CONTINUUM Serrano Point: 2028

CHAPTER I

-Monday, August 7 2028 (11:28)

THE COMPANY OF SOLDIERS STOPPED NEXT TO A RUSTED LADDER. It stood in the middle of the tunnel they were in and went up to a large metal plate covering a hole in the ceiling. One of the soldiers quickly climbed up the ladder and hit the plate with the butt of his plasma-carbine three times. After a moment a voice from above called down: "Identification!"

The soldier on the ladder quickly replied, "Company C, Alpha-3-9-Victor-Sierra.

After a moment the plate was removed and the company started moving up the ladder and into the room above. Sixteen-year-old John Connor stood near the edge of the group wearing nothing but a borrowed trench coat and shoes. After a moment he turned to the young female Specialist standing next to him holding the leash to a large dog.

"A pass-code?" he asked.

The girl, Allison Young, nodded. "Yeah. Just encase a Terminator-Infiltrator manages to make it this far past the perimeter checkpoints."

John studied the plate, thinking about the incident with the bank vault door and Cromartie. "And that thing is supposed to hold back a Terminator?"

Allison shrugged. "Probable not for long, but once it broke through it would find about a dozen Plasma Rifles pointed at it, so..."

As they were near the edge of the group they had to wait a few minutes for everyone else to go up, and ended up being the last two in the tunnel. When it was their turn Allison went over to the ladder, looked at it, then at the dog, before finally turning back to face John. "You look big and strong. I think you should carry the dog up."

John looked at the dog for a moment, then returned his gaze to Allison. Sighing, he stepped onto the bottom rung of the ladder while Allison lifted up the dog and deposited it into his arms. John almost fell to the ground, but managed to grab onto the edge of the ladder with his left hand.

"Geez, what has this dog been eating," he complained.

Allison cocked her head to the side while she considered the question, then shrugged. "We probable don't want to know,” she said sagely.

John couldn't help starring at her. The way she had tilted her head a moment ago, it had reminded him of... John shook his head to clear it of the unwanted thoughts. I'm not going there. Not again.

"Hey," a voice yelled down. "Are you two going to stay down there forever, or are you planning to maybe come up some time in the next ten years?"

"What, do you have somewhere to be?" Allison yelled back. She looked at John with a grin. "We should probably get a move on though."

"Right," John muttered as he slid his left hand up the edge of the ladder a few inches, and then put his left foot on the next rung. "You said we probably don't want to know." John said as he slowly moved up the ladder, the large dog occasionally squirming in his arms.

"What?" Allison asked as she started climbing up after him.

"The dog. You said that we probably don't want to know what he eats. Which means you don't know already. Why?"

"Actually, I think it's a she. And to answer your question, you see we found her, actually about the same time we found you. So I have no clue what she was eating before that, and, again, I probable don't want one."

John reached the top of the ladder where a soldier he didn't recognize took the dog out of his arms. John then quickly crawled off of the ladder and onto the floor of a large room. The entrances to several corridors were set along three of the walls with a large opening taking up most of the fourth. Judging by the orange light coming from it John guessed that it led outside. The group of soldiers he had been with were spread out around him. Several vehicles were parked near the exit, and large a number of crates were stacked around the walls. Allison followed him up a moment later.