Chapter 279

Not Good

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In Some Future:

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The two men filled Cameron in on their operations and all the local activity. They apparently didn't want to meet Jesse's knife. Jesse WANTED to use her knife too. They could both tell, especially 'Joe'. The men were very talkative…. There was plenty of activity in this sector. Skynet was in control. That seemed to be true of all the sectors the men knew about.

This Resistance here appeared weak and unorganized to her. It seemed the center of any effective Resistance emanated out of the Los Angeles area. That is where the big push against Skynet came from recently. Cameron knew that is where they needed to go. There was no apparent way to get there. There was nothing but Skynet controlled territory between them and Los Angles. There were a few pockets of the Resistance scatter around, very few. The trip was possible but it would take many days if they even survived. There were Scavengers out there too. Skynet seemed to give them a 'pass' on most occasions. They were able to hurt the Resistance for them and were not that much of a threat to Skynet.

Cameron asked the men if they'd ever seen any of them before and they said, no. They looked at her kind of strangely for even asking that question. She didn't know if that was good or bad. They said anyone who looked like her would be hard to forget.

The people in charge of the local Resistance were names unknown to Cameron. She wanted to ask about John Connor or Mrs. Weaver specifically but did not want the names out there, yet. She needed to know more before she gave any information out. She would wait for someone higher up or some type of computer access. She hoped to infiltrate a Skynet facility.

This wasn't Cameron's future but this is where Mrs. Weaver apparently was. The Metal fighting Metal seemed to come out of nowhere they told her. There was a female General leading them. She asked if they knew the female General's description, they did not. She knew Mrs. Weaver could look like whoever she wanted, when she wanted. That included her too.

Cameron was informed there were two groups of Terminators fighting each other. One group known as the Restorators was working with the Resistance against Skynet. The two men were not well informed. They didn't like Metal – any Metal. They seemed bothered that there was Metal helping them.

When it was clear they were on the same team Jesse put her knife away.

"We will take you to our camp." The Sergeant said.

Cameron looked at both of the men. She didn't like the sound of that.

"You tell us where it is and maybe we will go there to visit." Cameron said. "That's not the direction we're going."

Cameron didn't trust everything they told her and worried how they would feel about 'Friendly Metal' – her. She would rather scout out things better and see for herself what was what. They may have ways to check to see if she was Metal if she entered their complex. They would most likely think she was Skynet Metal.

She gave the men back their weapons and some of the supplies she'd gathered. The men thanked her and apologized. She sent the men off and led the girls away from where they'd been. Cameron retrieved the supplies she abandoned to come to the girls aid.

"I don't like them." Vanna said.

Allison didn't like the way she was treated.

"We were almost…." Allison started but didn't finish.

Cameron was dissatisfied with things too. She could tell how upset Allison was.

"They didn't tell us the truth about everything." Cameron said. "Maybe I should go back and terminate them."

Cameron looked in the direction the men went.

Vanna could see Cameron might terminate them. It was clear that they were going to need help to get back to their time period. It might be better to make friends instead of enemies.

"Is that how we want to start out?" Vanna asked. "So when and where are we?"

Cameron wanted a look at the night sky.

"I don't know the when yet. It is between 2025 and 2030 as best as I can tell. I need to see the stars. They said this is the San Diego sector. We need to get to the Los Angeles area and it's unsafe to do so on foot." Cameron said. "I think that may be where Mrs. Weaver is at because of the report of Metal fighting Metal."

That information gave Vanna a little optimism.

"I hope so. How many female Generals are there with a force of Metal?" Vanna asked. "I hope she can help us."

Cameron was worried about what was in this future to assist them.

"I hope they have a TDE here somewhere. I want to get back to John." Cameron said. "I've made a big mistake coming here and endangering all of you. Now I have less than nothing. I NEED to get back."

The fact Mrs. Weaver was still here and NOT in her future made Cameron think there was no TDE or no power source to run it.

The girls all tried to console each other and reassure Cameron they were all there by choice.

Cameron wished that none of them were there. Riley was alone with John and they didn't have a way home yet. She pictured John picking up with Riley right where they'd left off on a trip to the bedroom, ANOTHER trip.

She looked for a more secure location the hide the girls for now. Once she found a more secluded location she would then go scout out the camp. On her return she would try to get whatever information she could on Skynet. She needed to know what this Skynet was capable of.

None of this looked good for her or any of them. She only hoped she could keep them all alive. Getting back was going to be secondary at this point. Staying alive was going to be the main goal.

Cameron thought about John perusing Riley. She switched her prime directive again. She now placed the girls before John. That was at least until they got back…. She may leave it that way depending of what developed with the girls and if they could get back.

THAT worry changed everything.

That was if they got back. It looked bleak now.

Cameron felt the girls were somewhat secure in their new location for now. She needed to scout around more and better determine what was around them, especially what was below ground.

The fact that there were Scavengers around bothered her greatly. That was a threat to the Resistance and to the girls.

Cameron wanted to retrieve the plasma mine and use it to protect the girls. It would be effective against Skynet Metal and any humans that tripped it.

She approached the location with caution. There was some movement around it. She dropped lower to the ground. She didn't want to be spotted. There were two people there trying to remove the mine.

Who were they?

She hoped they were Grays. She would beat the information out of them about Skynet's ability in this timeline. She moved closer to observe them.

They could be from the Resistance if they weren't Grays. They could also be Scavengers. She noted that some of the dead she'd spotted earlier were moved. There was a female body missing. It was the only female she'd spotted among the dead earlier. These were probably Scavengers.

She passed the rubble of a building. There were fresh drag marks on the ground. There was some noise inside the mostly collapsed building.

"Come on, man, hurry up." The first man said.

"You already took a turn." The second man said.

Cameron moved up closer. There as a discarded shirt. There were bloody bullet holes in it. She moved closer to where the voices were. She spotted a discarded boot and then another. She looked around her to make sure she was not being targeted. The men were right on the other side of the partially collapsed wall between them.

She moved to check to see where the men were that were trying to move the plasma mine. They were still at it. She moved back to the partially collapsed wall. She peered around the corner. It was what she figured. There was a nude female she was dead.

"Come on, man." The first man said. "That's the back and the front already."

"I want to finish where I started." The second man said.

Cameron was repulsed at what she witnessed. She knew these were Scavengers. The female was deceased. There was blood on her torso where she'd been shot. It didn't seem to bother the two men. This was nothing new to them.

"That took long enough." The first man said. "Go help those other guys and hurry up."

"They both wanted another turn." The second man said.

"They can have it when they bring that mine." The first man said.

The second man adjusted his pants and left. The first man looked around quickly started again. Cameron wanted to kill him right now but she wanted the men to bring the mine to where she was at. They took the risk of being spotted, not her this way. If the female would have been alive she would have terminated both men already.

When the men switched she was better able to get a look at the deceased female. There was a bullet wound to her head as well. About a sixth of her skull was missing above her left eye.

Cameron checked on the three men out after the mine. They were on their way back with it. She took one last look at the deceased female. The first man rolled her over and worked on the back side now.

She watched the three men return with the mine and set it down. They all went around the corner to where the first man was at with the deceased female.

She could hear them laughing and joking. It was clear they were all going to take another turn. They even discussed bringing her corpse back with them. They current corpse that was in their bunker was already four days old. It may have been a male. There were more Scavengers there waiting for them to return.

Cameron moved up to the mine. She opened the control panel and set a timer on it for thirty minutes. She broke the display that showed it was armed. She wanted them to take the mine back into their bunker. When it exploded it would kill everyone in that bunker.

She moved away from the mostly collapsed building and made a sound like an HK Track for two seconds.

The laughing stopped. She saw the men carry the deceased female away along with the mine. She watched to see where they went. If she didn't hear the explosion in twenty seven minutes she would need to track them down.

She hurried away from the area and went in the direction the two Resistance fighters indicated their base was located. She was not sure if the information was good or not. They told her after she gave them some of the food she'd collected from some dead Grays.

Cameron intercepted the two men as they made it back to their camp. She was surprised they were still out. They'd been able to find the dog or it found them at some point. That was probably what delayed their return. It appeared the entire camp was underground. She could not see a way in but knew usually there were several ways out in an emergency.

She spotted some dogs at the entrance. That would be a problem. They were fearful of her. It wasn't the violent barking when they detected Metal but a fear of meeting a deadly predator. They were overtaken by instinct to run, not attack or fight.

Cameron would wait and watch and see what turned up. The girls should be safe where she'd hid them for now. Then again that was what she'd thought earlier. Maybe she could intercept a patrol returning to see if they used an alternate entrance. She waited and watched.

She soon spotted another patrol return and then another one. These people weren't very careful. They seemed to have little training and poor leadership. It was a wonder they weren't all wiped out by now. It was clear that this version of Skynet was not as advanced or developed as the one from her future. That was driven by both sides becoming better at what they did and each side raising the bar.

In the distance Cameron could hear an HK drone flying a search pattern. It grew increasing louder. She needed to find a better hiding spot or it would pick her up. It would take her as an 'unfriendly' most likely.

Cameron started to move away. As she did she noted a second drone also appeared. Most likely they picked up one of the returning patrols or another one attempting to return. The Scavengers may have been spotted too.

She stealthy moved her location. She saw two figures run to a new hiding spot in the distance. One of the HK drones moved to intercept them.

Cameron saw she could get a clear shot at it as it hovered near the two figures. She aimed her plasma rifle and fired. The HK drone was hit in one engine and wobbled violently. She fired a second time and it lost power and crashed. There was a tearing of metal sound but no secondary explosion. It was a pile of junk on the ground now. Smoke pouring out of it.

The other HK drone came to investigate. Cameron did the same thing again and it too crashed into the ground. Neither of them exploded. That was what she'd hoped for with her shot placement. She'd wanted to disable them so she could try to get a look at their chips and communication abilities. She wanted to get as much information as she could. If she could get to a Skynet base, she knew that would be her best chance at finding a TDE. Those would all be further challenges. It seemed that there were going to be many.

Cameron waited and then advanced forward to where the two figures she spotted were last at. They were still huddled there. They were both too frightened to even know they should have been killed but were saved by an unknown fighter - her.

More Metal would soon come. It always did. In the distance she heard a muffled explosion. Thirty minutes passed and the plasma mine exploded on time. She smiled to herself as she pictured the Scavengers covered with burning plasma. She thought she even detected a scream or two. She needed to deal with these people right now.

Cameron approached them as they shook in fear and extended her hand out to them.

"Come with me, if you want to live." Cameron said to them.

Not Good

Who is there to help
Who is there to take
Who will be real
Who will be fake

Many may suggest
Fewer actually do
When the clock stops ticking
It all falls on who

The hand that helps
May seek to acquire
The motive may be
A veiled lustful desire

Not everything is done
With dignity and honor
Someone may be targeted
If they look like a goner

I think everyone can tell
It does not belong to the meek
It goes to those who take
What they greedily and unjustly seek

There was what could
There was what should
There was what would
They all proved to be not good

Nobody