Martin moaned slightly as he loaded his sidearm. His left shoulder was in so much pain. As he leaned up against the wall, the stones were painted a deep red. He knew he didn't have much time left.
"Martin?" Lauren said cautiously. "Are you alright?"
"No, I do not believe that I am." He tightened the bandaged he had on his shoulder. "I guess the Machines wanted to kill me."
Lauren smiled slightly as she examined his shoulder. The smile slowly faded. "We need to get you to surgery, now. Martin, you are bleeding out."
Martin just laughed. "I won't have time for surgery. I don't think I'll make it past the next couple of minutes. You know, you are very pretty."
Lauren's face became bright red as she smiled. Martin leaned down and kissed her. He had never told her before that he thought she was pretty. He had always been too scared, but what the hell. He was going to be dead in a few minutes and if Connor succeeded, then nothing in this moment really mattered. This timeline would be erased.
"About time." Ellison said with a chuckle. "I was beginning to think that you kids were never—"
Martin and Lauren looked at Ellison as he slumped to the floor. The detonator slipped from his and and rolled across the floor to Lauren's feet. As she bent down to pick it up, Martin raised his sidearm and began firing upon the T-600s that were making their way down the stairs. A hail of bullets rained around him and Lauren. He heard Lauren cry out and then felt his own chest rip with pain. He felt the impact of one bullet after another. His body was thrown against the wall and he slipped down until he was sitting down. He continued to pull the trigger well after he was out of ammunition. Finally he weakly chucked his firearm at the nearest machine.
He smiled slightly as Lauren's hand grasped his. Martin turned to look at her and then nodded his head. She smiled back and pushed the button on the detonator. The whole area rumbled and shook as the C4 sent off. Martin squeezed her hand as he slumped towards her, his eyes closing and the blackness taking him.
The final thing Martin heard before he died was Lauren's faint voice whispering, "I love you Martin Bedell."
