"KYLE... Kyle, you have to help me." The young woman whispered. She had somewhat curly dirty-blonde hair, and blue eyes, and she looked sad. "If you don't help me.. the world as we know it will cease to exist."

Kyle Reese jolted awake, and shot up in the bed.

He glanced over at the clock and ran his hand over his chest.

3:15 a.m. It was the same time he always awoke after dreaming of the teenaged girl. Who was she, and why did she need his help?

Kyle Reese was 22 years old, and bounced from town-to-town and job-to-job, and as many people as he'd met, there was one face he just couldn't forget.

It was that of the teenager in his dream. He'd met her twice in the past four years, and her face remained burned in his mind like a brand upon a farm animal.

The first time he'd met her was four years before, in 1980, when he was 18.

He'd been working as a janitor in Los Angeles, where he'd been born, at the local high school.

It was the first day of the new school year, and as the incoming freshman poured in, and he was changing a trash bag in the cafeteria, he'd seen her. She was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen, and looked much older than a freshman.

He overheard her telling a friend that she'd be 14 in two months, and he shook his head. Why on earth was he so enchanted by a child?

The second time he'd met her was when he'd worked in a shoe store in San Francisco when he was 20, in 1982.

She'd come in, with two friends trailing behind her, and he'd recognized her instantly. He knew she was 16 by then, and my, how'd she'd grown.

Since then, every night, he'd dream of her. And it was the same haunting dream every night.

He was never able to go back to sleep after awakening from the dream, so, as he normally did, he decided to get up and prepare for work. Today, however, for the first time in several months, he was going to a different job. He'd be interning as a nurse's aide at the local hospital. He'd finally taken some college courses by mail, and decided that he was better off, because this job would probably be higher-paying.

As he showered, his dream continued to bother him, and as the young woman's pleas for help haunted him, a thousand images entered his mind.

He saw a glint of metal, then a bright red, menacing eye. He heard a shrill feminine scream, and knew that it belonged to the young woman from his dream. He saw himself, his hand covered in a bandage. There was a flash, and suddenly he saw something that resembled a desert wasteland at night. He saw old cars, hollowed out. He saw human skeletons, their crushed bones everywhere. And then... he saw the most horrifying thing he'd ever seen in his life.

What appeared to be a skeletal foot but was actually completely made of metal crashed down upon a human skull, crushing it to dust. He then saw the entire thing in full view. It was a skeletal structure, but completely made of metal. And it was very much alive. Its head moved, the red eyes inside the skull twitching slightly, and its arm raised a gun.

Kyle screamed and nearly slipped down in the shower.

He shook his head and pleaded with God until the image was washed out of his mind.

He had no idea what he had just seen, but it terrified him to no end.

As Kyle dressed for the day ahead, he glanced at the calendar. May 12th, 1984. A Thursday. He found it funny that he was starting his new job so late in the week.

At 5 am, he left for his new job in his old beat-up station wagon, and as he drove, he realized that he was going to be really early.

As he pulled into the nearly vacant parking lot of a little diner a few miles from the hospital, he thought to himself, "Well, I could always try to get some more shut-eye."

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, and when he did, he was riddled with dreams.

He saw images of the moving metal skeleton again, and images of the desert wasteland again. He saw strange airplane-type structures, as well as tank-like structures. He saw dozens of what could have been soldiers, and one apparent general.

The man was at least 40, with black hair that was slightly tainted gray, and almost hazel eyes. A long scar was under his eye.

"Reese. You have to help her. The future of mankind depends on you." he said loudly, determination filling his face.

Kyle jerked awake again, and looked around.

The parking lot had filled up, and as he peeked at his watch, he saw that he had 90 minutes to get to work.

He felt hungry, so he decided to go on in to the diner for a bit of breakfast.

He sat staring a whole through his menu a few minutes later, trying to figure out what to order.

"Have you decided, sir?" A soft, sweet voice asked, and he knew he found it familiar.

When he looked up, he was stunned. It was her! It was the young woman from his dreams.

"Sir?" she asked again.

"Um... I'll just have some pancakes..." He caught glimpse of her name tag, and was pleased to finally discover her name. "Sarah."

"Anything to drink?" she asked.

"Uh... Just some coffee, thanks. Black."

"Alright, sir. I'll be back in a few minutes with your order."

He watched as she walked away, and he couldn't help but stare. She was even more beautiful than she had previously been, and he knew by now that she was eighteen. She was so young, so vital. Why on earth would she need his help with anything?

When she came back with his order, he realized she was attempting to make chit-chat.

"You're wearing nurse scrubs." She observed. "I've never seen you in here before. Stopping in after pulling a night shift or something?" She seemed curious about him, and something in her face reminded him of the general from his dream.

"Actually, stopping before a day shift." He sipped his coffee. "This is my first day at the hospital. I'm an intern."

"Oh. That's cool." She smacked her gum. "What's your name? I'm Sarah, but you figured that out already." She laughed.

"My name is Kyle. Kyle Reese."

"Nice to meet you, Kyle. I assume I'll be seeing you in here more often?"

"Yes." he said slowly, and as she smiled and walked away, he could hear the general's words in his head.

***

After he'd finished up his shift at 5 pm, Kyle found himself going straight back to the diner. He wasn't quite sure if it was the food luring him back, or the young woman named Sarah.

She seemed pleased to see him back, and greeted him with a sweet smile as she asked for his order.

As she rushed off to get it for him, his mind suddenly seemed to be under attack, as it had been earlier that morning.

Images passed his eyes that shocked him.

He saw himself and Sarah running like mad from a big truck. He saw a strange-looking man, a large one, holding up a gun from across the room.

He saw the man wearing different clothes, standing over a wounded black man, and cutting his arm with a knife. The strange man ripped the skin off his arm, and Kyle felt the urge to gasp as he saw a metal, skeletal arm. At that moment, he knew this man was not human. It was the robot he'd seen while he was in the shower, but yet somehow, it seemed to be covered in human flesh.

He saw Sarah, standing in front of himself, silent, with tears in her eyes.

"Kyle? I have your order." Her voice broke his thoughts, and the images very suddenly faded.

He smiled. "Thank you, Sarah."

***

Kyle ended up going to bed early that night, at about 8 pm.

As he slept, he dreamed. He dreamed dreams he'd never dreamed before, dreams that seemed so real, he couldn't tell much of a difference.

He saw the general he'd dreamed of before, whom he discovered was named John Connor.

"You have to save her life." he told Kyle.

"Whose life?" Kyle asked.

"Sarah." John said. "She's my mother."

Kyle looked stunned. "What do I have to save her from?"

"You have to save her from the Terminator."

"The what?"

"Terminator. It's a cyborg. A machine covered with a very realistic, but very fake flesh. It's been sent back through time to kill her." John said.

"W-What? Things like that don't exist... probably not for a hundred years!" Kyle exclaimed, a bit bewildered.

"Wrong, Reese." The general surprised him by calling him by his last name. "Try... 45 years."

Kyle's eyes were wide. "But... how? And why do I seem to be the only one who's knowing of any of this?"

"Because, Reese... I have reached through time and chosen you to protect my mother... and I have chosen you because you have always seemed to be connected to her."

"The dreams?"

"Indeed." General Connor eyed Kyle. "You have much to learn, Reese, and not a long time to learn it."

"On August 29th, 1997, a defense network of computers called 'Skynet' will be launched, and within minutes... it will begin a nuclear war that will end up destroying roughly 75 percent of the human population."

"WHAT?!?" Kyle's eyes flew wide.

"It basically takes on a mind of its own, and sees the entirety of humanity as some sort of threat." Connor explained. "It will launch a nuclear war, wiping out most of us... but quite a few of us, including myself, survive. At one point, we are all placed in camps... Skynet serves as a mechanic Hitler. And then, slowly, but surely, I take charge and form the human resistance."

"I'm assuming Skynet sends back this Terminator thing."

"That's right." Connor said. "It's one of their newer soldiers. It's been sent back to murder my mother before my birth."

"Therefore, killing you... the competition." Kyle nodded in understanding.

"You are very wise, Reese." Connor said. "I've made a wise choice."

"How will I known this Terminator has arrived?"

"Trust me, you will know. You will just know."

Kyle bolted awake and glanced at his clock. It was 11 pm on the dot.

"That... could NOT be real." Kyle said aloud.

How on earth was he supposed to believe that a general from 45 years in the future had asked him to protect his mother? How was he supposed to believe anything he'd just dreamed of?

He shook his head, laid back, and turned over, going back to sleep immediately.

***

A trash pickup truck pulled up slowly into an alleyway. As it picked up a trash can, the driver of the vehicle, a 40-something black man, sit in the driver's seat, smoking a cigar. The engine suddenly died, and as he tried to turn the key, he muttered, "What the -?"

While he muttered obscenities, the wind picked up, blowing trash around the vehicle.

Electricity began to crackle in waves in front of the dump truck, and the driver peeped his head out of the window. The crackles of light seemed to grow, and then there was a flash. The crackles continued for a few seconds, and the driver leapt out of the garbage truck, then took off, afraid of whatever was causing it.

A thick fog filled the night air only feet from the truck.

As the fog cleared, a man was revealed. He was naked, crouching. He was a big man, heavily muscled, tall, dark-haired, with a pair of ice-cold blue eyes.

As he rose from his crouching position, his face remained expressionless. He surveyed the area in front of him, then slowly walked over to a balcony-like area overlooking the city.

Not very far from there, three gang members were drinking and fooling around with a telescope.

One of them suddenly glanced up and saw the big naked man walking toward them.

"Hey... what's wrong with this picture?" He pointed, and when the other two glanced up, they joined him in laughing.

As the big man approached them, the gang member that had spotted him taunted and mocked the man with questions, and he seemed to mock them right back, copying their words.

Suddenly, the man said, "Your clothes. Give them to me." His voice carried a deep foreign accent. "Now."

The three exposed switchblades, and one of them cursed him.

One of them went flying to the side as the big man shoved him, and the one who'd cursed him was thrown and knocked out on impact.

The one who'd seen the big man first plunged the switchblade into his side.

The big man's fist pounded into his stomach, and the blade fell from his hand as the big man fist sank deep within his body. When he pulled his arm back, his arm was drenched in blood, and the gang member was dead on the ground.

The gang member that was alive and conscious stood, backing away from the man, and began to remove his clothes.

Kyle shot up in the bed with a gasp, breathing heavily, his mind reeling at something he'd seen in a dream, which was a bit faint, but he still knew something for certain.

"It's here." he muttered. "The Terminator is here."

***

Kyle sat in his kitchen at 7:45 am, staring at a page in the phonebook. He had looked up Sarah's name, and to his surprise, there were four Sarah Connors listed. Something deep within him told him that she was the last one listed, but he couldn't bring himself to call.

Instead, he got up, grabbed his keys, and headed outside to his car.

Kyle found himself at the diner minutes later, sliding into a seat, hoping Sarah would be his waitress again.

She was, and she greeted him with the same sweet smile and polite attitude.

He hadn't been there long, and had only begun eating when a news break suddenly came on the television above the front counter.

"A local woman was found dead at 5 am this morning." The news reporter said. "Sarah Ann Connor, 35, was found dead in her home, with a gunshot wound to the head. Police are still investigating the obvious homicide."

Sarah's eyes widened, and she looked a little scared.

Kyle thought of the listings in the phone book. "The Terminator must be killing every Sarah Connor he finds until the right one is dead." He thought.

Kyle finished his breakfast, and shortly before nine, exited the diner. He decided to skip work, despite the fact that it was only his second day on the job, and parked his car down the road from the diner to watch out for Sarah.

He stayed there all day, keeping himself occupied with a crossword puzzle book he'd found under his seat.

A bit before five that afternoon, he saw Sarah speed by on a motorbike, and slowly followed her, keeping his distance, but yet keeping up with her.

He pulled into the parking area of her apartment complex, and watched her go in.

Positive that she was safe, he knew he had to make a trip to a store nearby.

Kyle felt more than a little out of place in the gun shop, but he knew he had no choice.

"What's the cheapest rifle you have that I take today?" Kyle asked.

"You looking for home protection or for hunting purposes?" The owner of the shop asked.

"B-Both." The lie uneasily slid from the young man's lips.

The owner picked up a rifle, stating the name of it, and showed Kyle the price. It was steep, but he knew he had to have it.

"I'll take it." He looked in a glass case. "What's your cheapest handgun?"

By the time he left the gun shop, Kyle had spent nearly all the money he had in his possession, and had one rifle and one handgun, and an adequate amount of bullets for both.

He placed them under the seat as he got in his vehicle, then parked outside Sarah's apartment complex again.

In just three hours, as Kyle listened to the radio, the deaths of two more Sarah Connors were announced, and he knew it wouldn't be long until the Terminator began to search for the final Sarah, the right Sarah. Kyle was terrified beyond belief, for himself, and for Sarah, but he knew he had to soldier on. He couldn't just let this beautiful young woman die, and he couldn't bare the thought of her son, the general, never existing. He had to do this. He knew that much.

Sometime after nine pm, he saw Sarah exit her apartment building, hop on her bike, and take off.

He started up his station wagon, and followed her out of the parking lot.

She went to a restaurant. Kyle sat outside, waiting, hoping she'd come out soon.

She did, ten minutes later, looked scared and panicked. She'd probably just heard about the two other Sarahs.

She seemed to forget about her bike, and began to walk down the side of the road. At one point, she began turning around every few seconds, and Kyle was positive that she'd seen the car.

A block later, she was standing outside a club, shaking a bit, staring at the door.

He parked out of her view, and got out of the car, wearing a trench coat over his nurse scrubs, the rifle and the handgun hidden from view beneath it.

He stepped around the corner... and came face-to-face with Sarah.

"Kyle?" she murmured. "Why on earth are you following me? What do you want?"

"Sarah... you may not believe this... but I'm trying to save your life." He took a chance telling her that bit of the truth.

"What?" She eyed him for a moment. "You know about the murders, don't you? And you've been following me since I got off work. I noticed the car following me, but never thought about it. Wait... how did you know I was the last Sarah in the book?"

"I-"

"Stay away from me."

She turned on her heel and made a run for the club's entrance.

Once she was inside, Kyle contemplated his next move. He knew he had to save her, no matter what. But how was he ever going to, since she seemed to believe he was the one who was after her?

He waited two minutes before following her inside.

He sit at a table where he was sure she wouldn't see him, but he would definitely be able to see her. He kept his watch steady between Sarah and the entrance, looking out for anyone that could actually be the monster that was after her.

She stood at the pay phone, talking on it for a while before hanging up and taking a seat at the back of the club.

Kyle kept up his watch. He felt as if he'd been there for ages as he glanced at his wristwatch. It was 9:44 pm.

He glanced up within seconds, just in time to see a tall, very muscular, very built man walk into the club. The man seemed to get into an argument with the bouncer, and he twisted his hand back, causing the bouncer to cry out.

Kyle instinctually knew the big man was the Terminator. His hand grasped the rifle under his trench coat, and he waited a few moments to make sure.

Sure enough, the man walked to the middle of the club, saw Sarah, and aimed a gun at her.

Sarah's eyes widened in shock as she noticed the red dot of the gun's aim appear on her forehead.

Kyle hurriedly removed the rifle and aimed it at the Terminator's back, shooting several times, shaking the gun from its hand.

The customers began to scream and run as Sarah sat, terrified, paralyzed, totally unable to move.

"RUN! For crying out loud, Sarah, RUN!" Kyle shouted.

The Terminator retrieved his gun, and as Sarah stood and took off, he shot, just barely missing her head by a fourth of an inch.

As she ran toward the exit, the Terminator raised his gun to shoot at her, and Kyle cocked his rifle. He shot three times, launching the Terminator backward through a large glass window.

Kyle ran up behind Sarah, as she stood in one place, wondering if the strange man would come after her again.

"SARAH!"

She turned at the sound of Kyle's voice.

"Do you want to live, Sarah?" he asked, touching her arm. She nodded. "Then come with me."

She looked up at him, still very puzzled about the entire situation.

"Come on." His eyes seemed to plead with hers.

She took his hand, and as she did so, they both heard glass scattering, moving.

They were both a little stunned to see the Terminator stand, gun in hand, and they took leave as he began to shoot at them.

Kyle practically dragged Sarah out to his car. He shoved her in one side, and she moved all the way over against the passenger's window as he got in.

He started the car, and she muttered, "How could that man just get up? He can't be human."

"He's not." Kyle placed the car in reverse.

"Then what is he?" she wondered.

"Some sort of machine or robot. He only looks human."

"But how can that be?"

Kyle had no time to answer, for the Terminator had launched himself atop the vehicle, and busted his fist through the glass.

Sarah screamed as he reached for her, and Kyle held his gun with one hand and fired several shots as he drove unsteadily with the other. The Terminator went rolling off the car, and Kyle backed out into the street, and streaked down the road like a bolt of lightening.

"Look, Sarah, it's a really long story, but I've been dreaming about your son, Sarah. Your unborn son. His name is John Connor. He's going to be a general, and he asked me to protect you." Kyle said, a bit rushed.

She looked as if she thought he was crazy, but then asked, "Are you protecting me from that... thing?"

"I'm supposed to be, yes." he said.

As they spun around corners and whatnot, he told her what General Connor had told him about the Terminator, the nuclear war, and the resistance. He left out the part about himself dreaming of her for years.

She was stunned, but slowly seemed to be accepting it.

Out of nowhere, a police car swung behind them.

It seemed to be only seconds until they were surrounded.

Kyle cursed under his breath as he realized he couldn't get away.

He was, of course, arrested.

When Sarah mentioned the big man, he wasn't so sure, however.

His assistant thought different. "Ah, come on." He laughed at Traxler. "She was stressed. She could have been imagining it."

"I wasn't imagining it." Sarah spat at him. "That man was about to kill me, and Kyle saved my life."

"They could have been in it together." The assistant said to Traxler.

Traxler rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Vukovich." He turned to Sarah. "If you'd like, you can stay the night here, Sarah. So that you can have protection."

"Thanks." Sarah smiled appreciatively.

Sarah lay for nearly twenty minutes on the couch in Traxler's office, covered with his jacket, but sleep didn't come.

She got up, dropping the jacket as she did, and glanced at the clock. 10:50 pm. And hour before she and Kyle had been in the car, discussing the man who'd attacked her. She shook her head and wandered out into the hall, looking for a restroom.

She found one, and as she started back from it a few minutes later, she heard Kyle's voice coming from one of the rooms.

"Sarah..."

She stuck her head in the door. "What?"

He was handcuffed to the desk, and alone in the room.

"We've got to get out of here. He'll find you, and when he does, he'll kill you."

"Traxler and Vukovich think you are the one who's trying to kill me."

"Sarah..." His eyes pleaded with her to believe him. "If I was going to kill you... don't you think I already would have done it?"

She sighed. "I suppose you have a point."

"The keys are over there." He nodded towards a coat rack.

It took only a minute for her to get the keys and unhandcuff him.

The two peeped out the door before tiptoeing down the hallway.

"Take this." he muttered, pulling a gun from his pants pocket. "They didn't find this on me."

She took it without a word, and then the two of them creeped out a side door.

They found an unlocked police car and got in, and Kyle was thankful that the keys were in it.

They took off into the night, and an officer passing by didn't even notice who was driving.

The Terminator entered the front door of the police station at the same moment.

"I'm a friend of Sarah Connor's." He told the officer at the desk. "Is she here? Can I see her?"

"She's in questioning, I believe. It might be a while." The officer stated.

The Terminator looked around a moment, then spoke again. "I'll be back." He turned on his heel and walked out.

Traxler stepped into his office. "Sarah?" He looked around. "Where'd she get off to?"

"Traxler!" Vukovich yelled as he stepped into his office. "We got bad news. Reese is gone."

Both their eyes wandered to the couch, where Sarah had left Traxler's jacket.

The desk officer happened to look up as a car crashed into the police station, running inside, never halting. He tried to jump out of the way, but it was too late. He was crushed beneath the wheels.

Traxler and Vukovich heard the crash.

"What in the world was that?!?" Traxler exclaimed.

The Terminator stepped out of the vehicle, a gun in each hand, and as he started down the hallway, began shooting anyone and anything that came into sight. He shot bullets into each office and room he came across.

Traxler and Vukovich heard the shots.

"We got gunfire." Vukovich said, reaching under a desk, looking for weapons for them both.

Every officer who tried to go up against the large intruder was shot to the death, and many other officers evacuated the building as they realized that there was no stopping this guy.

The lights suddenly shut off, and Vukovich sounded a bit panicked as he spoke to Traxler.

"Y-You think maybe it's terrorists?" he stuttered.

"No..." Traxler exhaled as he cocked his gun. "But I do think I know what it is."

The Terminator stepped over piles of bodies as he turned down another hallway.

As he passed Traxler's office, Traxler stepped out and fired a round of bullets at his back. Traxler's jaw drop when the man didn't flinch, just stood there. In moments, the Terminator turned and fired three shots, all three sinking into his chest and stomach. Traxler slumped to the ground, his back to the door frame. He'd be dead in minutes, that much he knew.

Vukovich leaned down at Traxler's side.

"My God... Ed..." He saw the life slipping from his friend's body.

He stepped out of the office and yelled at the intruder.

"Hey, jackass!"

The Terminator turned, shot twice, and then went on about his way.

Vukovich twisted his body at the right moment, and only one of the bullets caught him; in his right arm.

"Buddy... g-get out of here." Traxler spoke hoarsely. "They were right. B-By God, Kyle and Sarah were right." He limply pushed his gun over to Vukovich. "T-take it. Get out of h-here. N-now. Before that thing kills y-you."

Vukovich watched as his friend took his last breath. "Ed..."

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...TO BE CONTINUED...