The Ruins of Los Angeles - May, 2023
All Kyle could do was laugh. A full on laugh by Kyle Reese didn't happen often.
It caught Bedell off-guard. "Where'd that come from?"
Kyle shook his head as he reloaded his rifle. The ruins of concrete and steel that made a makeshift shelter for them shuddered under the vibration of the H-K flying low overhead. He waited for it to pass so he could be heard. "I just had a craving for a cheeseburger."
Bedell, much older than Kyle, snorted. "When the hell did you have a cheeseburger?"
"You haven't heard the stories? I thought you would have by now."
"Ahhh," Bedell sat back and unscrewed the cap on his canteen. "Your island."
Sometimes it was quiet enough to sit around a fire and talk. Sometimes all people wanted to do was listen, and sometimes Kyle even felt like being the one to do the talking. There was plenty he couldn't tell the people he fought beside. Connor's orders. But there were some things, some glints of hope he could give them that they were fighting for something more than survival. Most of the time, it was hard for anyone to remember the days before the machines. They couldn't remember that people ate cows, not rats, and that they lived in houses with lawns, not underground tunnels with dogs making security checks. Sometimes they wanted to hear stories about an island off the east coast, hidden from Skynet, where people lived and loved and showed up on time for breakfast.
The stories had spread. Something like that, even told around a fire on a quiet night, stuck with people who had nothing. One person told another and another over the years until it became a legend. Before the war, there were stories of lost lands like Atlantis and Shangri-La. The humans out west that survived Judgment Day had stories of a place called Fandom. Life went on there. People ate cheeseburgers.
"It's Monday, isn't it?" Kyle asked. The laugh was gone but the smile remained while he looked out into the dark. He still hated moving around in the dark, but these days it was becoming a necessity when you were in the city.
"Probably."
"Lacey always saved me a piece of pie on Mondays."
"You're killing my stomach, Reese."
"I've got a can of peaches with your name on it as soon as we get home."
"Mmm peaches. Add pastry, Corporal, and we'll consider it forgiven."
"I'll owe you one, sir. That H-K is circling."
"Yeah, I know. Either it's looking for us or we'll have company soon. Sit tight."
"Let's give it an hour," Reese agreed. He lifted the strap attached to the rifle over his head and set the weapon down beside him. Kyle was content to get comfortable for a power nap if they had to stay here while the H-K went through its scouting pattern. Bedell pulled out a ration bar to chew on. Kyle was hungry, but the thoughts of a burger put him off eating something so bland. Instead, he fished around in his jacket pocket and produced an old Polaroid photo. The photo had seen better days, but Reese treated it with reverence and brushed dirt away from the face of the woman looking back at him.
"Got a girl back home?" Bedell inquired. He was relatively new to the unit compared to Kyle, having been reassigned after most of his own unit had been cleaned out by a single attack by a T-800. They hadn't had a chance to go out on patrol much on their own since then, but Kyle liked the guy.
"I grew up long after the cameras melted," Reese pointed out.
"Can I see?" Bedell asked, hand outstretched.
As a sign of trust, Kyle nodded and handed over the photo. In the night with only limited light from outside, it was hard to see. Bedell saw enough to know who he was looking at. He handed the photo back. "She's pretty." Bedell knew that he was looking at Sarah Connor, but that was another story. He didn't let on.
Kyle took another look at the photo and then tucked it away safely. "She's my lucky charm. You okay taking watch for 10?"
"Make it 20. We're not going anywhere."
"Wake me in 10. All I want to do is sleep off this cheeseburger."
"Jesus, Reese, enough with the food talk or this is the last time we're going on patrol."
Kyle settled in and rested his rifle on his lap where he could use it in a moment's notice. He looked serious but his words were far from it. "Don't count on it, Sergeant," he said with his eyes closed. "I'm pretty sure you're stuck with me."