Chapter 261

Crushed

The team used the utmost caution as they moved around. If one of them triggered a booby trap, the whole place might collapse.

They all wondered what was next.

They found out sooner than they thought.

"Cameron, you better take a look at this…." Sheila said.

Cameron went to see what Sheila found.

The doorway she stood in was large. Cameron flashed her light inside. She immediately saw a section of the ceiling was down. Protruding from under a collapsed giant steel beam were the crushed remains of two Terminators. They appeared to have been here for decades.

"It looks like they were crushed when this part of the underground structure collapsed. They must have been trying to protect something." Cameron said. "Look, one was still able to function until he shut down or his power cell malfunctioned."

Cameron indicated to where one of the two Terminators tried to move his arm until it wore away the hand and forearm. There was just smooth metal below the elbow. It was the result of a fruitless attempt to dig through the cement to free himself.

Sheila moved close to that Terminator to scan him.

"Be careful, it may reactivate." Cameron warned. "It's a good thing neither of their power cells ruptured. They would have brought the whole place down."

The four Terminators carefully moved the steel beam and some of the rubble. Both of the crushed Terminators were horribly mauled. The one who wore his hand away, attempted to reactivate once the steel beam was off of him. His lower body and legs were crushed flat. It was not pleasant to look at. The other Terminator was worse.

Cameron checked her Taser.

"Bob, I want you question him. Tell him we are here to complete his mission." Cameron said. "Then we can find out what they were up to. Your model of Terminator has been in both timelines I have been to."

Bob wondered if that was a good or a bad thing. He didn't ask.

"Affirmative." Bob said.

Cameron handed Bob her Taser, just in case.

Cameron and Sheila left the room as Bob started the interrogation. Since they did not know what timeline the Terminator was from. They did not want to be recognized as 'Jesse' or 'Allison'. It could be even worse if she was recognized as 'Cameron' the 'Metal Bitch' that was 'John Connor's play thing' or 'Connor's Metal Whore'.

"We will continue to search this facility." Cameron said to Sheila. "I don't like surprises."

It was obvious that this was a full blown Skynet operation.

"I'm sure we will run across some more surprises." Sheila said.

They did and nobody was more surprised than Cameron….

John searched the surface building with Ally and Hanna for anything further. They came up with nothing.

"This is useless." John said.

Ally looked at the large electrical cabinet in the corner of the building.

"I might be able to get the power back on." Ally said.

John hoped the wiring was in better condition than the building was.

"Be careful." John said.

Ally started to work on it. Hanna came to help after checking outside and with John Henry again. The line from the utility pole was severed where it entered the building's electrical box.

John looked around. He was alone right now. He thought about sneaking down the ramp while no one was looking to see what they were doing. He was sure if Cameron found anything she wanted that she would try to hide it from him. He didn't like Cameron's secrets. Who did she think she was? No, really. Who did she think she was?

Just as John checked to make sure Ally and Hanna were busy, he heard a noise coming from below where the four Terminators went. John quickly backed up. He didn't want Cameron to catch him trying to spy on her. It crossed his mind too this might be a threat and not one of their team. He was in a spot now with nowhere to go. Ally and Hanna were across the room where he snuck away from them to spy on Cameron. Fear gripped him.

Sheila came up out of the floor ramp.

John released his breath.

"You look like you saw a ghost." Sheila said. "We found what they were doing. Cameron thinks it's best if you take a look."

Now he felt guilty about 'questioning' Cameron when she was the one who just sent for him. He wanted Ally and Hanna together up top. He didn't want any surprises to develop behind him or the team.

"Hanna, you stay with Ally." John said. "Keep a lookout for anything. We don't want any surprises."

He went to follow Sheila.

Sheila smiled at him and stopped him. That smile was to die for. It looked just as beautiful on Sheila as it did Jesse.

"I need to talk with Hanna real quick, love." Sheila said. "It will just take a few seconds."

Cameron gave Sheila some specific instructions to give to Hanna. She talked quietly to Hanna before she rejoined John.

"Are you ready, love?" Sheila asked.

John wondered what she really asked him with that broad smile on her face. He loved those full lips.

"I think so." John said.

He watched Sheila walk in front of him. He loved that tight trim figure too. Every smooth curve was prominent and distinct.

She turned to look back at him and a breast with a nipple ring popped out. She smiled at him again and tucked it back inside her top.

He lightly licked his lips as he readjusted his pants and hoped that Cameron did not scan him. She could tell when he was sexually aroused. A quick glance at his pants would confirm that.

John followed Sheila down into the darkness. He turned on his flashlight when he could no longer safely see. She led him to Cameron.

Cameron was not sure about bringing John down here. It was more than just the shaky infrastructure. It was also what they'd found. It was very dangerous. She wanted him to know what the situation was and what she was going to do.

"What is it?" John asked. "Is it safe?"

Cameron was about to tell him that it was never safe. She moved on with the briefing instead.

"I've scanned the area. There's no radiation leakage." Cameron said.

John felt a little worried now. Maybe he better start listening to Cameron about not going into these places. Everything involved with Skynet was a danger.

"Why would there be any radiation leakage?" John asked.

Cameron pointed.

John looked at four objects lined up in a row.

"From these warheads we found here. They are each from a Nike Hercules MIM-14 Missile." Cameron said. "They were command detonated nuclear anti aircraft missiles. They date from the early Sixties."

John looked very worried. He figured they posed some kind of danger. He was right next to them. He thought nuclear warheads would be bigger.

"Those are nuclear warheads?" John asked. "Are they safe?"

"Yes. When they shut down the two Nike Bases located nearby, the warheads were removed from the missiles for deactivation and destruction." Cameron said. "It would appear the two Terminators we found hijacked a shipment and brought them here. The earthquake changed their plans for them."

Cameron went over everything they'd found. John Henry located the government records that covered up the theft of the warheads and the fact they were never recovered. One theory was the February 9 earthquake was caused by them exploding deep underground on a fault line. That was always kept hidden from the public.

"It sounds more like someone tried to cover their own behind." John said. "We need to get rid of these."

Cameron looked at John for a few seconds. Why would he want to get rid of them? This was a valuable find. Resources like this were hard to come across. She planned to confiscate them.

"I want them. I'm going to keep them." Cameron said. "I may need them at some point."

That was the last thing John wanted to hear. Cameron possessed her own base, with her own supercomputer and her own force of Terminators. Throw in some nuclear weapons and who knows what would happen. It sounded like a bad idea no matter how he looked at it.

"No." John said. "They are old and unstable. The last time you got your hands on a nuke, you used it."

John remembered the 'Day Of Loss' and everything associated with it. Everything related to that day was sad.

He was worried Cameron just found some new toys. Millions could die or be exposed to radiation from each warhead if it was used. He doubted Cameron would have too many qualms about using one or more again.

Cameron was mildly offended by his statement.

"That wasn't me." Cameron said. "That 'Cameron' - Duplicate Cameron, was terminated."

John didn't see a difference. If they were 'Cameron' in some way they would all do the same thing.

"It's close enough. I mean you and your Duplicate self…." John said. "You would have done the same thing. You said your Duplicate was 'You'. You said that you were both identical."

Cameron believed that statement was true. She probably would have done the same thing to stop Skynet. She was not going to confirm that. She wanted the weapons.

"Whatever." Cameron said. "We can't leave them here. Skynet will be back for them at some point. They belong to me now. I'm appropriating them."

John knew he would have a difficult time to stop Cameron. He thought about Savannah, Jan and his mother. It was too risky to have something that old and that destructive laying around the Resistance base.

"We are not bringing them to our base." John said. "I will not allow it. I mean that, Cameron. That is final."

Cameron hadn't planned to bring them to Resistance base anyway.

"I have several locations where they will be secure." Cameron said. "They will be stored there until I need them."

Cameron established her own arms stashes throughout the region. She controlled many safe and secure hidden locations. Most were located in secure remote areas. Anyone snooping around them would most likely not be missed when they were terminated.

John didn't want Cameron to have possession or control over them period.

"No." John said. "We will call the Feds in and have them recover them. We will turn over all four of them."

Cameron didn't want to argue with John. She needed to make him understand how it was going be. She was not about to give up weapons like that.

"I'm taking them, John." Cameron said. "I may need them in the future."

Now John was irritated. Cameron never listened to him. No wonder Future John sent her away. Maybe he should erase their life together and send her back to the future. She was already on the way to becoming her own version of Skynet. He'd seen enough.

"You might need them for what?" John asked. "Is it for when you become Skynet yourself?"

Cameron was irritated now. She'd already made up her mind. The warheads belonged to her. She'd help clear it up a little for John since he experienced some trouble comprehending what was going to occur.

"I've sent Hanna to procure transportation for them." Cameron said. "I am taking these for myself. That's final. It IS happening."

John was upset that Cameron would not listen to reason. The weapons were too dangerous for her to possess. What would happen the next time she experienced a 'problem'? That already happened more than once.

Bob and Steve removed the remains of the two Terminators. Bob deactivated the one Terminator after questioning him. They'd been sent in the final hours of Skynet's final battle, at least 'a Skynet's' final battle. They said the parent Skynet was attacked by a 'Metal Bitch' and 'The Redheaded Witch'.

He looked around to make sure that no one else heard that but him. They didn't appear too. He called Cameron off to the side and told her about the 'Metal Bitch' and 'The Redheaded Witch' part.

Cameron wondered if that was Mrs. Weaver and her. The names seemed appropriate for both of them. However she felt Mrs. Weaver fit the bill for both names. She asked Bob to delete that information from his chip. She felt this was something she would need to deal with on her own.

When the group returned to the building, each of them carried a warhead up the ramp along with Cameron and Sheila.

John looked at the four warheads. They looked deadly just setting near the door. He needed to try one more time to make Cameron rethink her desire.

"This is not a good idea, Cameron." John said.

She felt she'd experienced quite a few of those over the years. She was still here and still standing.

"You know I am still going to do it anyway." Cameron said. "You and the 'boys' take the remains of the two Terminators back; they can be harvested for spare parts or Coltan. The 'girls' and I will take care of this 'little matter'."

She pointed at the four warheads.

John gritted his teeth. There was little else he could do.

Cameron was elated about this find. She was ready for Skynet to reestablish itself in another mine. She would be ready for it. She was going to need a better exit plan this time. The last one left something to be desired. With her having control of these weapons, nobody would know when she was going to use one or more. That way they could not TRY to stop her. It should prevent another 'Day of Loss'. She would act by herself if she needed to. She could stop any Skynet now alone.

John did not like the smile on Cameron's face as she looked at the warheads. He knew she would use them at some point. She looked over at him and frowned when she noticed he'd been looking at her.

Cameron turned and walked away from John. How dare he stare at her? What did he think she was, a 'Metal Bitch' or something?

John swallowed hard as she walked away.

Allison's phone rang, she saw it was Vanna. She did not want to take it. She KNEW what was coming. She'd felt it coming for months. She thought they got everything straightened out but her plans for a baby changed all of them. Now it was here.

It was time to face the music.

"Hello." Allison said.

"Hello, Allison." Vanna said.

There was a long pause.

"Jesse is moving in to our - my room today." Vanna said.

Allison did not say anything. She did not know what to say. She was crushed.

"Allison?" Vanna asked.

"OK." Allison said finally. "Goodbye, Vanna. I will always love you."

Allison hung up the phone. She was shattered.

Holly listened to the conversation. She could see the heartbreak on Allison's face. To see Allison hurt like this made her hurt as well. She went to comfort Allison.

Holly knew this was going to cause a problem. She knew Cameron was going to be upset. She believed that Cameron was going to deactivate her. She felt that she needed to fix this. She knew she was going to need to sacrifice. She thought if she asked for Cameron to deactivate her. Allison would be forced to get back together with Vanna.

Allison sobbed in her room

Holly knew love was about sacrifice. She wanted Allison to be happy and with her TRUE love. It was not her. It was Vanna.

'Cecilia' by 'Simon and Garfunkel', softly played in the background.

Afraid

Ashamed - Ignorant - Stupid
I KNOW that is how I sound
I know they crave and desire
Even as they push you around

There is MORE to a person
Each has a heart and mind too
Love is much much more
Than just a two minute screw

My life is beyond abnormal
When one uses a person
For only selfish desire and pleasure
How can that things not worsen

I KNOW others have loved
Love is the PAIN in a heart
I have the looks and skill
I know where to seduce and start

I hope for a fulfilling future
That this passion will last and bind
That your dreams can come true
And that nothing is making you blind

Nobody