Chapter 68

Free

Unit Three booted up. Cameron lay next to him. Her entire body shook and quaked. Unit Two was on the other side of her. He appeared inopreatable.

There was a live electrical wire tangled in Cameron's hair that touched her scalp. Every few seconds there would be a spark. It was not always in the same place.

The wires were the old fashion bare wires that looped from glass terminal to glass terminal. He picked up the knife and knocked them off of her. Her body stopped quaking.

He noted there were chunks of plaster lying around them and there was plaster dust on everything. It appeared the building was damaged in some way. Maybe there was an earthquake. He did not know that Cameron fought a Terminator in the past almost right above them a few floors up. Their hidden compartment was next to an elevator shaft.

He quickly scanned Unit Two and removed his chip from his abdomen and placed it back in his head after he opened the port.

Unit Two booted up. Cameron still lay there on the floor next to him. She appeared lifeless.

"She is terminated." Unit Two said. "Cameron is - dead."

Unit Three took in the surroundings and tried to put it all together.

"No. She is suffering shock and trauma. We must help her." Unit Three said. "I will not leave her side until she is able to repair herself."

Unit Two watched and worked with Cameron in her future to rescue, train, educate and groom Future Allison. He watched her transform Future Allison into a remarkable human being.

"Cameron is an honorable Terminator." Unit Two said. "I will stay as well. We may need to carry her if she is unfixable."

Unit Three agreed with that. He watched Cameron sacrifice for Future Allison and Future John.

"I will follow her anywhere." Unit Three responded. "I will carry her myself."

Unit Three moved over and cradled Cameron's head in his lap. He gently touched her cheek. He'd watched Cameron soothe Future Allison like this many times when she was depressed. It always seemed to work to 'fix' Future Allison. He now understood that procedure to be more than an act of caring. It was an act of love.

Cameron's eyes shot open. She tried to stand but almost toppled over.

Unit Two steadied her. It appeared she was still going to collapse.

Cameron was confused. She knew there was only one thing she needed to do. It was get back to John. That was her only goal.

"I must get to John." Cameron said. "I must go now."

Unit Three could see she was in no condition to travel. He didn't even know if she knew where she was and where she needed to go.

"I will carry you." Unit Three responded. "You are not operating at standard capacity. You may be damaged. You may not arrive at your destination."

Cameron ran internal diagnostics. Everything seemed mechanically sound. It was her programming that was all scrambled and out of order. She worked to find some order in what she could for now.

"NO. I am almost one hundred percent." Cameron said. "I must go in any condition I am in. I MUST GO NOW."

Cameron checked her internal clock. Something was wrong. It can't be, she told herself. Maybe her clock was off or incorrect from whatever it was that afflicted her. She checked it several times and it always came back with the 'wrong date'.

"What is the date?" Cameron asked.

She afraid of the answer she would receive. She already knew it was going to be bad news.

Unit Two and Unit Three both told her at the same time.

Cameron tried to process everything. This was all wrong. Everything was going to be different. This was almost the same as a temporal error even if it was not.

"NO!" Cameron screamed.

Cameron staggered and almost collapsed again.

Unit Three grabbed her as he tried to stabilize her.

"You are not functioning properly." Unit Three said. "I will carry you."

Cameron did not seem to hear him. She pictured everything that must have happened in her absence. It would be everything that she put into play herself.

"I am too late." Cameron said. "It has been too long. John will already have 'replaced' me. I won't get back to the base seconds after we left. It has been months already. Too much time has passed. If these people actually listened to me for once, it is over. I have lost 'everything'. I no longer have a future or a past."

Cameron realized they would have tried to 'find' her during those months and concluded that since none of them returned that they'd all been terminated or lost in some other timeline. She made a decision to terminate rather than face being replaced - again. She dropped down to her knees and picked up the knife up. She handed it to Unit Two. She chose deactivation over dishonor.

"Remove my chip and deactivate me." Cameron said as tears streaming down her cheeks. "I want you to crush my chip. When you go back to the base please tell them I was terminated in the future. Please, let them think I terminated in some way other than in shame. Come back later with Thermite and burn my chassis. I ask both of you to tell no one of this or what really happened."

Unit Two respected Cameron and would do as she asked. He would honor her last request.

"As you wish." Unit Two said.

He moved forward with the knife.

"I will obey." Unit Two said.

Unit Three stopped him and gave Unit Two a stern look. He was not ready to throw in the towel. He watched Cameron help Future Allison through times when she felt the same way. In fact, Cameron reminded him very much of Future Allison right now.

"NO!" Unit Three said to Cameron. "Please find out what happened first. After that if you still wish termination, I will do it. You MUST know first. There is too much at stake here."

Unit Three would also carry out Cameron's last request but she needed to know first if termination was necessary.

Unit Three helped Cameron up. He would carry her there himself if he needed to. He was not about to leave her alone or anywhere unattended. Not in this condition. He'd seen her like this in her future. Sometimes when Future Allison was sleeping Cameron would go out alone. He would follow her and hear her cry. He didn't know if she cried about the past or the future. Maybe it was both. He was glad he was not an infiltration unit. It seemed to be very 'unpleasant'. It was not physical pain. It seemed as if Cameron felt pain that was created in her own mind.

"You can slip into the bunker and assess the situation. Go find John and see for yourself. You owe that much to John and yourself." Unit Three said. "You can not give up after all we have done until you KNOW. Don't make this all for nothing. I can see how much you have invested in this endeavor."

Unit Two wanted to express his concern and reaffirm his loyalty to Cameron.

"We will wait outside until you return and then carry out whatever you want us to do." Unit Two said. "We will do as you instruct us. We will not fail."

"OK, I will try to sneak in for a look. If I come out with Thermite you know what to 'do'." Cameron said. "It will be what I want. I want you to deactivate me, crush my chip and then use the Thermite to destroy my chassis. You must never tell anyone the truth. I ask both of you to promise me this."

Unit three felt a sense of discomfort. He thought it was 'sadness'. He'd picked up new traits being around Cameron and Future Allison all of the time. He felt things 'happen' to him when Future Allison would touch his cheek and smile at him.

"I promise to do as you have asked and tell the story you have requested." Unit Three said. "I will honor your request."

Unit Two wanted to honor and respect Cameron. He went over the cover story they would both tell.

"Affirmative." Unit Two said. "We will inform them that we just got back and you were terminated in the future as we left."

Cameron was very relived there would be some honor to her termination. It would give the others at the base closure. They would be able to move forward with their lives.

"Thank you." Cameron said.

She gave Unit Two and Unit Three each a big hug.

"We will not fail." Unit Two and Unit Three both said at the same time.

"It will be reported you perished saving Future Allison as well as us. It will be very heroic." Unit Three said.

Cameron was pleased that those at the Resistance base would think that she died with honor, instead of in shame.

The trio of Terminators moved toward the base.

Cameron wanted to arrive unannounced and undetected. Once she confirmed her fears she wanted to slip back out without a trace. The only thing missing from the base would be some Thermite to burn her chassis.

She entered the base. It seemed deserted. Everything was quiet. No one was around. It was eerie. That seemed very unusual to her.

Cameron spotted Bob in standby. She did not think that was normal either.

She found something that disturbed her greatly. It caused a glitch impulse in her left hand. She did not need to 'glitch out' before she made her way out of the base. There was a deactivated 'Bitch Whore' blonde Terminator in the lab. Cameron hoped that she was NOT her replacement. She would deal with her on her way out. She decided to bring extra Thermite and the new 'Bitch Whore' blonde Terminator with her. THAT 'Bitch Whore' was not going to be her replacement. The blonde 'Bitch Whore' reminded her too much of Riley but was better looking.

Cameron moved towards John's room.

She could hear Vanna and Allison arguing in their room as she soundlessly passed. They only ever argued over John. That seemed to be what they were doing now.

Cameron stood outside John's door and listened. He was alone. There was music playing in the background. The lights were off. The song that played was the live version of 'I Want You To Want Me' by 'Cheap Trick'.

Cameron listened to the song. She felt the lyrics. As soon as the song finished, she opened the door. The song gave her the strength to continue. It said what she felt and believed.

Cameron was very surprised at what she found.

John waited for her in the darkness. Somehow John knew she was coming home and back to him.

Before the door closed Cameron heard John say her name very faintly.

How did he know?

She moved forward and they kissed.

John ran his hand across her body. It slipped inside her pants and touched her lower abdomen.

"I would like to do this silently." John said. "Please for me."

John asked her for silence, she thought it was his way to cope. Maybe he was about to 'overload' in his own way as she felt she was about to do. This moment was so overwhelming.

Cameron moved to the bed. She pulled John with her.

Cameron took John's left hand. She gently touched his ring. She brought it to her lips and kissed it.

It was clear that John had waited for her. She was very happy about that. He still wore his ring for HER.

They slowly undressed each other.

Cameron wondered if he would ask about her lack of underwear but he didn't.

She wanted to tell John how much she loved him and how much she missed him.

Cameron rushed the foreplay, she wanted him, NOW.

John slid between her legs. As he entered her she could feel his girth. At that moment she could think of nothing else in the world….

She was back and with the man she loved, John - her husband.

John expended himself three times. One of which Cameron was on top.

John breathed heavily and his heart pounded.

Cameron started to climb back on top of him. She wanted more from her husband. She'd been gone so long and she wanted to make up for it.

She was a very surprised when John spoke.

"Allison, I have to save something for Vanna." John said.

Cameron tried to process that information.

'ALLISON? VANNA?' Cameron thought. 'What the Hell?'

Something was wrong.

Cameron reached over quickly and flipped on the light as she looked at John.

"My name is Cameron!"

Free

When we feel caged
We want to be free
That is a simple fact
On which we all can agree

As life piles up against us
We feel the urge to flee
We want to hide so others
Can't look at us or see

We may cry out for help
Nobody hears our plea
Do we cower and retreat
Or scream like a banshee

Everything can be painful
It may be a matter of degree
To be told things are repairable
There is absolutely no guarantee

Maybe it really is
To be or not to be
There is more than one way
To set yourself free

Nobody