His mother's safe house was dark. It had been easy to disarm the alarm. She always seemed to use the same code. Once inside, John was carried over to a recliner chair that sat in the front room. Once settled into the chair, John smiled as he looked around. It was very much like every other safe house his mother had ever chosen. It felt almost like home.
Derek and Alison quickly explored the house soon after John had been deposited into the chair. Derek came back only long enough to complain that it looked like Sarah had taken some of his stuff out of his weapons locker and to tell John that they had found the bedrooms at the end of hall and the were going to try and catch some sleep. John had to admit that sleep sounded amazing right then. Catherine and John Henry volunteered to keep a watch. It wasn't long before every human in the house was asleep, waiting for Sarah Connor to return.
As John slept, he could see the Machines advancing in his sleep. All around him, the world burned and men screamed and died. He felt his body pump with adrenaline and shake in fear. The air was thick with smoke and stank of vomit and blood. No matter where he turned, there was destruction all around him. He tried to find his uncle or his mother. They were nowhere to be found. He tried to find Cameron, but she wasn't there either. Finally he tried to find Alison, but as he looked, John found himself alone against the Machines. One of the T-600s stopped and looked at him. It turned its body and raised its rifle. John watched helplessly as it pulled the trigger.
John awoke with a cry. He drew his Glock and wildly began swinging it around the room. He heard an awful screaming only to realize that it was he who was screaming. He tried to regain control of himself but he couldn't. His whole body began to tremor. And then there was a gunshot. John looked down at the Glock in his hand. Smoke was rising from the barrel. In his panic, he had taken a potshot at the couch.
"John?"
Alison's voice startled John and he turned as best as he could in the chair to look at her. She was wearing a large shirt that came down to her thighs. Her hair was a slightly tangled and unkempt from sleeping on it weird. She stood in the hallway with her hands slightly raised. In her right hand was her own Glock.
"It is just me. Put the gun down, John."
John watched her for a second before he nodded his head. Slowly, he lowered the pistol and dropped it onto the floor. Before he knew what was happening, John broke into tears.
"It is alright now." Alison crossed the room and knelt in front of him. She wrapped her arms around him and John rested his head on her shoulder as he shook violently. "You are awake now. The dream is over."
"I wish that it was." John said, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"Skynet?"
John just nodded.
"Is he alright?" Derek asked as he entered the room. He was switching the safety back on his own Glock before picking up John's.
"He just needs a moment." Alison responded. "I thought coming here, we would leave those Machines behind. I thought we could forget about the horrors and start fresh. I thought we could escape them."
"None of us ever do." Derek grunted slightly as he slipped onto the couch. "Sarah Connor, John Connor, Derek Reese, Alison Young. We have all seen too much. We can't escape because there is nowhere to run anymore. We can never be free from it. That is why we fight. We fight so that others never have to experience what we did. We fight so that others can be free."
Alison took a deep breath. "Maybe, someday, we can earn our freedom from it too. I never had a problem with the dreams while I was fighting the Machines. I guess I was just always in a living nightmare. Ever since coming here—to this world—I can't stop seeing them. The horrors I left behind have followed me here. I wish they would go away. I would love to get some real sleep."
Derek laughed. "Some real sleep would be nice. I don't think that is something I will ever experience. I'm too old, and too broken. I've seen too much."
"Oh, I'm sure there is hope for you." Alison said with a smile.
"You know what I didn't miss about you." Derek said, pointing a finger at her. "I hated when you tried to tell me there was hope when everything pointed in the opposite direction. You usually turned out to be right."
"You just need some faith."
John, by this point, had calmed down. He was no longer crying and his body has quit shaking. He lay back in the recliner and took deep breaths before smiling weakly at Alison and Derek. Moments later, Catherine and John Henry both walked into the room. They looked around the room before Catherine spoke.
"They are here."
