Terminator: Realities

ORDERS

It was already getting dark the next day. John and Quin were in a small APC with other soldiers. There were only a dozen of them sitting, crammed inside one truck.

"Picked a name yet?" Quin asked.

"No," John answered. "Not really, but if it's a girl, either Janelle or Kyla. If it's a boy, probably Todd or Kyle."

"Excited?" Quin wondered out loud.

John looked over at Quin with eyes like a deer caught in headlights. "Nervous as all hell," he replied. Even now, I'm questioning if it's a good idea to bring a kid into a world like this. Then I remind myself that someone has to carry on after all this."

The APC slowed to a stop in an alley between two large buildings, one half blown to bits, and the other, abandoned. Everyone stepped out, securing the area as John emerged.

"Kinda a small group of soldiers," Quin said as he stepped out.

Suddenly, the radio on the APC came to life with the sounds of battle. "All DSF teams are engaged. Holding positions." A voice said.

John looked at Quin. "We'll be fine," he said. "As long as the Distraction Strike Forces do their part, we should be joined by at least five other teams."

"For just a minute there," Quin said. "I thought it would just be us, one team."

John smiled and shook his head. "You should know me by now," he replied. "I'm not that crazy."

"You're the paranoid one," Quin said. "Always playing your cards close to his chest 'cause he's afraid of any intel falling into the machine's hands."

John shrugged as he moved from cover to cover with Quin. "Well," he whispered. "I had to tell someone in order to pull this off."

Quin looked through his scope to check for any trouble ahead. He looked at John and used a hand gesture to indicate that it was ok to go on.

John motioned for the rest of his team to move up.

"There are rumors, but I always wanted to ask you," Quin said. "What did you do before the war?"

Looking ahead to the next cover, John answered before moving on. "Nothing."

It wasn't the answer Quin was expecting and left him perplexed, and without clarification until he could join up with John at the next cover. "Nothing?" he asked. "I thought you'd tell me something like, you were always a soldier or did security or something."

John moved on before responding.

At the next cover, both men settled in a bit. Quin again quickly looked through his scope before motioning to the others that everything was clear.

"I didn't do anything," John said, almost regretfully. "I was a drifter, a hobo, nomad."

Quin then noticed that John appeared lost in thought. "Nomad sounds kinda cool," he said.

John scoffed at Quin's remark. "Trust me," he said. "It's not."

"Could have been worse," Quin said. "You could have been a straight-up bum."

John chuckled. "I practically was," he said. "Sometimes I wonder what kind of life I could've given Kate if this war never happened."

"I think she's happy with you no matter what," Quin said. "Ryka talks with her a lot. Talks about having the baby and plans the two of you have."

John closed his eyes and began whispering to himself. "Focus, focus, focus."

"Come on," Quin said. "There are some stairs right over there. Let's find you a good lookout point."