Chapter 13

Scavengers

Cameron sent for Sarah. She wanted to formulate a plan to go back to the future. She only thought she could trust Sarah, Vanna and Allison to back her play unconditionally.

Sarah received the call to return to the lab. She'd just been there a short time ago. Something must have happened. She hurried back and walked into the lab. It made her smile to see Allison and Cameron standing next to each other.

"I didn't know the 'Olsen Twins' would be here." Sarah said.

Cameron and Allison looked at each other and then at Vanna and all four of them laughed.

Cameron turned her back to Sarah to show her she was no longer tethered.

Sarah felt something inside of her change. Cameron was mobile again. A new sense of hope shot through her. She was not sure how but Allison must have been involved. This meant Cameron was going to go after John now. Nobody said anything about it yet but she knew that was about to happen. Cameron quickly went over what happened in her absence.

Cameron told the three females what she wanted to do and where she was going to go. She needed some more information from Allison and John Henry first. The more information she obtained, the better her chances were to bring John home. There was a lot of information on her chip but she needed more current information and where everything was at specifically. She didn't know that Mrs. Weaver's endgame was and would need to tread lightly around that issue until she could find out. She hoped John Henry would be more forthcoming.

Allison thought she could help Cameron. She'd just left the future less than an hour ago. She knew all the ins and outs of everything.

"I'm going back with you." Allison said. "I know the details of everything. I can help you with many things."

Vanna was a little shocked to hear Allison say that. If she went into the future, she might not come back again.

Sarah wanted to go too. She knew Cameron would find John. She wanted to make sure they all returned. She could help them. This was about getting John back. It was about bringing John home.

"I'm going too." Sarah said. "He's my son."

Cameron knew of the extreme risk the future presented. There was a chance and it was a good one too that she may be terminated in the future. She would do whatever she needed to do to get John and bring him home. She didn't want to risk anyone else.

"NO, Sarah." Cameron said. "Allison, I can't ask you. Your future is here with Vanna."

Allison looked upset. She wanted to help.

"Besides, you've only been here less than an hour." Cameron added.

Sarah wasn't going to give up easy. She noticed the sores and cuts on Allison. She wanted John out of the future.

"I want my son." Sarah said. "I want John back."

Cameron would do that. She would do everything to bring John home until her power cell ran out or she was terminated. She was going after him and there was nothing that would stop her.

"I'm going to get him. I promise, Sarah." Cameron said. "No power in the Verse can stop me."

Allison still wanted to go. She was aware of everything in the future. There were many dangers. Cameron needed someone to watch her back.

"It is too unsafe to go alone. There's Metal everywhere. If that 'Liquid Thing' hadn't been there, we would all have been dead ten times over." Allison said. "It always watched over John and me. It was unstoppable in combat."

Sarah was a little surprised at that news. Her initial meeting with Mrs. Weaver hadn't gone that well. She thought Mrs. Weaver was building Skynet. She may be on their side or she may have her 'own side'. Her end game could be something different.

"Mrs. Weaver helped you?" Sarah asked. "She protected John and you?"

Sarah hadn't expected that. Actually she didn't know what to expect. Maybe she wouldn't need to terminate Mrs. Weaver the next time they met. She still wanted too after their first encounter. It left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Mrs. Weaver was a Bitch - a 'Metal Bitch'. She was a threat and everything about her was unknown.

Allison glanced at Vanna and took her hand.

"Yes, the Liquid Metal thing helped many times. She even prevented me from being abused by a group of Scavengers." Allison said. "The Scavengers captured me. There was no stopping what they were about to do to me."

Vanna visibly winced at the thought. She held Allison's hand tighter. She knew of the horror that would have followed.

"Scavengers? How many were there?" Vanna asked. "That's terrible."

Vanna absentmindedly touched her scar on her abdomen. She knew that Scavengers brutalized their victims and marked their bodies in various ways.

Cameron saw and noted Vanna's actions. She knew Vanna must have suffered at the hands of Scavengers before. That is where her scar must have come from.

"There were six of them. That would have been fatal. Each one would have been more brutal than the last. The first one was going to carve his initials in me." Allison said. "I have a new scar to prove it."

Everyone sat in silence as they waited for Allison to continue. It was a story none of them wanted to hear but they needed to hear it.

"We'd been on patrol. There was word that I specifically was targeted for termination. There was an ambush and I was separated from the group. John always tried to watch out for me. I did as well for him. I couldn't find him." Allison said. "After about ten minutes JH found me."

Cameron took in the news. She knew Allison and her looked the same so John would be attracted to Allison. She could understand that. She started to worry. Allison was - REAL. Cameron knew she wasn't. A lot of things could have happened…. Cameron could see Allison's natural beauty even in her current condition. Cameron knew if John was with Future Riley that he could have been with Allison too. Given her appearance it was most likely. Allison would only have known only what John told her. John may have 'forgotten' to mention her.

Sarah wanted to clear something up.

"Who is JH?" Sarah asked. "Is that John Henry?"

"Yes and no, it was a dog similar to the German Shepherd that Savannah gave me when she left. Savannah named him that, I know why now. He ran away but I found another one just like him when I met John. I still called him JH because I missed him. A lot of things were like that. People died and disappeared around us all the time."

Allison paused and briefly looked at Vanna. She sighed and resumed her story.

"JH spotted two Terminators stalking me. He ran off towards them. I went to hide and that is when I was grabbed. I'd inadvertently hid in the opening to the Scavenger's bunker. They grabbed me and drug me down a tunnel. They pulled my clothes off along the way as we went. I tried to fight them but it was impossible. Four of them pinned down. I knew what was going to happen for starters. Instead of starting right in, the first one took out a knife. He was about to cut me. He said the screaming only added to the excitement. They all groped, leered and laughed at me. I knew they were all going to do the same thing before they started in, one after the other. I've seen some of the damage done to females. I knew it was going to happen to me. Scavengers liked to mark their victims and keep them as 'trophies'. Some of the females lived, most of them didn't. Maybe they were the lucky ones."

Vanna faced Allison. She wanted to comfort her. She didn't want the story to continue. She was very aware of the terror Allison must have felt. She didn't want to hear how Allison was savaged. She already knew what it was like.

"You don't need to finish, Allison." Vanna said. "Please stop."

Allison looked at the three of them. It was important they know.

"No, I need to finish." Allison said. "All of a sudden there was a female voice that spoke with a Scottish accent, 'You boys need to learn some manners.' The strangest part of all was that she was wearing a white dress and high heels. It was like in a photo out of a fashion magazine. Then in like two seconds all six of the Scavengers were dead. I looked up in shock at her. I did not even know what she was at that time. She tossed me my clothes and said, 'Come with me, if you want to live'."

"She said she was a friend of Savannah's and no one was going to take anything away from Savannah ever again, especially someone Savannah cared about. I was scared to death of her. She seemed to say all the right things so I trusted her. What else could I do? She'd just saved me. I told her there were Terminators stalking me and we needed to be careful. I said they were looking for me specifically. She just smirked and said, 'Oh, I wouldn't worry about them'."

"I came up out of the tunnel first and I said, 'Everything looks clear.' I looked around again and only JH was standing there, his tail was wagging. I asked, 'Where have you been?' There was no sign of the 'woman'. JH and myself then made it back to camp. I was really unsure about what I saw in my rescue. I know what I saw but it was unbelievable."

"I saw John getting ready to lead another patrol out to look for me." Allison said. "I called John aside and told him what happened."

"John asked me if I'd seen the woman 'clearly' and what she did." Allison said. "I told him it sounded crazy but her arms looked like blades for a few seconds. It all seemed so hard to believe. I KNOW I saw the woman and what she did. He then took me into his confidence and explained everything to me. At least now I knew why John stared at me every second he thought I wasn't watching. I looked exactly like the girl he loved he told me later on."

Cameron took note of the word 'loved'.

"He said 'loved'?" Sarah asked.

"Yes - LOVED." Allison said as she looked at Cameron. "Exactly like the girl he loved."

Cameron returned Allison's look. She was sure there was more to 'this' story. She knew she was probably not going to like it. Once she returned John back to this time she would deal with it. John was allowed freedom of choice. She remembered the last time John made a 'choice'. It was Future Riley, not her.

Cameron was ready to act.

"I need to go now and bring him back." Cameron said. "I need to bring John home."

Sarah could tell by Allison's story how dangerous the future was.

"Cameron, you can't go alone." Sarah said. "You need to have some help and someone to watch your back."

Vanna looked at Cameron and whispered something in her ear. Vanna was unsure how Cameron would want to address it, if at all.

Cameron looked at Vanna and nodded.

"Vanna suggested since we have the Mr. Ellison Terminator's chip ready, that we download my program into it to make a second copy of me." Cameron said. "We would then place it in the chassis of Jim. It will be Cameron Two in Jim's chassis. Then I can go with someone who I can trust with my life and not need worry about their safety. I don't want anyone I care about getting hurt on my behalf. I think it is a good plan. Let's do it."

Scavengers

Everyone wants
Some people take
Only when they get caught
Is it a mistake

No animal on earth
Is crueler than man
Especially when they form up
Into some kind of clan

To be human
Is to be flawed
If they were a machine
Maybe they would be awed

The greedy seem to win
Those are the ones who use
Let it be known in the end
They are the ones who will lose

To all they encounter
They bring many dangers
Beware the unwitting amateurs
Who encounters any Scavengers

Nobody