Chapter 11: Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
Hammerhead bunker
It had been an early night for the girls, but it turned out to be a night filled with uneasy dreams and frightening nightmares. None of the girls had a good sleep and that included the others trying to rest in the same dorm room.
First it was Allison that awakened screaming and crying, followed shortly later by Amanda tossing and turning in her sleep, calling out at unseen intruders.
Melissa had her hands full in trying to keep the two teens calm and keep the disturbance to a minimum. Most of the others in the dorm were sound asleep, even the children seemed unaffected by the sounds the girls made. It seemed the only thing that would wake up the whole room, would be either a bomb crashing or gunfire, anything else was considered unimportant.
Around 4AM, Allison started crying in her sleep again.
Melissa quickly sat up to make sure Allison was okay. "Allie?" She whispered.
"No…leave me alone…I wanna to go home…" Allison sobbed.
"Allie?" Melissa leaned over and gently shook Allison as she whispered her name.
"No…No…don't touch me…" Allison continued to cry out in her sleep, while snatching her arm away from Melissa's touch.
"Allison…Wake up…you're dreaming." Melissa shook Allison harder.
"Keep away from me…"
Allison sat up suddenly, her eyes wide with fear.
"Allie? Are you okay?" Melissa questioned.
Allison looked over to Melissa, her bottom lip was trembling. "It…I…I was dreaming I was back at the camp. Blain was there, he…he was tearing off my clothes…I was trying to get away and call for help, but no one was there"
"I'm here Allie"
Melissa pulled Allison into a hug and ran her hand through the young girls' hair. She had a feeling the girls were going to have a bad time dealing with what had happened to them in the camp.
"I'm sorry Mel…I…"
"Shhhhh…quiet Allie…everything's fine now. It's okay to be upset…I'm right here and I won't let anything happen to you. " Melissa did her best to try to sooth Allison.
Sobbing and shivering, Allison leaned into Melissa's shoulder. Slowly she began to calm down and relax.
Melissa remained holding Allison and running her hand through her hair.
After a few more minutes, Allison had calmed down enough to be able to lie down again.
Melissa eased herself back down onto her pillow, but remained alert for any more signs of distress from either Allison or Amanda. She knew what they were going through and she also knew it would be a long time before they would be able to handle the trauma they had suffered. No way would they ever get over what had happened to them, but they might learn to live with it and move on. Melissa made a silent vow to help them as best she could and to always be there for them.
Melissa let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes, she was tired but unable to fall back asleep. Memories of her painful past came back to haunt her. Melissa knew the girls were lucky to have been spared from being fully violated, she had not been so lucky.
Silently she thought about what had happened to her eight years ago.
Melissa had been fifteen when Judgment Day occurred, she remembered that day vividly, as it had been the last day she had seen her family. Her Mom, Dad and little brother had seen her off, along with other parents, when she and others from school climbed onto the bus to go on a camping trip.
They were only to be away for only 3 days, learning some survival skills first hand for the extra credit in school. Three days of wilderness survival training turned into years of just trying to stay alive.
The first year had been the tough, but the group of thirty or so students and teachers had remained together. Melissa learned a lot that first year after Judgment Day, everyone pitched in to help out, the hope that things would return to normal was still on people's minds.
Contact with the outside world was rare, but Melissa and the others did manage to find out what had happened and who was responsible for the carnage brought upon humanity. Small groups of survivors did show up from time to time, some honest people looking to trade and others bent on trying to create trouble by stealing or robbing.
For the most part, things went fairly smoothly, but it wasn't to last long.
It was shortly after the one year anniversary of that fateful day, when things went terribly bad. Machines had begun to sweep the lesser populated areas for humans, and since her little group had remained in the more mountainous areas, they had been spared the wrath of the unfeeling machines, until one early morning.
Melissa and a few girls had gone down to a nearby stream to clean up and gather fresh water for the camp. The area was virtually untouched by the ravages of Judgment Day and provided all the basic necessities for group to survive and thrive. They had settled in to an area with a few old cabins for shelter, along with some essential items left behind by the previous owners.
Melissa leaned down to fill a water canteen when she heard the distinct sound of gunfire.
Startled by the loud cracks and distant screams, she bolted upright and ran towards some bush nearby.
Two of the girls with Melissa ended up following her into hiding. All three of them cowered in the foliage, neither of them sure as to what to do.
It was a few minutes later when one of the girls began to stand up and look around.
"Sam…get down before one of the machines sees you." Melissa whispered sharply.
"I think we should maybe move and head back to camp." Samantha, a tall skinny blond with brown eyes, nervously whispered back as she gazed out of the bush.
Sam, you need to listen to Mel. We might get killed or taken away by the machines…you know it's happened before." Laura, a petite brunette with blue eyes, spoke up softly to Samantha.
Samantha huffed and sat back down beside Melissa and Laura. It was only moments later when they heard more shots and screams from where the camp was located, then all went silent. Even the stream from where they gathered water was strangely quiet.
Laura began to get fidgety and was about to climb out from the bush when a distant high pitched whine could be heard a distance away.
Melissa looked over at the other two girls and mouthed 'HK' to them. Both girls nodded their heads in understanding and agreement. All three of them crouched lower to the ground and then laid down flat to the earth, making themselves as small as possible.
The distinct whine of the Hunter Killer drone got louder as it swept in a search pattern, looking for any stray humans to either capture or terminate. Lucky for the girls , the machine never used thermal imaging in the daytime, the hotter temperature during the day made it less accurate for the machine to track human heat signatures, it relied on visual confirmation of any human presence during the day.
Slowly the machine slipped over head of the three girls, neither one of them daring to even flinch, for fear of being spotted. The machine paused overhead of them and scanned the area leading up to the stream.
Melissa and the other two held their breath in anticipation of either being shot at by the HK or have it fly onwards to another area. Luckily for them, the machine wound up its turbine engines and floated to a higher position. Moments later, the machine sped away towards the camp area.
Melissa and the others let out sighs of relief and smiled at each other for being able to have the good fortune of not being spotted. Their delight was short lived as the steady rumble of machine treads and stomping of heavy metallic feet slowly grew louder.
Melissa looked over to the girls.
"Metal"
Tears started to roll down Samantha's face and Laura didn't look much better.
Melissa tried to put on a brave face, but inside she was shit scared of what might happen to them.
All three girls hugged the ground and made themselves as invisible as they could. There was no time to run or find a better hiding spot, they would have to take their chances by remaining in the bush and hope for the best.
The crash of brush and trees got louder as the machines made their way along the path to the stream.
The first machines to emerge were the T-1's rolling along on their tracks, slowly but steadily making way towards the stream bed. The first machine stopped and raised its head fully to view the clearing. A pair of red glowing orbs stared off in any direction the machine turned its ugly cranium. Satisfied it had detected nothing, the machine lowered its head and continued along the narrow path through the clearing.
Two more T-1's followed the lead machine, their heads slowly panning from left to right, scanning the open area.
Melissa looked up and held her breath as the first machine slowly passed by the hiding spot, she tried to remain still, but her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Once the three lead machines had passed, the foot soldiers marched in.
Melissa looked up again as the rhythmic stomping of metallic feet became louder. Her eyes widened as she saw the first pair of humanoid machines come into view.
T-70's were not only large, but very ugly too. They stood about 8 feet in height and had red optical sensors for eyes, on what could be called a head. Even from a distance, the machines could never pass for a human, they were too bulky and too tall.
Melissa remembered some of the names the traders had called them. 'Kong', 'Toaster', 'Big Foot', and some others she couldn't recall. She had never seen one until now, but knew by the way they looked that these were the machines that had been mentioned.
The 70's were not very smart, but they could do some major damage if a person met up with one. Fortunately they could be easy to kill as they were not built with heavy armor or strong metal alloys and it helped that they were about as intelligent as a garden slug.
A well placed gunshot to the head would kill it, and a shot to the legs could immobilize it.
The problem was, none of the girls had a weapon and there were too many machines to contend with.
Since this was the first time she had seen these machines, they struck an ominous nerve in Melissa. Instantly she was frozen in fear, as were the other two girls that also managed to get a look at the lumbering machines.
Fortunately for the girls, the machines were not advanced enough in intelligence and observation techniques, to be able to perform a proper sweep of the area for human survivors. They remained in their hiding spot as the group of 70's passed.
Melissa counted twelve machines in total as they plodded by, she watched them continue on down the trail along the stream until they were out of site.
Looking over at Laura and Samantha, she nodded to them to get up.
"Do you think its safe Mel?" Laura whispered.
"Yeah…they're gone for now. Probably won't come back this way, if they think everyone is dead." Melissa spoke quietly. "We should go to camp and look for any survivors."
"Okay, but you lead the way Mel." Sam nervously spoke up.
Melissa got up and pushed aside the branches and leaves, the other two followed closely behind. They slowly made their way back to the camp, ducking behind trees, brush, rocks or whatever they could use for cover. They were careful not to make any unnecessary sounds to alert any machines that may still be lurking about.
A few minutes later, the girls came upon the clearing that was the camp or at least what was left of it. What greeted them was a sight that they would have etched in their minds forever.
Most bodies were unrecognizable, as they had been either blown apart by explosions or shredded by automatic gunfire from the terminators and the HK drone. Blood and body parts mixed in with soil, grass and foliage.
All three girls became sick to their stomachs.
Samantha was the first to double over and retch her guts out, followed by Laura and then Melissa.
After the initial shock, the girls gathered their wits as best they could and proceeded to look around for any survivors. Deep down they knew the chances of finding anyone alive was slim, but they were determined to search the whole camp.
"We should split up, so we can search more in less time." Melissa suggested.
The other two girls looked to her and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah Mel, that's a good idea. I'll search the main cabin." Laura pointed towards the largest cabin.
"I'll search the shed and cabin to the west." Melissa added. "Sam…you do the two cabins to the east."
"Shouldn't we have some sort of weapon?" Samantha asked, her face filled with worry.
Melissa looked around and grabbed a shotgun that looked still usable. She made sure it was loaded and handed it over to Samantha.
"Here, use this, Laura and me will find other weapons to use. If you see metal, you should shoot and then run, especially if you don't kill it. Aim for its head, like Mr. Niska told us."
Samantha nodded in understanding and then slowly made her way to the eastern cabins.
It was good that Melissa didn't recognize some of the bodies, it lessened the pain of seeing people she cared for lying there. Smoke and small fires were present everywhere, indicators of what had happened here just a short while ago. The camp was a complete disaster.
Melissa looked over to her left and saw another shotgun, she leaned down to pick it up but jumped back. The weapon was still being held near its handle by a hand, no arm, no body, just the hand from the wrist forward.
Melissa grabbed a stick nearby and poked at the hand. Reluctantly the hand let go of the gun and rolled towards a small bush. She picked up the shotgun by the barrel and wiped the handle down as best she could in the tall grass.
Making sure it was loaded, Melissa made her way towards the shed. Her nose curled up in disgust as the scent of burned flesh became stronger, the closer she got to the shed.
Smoke was coming up from a spot near to the shed, but the tall grass hid what was smoldering up until she was almost right on top of the spot.
Melissa gasped and looked away as tears started to pour down her cheeks.
The charred remains of Mr. Niska lay twisted at her feet, his metal frames from his glasses being the only way she could tell it was him.
Over to the left of his body lay a couple of Molotov cocktails, the wicks still sticking out of the bottles, ready to be lit up and tossed. Seeing this, Melissa concluded that Mr. Niska had either accidentally lit himself on fire or one of the bottles was hit by a stray bullet and its contents ignited him. It was a terrible way to die.
Carefully she stepped around the body and proceeded towards the shed. Melissa opened the wooden door and peered inside, but no one was there, just small tools and some other supplies were stored in the shed.
Fearing the worst, Melissa went off towards the cabin.
Again, inside she found no one alive, but signs of a struggle were evident everywhere.
There was a giant hole in the far wall from the metal blasting a way inside, three of her friends lay dead on the floor, their faces frozen in fear and shock.
Melissa could only look at them for a brief second, the full weight of what had happened was finally sinking in.
Dropping her gun, she fell to her knees and began to weep uncontrollably.
No one had survived.
Tears rolled down her face and onto the pillow.
Melissa's quiet sobs had awakened Allison just beside her.
"Mel?" Allison whispered.
Melissa turned on to her side to face towards Allison, but she still kept crying in her sleep.
Allison hesitantly placed her hand on Melissa's shoulder and gave her a gentle shake.
"Melissa?"
At that moment Amanda also woke up.
Rolling over and leaning up on her arm, Amanda spoke up. "What's going on Allie?"
"Melissa is having a bad dream Mandy, I'm just trying to wake her up."
Allison gently shook Melissa again, this time Melissa's eyes flew open. Even in the dim light, Allison could tell Melissa was upset and scared.
"Mel, you were crying, are you okay?" Allison asked quietly.
Melissa brought her hand up to wipe away the stray tears and did her best to compose herself. "It was just a bad dream, I'm okay now."
Allison's eyes narrowed in concern. "Are you sure Mel?"
"Yes I'm fine, besides its time to get ready to go."
Allison glanced back to Amanda and gave her a funny look.
Amanda just shrugged, climbed off the bed and got dressed.
Melissa thought for a moment, looked around, then spoke quietly. "I'll tell you guys about it later, now is not a good time. Too many ears around here and I like to keep some things private."
"Okay Mel, we understand." Allison smiled, turned to slip off the bed and get ready to leave.
Melissa let out a big sigh, swung her legs off the bed and placed her feet on the floor.
Old memories had come back to mess with her normally calm nerves and she didn't like it.
###
John and the others had managed to get a good nights sleep, all had awakened at about the same time and were already dressed. They gathered their gear and proceeded out of the men's dorm to get something to eat and drink.
John was anxious to get back home to his family, he had been away from them for too long.
Derek and Kyle were fully awake and in the thick of going about bugging and shoving each other regarding anything that popped up in conversation. All this going on while they made their way to breakfast.
"So after breakfast yer off to go get your sweetie Blair?" Kyle gave his brother a shove on the shoulder as they both followed John in the hallway.
"I'll talk to the Doc first before getting her, just in case she needs to stay here… by the way, she is not my sweetie…not yet." Derek added with a smirk.
"If you leave her here, she'll hurt you bad Bro. You don't know her like I do." Kyle pointed at his chest like he was the all knowing grand master of Crystal Peak. He smiled inwardly at the prospect of Derek getting shit from Blair, he knew exactly how stubborn she could be and going against her will could be disastrous for his brother.
"I'll let the Doc decide that. I wouldn't want her moved and risk any more complications from her being hurt."
"It's your funeral Bro." Kyle waved his hand as if dismissing the subject.
"Guys, we are not leaving Williams behind. We are taking it slow today and unless she has gotten worse overnight, she is coming with us." John cut in.
John knew she would never stand for being left behind, besides, she would get better care at Crystal Peak. Hammerhead was a good bunker, but it had its limitations. Home had its advantage of being better equipped and it had the watchful eyes of people that knew Blair.
"Ha…I knew Connor wouldn't leave Blair behind." Kyle spoke out confidently.
"Never mind Blair, let's talk about your love life Kyle." Derek lifted his eyebrow as he looked over to his younger sibling.
Kyle smiled sheepishly and looked away.
"Nuthin' to talk about Bro."
"Oh please…there must be someone."
"Nope"
"No?"
"Even if there was, I wouldn't tell you…well…not right away."
Derek smiled, contemplated for a second and spoke up. "What about Amanda? She's pretty and only slightly younger than you Kyle."
Kyle turned beet red and looked over at nothing in particular as he gathered his thoughts.
"Yeah she's pretty, but she's Allison's friend and I know they talk."
"So!"
"So I don't want them talkin' bout me and her."
"Yer such a dumbass sometimes Lil' Bro."
Derek playfully smacked Kyle on the back of the head and ruffled his hair.
The three continued on into the eating area of the bunker, grabbed something to drink and sat down to wait for the others to arrive.
Moments later Allison came in, followed by Amanda and Melissa. All three girls looked very tired and the usual happy smiles were missing from their faces.
John looked over to the girls and noticed right away that something was wrong.
"Morning ladies… You three look like you've been up all night." John called out.
Melissa yawned and responded with a grumble about needing some coffee to wake up.
Allison smiled weakly at John. "We had a bad sleep…ummm…the bed was very crowded …and…uhhh…not too comfortable." She shot a quick glance over to Amanda.
"Yeah…Allie was hoggin' the bed and snored." Amanda quickly added as she yawned.
Allison narrowed her eyes, glared at Amanda and mumbled under her breath to her. "Not in front of Connor, Mandy."
John looked up and lifted his brow upon hearing his name.
"Never mind…it was both of you snoring like cranky old men." Melissa yawned again as she plunked herself down in a chair. Her blond locks beginning to look stringy and greasy from being unwashed for so long. She looked over to Allison pleadingly. "Allie…be a sweetie and please get me a coffee."
"No problem Mel." Allison grinned and bounded off towards the counter to grab a coffee for Melissa.
Melissa noticed how Allison seemed to have rebounded from being so tired and shrugged it off as her being much younger.
Melissa sighed. "I'm getting too old for staying up most of the night."
"Us three slept fine." Kyle chirped.
Melissa gave Kyle a 'hell has frozen over' glare.
Deciding to change the subject before Kyle got himself hurt, John spoke up. "Did you guys double check everything we are taking back to Crystal Peak?"
"Yes" Both Derek and Melissa answered at the same time. Melissa answered the question with a bit less enthusiasm than Derek.
"Well aren't you a sorry lot to lay eyes on." A female voice calls out from behind.
Derek looks up and instantly smiles. "Blair!"
"Don't Blair me…I had to get up myself and make sure you didn't leave me behind."
"We would never do that Williams." John replied.
"I know you wouldn't, but the bone head over here just might try." Blair winked at John and nodded towards Derek.
"Hey…I was going to get you right after coffee." Derek said hurtfully.
"What about my coffee?" Blair pouted and crossed her good arm in front of her other in a sling.
"Well…" Derek began to talk, but was quickly cut off.
"I'm crippled here and you got two hands." Blair gave Derek a 'damsel in distress' look.
Crumbling under pressure, Derek relented and went off to get Blair a coffee. All the way to the counter, he mumbled and grumbled under his breath. "Damn woman…pain in the…just drives me crazy."
While Derek was off getting her coffee, Blair took his seat and made herself comfortable.
"Glad to see you look so well rested Williams." John spoke up.
Blair shot John a quick smile. "I slept like a rock Connor, they gave me some good pain killers. I feel ten times better today, just a little sore in the shoulder."
"That's good to hear Williams"
Blair looked over to Melissa and Amanda and noticed they looked very tired. "How come you two look so tired?"
Melissa was just about to explain, when Allison showed up with a tray of coffee cups, followed shortly after by a brooding Derek with Blair's coffee.
"Coffee for your Highness… and I see you took my seat." Derek placed the cup in front of Blair and bowed.
Not letting Derek get the upper hand, Blair responded. "Why thank you Derek for the coffee and keeping my seat warm…that will be all." She dismissed Derek with a wave of her hand.
Allison and Amanda giggled, Melissa smirked and Derek stood there not knowing what to say next. Wisely he chose to remain quiet and sat down across from Blair.
Unable to control himself, Kyle spoke up. "Sooo…Blair…"
"Yes Kyle"
"I hear you've been kissin' my Brother."
If looks could kill, Derek would have been at deaths door. Blair glared at him and he slid a bit lower in his chair.
Expressions of shock and pleasant surprise came from the other girls.
"You kissed Derek?" Allison blurted out excitedly.
"Well you all might as well know the truth, since blabber mouth decided to tell all." Blair looked straight at Derek as she spoke, her face masked in a peeved look, but her eyes sparkled with playful happiness. Inwardly she was secretly glad it had been brought up, as she had been itching to tell the girls.
Blair went on to explain in detail how they came about kissing and how they had disturbed Martin. Derek began to turn various shades of red as Blair told the story without skipping a beat.
Once she had finished her story, all eyes fell upon Derek.
Derek shrugged his shoulder. "Well she told ya everything, she left out nothing. I will add that Connor already knew what had happened, even before I had told him."
"Oh really." Blair looked over to John with questioning eyes.
John remained cool and calm. "It was written all over his face when he came back from visiting you Williams. He was grinning from ear to ear, all I did was put two and two together and come up with him getting kissed by you."
"It was the worst kept secret around Blair." Melissa cut in. "I could see it in your face right from when you first lay eyes on him. I knew you liked him."
Blair smiled at Melissa. "Well I felt sorry for him and he is kinda cute."
"Yeah but it might take a while to get him trained right." Melissa replied nonchalantly.
Derek coughed up his coffee he had just gulped.
"What?...Trained?...I don't need training!" Derek managed to wheeze out, while he caught his breath.
"You may look like a man, but yer still a little boy inside Derek. You just need a little refining on how to treat a girl right." Blair teased.
"Refining?" Derek looked at Melissa, and then Blair, but all he got in return were serious glares of authority that soon changed into fits of laughter.
Derek looked over to John for help, but was met a crooked grin and a shrug of the shoulder.
Allison and Amanda sat back and took everything in, watching and learning the fine art of driving a guy crazy while gaining the upper hand.
Kyle couldn't help but notice the two smaller girls drinking in the conversation with their ears and eyes. He paused for a moment to take a closer look at Amanda.
Derek was right, she is pretty and her eyes are so bright and blue.
While Kyle was caught up in staring at Amanda, Allison had been busy stealing quick looks at John, but on one occasion she quickly glanced away and noticed what Kyle was doing.
Being oblivious to what Kyle was doing, Amanda got a dig in the ribs from Allison's elbow. She shot a look over to Allison but soon followed Allison's pointing finger to see Kyle staring at her or so it seemed.
Amanda was puzzled at Kyle's look.
On the one hand he was looking right at her, but he had a funny grin on his face and he seemed to be staring right through her.
"Kyle"
Kyle snapped out of his little dream as soon as Amanda called out his name. "Sorry…huh?"
"Stop staring at me, you're creeping me out Kyle!" Amanda replied.
"Huh?...What?...No I wasn't staring at you…I…I was thinking." Kyle managed to stammer out.
"Well look somewhere else when you think." Amanda was a bit annoyed once she found out he was thinking of something else instead of her.
Fortunately for Kyle, he managed to wangle his way out of getting into too much trouble with Amanda. He had been thinking of her, but he would have died inside if she had found out the truth.
Kyle blushed a bit and looked away, he quietly went back to thinking about what his brother had said about Amanda.
"Okay, enough of the chit chat and tormenting. We need to get ready to move ASAP. After coffee and something to eat, I want everyone by the trucks to do a final check and then we are on the road to home. Got it?" John was eager to get going, the others could sense it in the way he spoke with authority.
They all answered with a 'Yes Sir' and quietly went about getting their breakfast and finishing their drinks.
John, Kyle and Derek were the first to finish up at the table. They quickly made their way towards the trucks and began checking over equipment.
The girls remained behind and finished up their breakfast.
Taking the opportunity to speak openly, without anyone nearby, Melissa began to talk.
"Blair?"
"Yeah Mel?"
"The reason the three of us look so tired is…well…. Allison and Amanda had a rough night with some nightmares."
"Oh?" Blair looked over to the two girls, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, Mandy and me, we had some dreams about what had happened to us and it scared us." Allison nervously spoke up.
"There's no need to worry about it girls, its okay to have bad dreams about what happened." Blair softly spoke.
"It's gonna take some time to get over what happened and remember that you will probably have more bad dreams. Blair and I will both be here to help you two." Melissa added.
Both girls seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time.
"Blair, Melissa, you two, are the best." Allison got up and hugged first Blair and then Melissa.
Amanda got up and did the same, but she added a whispered 'thank you' while she took turns hugging the two older women.
Blair got up slowly, then stopped for a moment. "Girls… anytime you need to talk, we are here and when we get back to Crystal Peak, we'll talk some more where it's more private. Okay?"
"Okay"
"Okay Blair"
Once Blair was ahead and out of earshot, Allison spoke up. "Mel, I noticed you didn't mention your nightmare. How come?"
Melissa looked over to Allison and sighed. "Its something I'll tell you about when we get back and besides, Blair knows what had happened to me, she also knows about my nightmares too. She's a good listener and she helped me out a lot." Melissa paused for a second as Allison and Amanda both sat back down, then she continued. "I know what you went through and what could have happened. I'm still dealing with things that happened to me a long time ago, but talking about it helps…it really does."
Melissa looked at both the girls, she could see in their faces that they still were having trouble dealing with what had happened to them, this was above and beyond what they were going through from a day to day basis. Life was hell already, but to have others kidnap innocent women and children for slavery and whatever else, it was no wonder Skynet thought so little of human kind.
Melissa smiled reassuringly at the two teens. "You two clean up a bit and then meet me at the convoy, I've got some last minute checking to do. Okay?"
"Okay Mel." The girls replied.
All three girls got up from the table, the younger ones helped clear it of dishes, while Melissa strode off to help in getting the convoy ready for the trip back home.
Outside Hammerhead bunker
Derek and Kyle had a few moments alone, while they made sure any loose items were tied down for the trip.
"I see you got in a bit of trouble with Amanda Bro." Derek smirked.
"About the same as you got from Blair…Bro." Kyle quickly shot back, turning Derek's smirk into a frown.
"Yeah…yeah…whatever. She is injured ya know, so she's bound to be a bit cranky." Derek pointed to a rope and motioned to Kyle to grab it and tie down the last of the crates in the transport truck. "Make yourself useful and secure the crates, I'll go and check the next truck in line."
"Sure thing boss. The sooner we get going, the sooner I get to sit back and rest."
Derek looked over to Kyle and shook his head in disbelief. "Rest? We've only been up for like an hour or so and yer tired already?"
"Hey…I need my rest to keep up my good looks." Kyle pointed to himself and grinned.
"A few weeks of sleep and you might look half as good as me Bro."
"I think he looks just fine." A familiar female voice calls out from behind the two brothers.
"Blair!" Derek calls out. "You should be resting up for the trip back."
"I may be hurt, but I can still supervise. Now get back to work…so…so I can supervise."
Blair muttered to herself for screwing up what she wanted to say, she knew Derek would probably catch on to why she had showed up. She wanted to be around him, maybe get to know him better and tease him some more.
Damn, why am I acting so silly now? He's bound to know something is up.
Inwardly Blair was in turmoil, but outwardly she began to display something she couldn't quite pinpoint. It was a cross between a schoolgirl crush and love at first site, she was quickly losing control.
It was too late, Derek had caught on as to why Blair had stopped by. "So you missed me …huh?"
"No!"
"So why are you here then?"
Blair smiled coyly. "Supervising!"
"Yeah…whatever…well how are we doing?"
"From my angle, not bad." Blair was directly behind Derek as he leaned over to attach a rope to a cargo hook.
Derek knew exactly what Blair was looking at, unfortunately being fully aware made Derek's face beet red from embarrassment.
Kyle sat back, enjoying the moment to see his brother having Blair torment him more.
Unable to resist, Blair stepped closer and placed her hand on Derek's back in a vain attempt at helping out.
Startled by her bold move, Derek lost his balance and awkwardly fell flat on top of the crate he was trying to secure with Kyle. He muttered to himself, pushed up and swung around to confront Blair.
"Listen girly, yer supposed to supervise…Not touch the merchandise!"
Blair giggled and apologized. "I'm so sorry Derek, but I just couldn't resist." She took a step backwards. "I'll just stay back here and 'Supervise'…Okay?"
"As long as you keep your hands to yourself." Derek grunted.
Seconds later, Melissa walked up beside Blair. "Is slow-poke finished here yet?"
"I would be if Blair wasn't busy 'supervising' and touching the goods."
"Ha…don't flatter yourself Reese, I was only trying to prevent you from falling."
"Ohhhh…sure, twist it around Blair, but you'll pay for it later." Derek huffed.
"I'm betting on it Reese." Blair shot Derek a huge smile, then turned to Melissa. "So Mel, are the girls looking forward to coming with us?"
Melissa winked back at Blair. "Why yes Blair, especially since they don't have to bunk with the boys any more."
"Yeah, I don't blame them for wanting to bunk with us…instead of them." Blair pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the two brothers.
"Hey…what do you mean by that?" Kyle seemed hurt by the comment.
Both girls turned to confront Kyle.
"Well…" Melissa pondered for a moment. "You and Derek do smell funny and have the manners like a couple of apes."
"Well as long as they don't fling their own crap around." Blair added.
Derek smiled, shook his head, but kept silent.
Both women broke out in laughter, at the brothers' expense.
"What's so funny here?" John called out as he strode up.
"Blair and Melissa are being pains in the asses." Kyle blurted out
"Awwww...poor baby!" Melissa cooed.
"Ladies, stop tormenting the boys and find a vehicle for you and the two smaller girls to travel in." John spoke in his commanding voice.
"Yes sir Connor, we'll be on our way." Blair answered and gave Melissa a quick tug on the arm.
"Yes sir, we'll go get the girls ready and settled in another vehicle." Melissa added.
Both girls gave Derek and Kyle a big grin, turned away and sauntered off towards another vehicle further along the row.
"Are you two almost done here? I'd like to leave here today if it's possible." John was asking, but it seemed more like an order.
"Five minutes Connor and we can go." Derek replied.
John smiled, turned on his heel and moved off towards the front of the convoy, stopping at each vehicle on the way to monitor progress and to make sure everything went smoothly.
Eager to get back to his family, John wanted everything to run as smooth as possible so he could get home without a hitch. Part of that included him personally inspecting the cargo, people and vehicles.
Minutes later, John was comfortably nestled into the driver's seat of this Hummer.
He picked up the radio microphone and began to speak. "Listen up… We move in two minutes, so make sure you are ready to go. I don't want any delays in leaving, especially since we have a long day of travel ahead of us.."
John was cut off by having the doors yanked open and four females pile into the vehicle.
Visibly agitated John put down the mic and called out. "Ladies?... What are you up to?"
"We thought you'd need some company, so we decided to join you. Besides, you know I like to ride shotgun." Blair winked as she gradually eased herself into the front seat.
Melissa, Amanda and Allison scrambled into the rear seat. Allison was off to one side so she could catch a glimpse of John's profile, Amanda sat beside her and Melissa was behind John.
"So no one wanted to ride with the Reese brothers?" John playfully asked. He knew what the answer would be, even before the girls responded.
"Uhh…no way. Kyle is being creepy and Derek is bound to be crabby all the way to Crystal Peak." Amanda responded.
Allison nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Blair and Melissa just told us what happened with Derek by the trucks, so he's bound to be in a black mood. Besides, he'll try to grill me and Mandy about secrets we might have about him or about Blair."
"I'm sure you two told her everything." John turned to look at the younger girls.
Allison grinned. "No…not everything, well not yet anyways."
Both girls looked to each other and giggled.
"Yeah, like how he loves his guns so much, I think he gives them all names." Amanda added.
"What?" Blair crinkled her brow and shook her head in disbelief.
"Oh my God, it's true Blair. Just wait and he'll call some gun after you too!" Allison smirked, but she was dead serious about what Derek might do.
"I am so happy I am not the brunt of your abuse ladies." John stated. "Now lets get a move on….I think this is going to be a very long trip for me."
John picked up the microphone again and barked in orders to move out. Engines cranked and burst to life, shattering the peacefulness of a chilly quiet morning. The convoy was finally on its last leg to get back home.
Convoy northeast of L.A.
It had been an hour or so into the journey back home, when the convoy came upon a blockage in the road and ground to a halt. Normally there were all sorts of obstacles left in the road, such as abandoned vehicles, rubble, and impassable sections blasted out from either human, nature or Skynet.
This time it looked like the blockage was intentional, as it was not here the last time they had passed through on their way into the city ruins.
Blair sat up and took notice right away. "Connor…this wasn't here when we came in a couple of days ago."
"I know" John replied broodingly.
John picked up the mic and gave the order to have the convoy remain on high alert for any signs of an ambush.
"Melissa, you and I are going to take a look around. Williams, you and the girls stay here, keep an eye out for anything fishy and give a shout if you do see anything."
"Connor…I should go with you and…"
"Williams, that's an order. You're in no shape to be running around out here."
"Yes sir"
John and Melissa slowly got out of the Hummer, their weapons loaded and ready to fire, both of them instinctively placing their fingers on the triggers as they began to look around.
They were in the middle of nowhere, out in the open, surrounded by wild nothingness.
The road itself was about three meters up from the surrounding area and the grade was too steep for them to try to circumvent the blocked section of road with all of the vehicles, some of them being loaded to the maximum limit for weight.
"This doesn't look good Connor." Melissa nervously spoke up.
John nodded in agreement. "I know"
Normally a spot easily passed, this section of road had been blocked by a car driven or dragged into place and then its tires slashed to prevent it from being easily moved out of the way. This was something deliberately put in the way to stop the convoy.
John kneeled down and began to think. Was this a trap set out to stop our convoy or any convoy?
"Melissa, go tell Williams to get on the radio and tell everyone to keep on high alert." John paused in thought before speaking. "Get the girls out here to help keep watch, bring some portable headsets…and make sure the girls have weapons."
Melissa nodded and quickly made her way back to the Hummer.
John motioned to the vehicle parked just behind his, four armed men stepped out and warily made their way to where John was standing.
Upon seeing Melissa's nervous look, Blair knew something was wrong. "What is it Mel?"
"Connor thinks it's a trap, he wants everyone on high alert while we figure out how to get by this barricade. He wants you to radio the other vehicles, let them know what's happening."
"Yeah…okay Mel."
Melissa looked over to Allison and Amanda. "Ladies…I need you to come with me, we need all the eyes we can get to keep lookout...Oh…and bring the radio headsets to hand out to the lookout teams and Connor. "
"How many?"
"Ummm…Five for sure Mandy."
Both girls nodded and made their way out of the truck with the radio headsets.
"Hold it….Weapons ladies!"
"Sorry Mel." Allison apologized and reached back for rifles and ammunition. She passed one rifle to Amanda and kept the second one for herself, then she passed along ammunition to Amanda and pocketed some for herself.
Melissa grabbed one of the headsets and placed it on her head. Looking over to the girls Melissa motioned towards the weapons.
"Safeties off ladies and make sure your rifles are fully loaded." Melissa ordered.
Both girls went over their respective weapons to ensure they were loaded and ready to fire.
Blair got on the radio and relayed John's message. Instantly armed personnel poured out of their respective vehicles and set up defensive positions.
"Okay Mel…we are ready to go." Allison looked over to Melissa.
Melissa nodded her approval and motioned then to follow her.
John was kneeling down, conversing with 4 men that had arrived from the vehicle behind his.
Melissa and the girls came walking up just as John was finishing up with orders for the men.
"You two…" John pointed to the two younger men in the group. "I need you to scout up ahead about two hundred meters along the road. Look for any signs of IUD's or any hostiles, and report back to me if you see anything. Shoot only if fired upon...Go…Now!"
"Yes Sir"
Before leaving, Melissa handed the one of the men a headset.
The man nodded thanks and turned to leave.
Using the various vehicles as cover, the two men went about carefully weaving their way north of the convoy, while surveying the road up ahead for any traps.
John looked over to the other men. "I need you two to go out about ten meters east, find some cover and keep your eyes peeled for any trouble headed our way."
"Yes sir"
Again Melissa handed the men a headset just as they went to leave.
The next two men scampered off down the incline towards cover near the road. An old tow truck rolled onto its side became their observation point.
The three girls knelt down beside John and waited for instructions. Both teen girls were eager to help out, but equally nervous about being involved in a gun fight.
Noticing that both Allison and Amanda were looking scared, John gave them a reassuring smile and motioned for them to come closer. The two girls wriggled in closer to John, followed by Melissa close behind.
"Okay… this is what I want you two girls to do. I need you to go the opposite side of the road you just saw the last two guys go to." John whispered while making sure he kept eye contact with the two teens.
"You mean go on the west side of the road." Allison replied.
"Yes…good observation Allison." John smiled.
"Allie sir…you can call me Allie." Allison blushed.
"Allie it is then." John looked up to Melissa. "Webster, I need you to go with them, make sure they are okay."
"Yes sir…Connor." Melissa replied with confidence.
Melissa handed over the last two headsets to John, he placed one on his head and kept the other as a spare.
Seconds later, the three girls bolted down the west side of the road towards a pile of rubble. Once there, they set up lookout to the north, south, and west.
Allison whispered to Melissa while looking along the horizon of dead patches of grasses, brush and sand. "How's John going to move that blockage?"
"He'll probably get one of the armored vehicles to hook up to it and drag it off to the side." Melissa replied in a matter of fact manor.
"Who put it there?" Amanda questioned while keeping a watchful eye.
"Scavengers, raiders, hill people…I'm not sure, but if you see anyone with a gun coming towards us…shoot first." Melissa emphasized the last part of her reply.
"Oh I will Mel…like hell I'm gonna let em shoot me or capture me and Amanda again." Allison gritted her teeth in determination, shouldered her rifle and peered even farther out.
Upon hearing John's orders over the radio, Derek and Kyle grabbed their weapons, jumped out of the truck they were riding in and bolted towards the front of the convoy.
Once they neared Connor's lead vehicle, they slowed down to a fast walk and kept a lookout off to the side of the road.
John was standing beside his vehicle, issuing orders over the radio when Derek and Kyle arrived.
"What's the plan Connor?" Derek asked.
John put down the mic, tossed a headset to Derek and began to explain what was happening.
"I've got Melissa and the girls to the west, two more men keeping watch to the east of the road and a couple of scouts are up ahead, north of the barricade. We need to clear the blockage, before whoever put it there comes back." John pointed in various directions as he explained to the brothers what was going on.
"So what do we need to drag this junk out of the way?" Derek pointed to the derelict Chevy tucked in between a burned out bus and a fairly large depression off to one side of the road.
"My Hummer has a winch. We'll hook up and pull the car towards the crater, that should give us enough room to get by and it shouldn't take too long." John gestured towards his ride while explaining.
"What should I do Connor?" Kyle was busy kicking dirt into a pile while listening to the conversation.
"I want you by that bus, keep well hidden and keep an eye out for the scouts or any hostiles…okay?"
"Yes Sir Connor." Kyle turned and rushed towards the bus.
"Pulling the Chevy out of the way sounds like a plan Connor…let's get on with it." Derek replied.
John looked over to Blair. "Williams…I need you to drive, are you up to it?"
"Sure Connor, where to?" Blair climbed over towards the driver's side of the truck, grunting in pain as she wiggled her way into the seat.
"You sure she's up to it Connor?" Derek shot Blair a worried look.
Blair rolled her eyes at Derek's question. "I'm fine Reese…you help Connor get that wreck hooked up to the winch and let me do the driving." Blair casually pointed towards the car.
"You heard the lady Reese." John smirked.
Derek swore under his breath and proceeded to carefully make his way towards the obstacle in the road. John followed closely behind.
"Any news from the lookouts Connor?" Derek called back as he climbed into the hole by the car.
John called into his headset microphone, paused and then answered Derek. "All is clear right now Reese, lets not piss around here…I have a bad feeling."
"Me too Connor, this is just a bit too freaky."
Blair slowly eased the Hummer around, off to the side of the road. Once she was opposite the vehicle blocking the road, John ran up, grabbed the cable for the winch and passed the hooked end to Derek.
Derek made his way across the small crater he was in, pulling the cable along until he reached the front of the Chevy. He hooked into the frame, gave it a tug to make sure it was secure, then climbed out of the hole.
"Ready when you are Williams." Derek called out and gave the thumbs up, while watching the cable.
Blair nodded, backed up the truck slowly until there was no slack in the cable and then began to give more gas in order to drag the derelict Chevy out of the way and into the crater.
Suddenly, the window just behind Blair exploded, followed half a second later by the crack of a single gunshot.
"SNIPER!" Blair screamed as she ducked down and crawled over to the passenger side of the truck.
Both Derek and John hit the dirt and rolled into the depression in front of the Chevy.
John yelled into the mic. "Talk to me people…what do you see? Where is that Sniper?"
"Smoke from a small mound northeast Sir."
"Copy that…watch for movement and report."
Seconds later, an urgent call came over the radio from the tail end of the convoy.
"Hostiles moving in from the south….they are armed with automatic weapons."
"People…you are weapons free. Hold your positions and keep me posted." John could feel the adrenalin pumping through his veins, but he remained cool while collecting his thoughts and deciding what to do next.
"What do you think Connor?" Derek asked as he checked his LR-300.
"They're trying to rattle us…see if we'll panic." John paused. "We need to hold our ground, get that wreck out of the way and show these assholes we're not running."
"Maybe I should take over from Blair and move the car." Derek added and went to leave the hole.
John put a hand on Derek's shoulder. "Wait Reese…we need to neutralize the sniper first and we don't know if there are any more out there."
Derek sat back and let out a sigh. "But Blair is pinned down in the truck."
"Williams will be fine Reese."
Another sniper round crashed into the Hummer, prompting Blair to swear out loud.
"Fuck…that sniper has armor piercing rounds."
Blood drained from Derek's face.
John noticed and against his better judgment, he nodded towards Derek to go help Blair out of the Hummer.
Derek rolled away from John and crawled up the side of the hole towards Blair.
"Williams…I'm coming up to get you…don't shoot."
"I've got my face pressed to the floor Reese, how the hell am I gonna shoot you?"
"Well….I'm just letting you know."
Blair muttered to herself as she waited for Derek to help her out of the truck.
A split second later, Derek pulled the passenger door open, leaned in, half dragged and half pulled Blair out of the truck. The momentum of his force caused him to loose balance and both tumbled onto the ground.
Blair ended up on top of Derek, straddling his midsection.
"For fucks sake Reese…that hurt!" A small tear rolled down Blair's cheek as pain shot through her shoulder.
"You landed on me Williams."
"Yeah…on your rifle…dumbass." Blair painfully struggled to roll off of Derek.
Derek lay motionless on his back, staring up at Blair with a silly grin on his face.
"What now Reese?"
"My rifle huh…"
Blair rolled her eyes. "Oh please…"
"Not now dear, maybe later." Derek chuckled.
Blair feebly smacked Derek with her free arm after she finished rolling off of him. "Let's get to a safer spot Reese."
Allison's palms were getting sweaty, especially after she heard the gunshots. Thoughts of what had happened a few nights ago, flashed before her eyes. She shook her head and tried to concentrate on empty landscape ahead of her.
"Anything yet girls?" Melissa asked.
"Nuthin yet Mel." Amanda responded.
"Allie?"
Allison squinted harder, she saw something way off in the distance. "I think I see something Mel…A guy has something big…he's putting it on his shoulder."
"What ?" Melissa sounded worried.
"It's a …fuck…RPG !" Allison yelled.
Melissa quickly got on the mic and yelled to John. "Connor, we got one RPG for sure."
She waited for a reply, nodded her head. "Understood Connor." Melissa looked over to the girls. "Aim and shoot that asshole…we don't want him launching that thing."
Allison brought up her rifle and peered through the scope. Off in the distance a rather large man was peering back at her through his scope attached to the RPG, a look of surprise came across his face as he realized he was about to get shot at.
Quickly the man repositioned his aim, gazed back into his scope and squeezed the trigger.
Almost at the same time, Allison squeezed her trigger, the recoil kicking hard into her shoulder.
Allison saw a puff of smoke as the weapon was launched. It streaked across the space between the man and girls at breakneck speed.
Allison's bullet had met its mark a split second after she fired and the man's chest burst in a spray of red as her high velocity round found its mark. Almost instantly he fell back, dropping the launcher before he hit the ground.
"Mel he launched it…I didn't hit him in time!"
"I know…" Melissa tapped her earpiece and spoke into her mic. "Connor…RPG is launched towards your Hummer…get the hell away from it!"
Allison followed the rockets path as it streaked overhead towards John's Hummer, striking it right in the middle.
Being a bit further away, all Allison and the girls could see was a massive ball of flames rise up, followed shortly after by the truck itself leaping into the air and spinning off to its side, before falling back down to earth. None of them could see where John or the others were.
A collective gasp was let out by all three girls as they watched the twisted wreckage burn.
"Blair was in the truck…Derek, Kyle and John are by it too…on my God!" Tears began to roll down Allison's face as her voice shook with emotion.
I wasn't fast enough…I failed…oh God!
Note- Thank you to all that have read and reviewed this story! Also thanks to my beta readers for all the help!
Sorry if I tended to stray from John and Allison a bit, but I really like the pairing of Blair and Derek...so I decided to explore them a bit more, besides I think they make a cute couple!
Melissa is another fav of mine, I wanted to show a glimpse of what her past was about. I'm not sure if I'll show more of her past as it is pretty dark.
The raid on the convoy was planned...partly a test of John's troops and his leadership and partly in retaliation...but who is behind it? Who followed them?