Chapter 47

Gone

There was thunderous roar and vibration that shook the Resistance base.

Savannah awoke. Neatly hanging on the back of her room door was Cameron's wedding dress.

"Cammy!" Savannah cried out.

Allison awoke. She noticed all of Cameron's clothes neatly folded and sitting in their room on top of her dresser.

"Vanna!" Allison called out.

Vanna awoke. She saw some things she'd been working on in the lab. They sat on her dresser. They were complete and finished now. Cameron previously told her she would assist her with them.

"Allison!" Vanna gasped.

Sarah awoke. Hanging on the back of her room door was Cameron's purple coat.

"Kyle!" Sarah shouted.

Kyle awoke. He'd heard Sarah call his name. He looked at her face and knew he'd never seen her look like that before. There was a look of shock and terror on her face.

"Sarah!" Kyle said.

John awoke - he was alone.

He looked around. Sitting on the dresser was Cameron's Poem book. On top of it sat her wedding band and diamond engagement ring.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" John screamed.

There was a loud hum and thunderous roar. It intensified in magnitude.

Everyone awoke at the same time.

The reason was obvious to everyone. The TDE was being powered up. There was no mistaking it for anything else. With the intensity of the TDE they heard, they all knew this was not a test.

This required immediate action to stop the mission. Everyone knew they would be too late but they all tried anyway. Each one of them wanted to reach Cameron and stop her.

John grabbed his shorts and ran out into the hall. He put them on as he ran. He was unaware they were now on backwards.

Allison grabbed a long tee shit and threw it over her unclad form. It would have almost covered her private parts if she was standing still. She was running and everything was clearly on 'display'. She did not know it. Even if she did she would not have cared. She needed to get to Cameron. That was all that mattered. Cameron NEEDED her. If she could not stop Cameron, she was going to go with her.

Vanna grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top. She slid the shorts on and headed out the door topless. She tried to put the top on as she ran after Allison. She dropped it but was able to grab it on the go. She would not have cared if she missed it and left it behind. She needed to get to Cameron. That was all that mattered. Cameron NEEDED her. If she could not stop Cameron, she was going to go with her.

Sarah and Kyle threw on whatever clothes were closest. They were not even sure or cared whose clothes they grabbed. They just knew they need to move and move - NOW. They needed to get to Cameron. That was all that mattered. Cameron NEEDED them. Sarah knew if she could not stop Cameron, she was going to go with her.

Savannah just looked at the wedding dress and cried. "I promise, Cammy."

Savannah knew her destiny. Cameron prepared her well. She made a promise to Cameron at her wedding. She intended to keep it one day.

"I promise, Cammy. I promise, Cammy. I promise, Cammy..." Savannah repeated it over and over.

There was a rush of Resistance members headed to the TDE room.

Bob and Jim stood outside and blocked the path. They remained unmoving. They blocked and guarded the door to the TDE room.

"Move." John yelled at them. "Get out of my way."

The big Terminators did not yield. Cameron only ever asked them for one thing.

"I choose termination to honor Cameron's last request." Bob said.

"As do I." Jim added.

Both of them remained unmoving.

"I have to see her." John cried. "We need to stop her."

John tried to get around them. They were like solid rock.

"Cameron!" John screamed. "Cameron!"

Allison and Vanna were there now.

"Let us by. PLEASE!" Allison and Vanna pleaded.

Vanna finally was able to get her top on.

They also tried to get by. The Terminators did not yield.

"It is her last request. Please honor it as we do. I will submit to chip extraction after she is gone." Bob said. "I can not fail in the only thing Cameron has ever asked of me."

Jim heeded Cameron's last request as well.

"It is our duty to Cameron." Jim said. "We will not fail. I will submit to chip extraction after she is gone as well."

Kyle and Sarah showed up. She did not understand why the TDE door was being blocked.

"What the Hell is going on?" Sarah demanded. "Get out of the way - NOW."

The thunder died down the hum disappeared. There was no more vibration.

The TDE was shut down.

There was no sound at all. Everyone knew what that meant. It was over. Cameron was gone.

John Henry emerged from the TDE room.

"Where is she?" John demanded.

"Gone." John Henry replied. "I will submit to chip extraction."

John Henry knelt on the floor. Bob and Jim knelt next to him.

"If you choose to terminate us, we will not resist. What we did was what Cameron asked of us. What has Cameron ever asked of us, any of us?" John Henry asked. "I honored her by honoring her only request. It was the only thing she every asked of me."

The three Terminators remained on their knees.

John Henry produced a scalpel. He'd come prepared.

"This will be an honorable termination for us. We carried out Cameron's final request. You may begin chip extraction." John Henry said. "I will go first."

He held the scalpel out for John or anyone to take.

Allison and Vanna looked at each other and held hands. Each of them gave a knowing nod to the other as tears streaming down their cheeks. They knew what Cameron wanted from them if she failed to return. They would keep their promises. They held each other as they burst into uncontrollable crying.

"Cameron only gives and sacrifices for ALL of us." Bob added. "We wanted to obey her. We chose to obey her. We did what she wanted us to do."

"She has taken damage for all of us. She has saved many of your lives several times over. She saved our lives too." Jim said. "We all owed her. Carrying out her last and only request was the way to honor her sacrifice."

Sarah and Kyle tried to comfort John.

"I have to go after her. I have to." John pleaded

Tears streamed down John's cheeks.

John Henry still held the scalpel out.

"It is impossible. I have erased the information from the TDE and my memory. There is no record of it. It was her request." John Henry said. "I do not even know now where or when she has gone to. There is no way to know."

John still could not believe this was happening.

"She is never coming back is she?" John asked.

John knew the answer before he asked the question.

John Henry felt the prospects of a successful mission were slim.

"It is very unlikely. She will most likely end up lost in time. She may be lost to some divergent timeline because of all the changes we have made." John Henry said. "Since she is not back now, she has failed. She said she would return right after she left if she was successful."

Vanna, Allison and Sarah all knew that was what Cameron planned to do when she went after John when he was in the future. She planned to return right after she left. It should have been seamless if it worked.

Everyone looked around, there was nothing. Cameron was not there. She failed to return.

"Where she will look for John, until her power cell runs out or she is terminated." Allison cried.

John heard those same words before.

"Cameron said that to me too." John added. "Almost those same exact words."

John Henry still held the scalpel.

Sarah was upset with all of this. She noticed something was missing.

"Where are those two new Terminators?" Sarah asked. "They didn't take her did they?"

John Henry glanced at Sarah.

"Unit Two and Unit Three went with her." John Henry said.

That upset John further. He didn't think Cameron trusted them. She never used them for anything.

"What for?" John demanded. "Why did they go with her?"

"They went for protection and security. It is their function to protect her at any cost." John Henry said. "None of them have returned. Cameron asked that we not mourn her."

John Henry was sure that since none of them returned that they were all terminated. One of them should have made it back.

"You may terminate us now." Bob reminded them. "Please make it swift."

The three Terminators silently awaited termination on their knees.

John was thoroughly disgusted. He was heartbroken and upset. He did not want vengeance enacted on the Terminators for doing the one thing Cameron asked of them. They all did it for her and believed it would result in their own termination. They still did it anyway. They were all willing to sacrifice for her.

It was clear they all 'loved' Cameron in their own way. Sacrifice was the true test of love.

"Get up! Get up everyone. There will be no terminations. There has been enough loss today." John said. "I can't believe this."

The tears still flowed down John's cheeks

Kyle and Sarah walked John back to his room. They were as hurt and upset as he was.

The three Terminators resumed their normal duties. This was something Cameron told them to do. She told them they most likely would not be terminated and to continue to serve the Resistance. They were to carry on the fight in her demise and defeat Skynet.

Vanna and Allison were left standing there alone. They still held each other. The tears continued to stream down their faces. They slowly walked away to return to their room and get dressed. They both made a promise to Cameron. It was a promise which they both intended to keep. They now understood her insistence - She KNEW.

Cameron KNEW she would be terminated and she needed them to replace her for John. They never really understood her actions and insistence before with her pushing them towards John. Now it was clear, crystal clear.

The tears were gone for now. There was a sad finality to it all. Allison went with Vanna to the lab. Life went on. Life moved forward not backwards. Cameron attempted to move backwards in life. Look where it took her. She was gone.

Vanna started her duties. Allison sat at the desk. Cameron's poems were neatly stacked in the corner. She gently touched them. She felt like she was touching Cameron's mind. Allison picked up her player. She saw it was ready to play.

Fear gripped her.

"Vanna!" Allison swallowed hard.

Vanna rushed towards Allison. On the way there she noticed the gutted server. She stopped and looked at it. She saw the trash can sitting there in front of it with the crushed hard drives in it.

Vanna just stood there and stared in disbelief. THAT was 'her Cameron'. 'HER Cameron' now lay in broken and crushed pieces in the trash can. Vanna burst out into tears. Allison came to see what was wrong. She still held her player in her hand.

Vanna reached in the trash and picked some of the crushed pieces of the hard drives.

"Cameron!" she screamed.

She looked up to Allison in total shock and disbelief.

Allison was startled by Vanna's scream. She bumped the play button and the player started to play.

'Seasons In The Sun' by 'Terry Jacks', eerily echoed throughout the room.

Vanna collapsed all the way to the floor as she heard the words. Allison went down with her. Both women were cried helplessly as the song played. The sadness and sorrow was - overwhelming.

Gone

The quest for things we want
Can slowly drive us insane
Many things we seek are illusive
They are very difficult to attain

We often want the impossible
Propelled by some inner drive
We are so caught up in the hunt
We miss those things when they arrive

There is what we have
There is what we want
How far will we go to get it
Maybe even pull a crazy stunt

It could be for more or a change
It always is something
In the end it does not matter
Everything is really nothing

We many be more ignorant
Than any common moron
We never realize what we have
Until it is forever gone

Nobody