“Wait no! General, I think you might have misunderstood something. We didn’t experience any significant danger on the way here. Most of Skynet’s forces were busy fighting against the Resistance forces. All we had to do was sneak out of Skynet’s facility. We then stole one of the trucks lying around unmonitored in the area and then drove away from that battle zone as fast as we could while skirting the periphery of the battlefield. We were just really lucky that the machines were occupied with fighting the Resistance soldiers and so, they were too busy to bother with us.” Kayden quickly explained.

He pushed all credit for the achievement of their successful escape from their imprisonment in Skynet’s core facility onto just their purely dumb luck.

But as soon as Kayden finished explaining, he realized that he had forgotten that Serena who was quietly sitting beside him had been right there all through their journey and had also experienced the same things he experienced. And so, she would definitely notice that he was trying to hide some things from the general.

‘Fuck! Serena was also there!’ Kayden exclaimed with his thoughts.

He immediately took a sneaky glance at Serena, but he found her looking at something behind them. She was staring at the floating hologram with her complete focus.

Kayden released a sigh of relief. It looked like Serena had not been paying attention to Kayden and the general’s conversation. She had even readjusted the positioning of her chair in order to allow her to see the hologram with much more ease.

Relieved that Serena had not heard what he had told the general, Kayden turned back to General Perry only to find him looking at Serena while also wearing a frown on his face. The general looked like he really did not appreciate the fact that Serena had not been paying enough attention to the conversation.

Kayden gave a wry smile. He had almost forgotten that Serena could act like an airhead sometimes. He gave her a small nudge in the side to call her attention back to their conversation.

Serena seemed to have noticed General Perry’s displeasure. She flashed him one of her brilliant smiles, though this one seemed to be meeker when compared to the smiles she gave Kayden.

“I’m sorry, sir. I apologize for my rude behavior. I haven’t seen one of these hologram devices before, so I got a little carried away and became distracted. My unit never had access to this kind of technology.”

“So, you are a member of the Resistance, correct?” Perry asked, looking a little surprised.

“Yes sir.”

“Serena Burns, correct? Yes, I see you are wearing a Resistance army jacket. I originally assumed that you are just a normal civilian survivor who found the uniform of a deceased Resistance soldier. Who is your ranking officer and how did you come to be part of his group of survivors?” The general pointed at Kayden as asked the last question.

Serena took a deep breath, “I was originally serving under Major Maria Graber, but three years ago, a squad of Terminators ambushed me during a recon mission. They captured me and then took me to Skynet’s core facility where I was imprisoned. I remained a prisoner there until today when I regained my freedom.”

General Perry nodded, “Maria Graber… I believe she’s now known as Colonel Graber. She should be part of the main attacking force on the battlefield. The situation around the battlefield has been very chaotic since when the battle ended, so I can’t tell you where exactly Colonel Graber is right now. I don’t even know whether she is still on the battlefield. You can wait here in the camp for the situation over there to settle down. I should be able to help you meet up with her.”

Serena did not say anything. She only nodded in agreement.

“And you too,” Perry said to Kayden, “you can stay here in the camp. Rescuing all those people from Skynet’s core facility and bringing them here with all of them safe and unharmed. That must have taken a lot of effort from you even if you were very lucky. It shows you have some grit and leadership skills. Why don’t you join us in the Resistance? We could use someone like you.”

Kayden froze. General Perry’s sudden offer to recruit him into the Resistance had surprised him.

Although Kayden was flattered that the general had a high opinion of him, he immediately rejected the offer, “Thank you for the offer, sir. But unfortunately, I will have to refuse. I don’t think I will be able to join the Resistance right now. I need to go and look for my family and friends. We got separated on the day I was captured by Skynet’s machines. I have not seen them since then. I don’t even know whether they are alive or dead. I need to find them first before I can do anything else. Sigh, maybe I will join the Resistance after I have reunited with them.”

Kayden even feigned a sad and depressed look when he got towards the end.

“Okay then. How long will you be staying here?” Perry asked.

“I plan to leave right as soon as we are done with this conversation. I will continue on my way after I say goodbye to the people I came here with.” Kayden answered.

“You don’t want to wait till morning before leaving?”

Kayden shook his head. He would already be on his way right now if he had been stuck here having this conversation with the general.

“Alright, you can leave whenever you want, but I have another offer for you. I know that you drove here in one of Skynet’s personnel transport trucks. Since you plan to travel around and look for your loved ones, I believe you will definitely run into many damaged or even completely destroyed roads and other kinds of rough terrains which can be pretty difficult to traverse for such a large personnel transport truck.

“I would like to trade with you. Sell your truck to us. The Resistance has many places where it could be put to good use. And in exchange, I will give you a four-seater all-terrain armored car. It will be much smaller than your truck, but that size should be more suitable for your travels. Don’t worry, the vehicle will also be powered by a plasma reactor like your truck, so you will not have to worry about its power running out anytime soon.

“In addition to that, I will add in some food supplies and some changes of clothes for your travels. Especially the clothes, I think you will need those.”

When Perry said those last words, Kayden took a quick glance at his ragged clothes, and he became painfully aware of the poor state of his clothing. He became a little embarrassed.

“Lastly,” Perry continued, “I will also give you a token you can present to any Resistance checkpoint to show that you're a friend of the Resistance. It should help reduce the amount of scrutiny you will have to withstand from most of the Resistant soldiers that you might encounter during your travels. That is only as long as you don’t do anything wrong.”

Kayden considered the general’s offer for a short time before he made his decision.

“Alright. I accept your offer. You can have the truck.”

The general was right. The truck was not the really right kind of vehicle for his plans, while a smaller and more maneuverable vehicle would be more appropriate for his journey. This was especially so with the addition of the token which would clear away a lot of potentially problematic situations that might result when he inevitably runs into Resistance members.

As the victors in their war against the machines and the current most powerful force in the world, the Resistance should become much more active in the open from now on. He would definitely run into some of them during his travels.

Besides, Kayden appreciated the extra food supplies that he would get from the general. He had started to feel some hunger since the time he broke out of that weird time stagnation effect. So, the food supplies should be very useful for his plans.

Kayden suddenly remembered something, “General, can you add some guns and ammos to the supplies you will give me?”

“I’m sorry that will not be part of the trade. Weapons can be given to people who aren’t members of the Resistance.” Perry said.

Kayden shrugged, “Okay, no problem. Didn’t hurt to ask though.”

‘I guess my two guns will remain out of commission for a while longer. I’ve still got my fists anyway.’ Kayden thought.

“Good. We are done here.” General Perry said, standing up.

The general still wore his usual stern look on his face, not giving Kayden any hints on whether he was pleased that Kayden had agreed to his offer. He then gave Kayden the so-called token which looked like a steel coin with the symbol of the Human Resistance embossed on both of its faces.

The general extended his hand for a handshake, “I will have Sergeant Rivers ready your new car. Your promised extra supplies will be placed inside. You can meet him and get the car from him whenever you are ready to leave. Also, make sure to take anything you left in your former truck before you leave. Remember to present yourself to any Resistance camp or station close to you when you are ready to join us.

And Ms. Burns, you should rest up for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I will find some tasks for you to do while you wait for when you can be reunited with your commanding officer. Alright, you can go now. Tell Sergeant Rivers to come in.”

Kayden and Serena both nodded as they shook hands with the general before walking out of the tent.

After they informed the private that the general wanted to see him, Kayden and Serena were walking back to the section of the camp, which was located just after the camp entrance, that had been set aside for the normal survivors and which was also where Nadiya’s group were, when Serena stopped walking forwards.

Kayden noticed this and also paused in his steps, wanting to ask why she had stopped.

“You lied. You hid some things from the general.” Serena said.

Kayden froze.

‘Fuck! She was actually listening to our conversation then?!’

*****

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