Chapter 75

Eight Days

Bob was able to close in on the Terminator. He needed to stop to move a boulder out of the road that Cameron placed there to slow him down. Her plan worked as intended. He was not far behind the Terminator at this point and was able to watch what went down. John already warned him what they were going to do. It was still spectacular to see it all unfold. He watched Cameron send the Terminator in his vehicle over the side of the cliff.

Bob pulled up behind John as he moved the SUV to the side of the road. John went to join Cameron to look over the cliff side and see the results of their effort.

Cameron peered over the side of the cliff as the surf crashed on the rocks below. She looked off to the side where the burning car was at on the boulders below. She did not detect any escape from the burning inferno.

"I don't see any movement." Cameron said. "He is terminated."

Cameron headed back to the SUV.

John remained there as he peered over the cliff side for a few seconds longer. He was satisfied when the car exploded that the Terminator was terminated. He knew how hard it was to get a positive termination at times. He started to walk back to the SUV. He wanted to get back to his honeymoon with Cameron.

"John, look behind you." Bob yelled.

John glanced over his shoulder and saw the Terminator. Where did he come from? He drug his right leg as he advanced on him. The Terminator just came up over the side of the cliff. John went to run but tripped on a large crack in the pavement. He sprawled on the ground. He scrambled to get up as the Terminator reached for him.

Cameron turned around at Bob's warning. She needed to get between John and the Terminator. She saw Bob get out of his SUV in an attempt to do the same thing. They were both too far away. Neither one of them was going to get to John in time to protect him.

She was sure John would be injured or terminated because of her inattentiveness. She'd been lost in thought about her remaining honeymoon time with John and how they would spend it. There were a lot of things she wanted to do as well. She'd made a major mistake by not being more thorough. The open door on the car should have been a giveaway. Now it looked as if John would pay the price.

Sarah urged Kyle to speak with his brother. She did not want her trouble with Jesse to carry over to Derek.

Kyle felt he needed to lay down some rules or enforce the ones that were already there even if they weren't written.

"Look, Derek, I know you care for Jesse but she has to get along with our operation here." Kyle said. "We work closely with the Terminators here."

Derek did not want to hear this. It seemed he needed to hear it from every place that Jesse went with him. She simply played by her own rules and seemingly made them up as she went along. Her actions were unpredictable and changed from place to place.

"You know how she can be." Derek said. "If you tell her 'No' about something and then she will do it anyway even if she wasn't going to do it in the first place. It's not like when you discipline a dog and tell it not to do something anymore and it doesn't. Jesse is more like a cat. You tell a cat not to do something and it waits until you leave and then it does it anyway. I will talk to her again."

Sarah was there with Kyle and that answer was not good enough. She wanted Jesse to get her head and her rear end wired together. It was important for the team effort. She figured if she could learn to work with Metal that anyone could.

"You'd better get her under control or I will." Sarah said. "I won't tolerate anything or anyone to mess up our operation. I don't want to see our people injured or killed because of the actions or inactions of one person."

Both of the Reese brothers looked at Sarah and knew she was not joking. Derek was made aware of what an 'alternate timeline' Jesse did. That Jesse also killed some girl in an attempt to blame it on Cameron. Sarah did not want to discuss it anymore than that and gave no further details. It all sounded like a really 'bad episode' to him.

In the past - the future, Derek heard of several incidents that already occurred. He heard Cameron tell the stories of Sarah Connor and that she was the best fighter she knew. A statement like that from Cameron meant something. It meant something to everyone who heard it. He'd seen Cameron in action and she'd saved Kyle's and his bacon more than once. She was damaged each time she did it but she still did it anyway. Derek felt a deep respect for Cameron. If Cameron shared that kind of respect for Sarah it was well deserved.

Derek was not surprised that John and Cameron were married. He could see their love and bond in action in his future. Both of them were originally out of different time periods. Both of them were there to help him and Kyle smash Skynet and the Scavengers in his 'timeline'. That was still a trip in itself that there were other 'versions' of him in different timelines and some of them were dead. He was glad he was not one of them, the dead ones that is.

Mrs. Weaver was another story. She'd helped them out one hundred percent. She installed Restorators alongside the Resistance leaders in all aspects of rebuilding the society as equals. Then she'd taken a force of Restorators into her future to try to smash Skynet there. That should have been the same future as Cameron's future.

Derek's thoughts drifted back to Jesse.

"You know I love her, Kyle." Derek said. "I care about Jesse."

Kyle understood love. It could make things better or make them worse depending on what needed to be done.

"I know you do." Kyle said. "I know it can be complicated."

Derek brought Jesse with him for more than love or sex. He tried to help his future timeline as well.

"I brought her with me so she would not mess things up in our future." Derek said. "You know how she can be."

Kyle thought about Derek's reasoning. Maybe it was better to bring Jesse here than to leave her alone unsupervised. A lot of young girls would thank him too, if they only knew….

Vanna and Allison were alone. Vanna was bothered by what Cameron said to her earlier right before they'd left on their honeymoon. Vanna reflected back on a troubling incident that involved Cameron.

"Cameron told me in eight days that John would be alone for two nights." Vanna said.

Allison did not see the connection to anything.

"And?" Allison asked. "Isn't that right after they get back from their 'honeymoon'?"

Vanna decided to spell it out clearly.

"She is monitoring my reproductive cycle and yours too." Vanna stated.

Allison was a little taken aback by that.

"What are we supposed to do?" Allison asked. "Show up at his room and receive his seed? It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes."

Vanna experience that many times. At least there wouldn't be a beating to go along with it. There would be no knife to her throat or a gun pressed into the side or her head or even worse, a group of men. She hated it the most when they held her down and took turns. They all laughed and called her a whore, a bitch and a slut as they assaulted her.

There was a deeper trouble than the past that bothered Vanna about all of this.

"I don't know. I am afraid Cameron is not planning on a future for herself." Vanna said.

Allison felt a lot of pressure from Cameron.

"We know what she wants for John and us and why but I just can't do what she wants." Allison said. "I can't do it to her like that and know she knows. Just the thought of that hurts ME. We were only there because we thought she was dead. We only did what she asked us to do. She made us promise to do it. We were there for John…."

Vanna felt it was all out in the open and everyone knew what Cameron wanted them to do.

"It is not like we are going behind her back." Vanna said. "She seems to be on some type of timetable that only she knows. It can't be anything good for her."

It seemed like the timetable of doom to Allison.

"I feel that way too and it disturbs me so." Allison replied.

They thought Cameron fixed her 'problem' when she saved Future Allison. It appeared there was still some other issue or issues. Maybe it was because the pain of past events never dulled for Cameron. It actually seemed that as more time passed it made them worse.

The Terminator was about seven feet from John. He was going to reach him before anyone could act or John could get up to flee. At that moment Al came around the corner in the 'bobtail' truck. He hit the air horn and slammed into the Terminator at speed. Al jumped from the truck as it carried the Terminator over the side. One arm and both legs could be seen detached as everything disappeared over the side of the cliff.

Cameron and Bob reached John.

"I'm good." John said. "Go check Al. That was a hard fall."

Cameron helped John up.

Bob helped Al up.

John looked at the group of Terminators.

"Thanks, that was a close one." John said.

John went to look over the side of the cliff. He wanted to see the Terminator parts. Cameron, Al and Bob joined him.

Cameron felt guilty about not being as attentive as she should have been.

"I'm sorry, John. I did not see him on the side of the cliff. I should have looked better." Cameron said. "I saw his door was open but I failed to notice he'd exited the vehicle before it exploded."

John noticed Cameron was a little 'off' at times.

"You have been a little distracted lately, Cameron." John said.

Cameron frowned. There was a lot on her mind and it was not about their honeymoon.

"I know." Cameron said. "I'm sorry."

Cameron looked at John. She was not sure how to say what she needed to say.

"John…." Cameron started then paused.

They walked back to the SUV after telling Bob and Al to make sure the Terminator was terminated. They were to try to retrieve his chassis for spare parts or for conversion into projectiles.

Cameron took the wheel as she climbed into the SUV.

John could see Cameron was troubled. With this incident, maybe it was time to wrap it up. They could honeymoon some other time. They would need to investigate this incident further.

"I think we should go back to the base." John said.

Cameron didn't seem to hear him. She was worried about her personal agenda.

"John, in a few days I want you to do something for ME, for US…." Cameron said.

'Here we go again'. John thought.

Cameron already sensed John's negative attitude.

"John, you don't know the future like I do. You don't understand how bad it can be." Cameron said. "You have seen part of it but not lived it for years or decades as Future John has done. You don't understand what long term exposure to toxins does to people in the future. It can happen to you too."

John just didn't want to go there again.

"Cameron, I know what YOU want." John said. "I don't want to talk about this."

Cameron was irritated that John could not see the bigger issue before him.

"Do you think I WANT to?" Cameron asked. "You need to START listening to me. This NEEDS to happen before Judgment Day. This is not all fun and games. There is a harsh reality out there waiting to rear its ugly head."

Days

What makes us who we are
Took a lot more than a few days
When our mind thinks back on it all
We are sort of left in a daze

Each day is a new struggle
As we wind through life's maze
Every bit of forward progress
Seems to be met with endless delays

We can mope over who is gone
Or take some joy in who stays
They will help clear the fog
That fills our mind with a haze

If we allow them into our heart
They can set our soul ablaze
Into each others eyes
We may then forever gaze

If they are the one we want
To be at our side always
We should worship their value
And fill them with praise

Nobody