This time, Kate was more agile and was the first to reach the door. The horror of the memory of how she and John had been burned in the flames that T-X had doused them had not yet passed, but the joy of Fate giving them another chance made up for such negative memories and gave them strength. The girl was able to pull herself together and start acting rationally.
"What the hell! Who needs to bang on the door in the middle of the night?!" Catherine heard Scott's disgruntled voice behind her, and a moment later softer.
"Honey, I could have opened it myself—"
John was behind the door. He was breathing heavily, apparently he had come here at full speed, and then he was running up the stairs and out of breath. But the guy still looked happy. Without a doubt, he was also glad that he and Kate were alive and well again.
Under the influence of a sudden rush of emotions, the two immediately embraced tightly, which Kate's fiancé, who had managed to turn on the light, could not fail to see.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Scott was outraged.
"Scott, meet John, my former classmate— But it's not what you thought," the girl said calmly as she and John unclasped their embrace." Strangely, Kate didn't even feel the pang of conscience of hugging another man in front of her fiancé.
"Not what I thought?! What then? Can someone bother to explain it to me?" The young man looked at Connor suspiciously, noticing his unsightly appearance.
"A little later, Scott."
As if he weren't there, John and Kate began to talk to each other.
"We've got to get out of here quickly! I'm sure she'll be here first!"
"Yes, I guess you're right. I'm going to—" Kate began to pull out her clothes again.
"No, guys, you can't get rid of me so easily!" It was Scott again, who was only inflamed by the behavior of his fiancée and her "former classmate".
"If you don't explain it to me right now, I'll… I'll call the police, and let him—" he glanced contemptuously at John — "be detained for trespassing!"
"What kind of trespassing?! Scott, what are you grinding?" No matter how hard she tried to restrain herself, Kate raised her voice.
"Look, buddy, we really don't have time to explain right now." Connor tried to calm Scott down, but it had the opposite effect.
"I'm not your buddy! With those who snuggle with other people's fiancées, I—"
"That's enough, Scott!" Catherine exploded.
"No, it's not enough! You seem to enjoy bringing me down?! At first, without consultation, you promise your father to come to this damn wilderness, to the desert, and now this—"
"Scott!"
"Well, calm down, please!" John said it again. He stepped closer and motioned with his hand for Scott to calm down. But he decided that Connor wanted to touch him and, in turn, pushed the guy away. John fell to the floor.
"Stop it!" Kate shouted.
"Shut up!" Her fiancé snapped.
"Hey, don't yell at her!" John stood up for the girl.
He quickly stood up and looked at his opponent menacingly. A match was brought in, and the flame flared up. Immediately a skirmish broke out between Scott and John, which escalated into a fight, which Kate unsuccessfully tried to break up. It is not known when and how it would have ended, if at that moment Terminator had not rushed into the apartment and, having assessed the situation in a second, lightly (by his standards!) did not hit Scott on the head with his free hand (he had a gun in the other). The guy immediately lost consciousness.
"What are you doing?!" Kate exclaimed, who, despite her already ingrained dislike of her fiancé, was still not ready to inflict any bodily harm on him. She jumped up and slammed her fist on the chest of T-850 with all her might.
"Catherine Brewster, your fiancé is alive, only unconscious," the cyborg replied without much expression. Then, glancing at both Kate and Connor, who was still lying on the floor, he helped John to his feet and announced, "We don't have time to sort things out. T-X will be here very soon. The probability is 98.88 percent."
"Why not one hundred percent?" John grunted, recovering from the fight.
Terminator looked at him, and John could have sworn he read the displeasure in that look. But, of course, it just seemed to him that the terminators were not dissatisfied.
T-850 replied, "I must get you and Catherine Brewster to safety."
"What other safe place? We need to go to CRS! Have you forgotten?" John and Kate pounced on the cyborg at the same time.
"My job is to keep John Connor and Catherine Brewster safe."
The guy and the girl looked at each other, and then Catherine cut off.
"I command you: We will go to CRS to stop Skynet and prevent Judgment Day! And—" She hesitated for a moment, — "we'll take Scott with us."
"Kate," Connor said.
"No, I can't leave him here: T-X will kill him!" John could tell from her tone that the decision was final, and he didn't dare to challenge it.
"The task is clear," T-850 confirmed.
"Okay, now I need to change my clothes," the girl announced.
John involuntarily turned his attention to her figure. Kate was still standing in front of him in only her nightgown, and although she wasn't overly revealing, the lines of her body were clearly visible through the not-so-thick fabric. Catherine had a good figure, small but high breasts, dark brown hair that was disheveled at this moment, a snub nose, and strong hips like her mother's.
"Where are you staring?" The girl exclaimed indignantly.
Connor was embarrassed and tried to say something in response, but the words never came out of his mouth.
"I don't seem to be your type, am I?" Kate said more peacefully, and without giving John time to recover, she stunned him again. "Turn away!"
John hurriedly turned 180 degrees, and Kate, noticing that T-850 was staring at them in bewilderment, ordered him to do the same.
"Why?" The cyborg asked.
"Just do it," Connor advised. "Believe me, it's the right thing to do."
Kate chuckled and, after Terminator also stood facing the door, began to get dressed. She couldn't help smiling, catching herself thinking that she wasn't so much of John Connor's type. And here, although the timing was completely inopportune, Catherine reflected on the words she had once heard from Terminator that she was destined to become John's wife. But this is on the condition that Judgment Day takes place and the war with machines begins. They will be together, hand in hand, and there is no time to choose with whom to build your life.
But assuming that they could prevent a terrible catastrophe (which Kate had sincerely hoped for) and the world around them would not change, and life would continue to go on as usual, then could she and John have been…? Of course, he's a nightmare! She had already made this clear for herself. No education, no manners, no work. And what prospects does he have in any other field than the savior of mankind? Is he a worthy match for her: a well-mannered, educated girl from a good family of an Air Force general, daddy's daughter?
But, on the other hand, isn't she already too conceited and fastidious? "Katie is the sweetest girl in Ferris High," her high school friends often complimented. Not "Catherine is the most beautiful" or "Kathy will succeed or most likely marry a future president or a future multimillionaire."
And besides, how many times had Kate witnessed his courage, resourcefulness, care for herself. Back then, in the Crystal Peak, he had shielded her from T-X, and while it certainly didn't help, it was the action itself that mattered! And they've already kissed twice! Ten years ago, in Mike Kripke's basement, it was just clumsy teenage attempts to appear grown-up, and then, in the hospital, she just succumbed to a sudden impulse and returned his kiss.
A common saying flashed through my mind that "good girls" prefer "bad guys."
Yes, she needs to think about it all properly! Someday, but not now. Now there are other things to do!
Catherine was dressed in less than a minute. She also remembered to bring some of Scott's belongings so that he could change his clothes on the way in the car. Stuffing them into a small travel bag and grabbing her own purse, Catherine walked out of the apartment after John and Terminator, who was carrying Scott over her shoulder.
In the hallway, she was frightened when she saw their roommate, an elderly lady (actually an old hag and a gossip) in a shabby colorful dressing gown and curlers in her hair, looking at them suspiciously. Such a woman could report it to the police, and they did not need that now. However, before Kate could say anything, "Hello, Mrs. Adams!" T-850 preceded her, uttering the absolutely inimitable, "Stay calm!"
The door to Mrs. Adams's apartment, which was ajar, closed and she disappeared inside. "Okay, to hell with her!" Kate thought. "She'll report, so she'll report! Anyway, soon they won't be up to it!"
Using the elevator this time, the whole company went downstairs, where Terminator was about to load Scott into the back of his Dodge pickup truck. Catherine stopped him.
"No, wait! I think we should take—" She looked down at her van and then back to the black Mercedes Scott had rented a few days ago, — "that car. All four of us can fit here!"
"It makes sense to use two cars, in case T-X chases us and one of them is disabled," the cyborg disagreed.
As a result, he got behind the wheel of the Dodge, and John, Kate and Scott, who was unconscious in the back seat, moved forward in the Benz. They had left the place just a minute before T-X arrived, and had the foresight to take another route.