Chapter 280

Is That True

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In Some Future:

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Cameron listened and searched for any addition Skynet threats. She wanted to make sure there were no more HK drones in the area or Terminators on the ground advancing toward them. The HK drones were often the lead force in an assault. There was no clanking of the HK Treads or HK Tracks that often accompanied Terminators on a search and destroy mission. Those tracked weapons were deadly and packed a lot of firepower. It looked clear for now.

Cameron quickly moved the scared Resistance fighters from where they were hiding. She knew she needed to move them in case their location was sent back to a Skynet base by one of the two HK drones. More could be on the way now. They didn't want to remain there for long.

The two Resistance fighters gained some composure.

"That was amazing. I thought we were dead." One man said. "Who are you?"

Cameron wanted to keep it simple for now. These seemed like recruits or just poorly trained troopers.

"I'm the person that just saved you. I'm a friend." Cameron said. "Let's go. I want to check over the HK drones. I need to make sure they're deactivated."

The two Resistance fighters looked at each of the HK drones smoking on the ground.

"You just knocked down two HK drones by yourself." The other one man said. "That's impossible."

Cameron briefly wanted to ask if it was impossible then how did she just do it but refrained. Her 'natural ability' as a Terminator was superior to that of a human for most things.

"I must be a lucky shot." Cameron said. "We need to get out of here now. More Metal will come. Is there another entrance into your complex?"

The two Resistance fighters looked at each other.

"How do you know about our complex?" One man asked.

Cameron told that part like it was.

"I've been watching the area for awhile." Cameron said. "I know you were headed for the main entrance when you were intercepted. It's unsafe to use that approach for now. It's too exposed. If more HK drones arrive that's where they will head first. They will go to the location where the others were searching. That's why I need to make sure they're deactivated."

The two Resistance fighters didn't want to be responsible for bringing Skynet down on their base and the rest of the troops.

"There's an emergency exit around the bend in the road." The other man said. "We can try to enter there. We may not be successful."

Cameron wanted to put a fear and urgency into the two Resistance fighters.

"We need to get there fast." Cameron said. "They will send more Metal to investigate. They always do."

It was actually a true statement.

Cameron moved to the nearest downed HK drone and removed its chip and power cell. She stopped at the second one as they moved on and did the same thing. She looked over the damaged weapons and designs of the HK drone itself. This model could be modified in the field for independent control. She knew if she could get one that was operational and reprogram it that she could ride on top of it and control it. Everything looked like early Skynet designs that she'd seen so far. These were all primitive designs to her. That was not a good sign for getting back but a good sign for survival…. That may be the best they could hope for.

One of the Resistance fighters watched what she did and removed. They'd never seen that done before.

"What are you doing?" One man asked.

Cameron saw no need to lie yet.

"I am trying to gather information." Cameron said. "It will also prevent anyone from seeing what happened to them when they investigate. They were close to pinpointing your complex. In case you don't know, you two were both zeroed."

The two Resistance fighters knew they were 'done'.

"We know." One man said. "Thank you, for saving our lives."

Cameron hoped to make some 'friends'. She was going to need them to get into the base.

"One hand washes the other." Cameron said. "Let's go."

Cameron didn't want to be spotted as Metal by the Resistance or by Skynet. This was going to be chancy anyway. She would run in full infiltration mode. She realized she may have to fight her way out. To protect the girls she would do whatever it took.

They were about to start for the alternate entrance when Cameron spotted something.

"I saw some movement by those destroyed building over there." Cameron said. "Would that be someone from your group or unit?"

The two Resistance fighters seemed confused.

"I don't know." The one man said. "They could be. There was a real pretty female that went missing during the fight today. I know some of the men tried to find her."

Cameron knew what her fate was.

"She was worried about being captured by Scavengers and even by Grays." The other man said. "She knew what would happen to her if they got a hold of her. You must have the same fear. You're really pretty too."

Cameron wanted to keep it simple.

"Thanks. I'm just average." Cameron said. "Everyone needs to fear Scavengers. Where I come from, the Scavengers attack men the same way. The younger ones are preferred over females actually. They're castrated to become eunuch sex slaves for the Scavengers."

The two Resistance fighters were young men. They were visibly shaken.

"I don't think it's like that here." The one man said.

"I hope not." The other man said.

Cameron could see she scared them a lot. They would not follow her for what was next.

"Not yet." Cameron said. "Wait here."

Cameron carefully moved around two destroyed building and spotted a man with fresh plasma burns. She moved up behind him and held him down by his neck.

"How many survived?" Cameron asked.

The man said nothing.

She stepped on the plasma burns on his leg. He tried to scream in pain but couldn't. She chocked him at the same time and blocked his airway.

Cameron asked the question again. She eased up on her grip around his neck.

"How many survived?" Cameron asked.

The man shook with shock and fear.

"I need medical attention." The man gasped. "It was only me."

Cameron smiled.

"Wrong." Cameron said. "There were no survivors."

Cameron snapped his neck.

She returned to the two Resistance fighters.

"What was it?" The one man asked.

"It was a piece of trash." Cameron said. "It was nothing more."

"Oh." The other man said. "Follow us. We will take you to the other entrance."

"Thank you." Cameron said.

The three girls were hunkered down. Cameron gave them some food, water and weapons while she went out to gather intel. Hopefully this location was more secure than the last one. Cameron made sure it was.

Allison was still disturbed by the man that assaulted her. She thought that was behind her in her future. Now the threat was back in some future that was unknown. There was no fear of that happening in the past.

"Cameron is right, this was a mistake." Allison said.

Jesse checked over her weapons. This was the real deal.

"Maybe so but we're here now." Jesse said.

Vanna did not see a whole lot of options available to them.

"We will have to get along until Cameron can get us back." Vanna said.

There was a fear inside Allison that wouldn't go away.

"What if she can't?" Allison asked. "What if we're marooned here?"

Jesse didn't want Allison to dwell where she was at mentally.

"We all knew the risks." Jesse said. "Maybe we are lucky to even be alive. Maybe we are unlucky that we are alive. Anything can happen. We all know this already."

Vanna checked her weapons too.

"This looks like a one way ticket at this point." Vanna said.

'It comes with a very short ride.' Jesse wanted to add but said nothing.

Allison hoped for something more positive.

"Is there good news about any of this?" Allison asked.

Vanna thought there was. One thing may prove to be great news amongst the bad news.

"If this is a different future and not Cameron's future then Cameron shouldn't be able to prevent Her Allison from being captured." Vanna said. "That means that she won't try to self terminate or be deactivated. Isn't that why we are here in the first place? We all came along to protect Cameron. I came to save Cameron. I will trade my life for her life."

Allison felt the same way. She could see how much Vanna loved Cameron.

"Yes." Allison said.

Jesse loved Cameron too. They all came to save her.

"We all did." Jesse said. "We love her more than anything."

Vanna wanted to make her convictions clear, especially to Allison.

"I will do whatever I have to do to make sure Cameron is not terminated." Vanna said. "I don't want anyone to stop me if I need to act."

Allison knew that was their fate. They all came by choice. She understood the 'Natural Order' that Cameron spoke of. That wasn't them. It wasn't Vanna or her or even Jesse. It was Savannah and Young Allison in their future.

"That is why we're all here." Allison said. "We are all back where we belong, in the future. We don't belong the past."

Jesse brandished her weapons to indicate her intent.

"I will trade my life for hers. We will all trade our own life for hers." Jesse said. "I swear it."

Vanna felt they were too noisy right now and they were not being attentive either. They needed to get it together. They knew better.

"Let's be quiet and keep a lookout." Vanna said.

Vanna was worried and she was afraid it would come to trading lives. She shuddered at the thought of Scavengers getting a hold of her, again.

Jesse checked her weapons. She felt the same thing as Vanna. She didn't plan on falling into the hands of Scavengers, again….

Jesse and Vanna exchanged glum and knowing looks….

They both absentmindedly touched their scars. They knew the physical wounds healed with a scar. The mental wounds never seemed to heal. They only festered and bled. Animals weren't even treated - that way.

The girls knew they may be taken down one way or another. They didn't intend to go down without a fight.

Cameron and the two inexperienced Resistance fighters moved toward the alternate entrance. She gave them tips on moving and observing as they went along. They seemed impressed with her knowledge and skill. She explained to them she'd done this for many years in another area. They wanted to know why she was there now. She told them she needed to try to reunite with some family members in the Los Angeles area. They told her it was unsafe for a female to travel alone. Skynet Metal was everywhere. There were Scavengers all around the area too. Many of the females disappeared, one by one. The ones whose bodies they found were horribly brutalized and mutilated.

They reached the emergency exit. They were challenged by two guards and finally let in after the two Resistance fighters that Cameron rescued convinced the others that she helped them. The two guards only relented because they saw the two HK drones go down. They were even more surprised that a female did it alone.

Cameron sensed an unfriendly welcome already. If she wasn't with the two Resistance fighters that were known there they might have terminated her. Well, they might have tried to terminate her. They would not know she was a Terminator until the first attempts failed. By then she would have shown them what a Terminator was constructed for. The knowledge would have been short lived to them.

Right now she needed access to some type of computer equipment to process the information on the chips. There was nothing like that where she was at now.

"Do you have any equipment I can use to look at the chips from the HK drones?" Cameron asked.

The request was met with a little more resistance and negativity than she wanted to deal with.

"We may or may not. Who are you? We don't know anything about you." A gruff man told her. "We don't know you or even where you came from."

Cameron thought her actions should have given her some credit. It didn't look like it so far.

"There is nothing to know other than we are on the same side." Cameron said. "Ask these two people. I saved them and disabled two HK drones in the process. Your people saw it."

Cameron made up a story based on her past future experiences and they bought it. She finally got some computer access and tried to find out what she could. She looked for the closest Skynet facility so she could infiltrate it. She hoped there was a TDE. If not, they would have to make their way to the Los Angeles area. That did not sound promising at all.

Cameron heard some more figures approaching. She was glad she kept her plasma rifle close.

"That's the Bitch…."

Cameron didn't need to turn around to know who that was. She glanced at her plasma rifle. It was where she could grab it. It was charged.

"Well, she saved our bacon." One of the two men she'd just saved said to 'Joe'.

She was pleased to hear one of the Resistance fighters she'd helped speak up for her.

"She threatened me." Joe said. "There was another crazy Bitch with her and a couple of others."

She was not pleased to hear 'Joe' misrepresent what actually occurred earlier.

Cameron turned around and faced him. Her hand touched her plasma rifle.

"Look, you acted like a Scavenger the way you 'touched' my sister." Cameron said. "You didn't have to touch her private parts the way you did."

'Joe' was on the defensive now. He was known for doing that before. He'd always gotten away with it. This was the first time he was held accountable. He wasn't used to some Bitch challenging him. How dare her. Now she was doing it again in front of his friends.

"I was just searching them." Joe said.

Cameron spelled it out for all to hear. She could see others knew he'd done that before and bragged about it.

"Squeezing and fondling a female's breasts is not a 'search'." Cameron said. "It's a sexual assault. That's still a crime where I came from."

Cameron saw the men try to straighten up some and stand almost at attention but not quite. Someone important was about to arrive.

"Is that true?" A voice of authority asked.

'Joe' tried to come up with some poor excuse. No one bought it. They asked to hear Cameron's side of the story

Cameron explained what happened and mentioned that they also gave the two men some of their limited supplies and weapons as a good will gesture. She then recounted her downing the two HK drones and saving two other people.

She didn't care for these people or them her. She found what she was looking for. It was the location of a Skynet facility. She obtained the coordinates. She looked at a map and knew where to go. It was where the two HK drones were based. It was a start….

"I need to go back for my sister and friends." Cameron said.

"You're not going anywhere…."

Is That True

Through the days of our lives
There are many things we accrue
What does one keep and cherish
To what does one soon bid adieu

Much the same happens with people
Some we desire and pursue
Others we are done with
Their presence we ensue

Perhaps that is because
Many things in life are askew
It's easy to receive a miscue
Everything plays out as déjà vu

Not everything we can redo
What we seek is often taboo
The pain that follows is often due
Seldom can the damage we undo

Does anyone really ever have a clue
Think of anyone that you ever knew
They claimed that together you grew
When you look back now is that true

Nobody