[Round 6] First Story Excerpt Post!
It's the fifteenth of the month -- that means it's time for a snippet post! Just leave a comment below with a part of your fic (no more than 200-300 words, thanks!)
Please include the following information in your comment:
Please include the following information in your comment:
- Fandom:
- Any other info: (pairings, warnings, author notes, etc.)
N.B.: Third part of a three-part series following Savannah Weaver into adulthood. This part takes place a few years after John's appearance in the future in "Born to Run."
John sighs with the weight of his next question. “How many dead?”
“Thirty-two confirmed, plus three dogs. May be a few more people, but-”
“I’d like to see a list, if someone’s got it.”
“-Allison Young was one of them. Sir.”
John stops mid-step, so short that Savannah nearly runs into him. He motions the rest of their unit to carry on, shakes his head as if to clear it, and turns back to Perry. “You have that list?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want everyone with sentry rotations to memorize it. We need to be on the lookout for duplicates-Skynet’ll try to use familiar faces to get in here, sooner or later.”
Savannah waits until it’s just the two of them in earshot before she says, “When the duplicates start showing up- people will understand, you know. You don’t have to reprogram her. It.”
When John turns to look at her, his face is harder, determined, and he speaks in a sharp hiss. “Yes, I do-and you of all people should know that.”
“Me?”
“Remember how Mom said Kyle was essential for…all of this? For how things turned out? It’s the same with Cameron. She saves my life-our lives-too many times to count, and she’s gonna save you from the same metal that killed-will kill-Derek. We need her. I need her. So, when she shows up, yeah, I’m gonna reprogram her. Because I have to. Same reason I get to send my own father to his death sooner or later.”
Savannah swallows whatever it was she had planned to say next. “It’s…it’s hard being John Connor sometimes, isn’t it? Harder than it looks?”
He twists his neck to stare at the reinforced dirt ceiling above them; she’s willing to bet it’s a deliberate move to avoid tearing up. “Yeah. Most days.”
She hugs him. It’s awkward and bony and not really comforting, but hopefully it’s the thought that counts, Savannah decides. Just when she’s about to let go, John hugs her back, tightly. He’s only a couple of inches taller than she is, now, and he buries his face in her shoulder, letting out a lone, desperate sob.
“Do me a favor?” he asks quietly, muffled by her braid, which is slung over her shoulder and against his face. “Please don’t tell Kyle. About Cameron, I mean. It’s just…easier. Please?”
“Yeah, of-of course.”
No wonder the John that Kyle will-did-describe to Sarah in 1984 was so infallible, she thinks but doesn't say.
Reply
Leave a comment