Chapter 5: Will You Join Me?
LA, Near Hammerhead Bunker.
Derek wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with the cuff of his jacket. The long trek to Hammerhead had been a constant struggle for the rag tag group of survivors, including him. If it wasn't the constant climbing and doubling back to wind their way to the bunker, it was the hiding out from potential marauders and thieves, stalking the ruins of the city.
What got Derek wondering was the lack of Skynet presence in and around the city. It was not like Skynet to not have any machines patrolling for, or attacking scattered groups of people. It had been months since he saw any of the Aerostats buzzing around, and the 600's were few and far between, it was as if Skynet was pulling back its forces.
The other nagging question that kept popping up in Derek's mind was to do with Allison.
He was afraid of losing her, just like he had with Kyle. I'm praying for you Allie, don't worry I am coming for you soon, just hang in there. I'll find a way to get you back safe. His eyes began to get watery as he thought about how she must be at her wits end.
Derek looked back to make sure all were following close behind, he didn't want to hold up the group to go back and look for any stragglers. Mentally he made a head count to make sure all were present and accounted for. Including him, there were a dozen people.
Everyone kept up with the pace, the breaks they took to rest and eat were few and far between. Most, like Derek, wanted to get to the bunker and its protection it offered, as quickly as possible.
The small group of twelve trudged along their way towards sanctuary, most of them hoping they would get the help and safety they needed, some praying the worst was over now.
On Route from Crystal Peak to Hammerhead bunker
John was tired and his muscles were beginning to ache. They had been traveling for over five hours along a road that was more like an obstacle course that a major highway.
Sections of the road were littered with vehicles of various shapes and sizes, remnants of a last ditch effort of people trying to escape the carnage happening in LA.
He glanced away from driving to locate his water canteen, grabbed it and popped the lid to take a gulp of the cool liquid. Re- closing the lid, John kept his eyes on the road and dropped the canteen beside his seat.
"Are we there yet?" Melissa called out from the back.
John looked into the rear view mirror into the eyes of an obviously bored looking Melissa and a soundly sleeping Kyle. He smiled, "Are we there yet" reminds me of when I was a kid riding with Mom.
"We're almost there Melissa, another twenty minutes and we'll be in what is left of LA"
Blair had been busy looking out of her window, not paying any attention to what was being said.
"Earth to Blair, anybody home?" John called over to her.
"I was just thinking about things Connor." She quietly said, her eyes fixed on the desolate landscape. She was in a melancholy mood and not interested in having a big conversation.
"Oh really, what's on your mind Williams?"
"It's just sad to see all those wrecked vehicles scattered about on the road. To think they all had people inside of them, trying to run away to safety." Blair closed her eyes for a second, she fought back the tears that were glossing up her eyes.
John thought for a moment, mulling over what she had just said.
"Allot has happened since J Day Williams, we can't dwell on the past, it hurts too much.
We need to think of what is going on now and we need to make sure we can stop Skynet from gaining the upper hand and killing everyone. But first, we need to stop those people bent on killing others. We will never win this war if we continue to fight amongst ourselves."
"You're right Connor, no one will survive if they fight each other. Skynet will end up winning the war." Blair had looked over to John, her face filled with grief and sadness.
"You guys need to lighten up a bit, not all people are bad ya know. There are still good people around, present company included." Melissa had chosen to add her two cents worth to the conversation. She had her long legs stretched out between the two front seats and her cap pulled slightly down to provide some shade from the daylight.
"Yes Webster, you are just a shining example of humanity, out trolling for a fresh man to conquer." Blair shot back, with just a hint of sarcasm, her head turned to face Melissa as she spoke, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Well we all need some love Williams, and I intend to find that elusive man, even if it takes me years." Melissa shot back, a small smile playing upon her lips.
"Ladies, ladies, save it for later, you're giving me a headache." John smiled as decided to add his own words of wisdom.
"Easy for you to say, you have a sweetie to go home to. Blair and I are on a time clock here, we need to find a man before we get too old and ugly."
"Speak for yourself Webster, I'll have no problem landing a good man." Blair replied with confidence.
"You willing to bet on that Williams?" Melissa asked.
"Sure, what you got in mind? Blondie"
"How bout a months worth of booze rations to the first to land a man, Flygirl"
"How about three months, Stretch"
"Oh you are on babe, let's shake on it." Melissa leaned forward and spit into her palm and stretched her hand to the front seat area.
Blair spit into hers and shook hands with Melissa, sealing the deal.
"Connor, you are our witness, right?" Blair had a playful grin on her face.
"Yeah, sure I'll be the witness. But my word is final on who the winner is, no cheating and no crying when you are deemed the loser, okay?"
"Yes sir." both girls answered in unison, then they both burst out laughing.
Kyle was still sleeping but grumbled some incoherent words about being disturbed, then he shifted position to get more comfortable and fell right back into his slumber.
John just shook his head and went back to weaving his way around the various obstacles on the road, he was glad Melissa was able to lighten up the mood in the truck.
It was only a matter of minutes before they would arrive at Hammerhead.
LA, near Hammerhead bunker
Derek stopped and looked up to see the skeletal remains of an old apartment block about two hundred meters from where he stood. The building was about five stories high and was barely standing. It was one of the few structures still defying nature, a little worse for wear, but still holding its own. This was the landmark he was looking for, as this meant they were almost at Hammerhead.
Derek held up his fist to signal the group to stop, then he turned around to face them.
"Okay people, its about five more minutes and we should be at Hammerhead." He whispered. "Everyone keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary and let me know if you see or hear something."
Knowing the importance of staying alert and safe, the members of this little group all nodded their understanding.
Derek nodded back and turned towards the landmark, cautiously making his way through a clear ally way. Quietly, the others followed behind him, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings.
Once they had reached the apartment block, the group stopped to take a break and rest.
Derek glanced in all directions, trying to pin point a familiar spot to help lead them to the entrance to Hammerhead Bunker.
It was a moment later Derek thought he heard the faint sound of vehicles traveling towards them from the Northwest.
"Everybody into the building and take cover." Derek called out urgently while pointing to the main floor of the apartment block.
The group funneled into the windowless building, some finding hiding spots behind overturned furniture, others went into some rooms deeper inside, or behind sections of wall.
Derek crouched just inside the main entrance, warily eying the roadway to the North.
It sounds like they are coming from the North. Must be a supply run, or something. He thought to himself.
Moments later he spotted the lead vehicle rumble into view.
Looks military, a Hummer?
Eventually the other vehicles came into view, two more Hummers, two large military transport trucks, and three Strykers. It was an impressive sight to see.
This must be some sort of supply run for Hammerhead.
It was at that moment that Derek felt he should take a chance and show himself.
Better to show myself now, than run up behind and risk getting shot.
Derek tossed his weapons over towards the older couple huddled beside him.
"You two watch the weapons, I'm going to see if I can get any help from this convoy. If anything happens to me, stay hidden until they are gone and then head South. You should reach Hammerhead, or one of their patrols within a few blocks."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" the older man asked.
"This might be our best chance to get help and I'm willing to take it." Derek smiled nervously and stood up to go meet his fate.
………………………………
John had slowed down his vehicle to navigate around some obstacles on the roadway.
They were only about a kilometer or so from the Bunker and he was glad the trip was almost over. It had been a long and tiresome ride to LA.
Once they had arrived at the outskirts of LA, John had alerted Blair to keep on the lookout for any signs of danger. Both Skynet and the gangs of raiders, were a threat to the convoy.
As his truck edged closer to the dilapidated apartment block, John saw some movement.
"Williams, ten 'o'clock."
"I see him Connor, he has his hands up. Should we stop?"
"Yeah, I'll signal the others to stop and be prepared for anything." John stopped his Hummer, picked up the mic and informed the other vehicles of the situation. The whole convoy ground to a halt, people jumped out to take up defensive positions around the vehicles.
Kyle sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Are we at Hammerhead?"
"No Kyle, some one has flagged us down to stop." John answered.
"Ya Kyle, go back to sleep, you need all the beauty rest you can get." Melissa chuckled and tousled Kyles' hair.
"Gee thanks Mel." Kyle blushed.
"No problem short stuff" Melissa said with a wink.
Blair jumped out of the truck as soon as it had stopped. She leaned over the front fender and raised her Remington pump action shotgun to her shoulder, making sure she had a clear shot at the lone man standing.
"That's close enough." She called to him. "What do you want?"
"My name is Derek and I am looking for help. There was an attack last night, downtown at the subway shelter. Some raiders ended up killing people, stealing food, items and kidnapping some friends."
"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Blair asked as she kept her shotgun trained on his chest.
The mention of Dereks' name caused Kyle to sit up. He looked to his left, out through the front windshield, that's when his heart leapt into his throat.
"Its Derek." He whispered.
"Well ya Einstein, he already said his name." Melissa quipped back.
"No, its my brother, my Derek." Kyle opened his door, sprung out and ran towards his brother.
"Reese, get back in the damn truck." Blair yelled out angrily.
The lone figure in the middle of the road looked at Kyle, his face went blank with disbelief.
"Kyle, is that really you?" Dereks' hands dropped to his side.
"DEREK" Kyle yelled, as he ran up to his brother, tears of joy were running down his cheeks. Kyle wrapped his arms around his brother.
Derek started to cry, he was overwhelmed by emotion of seeing Kyle for the first time in years.
"Kyle, you dumbass, I've been worried sick about you. Its been over two years since you went missing." Derek choked back the tears as he spoke to his brother. "I was worried I had lost you forever."
"You know me better than that." Kyle whispered.
They both stepped back to get a better look at each other.
"You've grown Kyle, but yer still shorter than me."
"Not for long bro, I'll catch up." Kyle beamed
Kyle turned towards Blair. "This is my brother Blair."
"No Kiddin, I would have never guessed." Blair smiled,shook her head and lowered her gun.
John and Melissa both climbed out of the truck and walked over to meet Kyles' brother.
Kyle quickly wiped his tears with his sleeve and began introductions.
"Derek, these are my friends. Blair is the one with the shotgun." Kyle pointed towards the truck. "This is Melissa Webster, a real heartbreaker." Kyle smiled at Melissa, she winked back and smiled.
"Finally, this is John Connor." Kyle looked over to John. "The man that saved my ass from Skynet."
Derek looked over at John and smiled, he held out his hand to shake Johns'. "Pleasure to meet you sir, I've heard allot about you and your fight against Skynet. Thank you for saving my brothers ass." John smiled and shook Dereks' hand warmly, then he had a thought.
So this would be my uncle then. I'll need to tell Kate about this.
"It was my pleasure to save Kyles' ass, as well as kick Skynets ass."
Derek looked over to where he had the others hiding. "Okay everyone, its safe to come out now."
John and the others looked over to see Dereks' little group slowly and carefully make their way out of the building to join up with the vehicles.
Kyle looked over to Derek. "Where's Allison?"
Dereks' face fell and Kyle knew there was something wrong.
"Did something happen Derek?"
"Yes Kyle, she got taken by the raiders. We were attacked last night and I couldn't get to her in time to save her. This is why we came here to Hammerhead, to try to get help."
John thought for a moment and then spoke up. "This is interesting, we were actually coming into the city for just that reason. I had heard of these gangs causing trouble, its something we really can't have happening, especially with Skynet still around. We are here to find out what we can do and to figure out how to stop all this fighting amongst people. Its Skynet we need to fight, not each other."
"Connor sir, these gangs don't care about anything but themselves. They Kill. Steal, and sell anything to get ahead. Usually they take only the women and children and end up killing the men. This is what they did last night." Derek looked at John, his eyes filled with pain and sorrow.
John mulled over what had been said, then he looked straight into Dereks' eyes. "Reese, I need help in finding these bastards, will you join us?"
"No need to ask Sir, I was planning to go save Allison anyways, I just needed to get these people to a safe place." Derek smiled, "Seems fate put me in the right place at the right time."
John smiled back at Derek. "Reese, get your people into those trucks back there. We'll get settled into Hammerhead and figure out just how we will go about helping the others that got taken."
Derek looked over to his group and motioned for them to get into the trucks. Although he was still desperately worried about Allison, he felt much better now that he had help from Connor and his Resistance fighters. Even better, he was now re-united with his baby brother. All that remained was to rescue Allison and the rest of the kidnapped people.
Melissa leaned in to whisper to Kyle. "Hey Reese, your brother single? He's really cute."
"Hell if I know, I haven't seen him for over a couple of years." Kyle shrugged his shoulders.
"Well if he is, put in a good word for me, will ya?" Melissa playfully squeezed Kyle's arm before she turned to get into the truck
Kyle got back into his side of the truck, Melissa sat right beside him, but in the middle and scooted over to make room for Derek to sit beside her.
"You can sit right here, don't worry, I won't bite." Melissa smiled and patted the seat.
Derek lifted his eyebrow and looked at his brother. Kyle grinned and gave Derek the thumbs up sign.
Seeing it must be safe, Derek slid in beside Melissa and closed the door.
Melissa looked over at Derek and lightly bit her lip. His eyes are so blue and he has a cute smile, hmmmmm, I can't let this one get away.
Derek looked over, fully aware he was being studied. He smiled warmly at Melissa, she smiled back and casually let her hand slip closer to his leg, just barely touching it.
At the same moment, Blair casually turned and looked back, pretending to be looking for something.
"Kyle, is there a spare canteen of water back there? Mines empty" Blair leaned further into the back seat area, her shirt strangely buttoned lower than usual, showing a hint of her cleavage and part of a black lacy bra as she leaned over the seat back.
Melissa huffed and gave Blair a dirty look.
"Yeah I'm sure we have a few spares back here Blair." Kyle noticed Blair had taken an interest in his brother, he knew Derek must be the victim that the girls were going after first. Leaning back behind him, Kyle grabbed a water canteen and passed it over to Blair.
"Thank You Kyle."
"No probs Blair."
Derek's eyes widened and he swallowed hard as he couldn't help but notice what Blair was doing. He just wasn't sure if she had done it on purpose, or by accident. She is hot and she has a black bra on? Derek said to his self.
Blair looked over at Derek, catching his admiring stare. She smiled, winked at him and took the Canteen ever so slowly and turned to face forward.
"You okay Williams?" John asked.
"I'm fine Connor, just thirsty." Blair grinned at John and winked.
John knew right away what was happening. He looked into the rear view mirror and noticed Melissa was almost on top of poor Derek, she managed to get her arm around him and had wiggled closer to him. Derek didn't know what to do so he just sat very still with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's so cramped in here, I hope you don't mind me being so close Derek." Melissa smiled and looked away, trying her best to look shy and innocent.
" Um, no problem at all Miss Webster."
"Oh, you can call me Melissa." Melissa batted her baby blue eyes at Derek and smiled once again.
Kyle smiled and shook his head, then he turned to glance out the window, still smiling. Looks like Derek is in deep trouble now, but maybe it'll be good for him to have a girl friend, or two.
John gave the order over the radio to start rolling, the convoy began its final leg of the trip to Hammerhead Bunker.
It wouldn't be long to get there and John had plans to get right back on the road to track down those responsible for causing all the trouble. Time was of the up most importance now, the raiders had a head start and he needed to catch them before the trail grew cold.
First thing to do was to get these people settled in, the supplies delivered and make sure he had everyone briefed on what was going to happen next. If he was lucky, he could scrounge up a few more resistance troops from Hammerhead and hunt down these gangsters.
It was time again, to go kick some ass and save some ass.