Terminator - Dying Light

Chapter Eleven

The car emerged from behind the large bus, dust swirling in the air as the bus sped down the road. Darcy gripped the wheel tightly and steered the car off the main road, veering onto a narrow dirt path that stretched ahead. The ride was rough, the bumps and dips in the road causing the car to jolt every few seconds. According to the road map Darcy had memorized, at the end of this dirt road was a small village. It wasn't much, but it would offer them a place to sleep, rest, and maybe even get a decent meal for the first time in days.

"How do you know about this place?" Tommy asked from the backseat, his voice tired but curious.

Darcy glanced at him in the rearview mirror, a soft smile touching his lips. "You told me about it," he replied quietly, his tone gentle.

Tommy blinked, looking confused for a moment. "I did?"

"Not you right now," Darcy clarified, his eyes flicking back to the road. "The you from the future. You mentioned this place during the war and said it was somewhere you went when you were younger. Safe, out of the way."

Tommy sat back, processing the strange concept of his future self giving advice to save his present one. The thought was unsettling, but somehow, it made him feel a bit more hopeful. If his future self had survived long enough to talk about this place, maybe they'd make it through today too.

"These people out here eventually become your friends," Darcy said, glancing back at Tommy. "They take you in before the war."

Fiona looked at Darcy, her voice barely more than a whisper as she asked, "When does this war start?"

Darcy's expression grew sombre as he replied, "Cyberdyne activated Skynet on March 23rd, 2005. By April 10th, Skynet becomes self-aware. It takes full control of all military resources and declares war at 2:45 a.m. That's when everything changes."

Fiona's eyes widened as she absorbed the gravity of his words. "And in a panic, they try to pull the plug," she said, almost as if she could see it all unfolding in her mind.

Darcy nodded, his voice steady but filled with a quiet urgency. "But Skynet fights back. It knows what's coming and initiates nuclear strikes against Russia because it's calculated that Russia will retaliate by targeting Skynet's enemies here."

Fiona's breath caught in her throat, the reality of it all sinking in. "So that's how it starts," she murmured, more to herself than to Darcy.

"Yeah," Darcy confirmed, his tone heavy. "It's the beginning of the end for so many people. But it's also the start of the fight to take everything back."

Tommy turned his head and stared out the window, his thoughts racing. As the car bounced along the rough dirt road, his mind conjured up terrifying images of the future. He imagined a massive nuclear explosion, the blinding flash of light swallowing everything in its path, followed by a towering mushroom cloud that stretched up into the sky. The ground beneath him seemed to shake as the blast wave tore through cities, reducing them to rubble in an instant.

In his mind's eye, out of the smouldering ruins and roaring fires, an army of relentless killing machines emerged. Cold, unfeeling metal with glowing red eyes, they marched forward with a single purpose: to wipe out what was left of humanity. The thought of those machines—unstoppable, ruthless—sent a chill down his spine.

Tommy blinked, snapping himself back to the present. He looked away from the window, the fear still clinging to him, making his heart race. He glanced over at Darcy and then at his mom in the front seat, wondering how they could stay so calm when the future seemed so terrifying. The weight of everything Darcy had told him pressed down on him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that their world was teetering on the edge of something catastrophic. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, but the images of destruction and the relentless machines wouldn't leave his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if doing so could keep the terrifying future at bay, if only for a little while longer.