Knives For Hands || John Connor

xv. Bullet Rain

they'd not even been on the road for more than ten minutes. "chopper's coming in!" sarah announced.

the terminator turned to the back of the van. "it's him." (y/n) didn't need to be a genius to know who *he* was. the t-1000.

sarah fumbled with the guns that resided in the back of the van. (y/n) just watched as one of the van doors stayed open and swayed harshly on its hinges. "you know how to use a gun?" sarah asked the younger girl, her voice strained.

she shrugged in response. "i can figure it out."

"good." sarah gestured to the wall of guns as she turned back to the open end of the van. (y/n) went over to the guns, glancing out the back to see the helicopter lower to the same height as the van. huffing, she studied the guns on the rack.

despite grabbing weapons on their visit to sarah's bunker-type place, they'd left in a rush after sarah's disappearance. she cursed herself for her lack of preparation. she put the already loaded and cool-looking handgun to no use. picking up the first shotgun her eyes laid eyes on, she fumbled with it.

sarah hid behind the closed door after exchanging bullets with the t-1000. "did you load it?"

(y/n) internally cursed herself for her lack of knowledge. biting back her pride and fear of disappointing john's mom, she sighed, "i don't know."

sarah barked out a laugh. (y/n) didn't know if it was in utter disbelief at her failure, but she became nervous. her nerves settled as sarah explained to her the steps, though not in a gentle tone, in the midst of her shooting.

finally getting to the point of being able to shoot, (y/n) laughed triumphantly. she stepped up to the open door, holding her gun to the helicopter. bullets rained down on her, causing parts of her body to have metallic, cavernous dents. sarah shot some more, ducking once they went under an overpass. the helicopter narrowly avoided losing its blades as it followed them.

john sat with vests all over him, and he was getting impatient. he peeked around them at (y/n) and his mom firing bullets into the open air. just as he got a good glance, bullets made their way towards him, so he put the vest back.

"john! stay down!" sara ordered as she took cover once again. the van weaved through traffic, clipping cars on its way. (y/n) slipped out of the line of fire, giving her body time to recover from the shots. the metal formed back together, making her as good as she was before she was shot. sarah, however, did not have those abilities. she recoiled harshly with a scream, falling back onto the floor of the van.

"mom!"

the terminator turned back. noticing sarah writhing on the ground. he pressed on the brake, causing sarah to slide away from the open doors. (y/n) stumbled and john slid in his spot. the helicopter crashed against the back of the van, going up in flames. as they regained speed, the helicopter crashed and burned.

before (y/n) could feel her hopes rise, the van became unstable. it toppled over, disheveling everything inside it. the three in the back let out screams. some screamed out a name, where others cried in pain.

once the van slid to a stop, they could hear the other cars on the street stop behind them. outside, uneven steps padded through the gravel. "hello?" a voice called.

"come on, mom, we gotta get out." john and (y/n) supported sarah out of the vehicle.

"my shotgun."

"oh, man," said the owner of the voice from outside. "are you guys okay?" the terminator turned his eyes on the man, his hard expression causing the man to flinch back.

the man was spared, however, as the terminator's gaze turned away from him. instead, he focused on the new truck that plowed in their direction. john looked up through the hair that hung in his face with dread. a large truck traveled at dangerous speeds through the fire from the wreckage. as it got closer, they could read the words on the side of the truck. liquid nitrogen.

"*oh shit*. come on, come on." he ushered both his mom and his girlfriend forwards.

the terminator started behind them, giving the man a brief "we need your truck." the man gave no protests, just an open-mouthed stare. john continued to mutter as the two helped sarah into the car. it was cramped, as it was only a two-seater, but they made it work. (y/n) pressed herself against the door, awkwardly sitting next to sarah.

"i'm bleeding. bad," sarah informed the three.

"put pressure on it," john told her.

(y/n)'s eyes scanned the interior of the truck, pulling out a cloth. "here, use this."

"this'll work," nodded sarah. "thanks." she pressed the navy fabric against her leg, turning to look at the window behind her. "he's gaining!"

"step on it!" insisted john.

"this is the vehicles top speed."

"i could get out and run faster than this!" barked (y/n). before she could make any other comments, sarah cried out in pain as she tied the cloth around her leg. (y/n) craned her head back as the nitrogen truck started to ram into the back of theirs. john let out a startled yelp at the contact. "he's coming up to the right!"

john let out another sound, pulling his mom towards him. the girl closest to the door did her best to lean over the two, keeping them from getting shot. the nitrogen truck pushed them against the guard rails, the t-1000 breaking the window with his bullets.

"drive a minute."

john's shrill voice protested, "where the hell are you going?" the terminator didn't respond, only opened the door and stood out. his gun fired back at the nitrogen truck. john steered, only with the occasional instruction from the terminator. but, the ramp they were told to go down almost backfired, as they were seconds away from a car crash.

"shit!" john cried as they almost t-boned a tractor trailer. "hang on!" they made a sharp turn, the terminator still hanging on the outside. the nitrogen truck was not slowed, however, as it's front met with the backend of their vehicle. the terminator lost his ammo in the commotion, no longer having a useable weapon. multiple under-breath curses floated through the air as they drove through a gate.

the terminator was as quick on his feet as usual. he grabbed the gun that rested on the dash of the truck, and then left. john took the chance and scooted farther into the driver side, causing sarah to shift as well. (y/n) was grateful for the space to turn as she gawked at the terminator. the machine stood on the front of the nitrogen truck, shooting rapidly into the driver's side.

john glanced back when he could, only to see the truck toppling over. "don't stop," sarah ordered. he obliged, carrying on as people tossed themselves out of the way. (y/n) still watched as the terminator stood tall on the side of the truck as it skidded. it laid on its side, sparks flying from the friction. "go straight!"

after he continued going straight, as ordered, he saw the truck couldn't go any farther. it was going to crash. "duck!" john cried out. (y/n) let out a curse, going down and pulling sarah connor with her.

~
word count: 1,276