Wiggs was driving the jeep almost at full speed whenever he got the opportunity. He didn't care about his own safety or of his companions. He knew the Grays in the sedan behind them had no intention of killing them, otherwise they would have shot bullets by now. They were simply following with the intention of capture. He can't let that happen. Although he knew that neither he nor his companions would ever betray Connor, but the Grays….they have means to get information out of their prisoners. Cruel, vile and sadistic. The Grays have the means to put their prisoners in such situations where they would lose complete control of their minds or any kind of resistance. It has happened before. And now the Grays want to do the same things again. He won't allow it. He'd rather die before getting captured by their hands.
Then he heard shots firing.
"Shit man!" Devin cursed. "They are not firing at us! They are firing at the tires!" He fired back. But the speed of the jeep and the way it was moving he was missing all the shots. "Fucking drive straight!" Devin yelled out of frustration.
"Are you kidding me?!" Wiggs yelled back, while glaring at Devin.
Greene climbed to the back of the jeep to assist Devin. "Hey! Shut it!" He yelled back. "Stop acting like children!" He sent a volley of well aimed shots towards the sedan. But he also missed.
The sedan was almost near them and they knew that anytime now they would successfully shoot out their tires. While still driving Wiggs turned back to look at Devin and Greene for a moment. Their eyes met and they nodded at each other.
With extreme difficulty Wiggs held the jeep in a straight line to give Devin and Greene a last chance to take out their enemies. With war cries Devin and Greene fired their automatic rifles towards the wind shield of the black sedan. Several of their shots missed but they were successful in hitting both the driver and the passenger beside him on the front seat. One bullet struck the driver right at his throat sending sprays of blood on the glass of the door of the sedan while another bullet found its target right on the chest of the passenger beside the driver.
Greene and Devin almost rejoiced at their victory as they saw the car slowing down, but it was only for a few seconds. Their eyes widened when they saw both the driver and the passenger beside him sat up as if nothing had happened. They couldn't believe the scene right in front of them because the driver was driving the sedan with a big hole in his throat from where blood was still pouring out.
"What the hell?" Greene shouted in astonishment.
"How the hell are they still alive?" Devin murmured beside him.
"What are they?" Greene whispered.
From the wound and the amount of blood they could tell the driver was not a machine. If it had a metal endoskeleton then their bullets would have ricocheted off like ping pong balls. But that did not happen. The wound on the man's neck was real. Even blood was there. Then how was he still alive and driving the car at the same time as if nothing had happened?
Wiggs tried to outsmart his enemies but he quickly realized they were much smarter than he realized. Greene and Devin were firing at their enemies, but the enemies were not dying. He had no idea how much longer he could do this. There's no way he's going to lead them to the Connors and they have to avoid capture at all costs. All of these tasks were proving more and more difficult as their enemies proved to be much stronger than they even anticipated. At that very moment a shot rang out and Wiggs couldn't control the jeep anymore at that speed.
"Hold on!" He warned his companions and no sooner than that the jeep turned upside down violently and fell into a lake just beside the road.
Underneath the water the three of them somehow managed to get out from inside the jeep and begin to swim upwards towards the shore. The lake had saved their lives but they had lost all their weapons and ammunition which were now underneath the water of the lake. When the three of them broke the surface of the water, they saw that four men were walking towards them with weapons in their hands. But the weapons were not aimed at them and among them they could see the two men whom they shot during the car chase. One had a hole in his throat which was still bleeding badly and the other one's clothes were soaked red with blood around the chest area. They thought they might have been hallucinating but now they could see clearly that despite being fatally shot two of them are still alive and well. They don't even feel a thing. They quickly got on the shore and tried to run away. They knew it was a stupid idea but they had to try. Quickly they found their way blocked by the Grays. They had nowhere to go.
"Surrender." One of the Grays spoke.
"Never!" Wiggs spat on the ground at his feet. "We would rather die."
The Gray who seemed to be the leader of the small group smiled. "You can't die. Skynet won't let you because you have information. You would give us Connor and his mother."
"Unlikely!" Wiggs murmured under his breath and rushed forward towards the Gray, ready to fight with his bare hands. He swung a punch at the Grays face which he avoided while smirking. He tried right hook, left hook, nothing connected with his fist except air. Wiggs stepped back cautiously, eyeing his opponent who seemed to be rather relaxed.
"I would surrender, if I were you." The Gray calmly commented.
"In your fucking dreams!" Wiggs snarled angrily and pulled out his knife from his boot. He again attacked the Gray, who was once again avoiding all his attacks with ease. It was as if the Gray was playing with him. Wiggs' anger rose and he somehow managed to jab his knife at the side of his opponent's waist. His enemy grunted and back handed with such force that he spun in mid air and landed on the ground face first with a heavy thud. Wiggs couldn't move. He felt as if he was hit by an iron dumbbell across his face. His vision almost blackened with a single blow.
Devin and Greene helped him on his feet. And the Gray let them. He still had the knife embedded at the side of his waist.
"Are you okay, man?" Greene asked with worry.
"Not really." Wiggs groaned, holding his face. "I almost blacked out."
"He is unnaturally strong." Devin glared at the Gray.
The three of them saw in horror that the Gray simply removed the knife from his waist and dropped it on the ground. They saw the blade of the knife was soaked with blood and even his wound was leaking blood. But he was still standing and he only flinched while he was pulling out the blade from his side. No human can tolerate this kind of pain without going down. It was impossible. This Gray couldn't be just a human.
"What the hell are you?" Devin snarled at the Gray.
The Gray smiled. "We are humans of course." Then his smile vanished and got replaced by a cruel and violent expression. "But at the same time we are much more. Skynet's gift to us." With inhuman speed he kicked Wiggs on his chest which threw him two feet away, punched Greene in his gut which caused him to double over in pain on the ground. Devin tried to stab him with his own knife but he caught Devin's hand using inhuman reflexes. He grabbed Devin by the front of his shirt and threw him against a trunk of a tree. Within a few seconds the three veteran resistance fighters were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
The Gray instructed his men to step forward and take the resistance fighters as their prisoners. But before they could even step forward two successive shots were heard and two of the Grays' heads exploded in pieces of gore, bone and blood.
Their lifeless bodies dropped on the ground quickly.
Before the other two Grays could react their bodies were shredded with automatic fires. The two of them lay on the ground in the pool of their own blood but they were still not dead. The three resistance fighters saw a woman come into their view and walked calmly towards the twitching bodies of the two Grays with a 9mm in her hand. Without any words she put three bullets in each of their foreheads, silencing them completely.
Once she was sure that they were dead she reloaded her handgun and holstered it. Then her gaze fell on the three resistance fighters on the ground.
"You should've been more careful." She simply said.
The three of them looked at her open mouth because they knew her very well. "Williams? What are you doing here?" Greene asked. He also saw more men appeared behind her, all armed to the teeth. He recognized all of them as resistance fighters.
"Not here." She simply denied. "Come with us." Blaire Williams offered.
LATER, SECRET RESISTANCE BASE
As soon as Devin, Greene and Wiggs reached the secret hideout, they received first-aid treatment, food and water. The hideout was not large but they were shocked to see there were at least twenty people there including Williams.
Connor sent all of them back?
The Grays did a number of them, but their injuries were not fatal and they were soldiers. They had fought against machines and won. Now, they needed answers.
They spotted Blaire Williams talking with another soldier. She turned her attention on them as they got nearer. "We need answers." Devin said.
"And I shall provide them." She agreed with a nod and instructed them to follow her inside a room.. She walked inside the room and sat down on a chair facing them. Wiggs, Devin and Greene sat down on a torn sofa. "Talk."
Wiggs cleared his throat. "What are you doing here? Did Connor send you back?"
Blaire rolled her eyes at his question. "We are here to help you stop Judgment Day. You will need help. We have to fight a war and win it. And of course Connor sent us back."
"Hang on." Greene interrupted. "Why didn't Connor inform us about you people? We could've met earlier and used your help."
Williams shrugged. "Connor's reasoning is a mystery. Perhaps he didn't want us to meet before it was time?"
"But he knew things about Skynet, about the machines which almost turned the tide of the war when he became our leader. No one knew how he knew all those things." Greene murmured.
"But he was always right and that man led us to victory. I can never forget that." Devin added. The other two nodded.
"Connor's reasoning is irrelevant to us. We need to believe in him. I do trust him but do you?" Blaire asked, looking at the three resistance fighters. The three fighters stared at her in a way as if she just asked a very dumb question. "Of course. You need to even ask that?" One of them replied irritably.
"Good. Then let's not talk about Connor's decisions." Blaire suggested, glaring at them. They nodded.
Blaire seemed satisfied at their approval. "Do you know who those men were?" She asked them. "No." She answered, looking at their confused expressions. "Those were infiltrators. Hybrids. Not machines but not men either."
"We've never heard about Hybrids before." Wiggs murmured.
"Exactly." Greene agreed.
"Did Skynet send them back?" Devin asked.
Blaire sighed tiredly, leaning back on her chair. "You couldn't have heard about them because Skynet didn't send them back. They were created in this timeline. Secret project of Skynet. It has no facilities to create terminators, but in labs they could do this. Augmented humans, controlled by powerful microprocessors embedded deep inside their brains."
"They have enhanced strength and speed also." Wiggs added.
"Yes. Enhanced with cybernetics. They are neither dead nor alive. It's hard to explain, I am no tech expert." Blaire confirmed. "They are better infiltrators than a terminator. Even dogs won't be able to distinguish them from a human by smell, like a terminator. They are faster but their physical strength cannot match that of a terminator but against a human, they are dangerous foes."
Wiggs seemed exhausted as he leaned back on the sofa. "Sure these things are fast, but against Connor's protector they would have no chance."
Blair's eyebrows shot up at Wiggs' revelation. "Connor has a protector in this timeline? Who?"
Wiggs looked straight into Blair's eyes. "Cameron Phillips."
Blaire nodded. "Figures. She is dangerous and unpredictable. Don't know what Connor was thinking but he may have had a good reason for entrusting a machine with his life."
"She may pose a threat to us, but not to Connor. We have seen that." Greene shrugged.
"Anyways, how do you know about these hybrids?" Wiggs asked Blaire.
Blaire got up from the chair and drank a glass of water. "Before we were sent back, John Henry recovered data from Skynet central core which mentioned that Skynet was experimenting on making human hybrids. But it never got the time to finish the experiment. Connor suspected that Skynet would try to complete the project here, in this timeline. He advised us to keep our eyes open."
Wiggs nodded. "That makes sense."
"But how did you track them here?" Greene asked.
Blaire again sat down on her chair. "Remember the news about persons missing randomly from all over the country?" They shrugged telling her silently that they have no idea. Blaire sighed. "We suspected that there was something odd about it. We also remembered Connor's words about human hybrids and for some reason I thought that the disappearances of men mysteriously, had got to do something with it. We kept searching for days but we found nothing. Then one day when our guards were lowered a group of men attacked us out of nowhere. They were only two in number but we lost five men that day. Those men who attacked us were the hybrids."
"And?" Greene asked curiously.
"We managed to capture one of them. The other one died." Blaire revealed.
The three of them leaned forward with interest. "Did you get any useful info out of him?"
Blaire nodded. "Not much. Apparently those two men were only experimental. The microprocessor in his brain malfunctioned for an hour or so and he somehow reverted back to his human self."
"What did he say? Like where the lab is?" Devin asked.
"He said he could only remember bits. He had gaps in his memories and he had no knowledge about where the lab was. He informed us that he was an ex-military. He had to retire because of an injury on his leg. He couldn't walk after his injury on the battlefield." Blaire explained.
"But when he attacked you people, he could?" Wiggs questioned curiously.
"Yes. There were no signs of injury on his legs. We checked. He also told us that he had no memory of him attacking us. He was confused himself. According to him, Skynet is capturing more and more people and turning them into humans every day." She answered.
Wiggs eyebrows shot up at surprise. "He knew about Skynet?"
"No. But he knew about the group who is behind the human hybrids experiments. They are providing resources and men. They are funding the project." She replied.
"What group?"
"Kaliba. A shady organization. We managed to track down one of their warehouses. There we found cars and several dead bodies lying inside the warehouse. There were signs of titanium alloys' presence in the warehouse which were all destroyed. But…." She was confused herself. "We found traces of blood outside which indicated that there was at least one more man present there that day. Whoever killed those men took the last man hostage."
"So these people who we thought as the Grays are not? They are part of the Kaliba group?"
"Yes. But the Grays are involved with this organization. They are not fighting directly, they are hiring mercenaries to do their dirty jobs." Blaire said.
"Did you find the last man?"
Blaire nodded. "Not immediately but two days later in a cellar of an abandoned house outside the city. He was tied to a chair and we found him dead. A single gunshot wound on his forehead. A 9mm, probably."
"Well at least this unknown killer is against Skynet." Wiggs sighed.
"Maybe. But who was it? Someone else from the future?" Blaire murmured but there was no answer.
"More mysteries. You got anything out of the hybrid?" Devin questioned.
"Yes. The leader of Kaliba. Charles Fischer. A Gray. The worst of them all." She hissed with gritted teeth.
"We need to contact the Connors." Everyone nodded at that suggestion.
SOMEWHERE IN L.A.
Agent Ellison was driving his car towards his destination. He never even imagined that he would have to do what he will be going to do. But at least he was free again.
He could've left everything behind and ran away from all this shit in his life. But the Agent knew better. No matter where he'd go he knew that the machine that calls herself 'Cameron' would track him down and kill him if he betrays John Connor. She had warned that he was in and there was no way out because he knew too much. Ellison was not a rookie. He was a veteran agent. He had faced many dangers and near to death situations in his career over the years in the FBI.
But since he got involved in the Sarah Connor case, his world has turned upside down completely. His friends in the FBI thought he was being mental about getting in the Sarah Connor case. Everyone knew that she was a mental patient and a killer, including him.
But boy was he wrong.
The machines, world annihilation and killer robots everything Sarah Connor warned about was true. She was no psycho. And certainly not a murderer. She had never killed Miles Dyson. Ellison had dug further into the case and the details about the destruction of Cyberdyne. He had found the leader of the SWAT team that day who infiltrated Cyberdyne with the mission to eliminate all threats.
The person who mortally wounded Miles Dyson.
He was not ready to talk at first, but being an FBI agent Ellison knew how to make a person talk. Ellison coerced the SWAT leader to admit that he did shoot Miles Dyson.
"Why did you shoot Mr. Dyson?"
"I didn't. It was that crazy bitch Sarah Connor who shot Miles Dyson that day, in cold blood."
Ellison banged the table in front of him with his hand. "Don't lie! I have evidence that Sarah Connor didn't kill Mr. Dyson. You did."
"I was under the orders to shoot them on sight." The former SWAT leader seemed tense.
"Again lies. Don't take me as a fool. I have studied this case thoroughly. You were ordered to stop the Connors and the large man with them, not Mr. Dyson. He was a civilian."
"I…"
"Admit the truth, otherwise I have enough evidence to make you rot behind prison walls for the rest of your life." Ellison threatened.
"Alright! I admit! I did shoot Dyson. I was instructed not to let Mr. Dyson to live. Like the rest of them I was ordered to shoot him on sight."
Ellison stepped away angrily. He glared at the man angrily. "You didn't think of the consequences. That man had a family. And what about Sarah Connor's son. He was just a child. You were ordered to shoot him too?"
"John Connor was the priority. But we never got a glimpse of him."
"Why him?"
"I don't know. I did as I was ordered." He looked at Ellison pleadingly. "Please, Agent. I thought I was doing the right thing that day."
Ellison ignored his pleading. "Who gave you that order?"
"Margos Sarkissian."
Ellison's eyes widened.
After Ellison was freed by John Connor he had gone and talked with the SWAT leader to gather more evidence as John Connor asked him to do. Ellison had no idea why he'd listened to John Connor, apart from the reason that his protector Cameron would have probably snapped his neck if he had said no. John was just a kid but he couldn't deny that there was a fire in him which made him agree. He felt that John knew what he was doing. Ellison still couldn't believe that Cameron had let him go after getting him away from Connor's hideout. He was so sure that she'd kill him despite John's order. But she didn't. One more thing Ellison came to know that day - Cameron was fiercely loyal to John, and there's nothing that she wouldn't do for him. He had never seen such an advanced robot like Cameron. She was no different from a human, in both physical appearance and mentally.
She understands everything.
After that Ellison had gone and met Enrique Salceda.
"Welcome, Agent." Enrique invited Ellison inside his home.
Ellison stepped inside and he sat down on a small sofa after Enrique gestured him to sit. "Thanks."
Enrique sat down in front of him on another sofa and offered him a cigarette which he denied. He shrugged and put the pack of cigarettes down on the table.
"So, what's the news, Agent? Did you find her?" Enrique asked with a hopeful expression on his face.
"No." Enrique's face fell. "But they found me. John Connor found me." Ellison said and Enqriue's face lightened up.
"How did she take everything?" Enrique said with his eyes cast down. He was ashamed of himself.
"Well she was outraged but her son took it pretty well. He has even agreed to rescue your family." Ellison said.
Enrique's eyes misted at Ellison's revelation. He couldn't believe that John had agreed to help him after what Enrique did to them. He had betrayed them which almost got them killed. Almost got John killed who was like a son to him. He had never thought about the consequences of him betraying the Connors to the FBI. He could only think about his own family at that time. How he could rescue them.
Momentarily he was ready to sacrifice everything to save his family. Even Sarah and John. But he forgot that they were his family too.
He regretted his decision later. He may have lost his family that day but he wouldn't have to live with the feeling of guilt and shame inside his heart.
Look at John though. He didn't hesitate to save his family despite knowing that he almost got John and his mother killed. Because John still believed that Enrique was part of his family too. And Enrique can never be grateful to anyone more than John in his life, ever.
"Mr. Salceda." Ellison's voice got Enrique out of his thoughts.
"Yes, Agent?" Enrique asked.
"I do have a message for you." Ellison said.
Enrique's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "From John?"
"No. From Cameron." Ellison replied.
Enrique seemed curious now. "The girl living with Sarah and John?" Ellison nodded. "What does she have to say to me?" Enrique found it strange since he didn't even know her well, nor did she. "Anyways what's the message?"
Ellison leaned back on his seat. "Don't go near John Connor, or she will kill you."
Enrique stared at Ellison for a moment flabbergasted. Then he laughed. "She will kill me?" He asked between his laughter. "Really? If Sarah had sent that message I would have taken it seriously."
Ellison stopped him. His expression was grave and serious. "I would take it seriously, Mr. Salceda, if I was in your place."
Enrique's smile vanished seeing the serious expression on Ellison's face. "You surely don't think that girl is capable of lifting a heavy gun let alone kill somebody?"
Ellison shook his head. "Believe me, Mr. Salceda. She could crush your skull like an orange with her bare hands. She is extremely protective of John Connor and hostile towards people who pose a threat to him. It was only because of John Connor you are still alive Mr. Salceda, otherwise she would've killed you long ago."
"But I need to apologize to John and Sarah at least." Enrique argued.
"Forget it, Mr. Salceda. If you want to stay alive, do as she says. Otherwise even John Connor wouldn't be able to protect you." Ellison disagreed.
Ellison sighed and nodded his head. "Who is she to John?"
Ellison thought about it. He had seen John Connor and Cameron together. She was his protector but to his eyes they seemed to be much more. He had never seen John Connor treat her as a machine and order her around. The two of them seemed to have a deep connection, so much that they could understand each other's thoughts without speaking out loud. Ellison had no idea what to think about it.
"I don't know." He answered honestly.
Ellison delivered his message to Enrique Salceda and he hoped that he would listen at least for his own sake or Cameron would surely kill him. He was about to get in his car but at that moment his phone rang. It was an unknown number.
"Hello?" Ellison received the call.
"Agent, this is John Connor." Ellison heard the voice from the opposite end of the line.
"Mr. Connor…"
"You wanted my trust, Agent?" Ellison again heard John's voice over the phone.
"Yes."
"If you want your friends in FBI headquarters alive, take the responsibility of recovering the information we need about Sarkissian. Otherwise you know the alternate option - Cameron won't stop."
Ellison's eyes widened in horror. He knew John Connor was not giving any false threat. If Cameron goes to get information about Sarkissian in the FBI headquarters, surely a lot of innocent people would die.
"Okay. Give me some time at least." Ellison requested.
"You have until today." Was all Ellison heard before the connection ended.
Instead of going back to his home, Ellison went to the FBI headquarters and was now standing right in front of the building. He silently prayed to the god to help him before getting past the security and inside the building.
A/N: Please let me know what you think about the new development of the story in this chapter.
