feel like there's a hand closing around my throat. John, I haven't cried since Crystal Peak, but that day I wanted to. I wanted to cry so much. But I had to keep my eyes clear, because I'm a soldier now. I was sobbing so hard and I still couldn't get the tears past my eyes."

John looked helplessly at her. "I wish I could take this away from you. I wish I could just make it all go away."

Kate leaned in and kissed him desperately. He clung her to him tightly until they finally broke for air. "What worries me isn't just that we'd be raising a family like this... it's that, we'd be doing it because we either Populate or Perish."

"That wouldn't be the only reason." John whispered. "You weren't wrong Kate. There's never going to be a good time."

Kate hadn't let go of his hand, still rubbing her stomach. "I would have been showing by now. We would be running for our lives, and I'd be heavier, slower..." Kate gave him a look heavy with meaning. "Are we going to keep running?"

"Nowhere to run to after this. This is our defensive zone. The Castle keep. Human territory."

"Human Territory. God I love the way that sounds." Kate pulled back the blanket on their cot and sat down on the edge of it. "It doesn't bother you?" She asked. "The fact that it's all been retreats so far?"

"Nope." John slung the rifle off his shoulder and laid it down against the wall next to his cot. "We've lost ground, but we gained New Ground in its place. And we have survived, and most important, we gained time."

"Time?"

"Now we've got an actually trained team, ready to fight Machines. All our soldiers were trained to fight humans. This is a whole new ballgame."

"I think it's starting to worry the civilians." Kate said. "The soldiers tell me, that a lot of them have been getting questions. About what the battles are like, about how it feels…"

"Good." John said.

"Good?" Kate shrugged off her shirt, folded it neatly and laid it beside her side of the cot with her radio.

"When I was in Columbia with Mom, we spent some time with a couple of Drug runners, who taught her about smuggling. One day they got caught with guns in the car, and tried to run for it. One of them got shot. We took his body back to his family, who got mad enough to take over his role in the operation. They wanted revenge, they wanted to honor him."

"Mad enough at his death not to care that it was illegal." Kate nodded as she laid her weapon on top of her jacket, in easy reach. "How does that help us?"

"One man was shot in the back; two more grabbed weapons." John explained, lying down on the cot; boots on. "Twenty-six men were killed during the retreat, at my order; to protect two hundred. People who know what it cost. People who know they've been running for too long, and it's time to turn and fight. A large number of which have signed up for training." He turned those haunted eyes on Kate. "This is how you build up an army. And before this war ends, we're going to take back the Alamo, and every other scrap of land we lost too."

"Promise?" Kate quipped lightly, stretching her body against him.

"Would I lie to you?" John quipped,

Kate tilted her head to look up at him. "You tired?"

Beat.

"Yes. Extremely." John confessed finally, chuckling ruefully despite himself.

Kate laughed and settled tighter against her husband. "Me too." She murmured. "But let's not forget this conversation."

"Yeah." John agreed, putting an arm around her on the narrow cot; and he kissed the top of her head, tilting his mouth down to keep the ends out of his mouth. "I liked you better with longer hair Kate. I didn't eat so much of it then."

"Shorter is easier to keep clean. Lice are becoming a problem with some of the younger children." Kate told him absently, already drifting off as she ran a hand down his arm to thread her fingers through his, as she did every night they were together. "Love you husband."

"Love you wife."

Z Plus One Year Ninety Four Days

Skynet sent another three offensives into Los Angeles. One from the tunnel between The Alamo and the Underground, two more into the city itself from above.

Connor had ordered that mines, sensors and barricades be put in the tunnel that the human survivors had fled through. With their rear guard set up, the tunnel became a shooting gallery, and Skynet quickly abandoned it. Once neither side could make use of it, Connor ordered it collapsed.

The maps of the subway network were incomplete, as some of them had collapsed, some of them booby trapped; so Skynet had sent patrols circling overland, hunting for humans that came to the surface.

The ruined buildings were still strong enough to hold teams of humans with weapons, and those that weren't were rigged to collapse on passing H/K's, burying them in rubble.

The flying H/K's and the smaller of Skynet's infantry kept searching, their motion sensors and thermal vision never once tired or paused.

John had known they were coming, and the incendiary devices that Walters recon teams had prepared were set off remotely, one by one.

With sudden bursts of heat coming from all sides, the machines couldn't tell right away which heat signatures were human and which were decoys, and the buildings that housed snipers and grenade launchers cut Skynet's army apart from a distance.

Skynet responded by attacking the buildings themselves, trying to bury their elusive prey. For a time, it worked. But humanity was under their feet, appearing from hidden trapdoors, sniping the Hunter Killers from the sides, and then ducking underground again.

Connor had drilled them over and over and over again. Stay out of sight, attack fast from the sides, keep covered...

Those that understood how to fight this way dealt damage to Skynet, those that did not learn died quickly, or were captured.

The time was put to good use. Miles of plastic-insulated electrical cable had been salvaged, and lights were strung through the entire subway system. The full extent of the Underground was mapped and organized. Fortifications were built around key areas and entrances. Hydroponics, sewerage and ventilation were set up. Training began again, the tunnels making the perfect obstacle course.

Nobody could believe the speed with which things had been prepared. Connor was practically everywhere at once, the only person in the Last Army who didn't have to be trained for the new way of life. Kate was everywhere that her husband wasn't, putting a years worth of lessons in Crystal Peak to work.

Digging began again too. Sewer lines, clean after two years without people were breached, as were city maintenance tunnels, until the entire city was Human territory, and ways past their blockade had been found.

With the LA offensive over, the war had come to something of a stalemate. Skynet couldn't get in; humanity didn't have the force to push outward.

Nevertheless, they were active. Radio signals were sent out, Skynet unable to shut down the transmitters; frequency shifting with every message so that it couldn't be jammed.

And more groups of survivors, huddled around their campfires and their silent radios, suddenly heard that there was someone fighting back. Other regiments found across the globe, other small packs of survivors were warned, and told quickly how to prepare for an attack from Skynet; ordered to meet with each other if possible, ordered to work together, ordered to set up defenses and lines of communication.

The orders came from John Connor.

After an eternity in disorganized chaos across a vast dead wasteland, the human race started again.

Skynet: To All Units.

Top Priority Communiqué.

Directives:

1) Locate Human Populations.

2) Evaluate and Report.

3) Enter and Destroy.

4) Defend Skynet Resources

New Primary Objective.

Terminate John Connor.

End Transmission

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