Chapter 341

Did I

Savannah waited with anticipation. She observed everything that went on around her. She still covered the shed where Cameron went in. That was where she'd fired half of a magazine from her M4 in two bursts. That caused her a lot of worry as well. She didn't know for sure what the results of that action were. The operation in the main structure seemed to be over, there were a few sporadic shots still heard from within the building.

She noticed John Henry raise his weapon at the shed. She thought someone was going to come out. She knew if it wasn't Cameron that they were going to have to go in and look for her. She decided she would volunteer. John Henry lowered his weapon. She hoped that meant Cameron was about to come out. She'd listened to the com traffic and Cameron seemed to be OK as she gave her report. Cameron still didn't mention about what she'd 'done'.

Savannah watched as the shed door opened and Cameron emerged carrying a woman. She thought that was the person she'd shot at. She looked dead. Her body was limp but she noticed the female was bound. She must be alive still.

Cameron looked back at the shed as she walked away with the prisoner. She glanced over at the main building. It was a raging inferno. She headed for Savannah and John Henry.

"I have a subject for interrogation." Cameron said.

Savannah wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She thought for sure that she'd shot this person. There was no blood visible with a quick glance.

"Is she going to survive?" Savannah asked.

Cameron looked at Savannah's face. She could see that she was troubled about what she'd done. Maybe now was not the time to get into specifics. Savannah seemed to hold up with no problems so far. It was time to play it cool for now.

"Yes." Cameron said. "She's only unconscious."

Savannah felt a wave of relief. She thought for sure that she'd killed someone. The person she fired at tried to target their group. She'd only shot at them to protect the ones she cared about.

John Henry and Bob looked at each other. They observed what really occurred. Savannah seemed none the wiser. It appeared Cameron was about to 'cover up' what actually happened. Neither one of them thought that was a good idea. They felt that Savannah should know the truth and that her response was timely and effective.

Cammy and Camille both arrived in back of the building with the two captured SUVs.

Bob carried the deactivated and burnt Terminator and placed it in one. Cameron placed the woman in the other one and they both departed.

Savannah looked at the departing SUV with the woman. She still didn't see any blood on the female when she tried to look closer. She was sure there should have been some. She thought she scored at least a few hits on her target.

"Did I even hit her?" Savannah asked. "I did everything like I was taught. Maybe I need more training. I'll do better next time."

Savannah really thought she should've at least hit the target somewhere.

Cameron looked over at John's team. She wanted John's attention. She looked at John and then at Savannah and then back to John. Nothing was spoken.

John nodded at the silent request. Bob already confirmed what he thought happened.

Cameron looked at Savannah. She knew if she spoke the truth that Savannah was about to lose her innocence. She knew it would change Savannah is some way. She was just unsure what way that would be. It didn't matter. Savannah needed the truth. She didn't want it to seem that if the truth was left unspoken was only another way to 'lie'.

"You scored fourteen hits." Cameron said. "Only one projectile missed. You did excellent. The target you neutralized is still in the shed. I dumped them into the tunnel below."

Savannah didn't say anything for a few seconds. She wasn't sure what to say. She'd looked over the female captive that Cameron brought back. She wondered if it was a man or a woman that she shot. She didn't want to ask yet.

Cameron could tell right away that Savannah was conflicted about what she'd done.

"You did an outstanding job, Savannah." Cameron added. "It was a remarkable job. I doubt I could've done better myself. You identified the target before we all did. You ended the threat. You protected our group."

Savannah looked a little ashen. She still thought about what it was she'd actually done. Maybe she needed to hear it directly.

"Do you mean that I killed someone?" Savannah asked.

John thought back to his first 'kill'. It bothered him deeply too. It still did sometimes. He tried to tell himself that his experience was worse because he'd needed to kill with his hands. His only weapon was himself. The end result was still the same so it didn't really matter. Dead was dead when a person killed another. The circumstances were what mattered, not the action that followed.

"You did the right thing, Savannah." John said. "You protected all of us, you protected yourself and me. I'm thankful for that. "

Cameron wanted Savannah to be proud that she'd protected the group. She didn't need to be proud that someone else needed to die to do it. The other person made the choice to attempt to harm them. Their own actions are what led to their own termination. It wasn't their fault. It wasn't Savannah's fault.

"You saved our team from death or damage and you stopped a future Gray or Scavenger from hurting or killing anyone else. You simply terminated a parasite." Cameron said. "I terminated two more of them myself."

Savannah noticed the blood on Cameron's hand. There were blood spots and splashes on her face.

Cameron could see Savannah look at her face. There was blood on it.

"It's not my blood." Cameron said. "This time it belonged to the enemy. That's not always the case. You prevented it from being my blood tonight. Thank you."

Savannah knew if it wasn't Cameron's 'blood', that meant Cameron was in close when it happened. She felt her gut tighten some and then a lot. She thought somehow that she was going to feel worse or something different. She really didn't feel anything at all. All the people from Vanna's future needed to kill at a younger age than she'd just done. They all shared their experiences with her to help prepare her. It helped. She felt glad she survived. Their team 'won' and none of them were injured or damaged.

Cameron personally checked both John and Savannah for any injuries one more time.

John hated when Cameron did that. He did understand why. He was aware a person could be hurt and not know the true extent of their injuries. They might try to down play them. They could die from them in a short time if a major artery was damaged.

"It is just something you need to put up with." John told Savannah. "They all do it to make sure we're OK. It's a good thing."

John figured that the Terminators all physically checked them because the Terminators themselves were not always forthcoming about their injuries, especially Cameron.

Cameron also downloaded emergency medical treatment programming into all the Terminators. She never wanted what happened to Future Derek, to happen to them. She didn't feel it was her responsibility or fault at the time it happened to Future Derek. She wanted to be able to help John if it happened to him or any of the other humans going forward.

The team returned to their vehicles in silence. They all wanted to reach out to Savannah but were afraid they might make things worse. They reached their vehicles and departed. Cameron and Savannah rode in the back while John Henry drove. Bob and John were in another SUV.

Savannah remained alert for the entire process. Even as they drove away she checked around her as they departed. She wanted to make sure that no further threat appeared.

Cameron watched Savannah. She saw that Savannah retained her combat awareness and hadn't relaxed her guard. She knew Savannah was a little concerned about what she'd done but she forged ahead anyway. She knew that was part of the making of a true warrior. She was very proud of her. She believed Savannah would one day make the perfect mate for John. A single tear slid down her cheek.

Savannah could see that something troubled Cameron. She really hoped it wasn't her. She silently reached over and took Cameron's hand. She felt the glitch stop as she held Cameron's hand. She smiled at her and Cameron smiled back. They rode home in silence. She suggested the two SUVs check each other for 'tails'.

The Blackhawk received the order to stand down. That didn't go over well with Derek and Kyle. They'd wanted to assist in the operation.

They thought they were going to return to the base right way.

Cam in the Command Center knew there were several vehicles to recover. She'd left two drones on station to watch over them and see if anyone else crawled out of the 'woodwork'. The other two drones would accompany John and Savannah's SUVs back to the base.

The Blackhawk neared the target area. The burning building lit the night sky.

"I don't think we'll need our night vision goggles around that inferno." Derek said.

Kyle looked at the destruction.

"Let's hope we don't need to use our body armor either." Kyle said.

The Blackhawk let Kyle off with Steve and Tom a mile out from the target area on one side. It flew a round about route to a mile on the other side. It let Derek off with Al and Ed. The Blackhawk then flew seven miles out of the area. They didn't want it in too close to make it a target if there were any missed survivors or any additional personal showed up. Both of those were a real possibility.

They two teams were to check the target area once more and then collect the three vehicles that were left behind. That included the two vans and the SUV that Camille and Cammy arrived in.

One drone would return with them and the vehicles. The last drone would remain in the vicinity of the strike area to see if anyone else showed up. It turned out nothing else developed.

Jesse and Gail joined the other four in the lab as soon as the shooting started. Gail monitored the com from the Command Center.

Jesse noticed that Gail looked concerned. She asked Gail to fill her in. She knew that life moved forward not backwards and her friends may need her help now. There would be time to grieve later. The time to help was now. They immediately headed for the lab.

Cam stood everyone down at the base once all of the teams were clear of the target area. The six females left the lab.

Sarah looked at the group. She was proud of all of them. She knew Jesse and Vanna were having some kind of 'problems' but they were both there and ready to do their jobs. Kyle and Derek would be back soon and life would go on.

None of them knew Savannah scored a kill.

Cameron decided she would keep the three Terminators for her operation. Two of them could be restored back to service relatively easy. The third one would become a parts donor and the damaged Coltan harvested for projectiles.

"I'm keeping the Metal." Cameron said.

No one was going to argue it with her.

John looked at her for a moment but didn't say anything. He was just glad none of them were female Terminators. He never knew what stunt that Cameron would pull next with one of them.

Cameron and Savannah went about stowing their gear. The silence was deafening. Savannah broke out the cleaning kit for the weapons.

Everyone else left them alone. Cameron asked them to. She wanted to be with Savannah. She was aware Savannah may feel 'troubled'.

Neither of them spoke as they worked.

John was worried about Savannah too. He knew what it was like to kill for the first time. He quietly talked it over with Vanna when he saw her.

As they cleaned the weapons in silence, Vanna arrived. She came over to Savannah and gave her big a hug.

Savannah and Vanna looked at each other. It was a very personal moment for both of them. A lot was 'said' without a word being spoken. Both of them teared up at the same time. They probably experienced the same exact emotions at this point.

Cameron could see that Savannah might be a little more affected than she'd let on. Vanna was able to share with Savannah on an emotional level that she couldn't, at least not yet in her development. She wanted to take the pressure off of Savannah.

"I'll finish up here." Cameron said.

Savannah quickly regained her composure. She didn't like that moment of weakness. She was prepared for what she'd done. It was time to drive through the pain. She needed to protect the future and John.

"No. I'm not finished." Savannah said. "I'll be done soon. I'm fine, Cameron."

Savannah and Vanna hugged again. Savannah resumed cleaning her weapons.

Cameron was more proud of Savannah than ever.

Vanna nodded at Cameron and left. Vanna was also proud of Savannah. She felt that Cameron made Savannah a better person that she was. She was proud of both of them. She believed that Savannah was the one that belonged at John's side, not her. That was for many more reasons than one. She made a decision right then and there about what she was going to do. Savannah was ready. She was going to facilitate 'everything'.

Jesse and Vanna soon returned to all duties as before. They both dealt with what the future did to them. Both of them wondered how many times they may have been pregnant and lost the baby at the beginning of the pregnancy in the past – the future. They both figured it was multiple times, especially Jesse. They'd both been assaulted numerous times. Sometimes it was for months straight. They should both have been pregnant many times over. At that time they'd figured the missed periods were because of malnutrition. That is what happened to a lot of the females at times. Upon further reflection they were probably pregnant. The embryos all terminated because of their Skynet damaged bodies within a month or two.

Ally and Sheila returned to work for Cameron. They would return to be with Jesse and Vanna in another month or two when Cameron tried again. Cameron made it clear that she wasn't ready to give up on them yet.

Nobody knew it then but it would start a cycle of pregnancies and terminations for all of the girls from the future. Vanna and Jesse would become so distraught over all the terminations they stopped trying. Only Allison would try over and over.

Savannah wanted 'more'. She started to view more and more sexual images and videos on the internet. She also found pleasure in herself multiple times a day. John Henry was aware of her obsessive behavior on the internet and Cameron was aware of the 'personal' issue as well. She didn't know what to do about it. Savannah sexual preference appeared to be the same as Vanna's.

Savannah tried to get 'closer' to Ally and Cam but Cameron wouldn't allow it. She threatened to deactivate both of them if 'anything' happened. She reminded both of them about Isabel. She was very protective of Savannah. John wasn't receptive to 'accommodating' Savannah's needs. She didn't want anyone else to 'spoil' Savannah before she could be with John. She wanted the best for John and Savannah.

Cameron made sure Savannah saw Young Allison at least a few times a week. It was usually three times a week or sometimes even more. She wanted to make sure an unbreakable bond was forged between them. She explained the future to Claire, she understood. She sometimes brought Sarah to talk with Claire and Jan to play with Summer.

Sarah enjoyed getting out and felt comfortable with Cameron. She also was attracted to Claire. It seemed that Claire was attracted to her as well. It was never discussed or acted on in any way. It was something that both women 'felt' but were afraid to address it. It always remained in the background.

Cameron always brought extra Metal to shadow them.

Savannah went out on some more recon missions. None of them went hot. Cameron even allowed Savannah to lead one. She did an excellent job. She always assigned four of their Terminators to accompany Savannah, even if they were a 'shadow team'. She didn't want Savannah to think she didn't trust her ability. It was her own personal worry why she sent the extra Metal.

Cameron or John Henry always went too, if not both of them. Savannah needed the experience but she also needed to be safe. If there was a strike or combat likely, she wasn't allowed to go.

Cameron made sure EVERYONE understood this. There was no exception to any of the females in combat, except her. After the stunt Vanna pulled, all of the Terminators would physically restrain anyone in violation of her orders. Any Terminator who allowed it to happen would be deactivated and their chip erased.

Nobody doubted Cameron.

John was also severely limited on his combat duties. He wasn't allowed to go unless Cameron was there. Recon was fine as long as there was plenty of Metal with him. The same applied to Kyle and Derek.

Cameron insisted Metal do the fighting. They could be rebodied and she'd made copies of all their programs. She personally ran all the females through training to keep them proficient. She really pushed Savannah now about 'everything'.

Everything seemed to run smooth for a change. Cameron figured that it wouldn't last long, it didn't.

Did I

The best laid plans
Can often go awry
That leaves one confused
Often asking why

One can try to reach out
They feel uncertain and shy
They try to grasp the stars
But never even reach the sky

Some may listen and help
Others will use and lie
Don't be afraid to speak up
Or prepare to be left high and dry

Most are in it for themselves
Few if any will be an ally
Leaving one dejected and confused
Without out even receiving a goodbye

When all is said and done
Nothing is left to dignify
Everyone needs to reassess
Question their roll and ask 'did I'

Nobody