PRESENT TIME
There are those that believe that a child in the mother's womb shares his dreams. Her love for him, her hopes for his future. Is it told to him while he sleeps inside her? Is that why he reaches for her in that first moment and cries for her touch? But what if you've known since he was inside you what his life held for him? That he would be hunted, that his fate was tied to the fate of millions, that every moment of your life would be spent trying to keep him alive? Would he understand why you were so hard? Why did you hold on so tight? Would he still reach for you if the only dream you've ever shared with him was a nightmare?
There were so many questions I used to ask myself every day, every moment of my life. And it was all for him, my son, John Connor. Three billion human lives were lost on August 29th 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgement Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare - the war against the machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Skynet, sent two terminators back through time. Their mission, to destroy the leader of the human resistance, John Connor, my son. The first terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before John was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at John himself when he was still a child. It failed again. With the help of John's protector, we stopped Skynet from ever being created. The nightmare was over. But we are still fugitives, wanted for blowing up Cyberdyne and the murder of Miles Dyson. I live in a better world now, knowing that the nightmare was over. No more Skynet, no more nuclear war. Still I have seen in my son's eyes a sadness, a longing for a normal life, like other kids of his age. As a mother it is one of my greatest regrets that I cannot give him that freedom. He understands my concerns. He is grown up now, still a kid, but not a child anymore.
My son doesn't blame me, for the life I gave him. He said it is not my fault, it is his fate. He will never go to school, never have any friends, he will never have the hope to date any pretty girl around his age, never get a job, settle down and have a family. He accepted all these. But as his mother, my heart clenches every time, I see him heart broken. My son, John, misses him still. He wouldn't tell, for my sake, but I know. After all he became a father to John, who my son never had the chance to meet. His uncle Bob, terminator T-800, cybernetic organism. I never trusted it but John did, and I trusted my son's judgement. It worked. With my son's help, the terminator gained a moral, like knowing the value of a human life. Free will you could say which Skynet never allowed to any of its units. But when the terminator sacrificed itself to protect the future, my son again lost a father and a friend. It took him several months to recover from the shock. But he did, because he is strong. He reminds me of his father - Kyle Reese.
I miss Kyle too much these days. If he was alive, John would've had his father, he would've had a life. Maybe things would've been different for us. We could be a family. But I know that Kyle is still here with me, guiding me in my life. I can feel him.
Right now? We are running. Again. From the police. They have never found us but I made a rule about not staying in the same place for more than six months. John doesn't like it though, but again, he understands why I do it.
"Mom. There's no one following us. You can relax." My son's voice broke me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, he was observing the road through the rare mirror.
"I will relax, once we get to our safe house." I said, looking at him.
"Stop being paranoid, mom." John said, a bit irritated.
"My paranoia has saved us, till now." I replied, which was the truth.
He huffed and relaxed on his seat. "That doesn't make things better. How long are we going to run, mom? Our whole life?"
"You know why, John."
"Yeah, I know. This has been going on for too long. We have to do something." John said.
"What do you want to do?" I asked him, smiling slightly at his childish behavior. My son has matured but sometimes he can still act like a child.
"I don't know. If only I could get access to the police data server. I could've wiped everything from there that they have about us."
"You know that's not possible, John. We will be arrested in no time."
"If only uncle Bob was here. He could've helped us." John was looking out the window, when he mentioned uncle Bob. I knew that he was trying to hide the tears in his eyes. John still loves him.
We finally arrived at our next safe house in Crestview, Florida. This will be our home for now, but I don't know for how long. It could be just a day or months. I can't let the police track us and recognize as the crazy terrorists who blew up Cyberdyne and murdered Miles Dyson. Sometimes, I wonder what happened to Miles' family. How are they coping with Miles' death? I feel bad for the Dyson family. They didn't deserve this fate. Miles didn't deserve his death. It was not fair. He was a good man and a hero. He died saving the world. But no one knew about his sacrifice, or what he did.
When I entered our new home, I saw John laying down on his bed already with his ipod. He was listening to music with his eyes closed. I let him relax for the moment while I carried our necessary belongings inside the house.
"Do you think it is really over?" His question stopped me in my tracks. Both of us know that we have stopped Judgement Day for good, so why is he asking me this question all of a sudden.
"We destroyed everything about Skynet, John. You know that." I replied confidently. I don't why but his question made me doubt my belief all of a sudden. Did we really stop it? But I tried to stay confident for him, because I didn't want him to worry about something which will not happen ever, probably. "Why do you ask?"
He was looking at me for my answer but now he looked away as if he was ashamed of himself for asking me this question. I know why. He didn't want me to worry.
"I don't know. It just crossed my mind." He murmured, while looking outside through the window and avoiding my gaze.
"Hey." I called him for attention. "What do you want to eat today?"
He smiled slightly. "Are you trying to cheer me up, mom?"
I smiled too. "Is it working?"
"Depends, on what you will get for me." He said, looking at me.
I arched my eyebrow at him. I pulled out some dollars I had and placed the money in his palm. "Here. Get something you like."
He was on his feet at once, cheerfully. As he was about to leave the house, I reminded him, "Get double, whatever you will order."
He smiled and left, closing the door behind him. I let out a sigh and looked at the mess in the house. Guess, it is up to me to clean the house.
As John stepped out of his new house, he didn't want to order any food immediately. He wanted to explore the nearby places in the city. He spotted a large mall and walked inside. Quickly he found what he was looking for, a computer store. There were several laptops in the shop kept for customers to try and look into features. John was looking in awe at the new technology. Of course he wanted one for himself but he knew his mom can't afford one and she will never allow him to get a laptop. That's Sarah Connor being paranoid, though. He also went inside the video games shop. He looked at the new game consoles with sad eyes. He remembered though how he used to get easy money with his friend Tim, and visited game parlors to enjoy games. He also thought darkly that it was one of the game parlors where it all started and his life completely altered. He was about to leave, but at that moment his eyes fell on a girl, who was about his age, was observing him with keen interest. She had large chocolate eyes and flowing brown hair, which went past her shoulders, pink lips. She was wearing a black colored, almost skin tight t-shirt and blue short pants, which showed her curves perfectly. Her long creamy, smooth legs were visible to naked eyes and John couldn't help but watch. He quickly realized though that he was acting as a pervert and quickly looked up to look into the girl's large chocolate eyes. As their eyes met for the first time, she smiled at him. John couldn't help but smile back stupidly.
Jesus, she is beautiful. John's teen mind thought. It was not wrong though. Every boy around his age who noticed the girl, wasn't able to get their eyes off her. But John saw that she never looked at anyone but him. She waved at him, but John couldn't wave back. He got nervous and he knew who he was. No one is allowed to get close to him. He is not allowed to get any friends. He turned away abruptly and left quickly without looking back, so he didn't see the girl frown at his abrupt departure.
One boy gathered enough courage to approach her, "Hi."
She turned and looked at him with bored eyes. "Excuse me." She stepped past him and left towards the direction where John went. The boy just stood there stupidly, staring at her back, as she walked away.
John stepped outside the mall, and began to walk in search of a food store. He found a store and ordered two pizzas for himself and his mother and sat down on the bench waiting. His eyes observed the busy people on the streets. People are going to work, childrens are going to school, teens are going to colleges, some are spending time with their friends or girlfriends. Everyone was busy with something in the world, except him of course, whose only work is to be inside his home all day and get bored by doing nothing. He couldn't even help his mother to earn some money. He felt useless. His eyes fell on a couple a few feet away from him, kissing each other. His gaze didn't waver but his thoughts were much away from his current time. He saw himself and the girl he saw in the mall in place of the couple. John immediately shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Why did he think about her? He didn't even know her and he is already fantasizing about kissing her. Sure she was beautiful but John knew there was more to it. There was something about the girl which shook his teenage heart. John tried to block those thoughts away because he knew they would only cause him even more pain and anguish. John was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear immediately that the guy in the pizza store was calling him as his order was ready.
"Hey man! Your order is ready!" The pizza guy called again.
This time John responded. "Oh! Yeah."
"Where were you lost bro? I was calling you for about two minutes." The pizza guy asked with a gentle smile.
John realized the pizza store guy seemed like a good guy. He also seemed John's age. "Just got lost in my thoughts, man. Sorry." John apologized.
"No worries man. It happens to me all the time. My mom often had to smack me across my head to get my attention." He said, while smiling and handed the pizza packages to John. "Here you go."
"For how long have you been working here?" John asked in a friendly tone.
"Not long. My dad passed away last year. I study at Crest View High School. But I work here to help my mom. It was not possible for her alone to run all the expenses for the family. So, I decided to help and attend school every alternate day." The pizza store guy explained to John, in a friendly tone, like John.
"I am sorry about your dad, man." John said, sincerely.
"It's alright. My dad and I never got along anyway. He used to…." The guy stopped. He looked behind John for a moment then looked back at him. "Tell me one thing man, are you popular with hot chicks?"
"Wait! What?! No." John answered flabbergasted. "Frankly, I am quite the opposite. Why do you ask?"
The guy smiled at John. "There was a girl watching you, John."
John turned around to look but he found no girl where the guy was pointing. "Girl? Which girl? I don't see anyone."
"She left. But she was watching you. I wish she would look at me like that…." The guy said dreamily.
"You know her?" John asked, curiously.
"Not really. But I have been trying to get to know her for the last couple of weeks. But she pays me no attention man, apparently she gives no one any attention at all. You are the first guy she ever…. You know." The guy trailed off.
John smiled. "I don't think she was looking at me. I don't even know anyone here. You know you shouldn't give up, though."
"Ah… I don't know man. She seems like a hard one to crack."
"Keep on trying. You can do it." John encouraged him with a smile.
The guy smiled back at John, "Maybe I will."
"Nice meeting you…..I am John." John said, extending his hand for a handshake.
The pizza guy looked pleased and happy at John's behavior. He shook John's hand. "Morris. At your service."
CRESTVIEW, HAMPTON INN 2107 HOURS
The bar area of the exotic hotel was crowded with people. There were families, businessmen or women, young rich people, and many others all were enjoying their lives at that moment. The bartenders were busy handing over drinks to the customers on demands. Some young men were cheering the exotic dancers, who were dancing according to the music.
But among these people there were two men, one about the age of mid thirties and the other about late thirties, who were sitting around a small round table at the corner with drinks. No one gave them any attention, as there was nothing special about them to be noticed. They were talking among themselves in a hushed tone.
"Bill, is everything ready?" The older man asked.
"Not yet, Mr. Dillon. But it will be done within a couple of hours." The younger man, named Bill, answered.
The older man, Mr. Dillon wasn't particularly happy with the answer. "You know we can't wait this out Bill. It is too important."
"I know, Mr. Dillon. There were some complications." Bill answered truthfully.
Mr. Dillon was relaxing the whole time, but at his answer, he sat straight up. "What complications?"
"We couldn't come to terms with our dealer. The negotiation failed." Bill replied.
"Failed? What was he demanding? He was okay with our deal."
"Yes. He didn't back up from his deal. But he was found dead, in his home, just before the day we wanted to execute our deal."
"Dead? What happened? Natural death?"
"No. He was found murdered on his bed in his bedroom. Someone broke his neck."
Mr. Dillon was really angry now, "And you are telling me this now?" He hissed angrily.
Bill recoiled in fear. "Ah. I just didn't want to disappoint you. I thought it was not a big deal."
Mr. Dillon punched the table in anger. "Not a big deal? Are you really stupid as you look?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"You idiot, don't you understand? This was not an ordinary murder. Tell me exactly what happened. How did he get murdered in his home with his bodyguards present?"
"From the news I heard, Mr. Oliver had a meeting that day in his home."
"Meeting about what? And with whom?"
"We don't know about what but we know who."
"And…who was it?"
"Some young woman named Miss. Cynthia Hamington. They both met in his home that day. According to the guards they talked for a while in private and then they both retired to his bedroom." Bill explained.
Mr. Dillon sighed in frustration. "That fool."
"Also one guard was found outside unconscious in the bushes. Someone had hit the back of his head from behind."
Mr. Dillon remained silent.
"Ah, Mr. Dillon." Bill spoke looking at his phone.
"What?"
Bill smiled. "Our deal is ready. It will happen tonight 0030 hours, sharp."
Mr. Dillon smiled. "Excellent. He will be pleased with you."
SOMEWHERE, OUTSIDE THE CITY, 0030 HOURS
Through the dark lonely streets outside the city, three black vans were visibly speeding, while ignoring any kind of speeding rules. Several minutes later the three vans stopped in front of a large warehouse. There were no lights outside the warehouse, everything was dark and quiet.
The doors of the van opened and twelve men stepped outside the van. All of them wore long black trench coats, hats on head, and all of them except one were armed to the teeth with AK-12 assault rifles in their hands. Even after the sounds of the engines died down, there was no visible except those twelve men, standing in front of the warehouse.
"Bill, where are they?" Mr. Dillon asked, while lighting a cigar.
Bill came to stood beside Mr. Dillon. "They must be here, inside the warehouse."
Mr. Dillon turned to his men, and instructed them to check inside the warehouse. Only one men remained with Bill and Mr. Dillon and the nine of them quietly approached the warehouse, cocking their guns in front of them. One of the bodyguards who was first to the door of the warehouse, stopped in his tracks when he saw that the door of the warehouse was unlocked. He nodded at his teammates and stepped inside the warehouse.
It was pitch black inside the large warehouse, they weren't able to see anything.
"Switch to flashlights." The leader of the mercenaries, ordered. The others immediately followed his instruction. The warehouse was so large, it was difficult to see clearly what lies ahead of them.
"Spread out and search for the power switch. Maintain radio contact, do not take any chances."
The others immediately spread out into the darkness of the large warehouse.
One of them named Mike, was looking for human presence, also the power switch. As per the information and deal, their contacts should have been here. It does not feel right, that this warehouse is pitch dark and he couldn't detect any human presence. He held his AK-12 in front of him, and began to move forward slowly and carefully, while checking every corner. But suddenly he felt someone's presence behind him, but before he could even turn back, his world turned black.
The leader of the mercenaries was really concerned because all of his team had gone radio silent. There was no response from either of them, and the warehouse was still dark. He realized something must have happened to his team. Deciding he needed to report to Mr. Dillon. He started to move back towards the door, slowly watching his surroundings carefully. He was almost near the door, but he had to stop when he found his way blocked. And what he saw in the darkness, made his spine shiver with fear. But before he could even shout, something grabbed him by his throat and then he knew no more.
Outside the warehouse, Mr. Dillon had lost his patience, while still waiting for his men to come out and report to him. Several minutes had passed away. No matter how large the warehouse, it shouldn't have taken this long to search a warehouse for nine men. Something was wrong.
"Bill, try to contact them. It doesn't feel right." Mr. Dillon ordered.
Bill agreed. He tried to contact them by radio but there was no response. Apparently he couldn't even contact them.
"I can't even reach them, Mr. Dillon." Bill answered. "We should leave now."
At that very moment the door of the warehouse burst open with a large bang. The mercenary beside Mr. Dillon tried to raise his rifle, but before he could even react a single gun shot was heard, followed by a thud. Mr. Dillon turned his head to his left in astonishment, to see that his bodyguard was lying on the floor, dead with a large hole on his forehead, from where blood was trickling down. Then another gun shot was heard and his assistant fell down on the floor, and moved no more. It was also a perfect shot. The bullet went through his mouth all the way through the back of his head. Mr. Dillon was shaking in fear. He had no idea what to do now, since all his men were dead. He pulled out his handgun to defend himself, but as soon as he touched his gun, another gun shot was heard and he felt immense pain in his hand and the gun fell down from his hand. He looked down at his right hand to see that the shooter had shot him right through his palm. It was a precise shot, but not a kill shot. He tried to see who the hell interfered with him, but what he saw turned his blood to ice. In the next second he saw the butt of a handgun was moving towards his face, then he knew nothing.
The shooter stepped past the dead bodies of two men and carefully observed the unconscious form of Mr. Dillon. With ease he lifted his body up and stashed him into the back of his van. Then the person got into the driver seat and drove away, leaving the dead bodies where they were lying.
LOCATION: UNKNOWN, TIME: UNKNOWN
With a groan Mr. Dillon slowly regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, to see that his vision was blurry. He tried blinking several times, to clear his vision. It worked. Once his vision was cleared the first thing he realized was that his nose was broken, he felt pain, while trying to take deep breaths. The next thing he realized that he couldn't move, because he was tied to a steel chair with his hands bound behind his back. He tried to break his bond but immediately realized that it was impossible to free himself.
He looked around and found himself in an underground storage room of some kind. Then he heard footsteps coming from above. He realized quickly that this must be the shooter. He closed his eyes and immediately faked unconsciousness, to get an upper hand on his enemy. But it didn't work.
"You can't trick me. I can count your blood pressure and heartbeat to tell that you are faking unconsciousness." Mr. Dillon heard the voice of a woman.
Realizing he was caught he opened his eyes to see his enemy for the first time. She was not a woman, but a teenage girl, with large doe eyes, and cascading brown hair, which went past her shoulders. She wore a leather jacket, jeans and knee length he saw no weapon on her.
"What do you want from me?" He wondered why he was still alive when this crazy bitch had murdered all his men. Who is she?
She looked at him straight in his eyes. "Please tell me, where are Miles Dyson's documents that you stole from Cyberdyne, years ago?"
"Who is Miles Dyson? I don't know what you are talking about?" Mr. Dillon lied.
She stepped past him and grabbed his shoulder lightly, then gave a gentle pressure with her fingers. He felt his bones cracking, where she pressed. Gritting his teeth he tried to get used to the pain, but it was no use. This girl knew the weak points of a human body, where it hurts most. She may look like a normal teenage girl, but her actions were of a professional killer and interrogator.
"Do not lie to me. I do not want you to suffer." The girl said, calmly.
Mr. Dillon was trying to take deep breaths through his mouth to ease the pain. He couldn't even use his damn nose, because this bitch had broken it too.
"I am telling you the truth. I don't know anything." He lied again.
She didn't say anything, except with a gentle pressure she broke one of his ribs with a crunching sound. Mr. Dillon almost choked in agony. It was too much for him to bear the pain.
"Alright. Alright. I will tell you what you want to know." Mr. Dillon said, defeated.
"Tell me where Miles Dyson's documents are."
"I didn't steal Dyson's documents. I just had a copy. The original documents were destroyed with the destruction of Cyberdyne."
"When Sarah Connor burnt down Cyberdyne?"
"Yes. That crazy bitch, who thinks some computer is going to destroy our world someday."
"You said you 'had' the documents? Where is it now?"
"I have no idea. I sold them for two billion dollars."
"To whom? I need a name."
"I don't know who it was. The buyer never contacted me directly. Our deal was done through his agent."
"Give me the details of this agent." She demanded.
"I can't and even if I could you won't find it any useful, cause he is already dead. He was murdered right after our deal was complete."
"Who killed him? His employer?"
"Yes. Whoever he is, he doesn't want to keep any loose ends."
After hearing his answer the girl remained silent for a few moments.
"Will you let me go now? I've already told you everything you wanted to know." Mr. Dillon asked.
"You are of no use to me now." She said, softly. Her eyes were gentle now. All hostilities vanished.
Mr. Dillon smiled slightly. "Thank you."
"But I can't let you go." She said again. Mr. Dillon's eyes widened in fear.
"But…but…I've already told you everything I know." Mr. Dillon stuttered in fear.
"You know too much. I am sorry." She apologized and pulled out a handgun.
Mr. Dillon knew what was coming. He tried to break free desperately but he couldn't. The bounds were strong. He mastered all of his strength again to break free. The girl calmly placed the cold barrel of her handgun on Mr. Dillon's forehead and pulled the trigger, ending his misery.
Without a second glance at his corpse the girl holstered her gun and left the room.
AN: I mentioned in my previous notes that there are a couple of things I never liked about the show. One review mentioned, about Cameron and Rossie battle. You are right, but it was also in my list of dislikes. No terminator is that easy to terminate, even by other terminators without the usage of Plasma rifles or other high tech weaponries. About this story, I would make a slow progress of the flow of the story. Hope you people won't hate this style.
Also I would like to mention that Cameron's character will be slightly different here. She will be the same Cameron we loved watching in the show but there will be another side to her character too - a terminator, who she is. But not too much of a terminator either, I will try to make it balanced. Maybe I am making you people confused. Okay I will stop blabbering here. You will understand what I am trying to say, once you read and the story progresses.
Please review.
