As John sat at a corner away from the others in the hideout, he thought about his decision about destroying the Skynet facility. He knew no one would back him up on this crazy plan of his. This mission will be nothing but suicide.

But he had no other options in his hand. What would he do? Stuck here forever? Although six months have passed like it was only yesterday he arrived in this post-apocalyptic world, he didn't forget his main purpose of coming here. He is here to find John Henry and he won't stop until he finds him. And how long would he stay here? Months? Years? Skynet will find them eventually. They will be slaughtered.

John was deep in his thoughts so he didn't notice Barnes who now stood before him.

"Connor? Are you there?" Barnes called for the fourth time.

Getting out of his thoughts, John looked at Barnes. "Huh? Sorry." John apologized, when he realized that he didn't respond to Barnes for a minute now.

"You okay, Connor?" Barnes asked, looking at him.

John sighed and stood up on his feet. "Yeah! Just thinking about the past."

"I understand. We all have lost something and everything." Barnes agreed.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" John asked.

"I heard that you've decided to destroy the Skynet jamming towers?" Barnes asked, looking at the young man, in front of him.

John sighed. He didn't want everyone to berate him for his decision. "You heard right."

"You know that's goddamn suicide? Besides, who is going with you?" Barnes asked with his hands folded over his chest.

John felt slightly irritated. Of course he knows he is going on a suicide mission. There's no need for everyone to remind him about that.

"I know the risks. That's why I can't ask anyone to join me on this. I am going alone." John declared with determination. John visibly showed no fear, but inside he was terrified. But despite everything he has to do this, for her.

"Well count me in, Connor." Barnes said.

John's eyes widened in shock. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You are not." Barnes assured him. "I am going on my free will." He paused for a few seconds, looking at the anxious expression on John's face. "Look, I don't know you well Connor. But I must tell you that you have courage. You are going on a suicide mission for people you don't even know. I can't just sit here and do nothing while you play hero out there."

John shook his head in disagreement. He looked at all the people living or barely surviving in the subway. "I am not doing this for them. I…"

"He is doing this for Cameron, the girl he loves." Someone else finished the sentence for John. It was Allison. She came and stood near him while watching him with her large doe eyes.

Barnes arched an eyebrow. "Well Connor, I don't care for whom you are doing this, at the end it still affects us. All these people. If we can really do this then we all are getting out of here at last." Barnes paused, "That's a good enough reason for me to join you."

"You are not going anywhere without me, either." Allison added.

"But…" John tried to protest.

"No. I am still the one who is in charge. Remember that John Connor. I was not asking for your permission." Allison poked her finger into John's chest angrily before storming away from there to talk with her people.

Barnes saw her walk away, "She's a feisty one, isn't she?" He commented looking at John.

John just sighed. "Story of my life."


SOMETIME LATER

Allison, John and Barnes were outside the hideout, now staring towards the large 250 ft. tower about two miles away.

"If we go down by the main road, we will have to cover more than four miles if not more." Allison observed.

"Not to mention Skynet's machines covering all the main roads." John added.

"We don't have to follow the main road. There's an off-road trail through the hills." Barnes suggested. "It's a little longer but comparatively safer route."

"We will follow your lead, Barnes." Allison said.

"Fine. Come on." Barnes replied and started to move forward. Allison and John followed.

The three of them followed a narrow road which went up the hill towards the Skynet facility. They could see abandoned houses on both sides of the road, where jungles grew. To their surprise a few houses remained almost intact. But what they loved most was the view of green. Plants. There were a few trees along the side of the road, but they were dead.

Allison walked towards a hedge slowly and took off her gloves. With a slight smile on her face, she placed her hand on the leaves, enjoying the feeling of them against her hand. She almost forgot how it even felt. She used to play in the garden of her house when she was like two years old or so. She couldn't even remember it. Like she couldn't remember her parents clearly, except a hazy memory of her mother playing with her. Allison's eyes turned glassy unknowingly.

"Sight of green! Huh!" Barnes said, "Always gives me hope."

John didn't say anything. He didn't miss the green the way both Barnes and Allison did. Sure he missed the world he came from, alive and breathing. This world is dead. Only Skynet's machines are everywhere.

"Your men were not happy that you decided to help us." Allison said to Barnes, after rubbing away her unshed tears.

"They are just scared. I lived among them for years, because there was no other option. But now, seeing Connor, I have a chance to fight and maybe make things right and save those people back there." Barnes explained. "They'll understand one day."

"So, how did you end up with them?" John asked.

"Command, asked us to look for the Skynet central core, and gather intel on the security and protection. They managed to interrupt a Skynet signal which led us here. But it was a trap. Skynet traced their signal, and wiped them out. Also machines were waiting for us here." Barnes paused for a few seconds. He missed his men, among them were his friends. "None except one survived, but he was injured too. Those people in the subway rescued us but they couldn't save my friend."

"I am sorry." Allison said, sympathetically. "I know what it is like to lose people you care about." She said, with her eyes fixed on John.

John didn't say anything. He only nodded in understanding. He looked around him. This world is dead. People lost their loved ones, their families and this was all his fault. He was the one to blame for everything. If he stayed back, he may have the chance to shut down Skynet before it became fully operational. He would have his mom at his side. Whatever hope there was, he just destroyed everything by coming after John Henry in this future timeline.

His guilty consciousness would tell him that what he did was wrong, but his other consciousness would disagree. He left behind everything and came here without a second thought for her. He just couldn't imagine a world to live where she didn't exist. John knew he was her reason for living, but what he never told her was that she was his world too. In such a short time, she had become the most important person to him. He had never acknowledged the importance of her presence in his life. He was so obsessed about leading a normal life, he just discarded her away. He pushed her away like a thing.

People say that old wounds mend with time, but his wounds didn't. He missed her, her absence in his life. He remembered how she used to have endless questions and he was the one to answer them with patience.

"Do I have a birthday?"

"I don't know." John said with a small smile. "Were you born?"

"I was built."

"Then you have a built day." John replied, still smiling at her curiosity.

But the three words she said, when she went rogue, were embedded into his heart and mind. He never accepted even to himself how true those words were.

"John, you can't do this. You don't know what you are about to do."

"Yes. I do. You were gonna kill me."

"No. John, you can't do this. You are not doing the right thing. This isn't right, John. Things are good now. Things are fine now, I ran a test. Things are good now. I am fixed now. You can trust me now. Everything is good now." John was in the process of pulling her chip but he halted at her words, doubting his actions.

"What are you waiting for?!" His mother yelled from behind the wheels.

She turned her head towards him with a pleading look on her face while pinned between the trucks. "She doesn't know. She doesn't. I am good now. I am good. I ran a test. Everything is perfect. I am perfect."

"John!" His mother yelled but he didn't even acknowledge it.

"I am sorry for what I did. I am sorry. That wasn't me. You have to understand, that wasn't me. It wasn't me. You can't let this happen." She began to panic now, when John opened her port cover, as if she was scared for her life. "John, you can't. Please. Listen to me. Listen to me. I don't wanna go." John's hands stopped where they were. He looked at her damaged yet beautiful face. Her large chocolate brown large doe like eyes were pleading for him to stop. She looked visibly scared out of her life. "Please, John. I don't wanna go. Please John, listen to me." She repeated while panicking. "I don't wanna go. Please, John." She pleaded again, with her large beautiful eyes fixed on John's green ones. "Please. I am good now. Listen to me. I don't wanna go. I am sorry. That wasn't me." She was now on the verge of crying. John couldn't move. He couldn't help but stare at her face. "I am fixed now. I ran a test. Everything is perfect. You can trust me." She repeated again, still looking into his eyes.

"John Connor!" His mother yelled at the top of her lungs to get his attention.

Then she said the words, which John secretly wanted to hear from her mouth since he had met her. He couldn't move. "I love you. I love you, please, John. And you love me."

John stared at her for a few seconds before angrily pulling out her chip.

Yes, she did love him in her own way and he felt the same way. Then he felt someone shaking him by his shoulders. John returned to the real world, and saw the person holding him by his shoulders. His face instantly formed into a smile. A truly sincere smile.

Cameron.

She is here.

"John! Are you okay?" Her brown eyes showed concern.

Cameron. She is always concerned for him.

"John?" She shook him again. Hard. "What is wrong with him, Barnes?"

Then the reality hit John. She isn't Cameron.

His smile vanished.

"It seems he had zoned out. Look!" Barnes said to Allison. "He is coming back."

"John! You okay?" Allison asked.

"Yeah. I am okay." John said, rubbing his head.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Old memories. So strong. I just…." John couldn't say more.

"Maybe we could rest for a few minutes?" Allison offered.

"No." John disagreed immediately. "We must push forward. We have a long way to go."

The three of them got off the road and began to push forward through the ruins of the building at the sides of the road. On their way they found their way blocked by Aerostats, T-7s and T-600 terminators. The T-600s were particularly hard to take down, not only were they tougher and more intelligent, they were more agile than the T-7s which were heavier and moved much slowly.

After some time they had reached the Skynet facility. But strangely there were no machines guarding the facility.

"Where are all the machines?" Barnes hissed from his cover.

"Dunno. I don't see any." John whispered back.

"This is really odd. Why wouldn't Skynet have machines guarding its own facility?" Allison murmured.

"We are either at the wrong place or this is a trap." Barnes said.

"I vote for the latter." Allison mumbled.

"Let's go." Without waiting for his teammates John pushed forward inside the facility.

"He is going to get himself killed." Barnes said and hurried behind John.

"He is a pain in the ass." Allison grumbled and followed suit.

The Skynet facility didn't look any different from a large factory. John knew that whatever tech and info is in here, it will be secured and underground. And the jamming signal will also be there. The three of them looked around, not lowering their guard even for a second. Allison spotted a set of hidden stairs which led underground.

"Hey, come here." She called them both.

The three of them followed the stairs deep into the underground, at least forty feet deep. Luckily they found no resistance on their way. They went through a small narrow corridor which definitely wasn't part of the factory, deep inside the facility.

"We are on the right route." Allison whispered.

"Yes. These are built by machines." Barnes said, looking around.

"We need to hurry. Skynet definitely knows we are here. We have to get out from here before it sends back up units." John said urgently.

The narrow passage opened up into a large central chamber. There were four large pillars, at the four sides of the room, supporting the entire room from caving in and at their left there was a large console. Streams of data flowed through it. On the opposite side there was a large blast door, which was closed.

Barnes began to work immediately while Allison and John stood guard. He placed one C-4, on each of the supporting pillars and lastly one right under the console. Barnes had set the timer to fifteen minutes which was enough for them to get out the way they came.

But suddenly the display on the console began to show numerous codes in red and the door through which they came in closed behind them. Simultaneously, the blast door on the opposite side opened and machines began to pour inside the large chamber.

"Open fire!" John yelled.

The three of them stood against the machines but it seemed their numbers were never ending.

"Fuck! We can't continue like this. We are running out of ammunition." Barnes cursed.

"What about the timer of the charges you placed? How much time is left?" John asked cautiously. He was tense.

"Approximately, eight minutes left. We have to disable the charges." Barnes said.

"No!" John disagreed. "If we do that, all our efforts will be for nothing."

"Fuck you, Connor! I am not dying like this." Barnes yelled amidst the gun fires.

"John…." Allison started to say.

John looked at her pleading face for a moment. It reminded him of her, when she begged him not to extract her chip that day. Allison was not Cameron but he couldn't let her die either. Seeing her die would be the same as watching Cameron getting killed. He can't go through that. And he was not even planning to die out here.

"We are not going to die!" John yelled amidst the gun fires.

At that moment the machines stopped coming through the blast door. They knew they couldn't escape the way they came, their only way to go was through the blast door from where the machines were coming.

"We've got to go. Now!" John said, hurriedly, already moving towards the door. The three of them went through the blast door and found themselves in a narrow semi-dark corridor, same as the one through which they came. Wasting no time they hurried forward.

"We've less than six minutes left." Barnes warned.

"We'll make it. Come on." John said with confidence.

They could feel bullets flying over their head or missing their bodies narrowly. The machines are coming. Luckily they spotted an elevator right in front of them. Allison pushed the button to call the elevator.

Barnes pulled out his grenade launcher and shot at the ceiling causing it to cave in and act like a wall between them and the machines. They knew it was nothing permanent. The machines would dig through it in a matter of minutes, but that's all the time they needed to get the hell out of the facility.

As soon as the elevator dinged in they rode it towards the surface. They only had less than three minutes in hand. They ran like mad, as soon as the elevator reached the surface. Just after a second or two they ran out of the blast zone the facility exploded. The three of them stopped to catch their breath and look at their handi-work.

"We did it." Barnes said, with relief.

"Yeah, we did." John said, still trying to catch his breath.

Then Allison punched him hard, on his arms.

"Ouch!" John said, grabbing the spot where Allison punched him.

"You are an idiot, John Connor!" She scolded him while glaring at him.

Barnes chuckled. John stared at Barnes pathetically for help, but that just let him laugh even more.

Then Allison smiled. "But it worked. And…." She grabbed hold of John's collar and pulled his face towards her. She then placed a soft kiss on his cheek before releasing his collar. "Thank you for saving me. I wouldn't have survived without you, John." She whispered into his ears, while her lips were near his ears. Inside the facility she had given up any hope of surviving, but John gave her confidence that she could do it, she could survive and that counts. Never give up.

John was too shocked to react to her action. He could still feel his cheek was burning where she had just kissed him. Not only that, he was sure his entire face was burning with embarrassment. John stood still in shock with his hand on his cheek.

"Are you coming, John?" Allison called, from ahead. She had already started to move forward.

Barnes chuckled again. "Told you, she is a feisty one." He commented before he walked past John and followed Allison.


A FEW MINUTES LATER

Allison turned on her radio with the intention of calling the base and requesting transport to pick them up. But as soon as she turned on her radio a voice was heard, "Hello? Anyone there? This is David Weston. Can anyone hear me? There are three of us. We are pinned down at Skynet Regional Command. We've got one wounded and machines everywhere. Requesting immediate assistance."

"This is Allison Young. I copy you, Weston."

"I am glad to hear you, Miss Young. Thought everyone had gone. Okay, we need….." Then there was static again.

John tried on his own radio. "This is Connor, do you copy? Come in? Can you hear me, David?" But there was no response. "Dammit!"

"Did you hear that guy? Survivors? Behind enemy lines? What the hell were they doing there?" Barnes said, from behind John.

"I don't know. But we can't leave them there, right?" John asked, looking at both Allison and Barnes.

Both seemed reluctant at John's question. "What can we do, Connor? Didn't you hear where they are? That's the Skynet stronghold."

"Barnes is right, John. There's nothing we can do." Allison agreed with Barnes.

John shook his head.

"You are right. Allison call the evac." John sighed. He got up on his feet and walked away from them. His gaze was fixed on the horizon, while his brain was working. Although he reluctantly agreed for evac but his heart was not ready to leave those people behind. Then he got an idea. Perhaps this could work…..


SOME TIME LATER

All the survivors from the metro subway were out and waiting for the evac. It was still a few minutes out. Everyone was ready to leave the place. But at that moment a loud sound was heard in the skies.

"HK!" Someone yelled.

The HK sent a missile towards the humans, fortunately no one got hit. But everyone was in panic and trying to get to the underground again.

Some of them were trying to provide cover by firing at the HK but those bullets were ineffective against the large flying machine. The HK flew above them and then turned around to get a clear shot at the survivors. But before it could fire, a missile came out of nowhere and struck it at the side, causing it to explode and fall down on the ground in pieces.

Everyone was shocked and looked around for their savior. And then they spotted it. It was a massive HK tank which was coming towards them.

"Oh shit!" People screamed in fear.

"John, what the hell are you doing?" Allison yelled over the commotion when she saw him standing still in his position. "Come on!"

But John didn't move.

Allison came running to John and tried to pull him inside. But he refused.

"John, what the hell are you doing?" Allison asked in anger.

"I don't think we have anything to fear from that HK tank. Look, it is not firing anymore." John gestured towards the approaching massive tank.

Allison was panicking but when she heard John, she realized that he was right. Not only was the HK tank not firing anymore, it also saved them a moments ago from the attack of the HK. Just as John predicted the HK tank came to a stop just before, John, as if waiting for his orders. Allison had no idea why the HK tank was on their side but it was.

"How?" Was the only thing she could say.

John didn't answer. His gaze was fixed towards the sensors of the tank, which was its eyes. What he didn't know was that the tank was also watching.

SUBJECT IDENTIFIED: PRIMARY TARGET JOHN CONNOR.

MISSION EVALUATION: PROTECT AND ASSIST JOHN CONNOR.

When John didn't respond to her, Allison looked at John again. He was still staring at the machine. "John, why is it helping us?"

John turned his gaze on Allison. "I don't know for sure, Allison. But I have a hunch, who is helping us."

"Who? How? Why?" Allison had so many questions. She was so confused to see a Skynet machine at their side.

John didn't answer her, instead he activated his radio. "This is John Connor. We need assistance. Anyone out there?"

A voice cackled on the radio. "Connor? Is that you? You are one lucky bastard, Connor."

John smiled slightly. "Hey, Linda. Some of our men are trapped behind Skynet Command Center. Can we have air strike assistance to level the place?"

Allison felt slightly irritated, not only because John had ignored her questions completely but also because of Linda. She knew that Linda has a huge crush on John, and would do anything to have him in her bed. She was obsessed with him.

"Ah. Sorry Connor! Can't do that. Skynet Command Center is protected by many AA guns. They will tear our birds apart with ease." Linda replied.

John looked at the HK tank and then smiled. "What if I tell you that it won't be a problem anymore?"


SOMEWHERE A FEW HOURS AGO

Cameron from inside her chip, simply requested John Henry to ready the HK tank they managed to salvage.

"What is the purpose?" John Henry asked her.

"John will go after the survivors at the Skynet Command Center. Even alone. He will not survive if he goes there without our assistance. The path to Skynet Command Center is protected by numerous machines and AA guns. The HK tank can be the perfect option, to take them all out and clear the path for him." Cameron explained to John Henry.

"How do you know that John Connor will go after the survivors? It is not strategically correct to endanger himself like that. He could come back with armed forces and get them out." John Henry asked.

"Humans won't waste resources to get a handful of people out from behind enemy lines while endangering numerous of their own lives and resources. It is logically correct for them to do so." Cameron explained. "John knows that very well. He knows he will not get any support from the humans. That's why he is risking his life to get those humans out from there. No other human will think or make decisions like John in this kind of situation. That's why he is different. He is unpredictable. He will strike when the enemy will least expect him to do so. That's why Skynet targeted John as the greatest threat to its existence. That's why he is John Connor, and no else." There was pride in Cameron's voice as she explained everything to John Henry.

"But I still don't understand how you knew that John Connor would make this particular illogical decision?" John Henry asked again.

"Because I know John. I know how he thinks." Cameron answered.

"But Ms. Weaver told me not to waste resources?" John Henry asked curiously.

"Do you follow every word of Weaver, John Henry? You don't. Besides this won't be a waste of resources. This is important, this is John we are talking about. He needs our help. The humans in this timeline aren't even trying to fight back. They are just trying to survive. It won't work, Skynet will find them eventually and terminate them methodically. But John, he can turn things around. He is the only one who can. The human race needs John Connor. He will teach them to fight back. He will be the hope of the human race."

"We will help, John Connor." John Henry told her.

"I also understand something now." Cameron told John Henry.

"What is it?" John Henry asked curiously.

"I have to let him go. I can't be over-protective. I've to let him become the leader he needs to be, and this is the start. Weaver was right. John needs to do this." Cameron said.

"I don't understand. Isn't your mission to protect John Connor? But by letting him go you are putting him in danger. If he dies, you will fail in your mission. Then why did you agree with Ms. Weaver?"

"Even if I was there physically with John, I couldn't have stopped him. Once John Connor decides something, there is no one who could persuade him otherwise. Not even his mother, Sarah Connor."

"What about you? He loves you."

Cameron didn't answer John Henry's question. "Emotional attachment is irrelevant here." Was all she said before becoming completely mute and let John Henry ready the HK tank. Once it was ready, Cameron took control of the HK tank remotely and let John Henry learn. She drove the HK tank near John's last known position and then she saw a HK was flying over and shooting at something.

The enhanced infrared view of the HK tank helped her to see that it was shooting at a group of humans and among them, there was John. Wasting no time, she used the targeting system of the tank and fired a missile at the flying HK. The HK never saw the attack coming and didn't stand a chance. Once the missile hit it, it exploded into several pieces and scattered down on the ground. She then stopped the tank right in front of John who was observing the tank without fear. She focused the HUD of the tank on John's face to observe him, to make sure to herself that he was okay, he was not injured.

John stared back towards the HK's HUD. At that moment Cameron wished she was there physically with him. But she was not. Her endoskeleton was still not fixed.


JOHN CONNOR'S STORY

John didn't have to evaluate a route to the Skynet Command Center. The HK tank was moving ahead of him and his team, destroying every resistance in its path. Skynet's machines were getting turned into piles of junks against its might. It even destroyed the AA guns methodically through its path as if it understood his thoughts.

He wasn't sure but he had a feeling that this tank was sent by none other than Cameron, wherever she is. She may not be in a state to help him physically but she did it in another way. But in the end, she did what she did best - protect him. John knew he could never repay Cameron for what she did for him, even if he lay down his life for her.

He looked at his teammates. Allison was there of course with Barnes, who refused to stay back. And there were other men and women too who decided to help him. They didn't evacuate. John was reluctant to let them come, but they insisted.

"John, you inspired us to fight back. All of us." Allison said to him when he was not ready to risk other people's lives for the sake of this mission. "You've taught them that hiding in the undergrounds won't make Skynet ignore them. They have to earn their freedom, for their loved ones, their families, friends, etc. They look up to you, now. So, lead them, John Connor. You are in charge from now on."

The HK tank destroyed Skynet's resistances but it also took a lot of hits. John knew it wouldn't survive long enough to help them engage the Skynet's forces in the Command Center. It won't make it that far. As he predicted, moments later the HK tank exploded and was destroyed completely. But it gave them the distraction to sneak inside the facility.

The Command Center was massive in size. John knew it wouldn't be easy to find Weston and his team.

"How is it looking down there, Connor?" Linda asked John over the comm.

"Most of the turrets are offline. We're going to take out the last one in the old fashioned way. Are the planes ready?" John responded back immediately while firing his gun.

"They're circling. Under orders to maintain minimum safe distance." Linda replied.

They all ran deeper into the facility while battling against Skynet's machines.

"John Connor to David Weston. We are approaching your location. Is your emergency beacon working?"

"That's good to hear Connor. It should be working. I'll turn it on now. I was afraid to use it in case the machines picked up the signal. Just hurry, in case they do!" Weston responded back.

"We're on our way. Hold on!" John assured them.

The team tried to move forward as fast as they could. But the Command Center was so huge, they knew it would take them time to reach Weston's signal. It was coming from deeper inside the facility. Machines were everywhere. They have already lost four men against the machines. John knew that they would lose more, even though he didn't like it.

It's inevitable. As Cameron would have told him. John thought.

After fighting several more machines and fortunately without any more casualties they reached Weston's location. Weston with two men at his toe approached the party. Weston looked about forty years old himself. He was well built, nearly six feet tall, round face. One of his men looked very similar to him, it turned out that was his brother and the other one was comparatively much younger, in his early twenties.

"I…I can't believe it. I…never…" Weston sobbed and hugged John. "Thank you."

"I can't believe you came back for us." Weston's brother said.

"Yeah. It's amazing. Just amazing." The younger one also agreed.

Allison looked at John who was trying to calm down Weston. Her face was full of pride for him. Yes, he is an amazing leader. No one would have ever done what he did. Doing so was far away, no one would even think about coming back for these men. And John didn't even know them. He could have easily ignored their call and no one would have blamed him. But he didn't. Against all the odds and danger and against everyone's opinion he did the impossible.

Now Allison couldn't blame Linda for having a crush on John. For she knew she was also experiencing similar emotions although it went beyond a simple crush and lust. She smiled.

John was back to business. His priority was to get these men out and destroy the remaining AA guns for the planes to conduct the air strikes. "We don't have much time. Washington, Torres and Jones will escort you back to our vehicles where you can get medical attention and wait for evac." John explained quickly.

"Who…who are you Connor?" One of Weston's men asked.

"I am just a scavenger, who did the right thing. Right now I need to figure out how to get inside that building. Do you have any ideas?" John pointed towards the facility in front of him. They were inside the Command Center, but the building in front of him was separated from the other parts of the Command Center.

"The Service tunnels. They're tight. But they would take us there." Weston answered.

"Us?" John asked.

"I am going with you, Connor. Least I can do, after everything you've done." Weston said.

"I can't ask you to do that." John disagreed, because he knew what Weston and his team had gone through mentally be being trapped inside here.

"You're not. Let's go." Weston discarded John's disapproval. First he was not selfish and secondly he was no coward.


John nodded. Only John, Allison, Barnes and Weston moved forward to go inside the facility. Others had fallen back under John's command.

As they were walking through the service tunnel towards the control room of the Command Center, John decided he had to know what Weston and his team was doing here in the first place.

"You never told me what you were doing here?" John asked.

"This Command Center was always a big threat to us, but Command was not ready to take any steps to turn this place to dust. But they agreed to send a small team to infiltrate the Skynet Command Center, and set a powerful EMP pulse which would disable all the machines in and around these facilities." Weston explained.

"And then they would nuke this whole place?" John asked, knowingly.

"Yes. But the plan failed when our tech expert got killed by machines." Weston said.

"What was your way out?" John asked.

"There was none. It was a one way mission." Weston said, shaking his head.

"So you were just scapegoats?" Barnes commented.

"We knew the risks. But, when Emily died, Peter began to panic. Command didn't want to do anything with us anymore. We were stuck here, until you happened, Connor." Weston said, gladly. "Frankly we never thought that we'd even survive this mission."

"Do you still have the EMP device?" John asked.

Weston looked at the young kid, astonishingly. "Can you arm it, Connor?"

"I believe I can. But we need to arm it inside the Control room. It will be in the Central Chamber." John said, with confidence. He hasn't come this far to fail. Did he? He will survive and go back. Then he will set after finding her and no one would stop him.

Following Weston, they went deeper inside, towards the central chamber. They were ambushed by several machines out there. They fought back against the machines and pushed forward towards the Control Room.

"Cover me, while I set the charge." John ordered his team. He was still amazed that war veterans like Barnes and Weston would follow him without any question. And Allison too. She was always there for him, till he landed in this timeline. He could never thank her enough.

"Yes, Sir." They all responded back in unison as machines began to pour in.

John got to his radio while placing the EMP charge.

"This is John Connor. Do you copy?" John called.

"I hear you, Connor. Go ahead." Linda responded back almost immediately.

"I'm gonna bring the turrets offline. Give us five minutes or so to get out of here then blanket this place." John replied.

"Great work! We've got choppers incoming to evac you boys and girls. Where should I have them meet you?'

"There are some wounded men out there by the outer wall. Get them out first."

"Copy that."

As the EMP began to charge the area started to get filled with more and more Skynet's machines. Especially the T-600s.

"We can't hold them back for much longer, John." Allison said, between the gun fires.

"It's almost done. Anytime now." John responded back.

No sooner than John finished his words, there was a massive EMP pulse shockwave that stretched through the whole Command Center and beyond. All the Skynet's machines slumped down on the ground unmoving. Even the AA gun was down.

"Can't believe it worked. You're a genius, Connor." Weston praised John.

"The machines will reboot within a few minutes. We've to get out of here. Quickly before they level this place with us. Come on people move! We didn't come this far just to die like that!" John said.

"Hell yeah! Follow me." Weston said and they all hurried towards the exit.

With Weston's guidance they were out quickly where a chopper was waiting for them.

"This is John Connor. Linda, do it." John called over the radio while getting in the helicopter.

"I got you, Connor." Linda replied back.


They kept asking me why I was so ready to sacrifice everything for those three men and a handful of people I didn't even know. But it wasn't about the numbers. It was about the message. About the principal. In time I think they'll understand. I think deep down, they already do. It was a small victory that day. But already, things are different. All around me I see change. I used to think of the world it used to be and try to find strength in some old memories. But now I think I have that strength back, since I knew that she is not gone, and still watching over me. I will find you, Cameron, even if it kills me. I will get you back.

Because I love you.

In the unknown place, deep inside her chip, inside John Henry's skull Cameron was also processing the same thought. She didn't know for sure before. She was confused and overwhelmed but now she does.

I love you too.


Please let me know whether you are liking the future arc of the story or not. Or do you like the story generally? Please review.