Cameron grabbed a hold of the floor and pulled herself onto the surface. Sarah held her shot gun at her as she got to her feet. "Mom, she's here to help," John protested as Sarah continued to hold her aim.
"I was sent to protect John," Cameron explained.
"Is it dead?" Sarah asked referring to Cromartie.
"Terminated," Cameron answered.
"Keep your distance," Sarah ordered Cameron.
Cameron stopped walking towards Sarah and John. "We don't have much time," she warned.
"Okay, load everything in truck. You can explain later," Sarah said to John and Cameron.
"We must take the body. No one is to discover it," Cameron said.
"Right, put the body in the bed of the truck," Sarah ordered Cameron. "You can carry it right?" she asked.
"Yes, I can carry it," Cameron replied.
As soon as all of their necessary belongings were loaded up Sarah, John, and Cameron took off in the truck leaving Cameron's bike behind.
"So, what happened out there?" Sarah demanded.
"A T-888 infiltrated John's high school and attempted to terminate John. We evaded him and then successfully evaded three more Terminator 800 series on the highway," Cameron summarized.
"So, how many of them are out there?" Sarah asked stunned by what she just heard.
"I don't know how many are in the general area. They are seemingly concentrating on this area. You should have used a better alias," Cameron said.
Sarah brushed off the insult; the Terminator was right. "We need to find a safe place. I know some locations we can go," Sarah told the two.
On the highway, two Terminators with severe burn injuries walked slowly but unrelentingly away from the highway and city. A third Terminator escaped the wreckage of the truck and walked off away from the city. All three Terminators had lost a substantial amount of flesh revealing metallic endoskeleton and red eye optics.
Giff rode his bike to the Connor's house. Getting off his bike he found Cameron's motorcycle behind the house. Staring at the bike, he then walked inside. Giff calmly walked through the house and noticed a large hole in the floor leading to the basement. Jumping down, he was able to find sprinkles of blood on the floor.
Taking his finger he touched the blood and then looked up at the hole above him. Climbing his way up he went into Sarah and John's rooms and searched for anything useful. Using his fingers he felt around the room for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing he walked outside the house and got back on his bike.
James Ellison calmly watched the television screen as he opened a Twinkie, his favorite snack when on the road. The news was all a buzz over another school shooting. This one was rather unique as it was a teacher and not a student with the gun. Police had also found the dead body of Mr. Ferguson at his house.
James shook his head at the stupidity of it all. What were the odds the Connor's were involved? Either they were involved in the shooting or someone wanted them dead. In any case, this complicated Ellison's hope to apprehend the Connors.
In addition there were multiple deaths and crashes on the freeway. Ellison wasn't sure he could connect the two events even though the highway crashes occurred right after the school shooting. Several witnesses had reported seeing a girl and a boy on a bike racing through traffic and even at one time navigating against traffic.
James heard his cell phone ring. Picking it up he listened to the other end. "Yes, I have seen the news," James answered calmly.
"I think the best thing would be to have a local search on the Connor's house and see if we can find anything useful," James suggested.
James frowned as he heard more on the other line. "And how was I supposed to anticipate all of this?" James asked defensively.
James put the phone down and ate another Twinkie in frustration. The more information he had on the Connors the less any of it made sense.
Three T-800 series walked up a hill outside of Red Valley and waited for orders. A white sports car approached and stopped next to the Terminators. The TX stepped out with a peeved expression.
The TX stared at the three Terminators; they were useless for infiltration now. Liquid metal curled away from her right index finger. Her mechanical finger changed shape and extended out into a tip.
The TX walked over to the first Terminator and sank her index finger into his neck. Immediately nano-machines flooded the Terminator's brain. The TX started receiving information on what the Terminator saw, heard, and felt while out in the field. In addition, she gained complete control over the unit.
The TX worked on the other two Terminators as well collecting as much information as possible. When she was finished, she went back into her car and drove off leaving the three Terminators.
The TX as she drove away looked at her mirrors and saw three Terminators suddenly explode. Metal and flesh went flying in all directions and then burned to nothingness. Smiling the TX sped off.
Sarah parked her truck in an empty abandoned warehouse a significant distance away from Red Valley. Getting out of the truck, she looked over the Terminator body wondering if it would pop up and attack her.
Cameron got out of the truck and looked around; it seemed safe. "We can stay here for tonight," Sarah judged.
Cameron said nothing concurring with Sarah's judgment. Sarah turned around and confronted Cameron. "I want all of your weapons," Sarah ordered.
Cameron stared at Sarah uncertain as to what she would do. Records indicated she destroyed a T-800 and assisted in the destruction of a T-1000, she was not to be underestimated.
Cameron complied taking out two pistols out of her pockets and then gave them to Sarah. "The other two guns are in the bed of the truck," Cameron told Sarah.
Sarah accepted her pistols and put them in her jacket pockets. Unlike the last Terminator, this one seemed smarter and less likely to follow simple commands. Cameron considered Sarah. If the woman tried anything, Cameron could kill her in an instant with or without weapons. It was not above humanity to destroy their best hope.
John seemed indifferent to what was going on. He had been through a traumatic day. His friend from school was now a robot from the future and he had been nearly killed on multiple occasions.
"So what's your story?" Sarah asked.
"Can you be more specific?" Cameron asked.
"Why are you here? You shouldn't even exist after what we did to Cyberdyne," Sarah told her.
"When I was sent back it was the year 2044. I was sent back by Sean Connor, John Connor's son to the year 1999," Cameron said.
Sarah and John looked at each other at the mention of Sean Connor. "So, there's still Judgment Day?" Sarah asked distressed.
"There will always be Judgment Day," Cameron said coldly.
"Why did Sean Connor send you back, why not John?" Sarah continued.
"I am only authorized to tell John that information," Cameron replied.
"Fine, what can you tell me?" Sarah asked losing patience.
"You are being hunted by multiple units. There are 58 Terminator units across the globe looking for you. Fifty-four if the four Terminators we encountered today were destroyed," Cameron clarified.
Sarah and John stared at Cameron with shock and dismay. "In addition there is at least one T-1000 unit in this time," Cameron let it sink in.
"So, it's us three against over 50 Terminators?" Sarah asked stunned.
"There are some resistance fighter pockets here as well. They have guns, money, and safe houses," Cameron said.
"Well, that's good. How many resistance fighters are here?" John asked optimistically.
"If they all survived, they number 12," Cameron replied.
John's hopes were dashed with Cameron's statement. "So how do we destroy 50 Terminators and stop Judgment Day?" John asked.
"My mission is to ensure your survival during the nuclear fall out, not destroy other cybernetic organisms or stop the war," Cameron said.
"Look, we stopped Judgment Day from happening. It's 1999 and there is no war," Sarah argued with Cameron.
"You only postponed Judgment Day." Cameron answered.
"So, when is Judgment Day?" Sarah asked wondering if it was tomorrow.
"I don't know," Cameron admitted.
"How can you not know?" Sarah asked outraged.
Cameron ignored Sarah's question and considered her own wounds. "I must repair myself," she said.
Sarah sat by herself as Cameron worked on her injuries. Taking pliers, she dug into her flesh and pulled pieces of bullets from her chest. "Is there any hope?" Sarah asked.
"There is always a probability. Nothing is certain. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves," Cameron said.
Sarah stared at Cameron and gave her a slight smile. "Who told you that?" Sarah asked.
"John use to say it often," Cameron answered.
Cameron took the last bullet out of her flesh. Metallic endoskeleton could be seen showing through her chest and shoulder. "Will that heal?" Sarah asked.
"I have quick regenerative abilities. They will be completely healed in less than 24 hours," Cameron replied.
Cameron considered getting off the truck and walking around, but Sarah stopped her. "You might want to put those in their holsters," Sarah advised.
Cameron stared at Sarah not understanding. "Oh, I understand," she said and immediately hooked her bra.
Sarah walked over to the truck. "You can come out now," she told John who had been sitting in the truck the whole time.
"Thank you," John said sarcastically and got out of the truck.
John stared at the now fully clothed Cameron; it was hard for him to not see her as a beautiful girl. "I am going to get some food, stay here," Sarah ordered John and Cameron.
Cameron and John watched as Sarah walked off. "Are you okay?" John asked still remembering when she had been shot.
"My organic components have high regenerative properties surpassing humans," Cameron answered.
"My endoskeleton has not been damaged," she added.
"Right, so why female? Was it to gain my trust easier?" John asked wondering if he had been played.
"T-800 series used to have one model: model 101. The human resistance quickly learned to identify Terminator infiltrators because they all looked the same and had definitive characteristics. Skynet then adapted by making different models to aid in infiltration," Cameron began.
"I see, so Terminators would have different facial characteristics, they would be of different races and genders," John said.
"Right," Cameron replied surprised he was catching on so fast.
"Still, this tactic only went so far. The human resistance under the leadership of John Connor learned to memorize who was a fighter and who was a stranger. Skynet's efforts to use different skins were in vain," Cameron continued.
"So what did Skynet do?" John asked curiously.
"Skynet created Mimic Polly Alloy which would take on the appearance of anything it sampled. The new T-1000 units could sample a human resistance fighter and easily infiltrate human cells," Cameron answered.
"So, what happened to you? Did you get deactivated and reprogrammed?" John asked.
"No, I was different," Cameron reflected.
