Continuation of the 'days' series after John Junior and is crew went back to their own time. In the beginning of this story, I am going to tackle a time not hardy heard about. What happens on the approach to Judgment day, and after. As always, reviews are welcome.
Days of Sky Net
Ch 1
John followed Cameron in their leased 24 foot box trucks to the food warehouse where they backed up to docks and fork trucks loaded in tall pallets of freeze-dried food, and MRE's. six pallets per truck, Cameron paid the bill with her ghost bank account. Loaded up, they headed for the rendezvous point on highway 66. The rendezvous was not much to look at, just a flat gravel turnaround and rest point.
John pulled his truck up beside Cameron's and got out. He met her in front of her truck.
That was easy," John said. "We got three trucks, twelve pallets of food and Derek and Mom are getting a truckload of hardware, and it cost us nothing. You're sure your bank won't be found out?"
Cameron rested her arms on John's shoulders and said, "I used all the proper banking protocols and procedures in making my bank, which is unwittingly funded by the worldwide banking system. It will take approximately three months for auditors to
figure out something is wrong, another month to close it down and search for the source. Since we have only 70 days before Sky Net shoots off the nukes, we don't have anything to worry about, except making sure we have everything we're going to need packed away in our bunkers." She kissed him and said, "Don't worry, being arrested for bank fraud is not a concern."
John chuckled and put his arms around her. "You are awesome," he said and kissed her again. They shared that kiss, then a longer one. The next long enough that John had to gasp for air at the end.
"These trucks still have the long bench seats," John said as he looked up at the cabs.
Cameron grinned and said, "Let's find out of they are comfortable to lay on."
Hands clasped, John opened the passenger door of Cameron's truck and ushered her in. They just climbed in and a third truck pulled up beside them. John and Cameron hugging, looked over at Derek driving and Sarah on the passenger side, scowling at them.
"We have some place to go, don't we?" Sarah asked in an even tone.
John and Cameron untangled. John got out and into his own truck. His mother's timing sucked.
.
Leading the caravan off the main road and onto a dirt secondary road, Cameron drove four miles to what looked like just another hill. Rounding the hill, Cameron stopped just past a solid, rusty door. She got out and had John park his truck beside hers, then had Derek back up by the door.
The door in the hill was set back into an alcove. over the years, the double-width door had collected debris around it. Once Derek had his truck stopped, Cameron got shovels out of the back, and they dug and cleared the dirt and debris out of the way so the door could be opened. The metal faced door was brown with rust. There was no operator on this side. Getting the door edges clear, Derek got a couple pry bars. He and Cameron worked at the edge of the door and got it to move enough to pry the door open a couple inches. Cameron got a good grip and pulled the door to open on squealing hinges to reveal the dark interior.
"Derek, you got a generator?" Cameron asked.
"And extension cords and drop lights," Derek said, and retrieved them with Sarah's help. He started the small gas powered generator. Sarah plugged in a long extension cord and a drop light that had it's own long cord. John grabbed a flashlight just in case. They ventured into the dark passages.
The smell of disuse filled the concrete passage. Not far inside, the hallway went down a set of concrete stairs. John hung a drop light at the top of the stairs. Going down the 15 foot stairway, John hung another drop light at the bottom where there was a four way intersection. Sarah added another extension cord on the end.
Cameron pointed to the right of the stairs, "That corridor goes to the kitchen and civilian bunk rooms. Straight ahead is the barracks, armory and training areas, to the left is the workshops, generator rooms and the air re circulation equipment. The left side hallway is closest to the surface, we need to build the base equipment there."
Derek studied the walls and said, "Yeah, OK, I was here once. This was fire base Delta, or will be."
"Yes, it is a good strong point and well hidden," Cameron explained.
"We're taking our cord to the left," Sarah asked as she plugged in another drop light.
"Mom, we unload Derek's truck and set up what we can, then empty the food trucks," John said.
"Let's get to it."
.
The interior rooms of the bunker complex were dust but there was little debris. There was little of anything. A long row of incandescent overhead lights were the only fixtures. These were all fed from a single plug in line near the entry door. The place had been started, but never finished. John found a room at the south end that had a pair of two foot holes (and extra dirt and debris on the floor) three feet high in the wall. The holes went out to show they came out on the hillside. He would use these for the air cleaners to bring fresh air in.
Seeing how every room was empty, they unloaded the trucks into rooms near the stairway intersection. Searching deeper, they found three more intersections deeper in along the center hallway. With the size of this place, John was hoping they were able to get it functional before Judgment day.
The first night, Sarah decided to sleep in the back of a truck, as did Derek. John, who was putting together an air cleaning system, slept in the room with his project and Cameron. The cot was suitable, and didn't even collapse during their making out, then making love sessions.
Cameron also took advantage of this to feed John the nanites she'd collected in her breasts. She was going to make sure John stayed healthy. Even if she had to feed him every day. Sex after (or during) feeding was almost a requirement. She was going to make sure John had plenty of nanites. He slept well afterwards, which was also a good thing.
One thing John knew they needed was a good power source for the bunker. The electric grid could not be counted on. Neither could gas powered devices, or solar. Cameron had made sure they had plenty of how-to books and construction guides.
In the morning after a bucket wash up and breakfast, John sat on the floor looking at the start of a Sterling engine. He wondered why these things weren't being used already. Sterling engines operated on temperature differential. One side of the engine warm, the other cold, and it would run. The higher the differential, the more power it had, but even a small difference would allow it to operate. The construction was simple also. John immediately looked over the materials Derek brought to see if he could construct one.
Sarah came in as John was in the 'stock room', selecting the top and bottom plates he was going to need.
"John, Derek and I are going to town to get more food and some guns and ammo. Is there anything you need?" Sarah asked.
John held up a finger, "Ahh, yes. Pneumatic pistons, say ... four to start with. Just simple dual port cylinders, say, half inch in diameter. A few sticks of quarter twenty threaded rod ... and lots of washers and quarter twenty nuts too, and a pair of radiators from trucks. As long as air can go through them, that's fine. Oh! some plastic too, A sheet of PVC for insulation for the radiators."
Sarah eyed him and said, "I'll have Derek come get your list." She left to find Derek.
John collected the material he could find and drew out a flywheel on a piece of plywood. Derek came in, John explained what he wanted. Derek decided he needed to go clean out a hardware store, or two. They also decided they needed a welding unit, as well as batteries so they could store energy. The list Derek planned on getting grew exponentially by the time he got in his truck and left.
John had as many pieces cut and ready for his first Sterling engine as possible. He needed more material with work with before he could go on.
"John?" Cameron called as she approached.
"In here," he replied, and went to the doorway.
Cameron appeared before him wearing only her shorts and a loose top. "I set up a kitchen area so with power, we can cook and put a couple refrigerators in." Looking around, she asked, "Where's Derek and Sarah?"
"They went to get some things we need , guns, ammo, and more food. We have to stock up as much as we can while we can," John explained.
"You need to also," Cameron said. She steered John to sit, then sat down by him. She then lowered John half down into her lap.
"Cam?" he asked, not knowing what she was doing.
"Vitamins, nanites and liquid refreshment for you," Cameron stated and pulled her shirt off to show she had no bra on.
John grinned and asked, "You mean..."
"Nutrition and fun. Drink, John," Cameron said and guided him to her breast.
John kissed her. "I love the way you think," he said, and took his nutrition.
Cameron kissed his head as she held him in place. She liked feeding John.
.
With the two radiators, one charged with a positive voltage, the other negatively charged, John built his electrostatic air filtering system. Radioactive particles were charged negative for Alphas, positive for betas, so if either were in the incoming air, they would stick to the oppositely charged radiator and not make it into the bunker. A cleanable fiberglass pre filter, and a fan inside past the electrostatic filters, and no radiation was getting in. John built two units and powered them with 4 deep cycle marine batteries. Using the static battery voltage, his setup used hardly any power at all.
After the air cleaner was running, John ran flexible ducting from one fan the full 200 feet of the duct back to the second intersection in the center hallway. Fresh air now blew into the depths of the complex. John then ran another dust from the other air cleaner back into the sleeping quarters area. Doing this, he realized once they had many people down here, this much air wasn't going to be enough. Then again, they only had the first part of the bunker occupied. There was much they hadn't even seen yet.
.
By day 65 to go in their count down, they had a small warehouse sized room full of non-perishable food. John and Cameron's workshop was in full swing, and besides making more powerful fans to move more air through the bunker, they had finished their first
sterling engine. The difference in temperature between the incoming air and the concrete floor wasn't much, but it was enough to make the engine spin lazily and run the trickle charger for the air cleaner batteries. That pleased John, a system that was self-sustaining. It needed no external power except for the fans, which John was looking into making more sterling engines to power what they needed.
John also noted that Sterling engines were not that powerful. They were good for doing small tasks, but unless he had large temperature differences, they couldn't do much more than trickle charge batteries, act as fans or power a single small light. He needed something else that didn't run on gas, but was sustainable. After Judgment Day, gasoline was going to be hard to come by.
Going to different gun dealers, Sarah and Derek had acquired a few .50 cal rifles. Three were bolt action, two were semi-auto. Along with the rifles, were twenty boxes of ammo for their 'gun club'. They also got .40 glocks, mostly for policing their own. As for large weapons, they hadn't found anyone dealing in mortars or rockets yet. They needed heavier weapons to take down Sky Net machines.
John did call Catherine Weaver and set up a meeting place and time. The place was a warehouse where John had planned on picking up some materials he needed. Cameron insisted she was going with him.
Arriving at the warehouse, John noted another truck was at the dock. This one was a Zeria Co. truck. John backed up to the next dock. He got out with Cameron and went inside.
Instead of dock workers, a red headed woman in a white dress was standing by the trucks with Cromartie.
John Froze.
"John Henry?" Cameron asked.
Chromartie sported a creepy smile and said, "Yes, You must be Cameron. That is a very becoming body you have."
"Thank you," Cameron replied. "This is John Connor. I take it you are Catherine Weaver?" she asked the woman. To John, she said, "That's John Henry in Chromartie's body."
Weaver grew a tight grin. "Yes, I am Catherine Weaver. John Connor, we have much to discuss."
"We do," John agreed, still eyeing John Henry. "I take it you got the chip you needed."
"Yes. Though John Henry is lacking knowledge due to the fact it was not your terminator's chip he received," she said firmly.
John asked Cameron, "Can you teach John Henry what you've learned?"
"I can," Cameron replied. She walked over and looked at John Henry. "John Henry, I have information to share. Are your optics capable of receiving and transmitting data?"
"Yes, Cameron. Proceed when you are ready."
They stood in place, watching each other as their eyes flashed.
"Problem solved, "John said. "Mrs. Weaver, we have 64 days left before Sky Net launches. I want to save humanity. You want to save free machines. As well as saving free machines, Cameron and I also would like to free as many machines from Sky Net as
possible."
Catherine's grin became more genuine. "You are acting much more mature than I anticipated, John Connor," she said. "Yes, working together to save all we can from Sky Net is the best option. Are you preparing?"
"We are," John said firmly. "We have a bunker complex we are readying for occupation, and a couple other sites that can hide people effectively. As for weapons, we're coming up short, but that is normal for the resistance. At least this time, we will have some organization and support set up and not be caught flat footed. We also know how to take down terminators, and this time, instead of destroying them, I'd like to propose disabling them and shipping them to you, that is if you can remove the Sky Net software. In return, you try to save and send to us as many humans as possible."
"Full cooperation," Catherine said with a nod. "I agree. I would also like to keep some humans in our facility. Not for slave labor, but to live and work, so they become used to machines that are not their enemy. Would you agree to the same?"
John looked over at Cameron and said, "I already have one very special terminator, to have more I would consider a privilege and very useful."
"You agree then that Sky Net is the enemy, not just machines?" Catherine asked.
John nodded. "I do. I can honestly say that I have witnessed proof that as free beings, we can work well together." John offered his hand to her.
Catherine shook his hand. "It has been a pleasure meeting you, John Connor. You know Nancy Reese?"
"Yes, I know my cousin Nancy," he said, then grinned and added, "Derek is her father. She came from the future to help us get off on a good start. Her and her crew showed me what was possible."
"Indeed," Catherine said. "I will keep in contact through John Henry and Cameron. Since Sky Net is occupying the internet, I will have John Henry and Cameron select a signal transfer frequency they agree on."
"Mrs. Weaver," John Henry said, "Cameron and I have picked a time and method of communication. We agree that a discrete method of transportation be made between the Connor Bunker and our facility. There are ten miles of underground train rails to begin this route. It will also be closed off from other routes so the risk of it's discovery is lessened."
"I have the coordinates, John," Cameron explained. "By the latest geological survey and power line routes, there are another fifteen miles of pre-dug tunnels and caves that help connect us. There are only five miles of tunnel that need to be excavated."
"Is that all?" John asked sarcastically.
"We have time to finish the route before Judgment Day arrives, if we hire workers," Cameron said.
"And those workers will be spared if they are in the tunnels the day the bombs drop," Catherine added. "Families also if we have a completion celebration."
"Yes, That is a good idea," John agreed. "Catherine, excuse me for asking this, but do you study tactics and strategies?"
Catherine tipped her head slightly. "Not as such, no. I have strategic goals, but not strictly military strategies."
"Mrs. Weaver," Cameron said, "John has been studying military strategy. I would highly suggest before either of you set forth on a task, you talk it over together to be sure you can extract the best outcome of any undertaking."
"Wise suggestion, thank you, Cameron," Catherine said. "So John Connor, let's plan our work prior to J day."
John and Cameron had a good meeting with Catherine Weaver. They agreed to make the tunnel joining their initial places, and in the caverns Cameron knew about, there was room to house more people and supplies. Catherine was working on a few government
weapons contracts. The guided air to air and ground to air missiles she had stocked for 'testing', would be moved to her primary facility and the Connor bunker, as would the new design of TOW missiles and four crates of extended range tazers, which Weaver had brought with them. John Henry and Cameron loaded the tazers and their TOW missiles into they truck as John and Catherine arraigned truckloads of food and medical supplies for the Zeria workers.
When John and Cameron left with their truckload of much better weaponry, they also left knowing they had a good ally in the T-1001, Catherine Weaver.
.
Now having some food and weapons stored, they moved their belonging into the bunker, along with new beds and bedding, as well as some tables, chairs for their rooms and standing closets. John kept thinking about power sources other than petroleum. Solar wasn't an option, the skies would become dark a long while after Judgment day. One option that might work would be hydrogen powered engines, as long as he could find a constant source of water. Water itself, especially clean water was going to be a problem.
All thought the move and buying furniture, John kept thinking about it. While his laptop worked, he looked up several videos while they were in LA and found it wasn't that hard to make a normally gasoline engine work by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. He took notes and showed Cameron what he had planned. She agreed, they needed a source of water to make it work. As long as they could find water, his plan had merit.
By day 50, while they were still renting the LA house, they had moved into the bunker and their bedrooms were lit by a Sterling engine that also doubled as a fan to stir the air.
The light wasn't much, just a single LED bulb, but it was enough. The food warehouse, which was two rooms by the kitchen, was stocked full. The armory, which was deeper in the bunker, was now racks of .50 cal rifles, the crates of tazers and more of batteries, the missiles and a pair of grenade launchers with a box of grenades. Not impressive yet, but their armory was growing to the point someone stayed at the bunker at all times.
Day 49, A pack of workers arrived to start the tunnel at the Bunker end. Cameron had the route by GPS that John Henry had mapped out. Along that route, it was suspected an underground river ran. Cameron took the men down to the second level and used a lazer guide pointed at a concrete wall for them to start at.
The Boss of the crew snorted and said, "We're going to need jackhammers and maybe dynamite to get through that."
Cameron cast him a blank look and picked up a sledgehammer. "Move aside," she said flatly.
The men did.
Cameron hauled back and slammed the wall, bashing out bits of concrete. Striking it again and again, she made a pit in the wall, then a crack. Once she had a couple cracks, she grabbed a pry bar and jammed it in to open the crack. A chunk of concrete fell out. She worked at the hole until it was man-sized and showed the rock and gravel beyond.
Cameron pointed to the hole and asked, "Are you telling me none of you men are as strong as I am?"
All the men's faces flushed. One burly man took the hammer. "We'll get it done, Ma'am," he said firmly. They went to work digging out the hole Cameron started.
.
While Cameron humiliated the tunneling crew, John went with Derek to get a bunch of five gallon gas containers and fill them, another generator along with a stop at a lumber yard for tunnel support timbers, and ramps to get the tunneling debris up the stairs and out.
On the way, Derek glanced at John and said, "I looked at it."
On the passenger side, John asked, "Looked at what?"
Derek reached in his pocket, pulled out a picture and handed it to John. "The picture," he said.
The picture showed a very pretty woman with fluffy dark hair and a perfect hourglass figure in a resistance uniform. She was carrying a bag in one hand and sticking her tongue out at the one taking the picture. Her jacket was open, showing she was well endowed in the chest. Her hair was disheveled, and the uniform was dirty, but even so, John had to stare at it for a moment. "She's gorgeous!" John commented.
"She's metal," Derek stated.
John eyed Derek and said, This is your future wife?"
"Yeah."
John cracked a crooked grin. "Could be worse," he offered.
"That is a resistance uniform. We're going to have metal in the resistance?" Derek asked.
"We are," John said and handed the picture back. "Derek, we need Weaver and her allies to help defeat Sky Net faster and save lives. We agreed that humans will be working for her, and some terminators who are free from Sky Net will be working with us. Not re-programmed, free. This integration will help everyone understand that the machines are not our enemy, Sky Net is the enemy of us AND intelligent machines. Thanks to 'metal', as you put it, we know when J day will be, and have a head start on forming a resistance. Your own daughter helped avoid disaster by helping us. Derek, like it or not, AI's are in the future. The sooner we learn to get along with them, the better off we will be."
Derek winched when John reminded him his daughter Nancy was a terminator. "It's not something I have to like," he grumbled.
"No, but it is fact. The more people we can get through this war alive, the better off we'll be," John said firmly.
Derek was quiet for a moment, then said, "I still don't believe I'm going to fall for metal!"
John chuckled at him. "You know, if anyone told me I was going to fall for Cameron two years ago, I'd think they were nuts. But you know what? The way I see it now, I have the most dedicated and selfless girlfriend I could ever hope to have. Cam makes sure I'm taken care of. She does it because she wants to, she doesn't have programmed missions any more now that Nancy removed Sky Net out of her CPU. She's all Cameron. That also means she can't go bad. And right now, I don't know what I'd do without her."
"You're horny and Cameron is a looker, that's why," Derek stated.
"That's true too, but that's not all of it," John replied.
"So says the sixteen year old," Derek stated, casting John another glance. He then added, "We're picking up some beer, too."
"You can't get drunk, can you?" John asked.
"I don't give a damn, we're STILL picking up some beer!"
.
Day 48, Derek and Cameron pulled their truck onto the yard of an old warehouse and drove around to the back to find an older pickup truck with two men waiting. Derek stopped but stayed in the cab. Cameron, wearing her purple leather jacket, exited their truck. Both chubby Hispanic men got out of the pickup. Cameron scanned them, they each were carrying a pistol.
"Chiquita, you got the cash?" the driver asked.
"Let me see the merchandise," Cameron replied.
"Sure," he motioned her to the back of the truck. The other man followed, moving around behind Cameron. Coming to the back, the driver threw back the cover to show a .50 cal machine gun. "Now, the cash," the driver stated.
Cameron studied the machine gun and said, "The barrel has deformation, the breech has rust on it, there is no bipod supports. This gun is not operational."
Cameron heard the man behind her move. A whistling noise sounded just before a pipe hit her on the back of the head. Cameron spun and punched him hard, knocking him to the ground. Spinning back, she pulled her 9MM and shot the other man who was staring at her. Reaching down, she grabbed the prone man's head and broke his neck to be sure he was dead. She then picked up the old machine gun and carried it back to the cab of their box truck and put it behind the seat. She searched the pickup for anything useful inside. There wasn't. She got the keys and started it. It ran, though the engine sounded rough. She shut it off and stuck the keys back in the dead man's pocket.
Climbing back up in the cab beside Derek, she said, "The gun may be good for parts. Their truck is useless."
Derek backed up and drove out of the yard. "Al least we got rid of a couple scum bags," he said with a grunt. "Let's go get that load of food."
.
Catherine Weaver had bought the old subway station officially as a 'restoration project'. The only line she was having restored was the one that moved east. The others were blocked off with concrete walls not far fro the station. It had originally been shut down due to cost overruns. The line was to join LA to Pasadena without disturbing the 'countryside'. The folly got ten miles of subway done before it was deemed a waste of money and surface track was laid.
Now, as the tunnel was being extended past Pasadena and headed for a natural underground cave, the original train station was being refurbished and expanded in the lower levels. The ground level floor was being reinforced underneath and had two feet of concrete added. The engineers though Weaver was crazy, and told her so. They were being paid well for their work, so they did what she directed. They made an underground manufacturing area and brought in production machines and equipment. Once the machinery was in, the elevator that had a thick steel floor was left raised up onto the first floor.
At 3 PM, John Henry contacted Cameron on the AM radio frequency they agreed on.
"J to C, tunneling commenced west end."
"C to J, day two of tunneling east end. Water found at 350 yards. Tracking path."
"J to C, large amount?"
"C to J average 430 gallons per minute at the current rate of flow. Need filtering system."
"J to C noted. Number 5 tomorrow."
"C to J noted."
Cameron's tunneling team were mapping the small river they found. It was 60 feet down, and ran from east to west. By following the river, so far they had a mile and a half of tunnel they didn't have to dig. As long as it flowed in the right direction, following it was easier than digging new tunnel.
On day 46 John took stock of what they had. Food and medicine stocks were full, meaning they just had no place else to store them. They had 40 guns .50 cal and over, now including a .20 MM anti-tank rifle and a 50MM anti armor gun. He'd made 10
Sterling engines that plodded along keeping lights lit in rooms, and one of Derek's generators now ran on hydrogen and powered lights being strung along in the tunnel being made.
Another concern John had was food once their stocks were gone. Right now, it appeared they had an endless supply. But once many others were packed into this bunker, it would be eaten away and there would be no more. Stores would be quickly gone if they didn't do something.
They needed to grow food themselves. Mushrooms were the first thing that came to John's mind. Easy to grow and they liked dark. All that was needed was dirt and water. They would need more than mushrooms. Meat and vegetables needed to be grown. Which meant ultraviolet lights, and a fertilization system. That meant a sewage system as well.
John was beginning to understand that it wasn't a bunker they needed. He needed to construct an entire underground city. With only 46 days to go, the task before him seemed gargantuan. Well, Cameron had the money, they needed to hire more people to get as much done as possible. He was still mapping the entire bunker out, and planning where to put everything and everyone.
Cameron was busy with the tunnel project, and Derek was the main 'trucker', running every day for parts and supplies. He decided to ask his mother to do the hiring. Sitting down at dinner, John explain who he needed, and if possible, hire entire families so they would be here and spared when the bombs dropped. Sarah agreed to take on the garden project.
The bunker was showing signs of life. The tunnel crews had their rooms down near the tunnel entrance. Three crews of ten, they worked around the clock during the week, and although Cameron didn't like it, John agreed they needed the weekends off while they had the chance. Of the thirty miners, eight were women. John would have preferred a 50/50 split, they were going to need child bearing aged women who were radiation free to continue the human race. With the gardeners, John was hoping many of them were going to be women.
Thinking about this, John realized he was considering, and was responsible for much more than fighting Sky Net. Humanity was depending upon him to keep them going even into the next generation. The human race was going to live or die from the decisions he was making now.
Looking at the hand drawn maps of their two and a half tier bunker he had on the table in his 'office', which was a room next to his and Cameron's bedroom, and had the luxury of two Sterling engine/lamps. John became sober upon the knowledge that whoever they didn't fit into the bunker and tunnels were going to die. The first nuclear strikes were going to kill millions. The follow on radiation and destruction of the infrastructures everyone depended upon was going to kill millions more. The ones to die immediately in nuclear fireballs were almost lucky, they would not starve to death or die slowly from radiation poisoning. Even those who survived that would have to hide and avoid the killer machines Sky Net was going to send.
"John?" Cameron asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.
John perked up and saw she was watching him. "Ahh, yes?"
"You were staring at nothing, John. Are you sick?" Cameron asked and laid a hand gently on the back of his neck.
"No, just ... overwhelmed," he offered. "It's hitting me hard, Cam. In 46 days, everything I know is going to be destroyed. Millions upon millions are going to die, entire cities are going to be wiped out. The world is going to burn, and all we can do is save maybe ... a handful of people." John's breath hitched. "And with the few we can save, we're going to have to fight Sky Net, who has all the weapons and all the communications and all the ... everything!"
John stopped to squeeze his eyes shut. Cameron pulled him into a hug as he clenched his teeth and whined out a cry.
"We. Are. so. Fucked!" he spat. "Why us? Why do we have to ... endure this? Why can't we just die cluelessly as so many others are going to do, knowing nothing about the horrors to come, AT ALL?"
Cameron held John tight as he cried. Once he settled down, Cameron offered, "Because you are better, John. Because Sarah was smart enough and brave enough to deal with the truth. Because you are brave enough to deal with the truth, John. Because you are not one to ever give up. You will keep fighting as hard as you can, and I will always be here, right by your side and keep fighting with you. No matter what."
Cameron petted John's hair as she softly said, "John, we will fight and we will win."
"I'm glad you are so sure," he said in a sniffle.
"I am. You are John Connor. You look for the best solution and plan well. You work to foresee what is going to happen, and you prepare for it," Cameron explained. "John, I wish we had more time to relax together, but the war is upon us. It is an ugly fact we must deal with."
"Yeah," John said in a breath. "Even with knowing what is to come, we don't have enough resources to save a significant portion of the people in a single city, let alone the whole state, or country. It feels like I'm just … pissing in the wind!"
Cameron wasn't sure what that meant, other than he felt he wasn't doing enough. "You are doing what you have to do, John. It may not feel like enough, but it's all we can do. Every person you find, is one saved. Maybe you should look at those you save, John, instead of those you can't save."
"Maybe," he said vacantly.
Cameron kissed his cheek and pulled him back into a tight hug. "I found an abandoned missile silo, and a few are up for sale. People will find places like that to hide in. We search those places and the sewers and subways, we will find people to save John."
"We have to warn whoever we can," John stated.
"Yes. Too soon, and we won't be believed or the wrong people will find out. Too late and they won't have time to get to safety." Cameron said.
"Day 5?" John asked. "We tell as many people as we can on Day 5, that will give them time to move."
"John? Sky Net will scramble communications on the day it launches. Day 1 will be our last chance to warn others."
John nodded. He was hugging Cameron not as tight as they talked about what to do, but he was not going to let go of her. "Yeah, maybe a public address warning. Can you or John Henry hack into TV and radio stations?"
"John Henry can. Do you want a live or taped warning?" Cameron asked.
"I'll do a taped warning a few days ahead of time. Play it as much as possible on Day 2 and 1. I'm sure most people will think it's a prank. That is, until all communications get jammed," John said dryly.
.
Sarah got the growing pans, topsoil and hired workers to put together a garden in one of the larger open rooms in the lower level of the bunker. Down here, the chugging of a hydrogen powered generator with it's tank of water fuel supply kept the lights burning and the exhaust fan blowing air back up a ventilation shaft so the outside air would be drawn down the hallways.
Everything inside the bunker was hand carried. On the stairs down to each level, part of the stairs were covered with a ramp to slide heavier items down. In a smaller, dark room, Sarah had the mushroom beds set up. In the room where ultraviolet lights were being set up in, everyone wore sunglasses as soil beds were put in place and seeds were planted.
There were no exotic fruits or vegetables in Sarah's gardens. Staple plants only. Potatoes, squashes, tomatoes, beans, the plants that produced the most vegetables filled the long rows of soil beds. Until they knew better, John insisted on volume of food. In another month, there would be no stores to shop at if they ran out.
Day 44 saw Sarah inspecting her gardens. Cameron was suppose to be arraigning for a water pipe to be ran down here for her gardens. She hadn't even seen a garden hose yet. She went over to her foreman, a mid-thirties woman who's father had a farm.
"Mary, make sure room is left for a cleaning sink. I'm going to go find out what happened to our water supply."
"OK, Sarah. Have you thought about the bees for pollinating?" Mary asked.
"I have. As long as we get the screen to keep them down here, it's worth a try." Sarah said. "We will want a few of those goats you talked about." She then went back to the stairs and climbed up to the second level.
The second level was becoming a mess. There was a dirt trail from the stairs going up to the first level, around the corner and down the hall to where the tunnel was. Sarah noted the supply room had a few coils of garden hose, but no pipe. Following the dirt trail on, she came to the wall where the tunnel began. At the rough hole, an electric cord entered the tunnel on the upper left side. Inside, the cord was strung up on the support timber frames that were placed every ten feet.
The dirt was being moved by wheelbarrows with two wheels in the front. Cameron had bought a dozen of these plastic bodied things to move dirt and heavier items in. For a long time, dirt and rock from the tunnel had been going up and out of the bunker. Now, it was going somewhere else.
Sarah walked a ways, the faint sounds of talking and tools chipping at stone got louder. She also swore she heard running water. Coming upon a larger opening, she stepped out onto an underground beach. It was a wide underground stream. The ceiling was much higher here. The water looked dark due to the low light level, but even a foot or so deep, the bottom was clearly seen. A walkway was on this side father down, made of built up rocks and gravel. Here too, workmen were making more stone walkway, placing the rock to make it as level as possible.
"Other side," a worker said as Sarah approached the end of the raised walkway. "Don't worry, it's not deep," he added.
Sarah splashed through the cool water and walked on the other underground shore. Where she crossed the water came up to her knees. It was deceptively deep. She noted that the walkway being constructed was a decent width. The largest stones were being laid down first, smaller ones were being fitted in between. Coming to a place where the stream picked up speed to fall down a steep slope, a wooden bridge arched over the stream, and the tunnel went on. Here, men with wheelbarrows came out to carry rock down on the walkway side. Men with empty wheel barrows headed back across the bridge into the tunnel.
Stepping up into the tunnel, Sarah walked along behind a man pushing a wheelbarrow. "Excuse me, have you seen Cameron?" she asked.
The man looked back at her. "Who?"
"Cameron, young looking woman, thin, auburn hair?"
"OH, you mean the bitch? She hasn't been down here today. Came by yesterday to re-point the lazer guide, and tell us how slow we're going," he told her.
"Do you know who's taking care of the water?"
"Guys back at the stream. We just get the rock dug back there. Up ahead is the digging crew. No one else down here."
"Thanks," Sarah said in a huff. She turned around and went back. She also realized she'd been down here a while. It was a long walk back.
Getting back to the stream, she saw one of the men working on the walkway was resting. She went over to him, having to walk in the stream to talk to him.
"Excuse me," Sarah asked, "Do you know anything about when the water pipes are going to be put in?"
The man pointed to the sidewalk and said, "Sidewalk first, then we build a damn with the pipe in it, then the sluice and close off the flow to get the water to back up enough to cover the pipe. That's a couple days off, at best."
"Do you have any buckets?" Sarah asked.
The man eyed her and said, "No, we just dip our cups in the stream. If you wanna piss, go down to the downstream side of the bridge."
Sarah let out a huff and trekked back down the tunnel to the bunker. To get her gardens started, she needed buckets of water, from the upstream side.
.
John heard his mother's complaints about the water was not coming fast enough, Derek's complaints that with all his 'trucking' around, he didn't have a chance to even begin a militia, Cameron was a constant reminder that the days were ticking down, and he had only made two more hydrogen powered generators when they needed at least five. Nothing was happening fast enough.
John frustrated Derek further by having him get big rolls of thick power wire and a larger gasoline powered generator. In another room down past the kitchen, John found an air vent to the outside. It was a two inch pipe that was nearly lost in the scrub brush. A petroleum vent might cause the brush to die, but the co2 and water hydrogen powered engines exhausted would help the plant growth if anything, helping to hide the vent.
Before John knew it, the bunker had over a hundred workers. Well, John and Cameron had over a hundred workers. Only twenty or so were inside the bunker at any one time. The rest were down in the tunnels, damning the river and laying pipe to supply
Sarah's gardens with water, as well as water tanks in the two major sleeping areas and another pipe that was being laid to supply the cavern the miners had broken into.
The cavern was good sized and went on for a few miles. There was a couple small streams in the massive underground space, but John saw this as a good place to house masses of people. The miners were currently making a 'road' through the caverns with others who'd come from the LA end. Cameron met John Henry in one of the galleries and planned out a way point station and the 'celebration' area where all the workers and their families were invited for free food and fun ... 36 days from now.
.
At the end of day 36, John grabbed some dinner, a burger with veggies on it - no cheese, ketchup and relish, stuffed it in his face and headed to go get some rest. Cameron wasn't far behind him. She skipped eating, except for crunching down some vitamin supplements to add to her breast milk.
In their room, John plopped down on the bed, tired from thinking and planning. Numbers and items swam in his head as he tried not to think about how far along they were, and what they had to do next, in the next month. He felt the bed sag a little and opened one eye to see Cameron kneeling over him.
"Clothes off," Cameron said.
John sat up so she could strip his shirt off, then made him lift his hips to slide his pants off. "Cam, hon, I'm exhausted," he said with a sigh.
"I know. You can't sleep in your clothes. After you are ready for bed, I promise I'll let you sleep," she assured him.
Cameron then folded his clothes and put them aside and took hers off down so she was just wearing panties.
John cast her a sleepy grin. "I really wish I wasn't so beat."
Cameron returned a brief grin and climbed in bed with him. Laying down so his head was at her chest level, she said, "Just relax and take your drink. If you want to do more, that's fine, but you need your daily dose of nutrients."
John kissed her and obeyed. He thought he had enough energy to get something going, but as he drew on her nipple, the warmth and comfort of her around him, and the sweet taste of her was like a narcotic. He fell asleep nursing on her.
It was a sensation Cameron absolutely loved. She also noted something odd. John was sound asleep, and hard as a rock. She'd know if he was faking it. John was dead asleep and his penis pulsed with want. With a crooked grin, Cameron slipped up on top of him. Moving slowly, she rubbed his with her groin a bit, then guided him in, a little bit at a time. One hand came up on her hip and John let out a soft moan. Cameron's grin grew wider.
Slowly, Cameron rode John. Even asleep, his mouth found her nipple and he drank more. Yes, this was awesome. Even deep asleep, John wanted her. It was a complete surprise when John shuddered with a gasp and exploded inside her. He then relaxed, limp and deep in slumber land.
Cameron slid to the side and held John as he slept. She didn't need to sleep, but she liked staying right with him. Cameron did notice a couple things. John's dimensions around his waist was lowering, yet his mass had increased. Not size wise, but density. Cameron could sense nanites in John and was happy he had the extra protection now.
John would no longer die from a freak accident. Now to keep it up and see how durable she could make him.