Set ten years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, John Connor and his mother, Sarah Connor, are off-grid and separated in 2005. While Sarah is at Norfolk, Virginia, for matters too personal to tell her own son, John is surviving on his o...
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Reyna fires another bullet, puncturing the other front wheel of the JEM-9s' flaming car.
Beside her, John lights another match and tosses it into another opened bottle of alcohol.
"Reyna, quick!"
The supersoldier tosses the second makeshift molotov with all her might. She had to stop the car. It was impossible to aim for the engine but if the molotov could land on either one of the JEM-9s-
Her wish comes true. The molotov explodes in the driver of the JEM-9, forcing it to stop the car.
Reyna shoots the second front wheel until she isn't within shooting range anymore. She sighs and returns to her seat.
"You're going to be okay, Reyna." John assures, pressing the gas pedal.
"We're not going to be okay if you don't watch your speed." She looks at her shoulder. It was beginning to heal. "Where are we going anyways?"
"To the Machens. Errol Machen is a Welsh farmer and an Army veteran. He taught me modern mechanics and some combat. You should taste his apple juice, because it's the best I've ever tasted. His wife is Antonia, but she'll let you call her Toni. She's a physical therapist so she can care for the both of us. They have a daughter, Ramona. She says she wants to become an artist so don't be surprised if she gives you one of her works.
"I stayed with him and his family when my mom needed to be by herself for a while. They're nice people; you'll love them."
Reyna only nods. She wanted to tell him that she was fine and they didn't need to visit the Machens', but it was an opportunity for John to receive proper treatment.
She was beginning to learn that John was single-minded. Although proven useful in warfare, it was irritating.
Victor was just as irritating. She remembers when he skateboarded his way through Barrington-Rosseau. That was before she'd gotten to know him.
Reyna walks with her new friend, Saoirse Lebranche, on her way to IB Mathematics through the crisp, wooden walls of Barrington-Rosseau.
"Are you coming to the Winter Dance?" Saoirse asks.
Reyna scoffs. "Saoirse, the dance is in three months. I have plenty of time to think about it. Besides no one has asked me yet-"
Without warning, she slams into something solid and falls on her bottom. Her pre-organized papers fly in the air and become disorganized. Reyna looks down at her chest and sees green liquid splattered all over her uniform. A Monster drink. Beside her, a skateboard rolls to a stop. And she had thought she walked into a pillar.
Reyna opens her mouthto reprimand the person who had walked into her, and sputters instead.
The boy she had bumped into was a head taller than her with dark brown hair. His spectacled, bewildered green eyes find hers.
"I am so, so, sorry-" He begins.
Reyna cuts him off. "Do you offer skateboarding lessons?"
"Um, not recently, but I'm willing to teach. Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you..."
"Reyna. You haven't earned my last name yet."
The boy held his hand out. "You deserve mine. Victor. Victor Magdalen. But you can call me Vic."
"We're here." John says abruptly, putting the car and Reyna's reminiscing to a stop.
"Already?" She asks with a hint of disappointment in her tone.
John turns off the ignition. "Unless you want to stay in the car, which I doubt you'll want to."
They get out of the car and leave their weapons inside. Reyna keeps her pistol hidden in her jacket.
The supersoldier approaches a robin-egg blue two story house with a cream colored porch that surrounded the house. To her right stood a barn that might have been red once, but had faded to a lemonade pink.
A woman wearing scrubs holds her daughter's hand and exits the house through the screen door and onto the porch.
"Kit?" The woman asks with a Greek accent. "Is that you?"
"It's me, Antonia." John/Kit replies. "I've brought a friend and we both need your medical attention."
Kit? There were a hundred other names Reyna could use to conceal John's identity.
Antonia bats a hand at John. "How many times have I told you to call me Toni? Anyways, who is your friend, Kit?"
Reyna waves at Antonia. "Hi, Mrs. Machen. I'm Esmerelda Calavante. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Esmerelda. You and Kit come inside, I have falafels in the oven right now; they're Ramona's favorite." Toni kissed her daughter's forehead. "I can check on both of you after you eat and please, make yourselves at home."
As Reyna and John walk up the front steps of the porch, she whispers to John.
"Kit? Seriously?"
"Kit Reese, mind you. Like my father."
Why did that name sound familiar to her? Wasn't there someone in John's division with the last name Reese? Yes, it started with a K.
"Your father is Kyle Reese?" she hisses.
"I'll explain it later. But Esmerelda? Seriously?"
"It's my middle name, thank you very much." She resists the urge to push him off the stairs. But then again, she made fun of his name.
John opens the screen door for Reyna. She steps inside as John follows her into the house. The interior housed a cozy atmosphere, with a crackling fireplace and quilt blankets in the living room and wooden floors. Ramona's crayon and finger painted masterpieces were taped to the walls, along with photos of the Machens.
They walk to the dining room, where three plates of falafels sit in their respective spots. A small bowl of yogurt and a glass of apple juice accompany the plate on either side.
Reyna sits across from John and bites into the falafel. Herbs and spices explode in her mouth. She finishes the entire plate in seconds and asks Toni for more.
"I apologize for Errol's absence." Toni says, supplying Reyna with three more falafel balls. "He had to take care of the farm."
"Farm?" Reyna echoes. She had seen the farm, but not the barn.
"That's what I have. " A tall Welsh man in his late thirties enters through the back door.
"We know, Errol." Toni laughs, kissing Errol's cheek.
John and Reyna chat lightly with the Machens. Reyna explains that she had found John with his motorcycle on the side of the road with a broken engine and decided to drive him to his destination instead of taking him to a repair shop. It wasn't too bad of a story, but it was believable.
"How awful," Errol says, "is your motorcycle alright, Kit?"
John laughs. "My motorcycle will be fine. It's old and I could probably use a new one."
"Luckily, you found Esmerelda. Right, Kit?"
John looks to Reyna, who is now on her third plate of falafels. "Yes. I'm very lucky."
