As promised here is my story that Chaoswolf would like to "borrow" ideas from. Go for it, I think we can have one massive story going on eventually! Please don't post here. It will just be for my story!


“I’m alive!” He thought as he awoke from the hellish nightmare. Cold sweat was dripping off his face only to be halted by the wooden floor upon which he laid. He felt something heavy around his wrist. He was chained to the floor! Upon looking around the room, he noticed many other men and women, unconscious and strapped to the floor as if these iron tentacles were draining the life from them. He could not make out most of the faces. Some seemed dead, others close to it. It appeared to be a one-room building with only two doors not far from each other. All of the windows seemed to be covered so there was no way to see where he was. He was afraid to sit up. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself in case the machines were watching.

“What’s your name?” a deep, unfamiliar voice called from behind him. He half rolled over and saw a man off in the corner with much of his face hidden in shadow. The stranger was sitting up unlike the others. In this position, he seemed to tower over everyone else, giving off a very commanding presence. He asked again, “What’s your name? Do you speak English?” “Yes!” the young man replied “Reese. My name is Reese. Who are you?” “Connor, John Connor. You gotta first name Reese?” “Kyle. How long have you been here?” “Just got dropped in.” Connor answered. “What about you?” Reese thought. “A day or two I believe. Any idea what goes on here?” Connor shook his head. “Some have guessed interrogation, others medical experiments. I can’t say for sure.”

Something flew over the building that had become their prison. The roar of its engine seemed to vibrate the entire structure. “HK’s have been making rounds every ten minutes. I guess they’re expecting us to escape.” Connor exclaimed. “HK’s? You mean the planes?” Reese asked. “It means HunterKillers. That’s what I call the Tanks and Air Units the machines control. They’re nothing like the Terminators.” “I know what they are. They brought me here…” Connor interrupts, “Can I ask what you were dreaming about?” Reese hesitates. He looks around than sits up to Connor’s level.

“My brother and I were searching for food. We looked everywhere, old ruins, half destroyed cars, any place we thought we could find food and even some places we didn’t. Then the machines came. First the HK’s, as you call them, then the Terminators. All we had to defend ourselves were shotguns but very few shells. One of the Terminators got a hold of Derek, my brother, snapped his neck and threw him back towards me. I lost all rational thought and started unloading everything I had on them. When I ran out of ammo, I tried beating them with the butt of the weapon. The machines started to back off. I saw a figure coming toward me. I couldn’t make it out at first but then I saw whom it was. It was my little sister. I knew it had to be a trick because she died when the bombs hit. What if she was real, I thought. That’s when she grabbed me. As she was strangling me, her eyes lit up with a bright red glow. The next thing I saw was all the people here. How could I have remembered what she looked like? I haven’t seen her in so many years. I don’t even have a picture, not of anyone.”

“I only have one picture,” Connor said, “of my mother. It was taken a few months before I was born.” He pulled the picture out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Reese. The picture was old and dirty. A corner was torn and it felt like thin, brittle paper. It had to have been taken at least twenty years ago. The woman in the picture was very young, perhaps younger than Reese himself, and had a sad, cold look on her face as if she knew something unpleasant was about to happen. Reese examined the photo for a long duration. He seemed mesmerized by it. “She’s very pretty. What was her name?” he asked. With a small smirk on his face, Connor replied. “Sarah. She died a few years before Judgment day.” Reese looked puzzled. “What’s Judgment Day?” “The day the bombs hit and killed three million people. The day the human race was almost exterminated. The day the machines declared war on us.” Connor seemed to be saying this to himself more than answering Reese’s question. Neither spoke for a short while. Reese started to return the picture but Connor stopped him. “Hold onto it a while for me.” “You sure?” Reese asked bewildered. “Yeah! It gave me good luck in the past but…” He trailed off examining the bar code recently burned onto his right forearm. “…it doesn’t seem to work anymore. Maybe you’ll have better luck with it.”

Another HK began to fly overhead and explosions could be heard in the distance. Connor looked over to Reese. “You should get some sleep. You’ll need all your strength tomorrow.” “What happens tomorrow?” Reese asked with a slight tremble in his voice. “This is a work camp.” Connor answered nonchalantly. “If they think you can’t work they kill you.” “I thought you didn’t know what went on here!” Reese exclaimed. “I don’t know what they do at night, but during the day, they use the humans as slave labor. Cleaning up the bodies from the most recent raids, and from the number of explosions, I’d say there will be lots to clean up.”

With a new terror in his mind, Reese laid back down staring at the picture his new friend had just given him. Why did he want me to have it? He thought. Whatever the reason, he hoped it would give him good luck. He could use quite a bit of that right now. It was hard to sleep with explosions, HK’s and the blood curdling screams of the unfortunate souls he would be picking up in just a few hours penetrating the walls of the wooden structure. After listening to every sound from outside, Reese finally dozed into a light sleep. Nothing could compare to the nightmares he dreamt that night. Not even all he had just heard. The horrors in one’s own mind can sometimes be far more disturbing than anything they witness.

Nothing could have prepared Kyle for the day ahead. All though the night seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye, he felt well rested and his spirits were rather high considering his situation. He awoke to the sound of creaking floors and clanking of chains. One of the Terminators was gathering the people to go work for the day. Upon looking around, he noticed there were fewer people than the night before. Even John Connor, his newfound friend, was missing. John had given him a picture of his mother Sarah Connor. Kyle still had no idea why. John said it was for good luck but there seemed to be an alternate reason.

The Terminator was now picking up an old man close to Kyle. He was much older, possibly late forties or early fifties. Judging from the length of his hair and his scruffy beard, he hadn’t groomed himself in quite a while. The old man lifted his left arm for the machine to release his restraint attached to the floor and then proceeded to stand up and wait for his new wristbands from Hell. He seemed to be accustomed to this routine and Kyle assumed he had been here for some time. But where was here? This would be the first time Kyle had seen the outside in days. Would he know where he was by looking at the scenery or would it be something new and different.

The machine was coming for him now. He thought it best not to resist, at least until he knew where he was. As he was guided outside, the sun blinded him; it was still low in the sky. He knew it was still early morning by the smell in the air and the dew on the ground. He also knew the front door of his undesired home faced east. All that could be seen were piles of rubble, garbage and scraps of steel. At least what was left of it. The building in which he slept had been reinforced with sheet metal siding covering steel beams, possibly more so for protection of explosions then an attempted raid. He seemed to be deep within machine territory. It could be miles to safety in any direction, but he knew which way was east. He was thrown behind the old man that was taken before him and latched to a chain that connected everyone together. Each person was given shackles on their ankles with only one foot between them. No hope of running away in these. I wish I could pick locks! , thought Kyle. The last person was brought out and connected to the long snake of prisoners. The Terminators signaled for the first person to start walking. Everyone followed.

Kyle nudged the man in front of him. “Where are they taking us?” he asked with urgency. “It’s best not to talk now. Wait ‘til we get to the work site.” the old man whispered. Kyle didn’t understand at first but when he saw a machine stop and start watching everyone as they passed, he began to understand. They seemed to keep a close eye on everyone as they marched. All he knew was they were going to a work site, wherever it may be, but it was north of their wooden, sheet metal covered prison. He still hadn’t seen anything that lead him to a conclusion of where he was. He had spent much of his recent life in the ruins of Los Angeles. He knew every inch of it but this place was unfamiliar. This place had been a large city at one time. It could be anywhere far from the broken city he called home.

The militant march they had begun seemed to have been hours long though the sun had barely risen. They began to pass a cleared area, about the size of a baseball field, where many people were gathering corpses and throwing them in the back of machines that looked like garbage trucks from many years ago. Only a few Terminators surrounded the perimeter with little rods sticking out of the ground in front of them. What are those for? Kyle recognized one of the men working. John Connor looked up and nodded his head towards him. Kyle returned the gesture.

As they were passing the work site, a small frail woman began running in the opposite direction of the shuffling slaves of machinery towards an open area between two Terminators. Neither moved to intercept her. Why? Suddenly two jolts of electricity shot from the rods on either side of her and first hit her right arm, where her bar code had been placed, then moving about her body. It was over fifty yards away but Kyle could smell the burnt flesh as the smoking body hit the ground. Some people in line ahead of him stopped in shock. This didn’t last very long as others began pushing and pulling them along. One of the machines threw the girl onto the pile of bodies she had been picking up, cold, lifeless and smoldering.

They walked for what seemed like another several hours before reaching their destination. There was an open area, just like the last one, with piles of bodies dispersed throughout. The chain gang was led into the center of the area and the machines began placing similar looking rods from before around them. When the last rod was in position, a continuous circle of electricity encompassed them for a few seconds before dissipating. They started removing people’s restraints. Those who were familiar with their duties began carrying and dragging bodies to the waste trucks. The machines were unaffected by the invisible barrier of voltage surrounding the space. All the Terminators had stepped out of the contained area by now and people began to converse. Mainly explaining to the new comers what was expected of them.

Kyle went to the man he had spoken to before. “What do they do with the bodies?” he asked. “No one really knows.” the man replied. Kyle had many questions and this seemed the appropriate time to ask. “How long have you been here?” “Almost a year, I think. It’s pointless to keep track of time anymore.” “How often do we work?” “Depends on how close the battle is to our camp. Sometimes it’s several weeks before they let us out of the bunker. What’s your name, son?” “Kyle Reese. And yours?” “Master Sergeant Perry of the United State Marine Corps. I guess that title means nothing now. You got any family?” Perry inquired. “Just a brother. Everyone else is gone.” “That’s a shame. I was lucky. Most of my family made it.

We decided on a last minute camping trip when the attack happened. We were all in the middle of nowhere. The closest nuke was about ten miles from us so we had plenty of warning. Before I was captured, I had the largest surviving family anyone knew of. They all could be dead by now though...” “So do you have any idea where we are?” Kyle interjected. “If I remember correctly, we’re somewhere around what used to be San Bernardino.” “Where’s that?” “Just east of the Pacific Coast a couple hundred miles.” “So we’re not too far from L.A.? It wouldn’t take us long to get there?” Kyle interrogated. “Listen to me Reese and listen good. I’ll tell you now there’s no chance of escape. Many have tried and they all failed, you saw that young gal back there. Get the thought out of your head now and you’ll live a lot longer!”

Perry walked away after giving Kyle this warning. Why was Perry so afraid of the idea of escaping? Doesn’t he want to get out of this place? Wouldn’t he like to see his family? More and more questions filled Kyle’s mind. He wondered what John would make of all this. He put his hand on his jacket where the picture of John’s mother was stowed away. He could feel it’s outline in his pocket. With a sigh, he gritted his teeth and grabbed another body. There was still much to be done.

The day seemed to drag on for an eternity. Periodically, the machines would bring out a water jug and give the workers a ten-minute break. The water was actually cool and refreshing. They give us water? Kyle thought. Another man, older than him but much younger than Perry, noticed the contorted expression on Kyle’s face. “Giving us water helps us work more efficiently.” the man said. This was very interesting to Kyle seeing as how the machines wanted to kill all humans. Perhaps the Terminators would keep them healthy enough to work and then, when they no longer needed workers, they would kill them too. Therefore, the choice was to either attempt an escape and die or work as a worthless dog until the master kills you. There was more honor in escaping.

As the sun began to make its way to bed beyond the horizon, the last few bodies were disposed of. The Terminators lined everyone up and connected each of them together with the iron ropes. All of the humans were secured and they began removing the electric rods. It was time for the long march back to camp. They passed the site where they had seen the young woman die. No one was there now. They had been taken back to the building perhaps. They made it back to the make shift prison by dark and, just as before, were escorted inside one by one. John and the others had returned and though he wanted to speak with him again, Kyle’s body was in disagreement. Just as he was latched to the floor, his aching body was given the opportunity to rest. A man can take much in a full days work, but even the strongest must rest their weary soul.

Nice, simple title and part number.

Anyway, good story. 8/10 overall for both. I can't do better, you got awesome skills.

Great Story so far , keep writing , and I'll keep reading


I don't think I was suppose to post here sorry I had too...!


Alpha, Tango, Charlie Copy
op4rebel

This thread deserves to be sticky!

“Hey, I got you!” a young boy yelled to another. “No you didn’t!” the other hollered back in disagreement. “Yes I did! I got you Derek! You never play fair!” “Shut up, Kyle! You’re just jealous ‘cause I’m older than you!” Derek roared at Kyle. “Well I’m smarter than you!” “No you’re not!” “Yes I am!” “Will you boys stop fighting so much? That’s all you do, you’re supposed to be brothers but you never get along!” their mother said as she came out the back door. “He started it!” Derek proclaimed. “No I didn’t, you did!” retorted Kyle. “Knock it off you two or you’re both grounded, now get inside and wash up, it’s time for dinner.” the woman demanded. “Yes, Mom.” both boys said with lowered heads as they shuffled inside. Not realizing their mother could see them, Kyle and Derek began sticking their tongues out at each other. “Both of you quit it before I cut your tongues out!” The boys fighting seemed to be a common thing in this home. While at the dinner table, the two brothers continued giving each other dirty looks as their younger sister giggled at them.

Just as the mother began collecting the empty plates from the table, a large unknown man with bright red glowing eyes forced his way in through the back door. He pulled out a 9mm handgun and began executing the family at point blank range. The boy named Kyle ran into the living room as Derek hid under the table. Kyle saw the man kill his family, throw the table to the side and point his gun at Derek. Kyle tried to run and stop him but the more he ran, the farther he moved from the dining room. He watched, as if in slow motion, the man pull the trigger and send the bullet, slowly twirling in the air, towards Derek’s head. Kyle screamed but no sound was heard. As the bullet hit him, Derek’s head jerked back and a splatter of blood and brains covered the wall behind him. Everything became black and white then except the blood on the wall and the man’s glowing red eyes. He started coming for Kyle. Out of fear, Kyle could no longer move. The man points his pistol towards Kyle and…

“NOOOO!” Kyle screamed as he jerked into the air only to be yanked back down to the floor by the chain latched to his left wrist. With a thud, he held his side in pain as he looked up at all the faces staring at him. It was very dark. His screams seemed to have woken many people up. No one said a word. Their silence told Kyle they understood what happened and there was no need to discuss it. He rolled over to go back to sleep and saw John sitting in his corner. He seemed unaffected by the screams. Kyle continued to stare at John until his image finally disappeared into darkness.

From the darkness, a road in the desert appeared. Kyle began walking down the road. In the distance, a gas station came into view. Kyle ran for it. When he arrived, everyone was motionless. A man near the gas pump, a boy running inside the building and, No it couldn’t be! Kyle thought. There was a woman in a jeep with her dog. It looked like the same jeep, the same dog and the same woman in a photo Kyle had seen. She simply faced forward with no movement. Kyle looked where she was looking. At first he saw nothing, but then there was a bright flash. Once his eyes readjusted, he saw a huge cloud slowly building up in the distance. It began to shape itself like a giant mushroom. Then a wall of fire came roaring over the mountain. He went to run and saw no one else moving. “HEY!” he screamed but no one acknowledged. He went to the woman and tried to shake her but she was like a stone statue and didn’t budge. The firry wall was closing in. Kyle gave up on the woman and ran. He couldn’t run fast enough. The fire was catching up. He felt the heat on his back as he started to turn then…

He awoke abruptly once again but instead of screaming, he was coughing and gagging. It was morning now but the same people were watching him, as if they never stopped. “Rough night, son?” a man across the room asked. “Something like that!” Kyle replied. The old man named Perry looked at Kyle. “No work today! Try and catch up on your sleep.” He said. Kyle nodded in acknowledgment and laid back down on the hard and very uncomfortable wooden floor. Let’s see if I can go without a nightmare. He thought.

The sun was rising over the snow-covered mountain. It looked to be a beautiful day ahead. The smell of the rain was still in the air from the night before. It had rained very hard and much of the ground was still moist. A log cabin sets in a small clearing of trees. A bearded man has just stepped onto the porch. He had gone out to collect firewood. After recalling the thunderstorm that had passed over night, he decided to abandon his efforts. He had his rifle over his shoulder. Perhaps this would be a good time to find some rabbit for dinner. He stepped off to begin his quest for food. Suddenly the man stopped. He seemed very alarmed. “KYLE?” he shouted. How does he know my name? ”KYLE?” his deep voice echoed across the forest. “What do you want?” Kyle asked. “KYLE?” he continued. “Who are you?” The man began loading his rifle. He aimed forward and just as he pulled the trigger…

“WAKE UP, KYLE!” Perry shouted. “Wha’? Whaissit?” Kyle mumbled. “We’re being moved. They move camp every few weeks. You need to wake up!” Perry had a hint of fear in his words. Do they kill those who don’t move? Kyle wondered. A machine came and busted the door open with a loud crash startling everyone. Kyle was definitely awake now. They started gathering prisoners rather violently. One man tried to resist. He was thrown threw the wall. His arm was still hooked to the chain connected to the floor. It twitched about looking for it’s “mother ship”, squirting blood all over. No one had the urge to resist anymore. Moving seemed to be a very irritating process for the machines. They were ripping the chains from the floor and dragging people four at a time. The few who were familiar with moving were simply escorted, as if they were senior members with certain benefits. Kyle was still new. He would be dragged.

This situation would not have been terrible if not for the small nails that stuck out of the floor. Kyle’s newest battle scars consisted of tares in his clothes and cuts on his back and right side. The machines didn’t care; it was time to relocate; that was their mission. The sun was high in the sky and blinded him as he laid on his back. The air was warm and full of dust. Most of the dirt was catching on his sweaty face and arms. He was pulled to his feet and thrown behind the line of chained humans. As they waited for the rest, Kyle saw John get pulled out shortly after him. He seemed to be tougher than Kyle was, or just better at hiding the pain. Perry was about four people ahead of Kyle. His only two friends were at least still alive. Kyle wondered if it was ok to talk on this journey.

“Where are they taking us this time?” Kyle asked the woman in front of him. “I’ll tell ya when I find out!” she sarcastically replied. “Well what’s your name then?” If you know the answer to that. he thought. “Number 235419365 according to the machines.” Kyle wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic this time or not. This was the first time anyone had made mention of the numbers given to them by the machines. It seemed so cold. To be nothing but a number. It was horrible to be trapped and forced to work in a society that had no emotions, no thoughts of its own, just having one purpose, to complete the task at hand and nothing more until told otherwise. Kyle didn’t remember much from before the machines took over about human society, but he was absolutely certain that it was nothing like this. Seeing these things that appear human but merely wander through each day in a drone-like state, doing nothing more than orders they were given.

There was some light chatter rising from the line of humans. The machines didn’t seem to mind as long as everyone kept moving. “So are you going to tell me your real name or do you just want me to call you 235419365?” She turned her head and said, “Jamie!” “Kyle.” “You got any other questions, Kyle?” she asked as she looked ahead again. “How long have you been here?” She sighed as she began to answer. “We were only there for about three weeks. They usually move us every month. I’ve been in six moves myself. Jones and Scarborough came in with me. We’re the only ones still alive from that bunch. Perry’s been in the longest. He’s the only one. Most of the people that came in with you probably wont live to the end of the week.” “How have you managed it?” Kyle interjected. “We don’t resist. We do what they tell us and we stay alive. Most people don’t take well to being held captive.”

The end of the day was growing closer. Kyle had plenty of time to get to know his new comrades. It was obvious the only way to stay alive was not to fight. Kyle felt there would be a time when fighting would be the only way to stay alive. They had walked through passed dusk. The moon was only part of the way in the sky. It wasn’t to the top yet. The machines had them rest for the night.

They set up the perimeter as before but this was only to sleep in. Once everyone was settled, many laid about stargazing. This was the first real beautiful thing Kyle had seen since the machines attacked. Before his capture, Kyle was always hiding somewhere with his brother. They never really looked at the stars. Those who weren’t admiring the sky had fallen asleep. John did neither. He sat up watching the machines. Kyle decided to get up and sit with him. “How are you, John?” he asked as he sat. John gave a smirk. “Still alive, same as you.” “You’ve been watching them for sometime.” Kyle commented. “I’m learning how they operate. How they react to their surroundings. I’m trying to understand them.” “You’re not planning on escaping, are you?” Kyle seemed worried. He didn’t take John for being someone stupid. “Well that wouldn’t be very wise of me at this point would it?” There was a long pause. Kyle wasn’t sure what John was thinking.

“I know your brother.” John said breaking the silence. “Derek. I know him. After the machines took you several months ago, I found him. He was fighting every machine he could find, searching for you. I tried to get him to join the group I was with. He wouldn’t come with us unless we agreed to help search for you. You said you were put in this camp a few days before me. What happened all those months before?” Kyle hadn’t really thought of his brother for sometime. It was good to know Derek was still alive. Kyle was very relieved to hear it.

“I’ve gone threw many different camps. I always managed to escape but it wasn’t long before they caught me again. Each camp had higher security than the last. I’ve heard the highest security was at Century Work Camp but it’s only rumored.” Kyle explained. “Well kid, you’re in Century.” The statement echoed through Kyle’s mind. He had considered it once before but put it away. Escape didn’t seem likely here.

Kyle didn’t much feel like talking anymore. There was a lump in his throat and he didn’t feel like forcing it out now. He reclaimed his section of dirt and earth, and tried to get some sleep. He was slightly afraid to close his eyes. The thought of more nightmares was not pleasant. He gazed up at the moonlit sky. It was a beautiful sight with not a cloud in the star speckled night. Finally, the young man’s eyes became too heavy. The beauty of the night faded to blackness.