Chapter 512

Careless

Cameron followed three Grays to a different location. It was a warehouse of some kind. She was about to drop down onto the roof of their building from the one located next door. She looked for any surveillance cameras but none were spotted. She climbed out the window. She closed it with one hand and dropped onto the roof.

She'd chosen this method to observe the building because the satellite photos showed there were skylights. She carefully headed for the closest one. She tried not to make any noise as she crossed the roof. She moved up to the closest skylight and looked inside.

There was nothing to see from the skylight she was at. She carefully moved away from it and moved down to the far side to look in. It too didn't show anything of value. There were still two more to observe.

Cameron paused and looked up and around her. She wanted to make sure she wasn't being observed. There was no indication she was. That didn't mean that she wasn't.

Right now she was off the grid from the rest of the team. Only CamNet knew where she was at.

She moved up to the second Skylight. She could see the front of the Gray's vehicle. That was about all she could see. There were various wooden crates closer to the front of the building. The next skylight should give her a better reveal of those. She moved to the other edge of the second Skylight and looked down. There were rows of crates that she could see now. So far the Grays hadn't been spotted.

She moved towards the final Skylight. There was a roof access hatch along the far wall. She went over to it and tried it. It was locked from the inside. She moved back over to the final Skylight.

She was a very disturbed by what she saw.

A Gray who was in the process of pulling his pants down. It was clear that there was an assault about to happen.

She listened and could hear the muffled screams of someone. They were obviously gagged. She decided to act.

Cameron smashed her foot through the skylight and dropped inside the building. She landed in the middle of a shower of glass.

She only spotted the Gray she'd seen from up above. She moved to the other Gray that was on top of a struggling figure, it was a female.

She grabbed him and kicked him hard between the legs. Before he could scream she snapped his neck as well. She was pleased that he knew what was crushed on his body. The girl was bound. She was tied gagged and blindfolded. So far she didn't know what happened to the man. She still struggled to get away even if the current assault didn't happen.

She carried an M9 on this operation. It was in her hand now as she searched for the third Gray. There could be more as well.

She heard someone run in her direction.

"What are you doing?" Another Gray asked. "You're going to give away our position before that 'Metal Bitch' gets here."

Cameron sensed she was in the middle of an ambush again.

Another Gray came around the corner and saw his two compatriots, they were both dead. He looked at the thrashing bound figure of the female. He opened his mouth to call for help.

Cameron moved up behind him and snapped his neck.

"Hey! I need the rest of you guys here now." Cameron said in the third Gray's voice. "There's been an accident."

She quickly changed her position. Two more Grays ran from the front to where she was at. They both carried a Taser of some type and a pistol. She shot both of them in the back

Another barb attached to a wire flashed in front of her face and hit the side of a wooden crate. She could hear the 'crackle' of electricity. There was another Gray and he'd just missed her with a Taser.

She fired her M9 and he went down. She moved her position and a row of bullet holes appeared in the side of the wooden crate where she'd just been. There was a shrill scream. She looked over at the girl. She moved twice and then stopped thrashing around. She'd been hit with gunfire.

Cameron came around the rear of the vehicle and shot the man with an assault rifle in the back of the head. She quickly searched the building.

She found the front door unlocked. The men had been positioned around that door apparently waiting for her arrival. This was another ambush for her.

She checked on the female. She was dead. She looked like a homeless female. She removed the gag and blindfold and untied her. It didn't look like a dignified way to die.

The building turned up no leads. She collected and deactivated the men's phones. She really wanted this group bad.

There were two other vehicles inside the building. CamNet ran the license plates. They were all stolen vehicles. She ruptured the fuel tanks on all three of them. There was soon thirty gallons of gasoline running everywhere.

She went up the roof access ladder and up on to the roof. She dropped a Thermite grenade inside the broken skylight and the gasoline vapor erupted with a violent 'whoosh' sound. She asked CamNet to belay any 911 response for ten minutes. The building would be fully engulfed by that point. She went to the roof a different business on the other side and back to her SUV a different way than she'd arrived. She'd only been able to stay a half of a step ahead of these Grays. There were too many close ones. It made her think of something more sinister behind the Grays.

There was no one around her SUV when she arrived. She looked underneath it to make sure it was clean and drove away. Once she was out of the area she turned her tracking back on. There was a lot for her to think about. Someone was after her.

Cameron was bothered by Skynet. She'd terminated it, 'killed' it, so many times, yet it always remained somehow. She'd destroyed it in two different futures. She'd destroyed it in this timeline several times. It always popped back up. It always remained a threat.

She contacted some of her Terminators to back her up. Her last encounter was a close one. Maybe it was time she listened. She originally hadn't planned on it. She knew if she operated alone that no one else was put at risk. She'd told Savannah she would take some Metal, so she decided she'd better do that. After what almost just happened it seemed like a good idea. That could be her deactivated chassis next to the homeless female with a line of Grays waiting to 'use' it.

Cameron didn't want Savannah angry at her. She knew there were times that she'd made Savannah furious at her. She hadn't anticipated Savannah's extreme anger in those situations. She'd tried to prepare Savannah for the future. The future was cruel. The future was mean. The future was ugly. At least Savannah never held it against her or 'punished' her for those various past events. Savannah explained to her that they were human reactions to things. Savannah reminded her that humans were flawed in many ways. She was sure that Savannah meant to tell her everyone has problems and makes mistakes.

She'd spent two years alone with both Savannah and Future Allison away from John since they were in the future. True, Future John was there for one of those years but he possessed sense enough to stay away form her. Duplicate Cameron made sure of that.

It bothered Cameron more when Future John was with Future Allison than it did when any of the others were with him. It was not so much that Future Allison was with Future John but because Future John was with Future Allison. It bothered her that he touched Future Allison. It bothered her when Duplicate Cameron and Future Savannah were with Future Allison but not as much for some reason. She was aware she was jealous of anyone who touched Future Allison, except Savannah - Past Savannah - HER Savannah.

Reality crudely knocked.

"Cameron, you have a tail." John Henry said as he suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

Cameron blinked and looked around. She spotted the tail.

She'd been careless. It seemed to happen more and more. She knew she became more easily distracted now. She wasn't sure why. It seemed other things were more important and crept into her thoughts somehow. Even if they weren't more important, some still crept in and lingered there.

Cammy and Savannah were vectored to Cameron's position by CamNet. That was before the tracking was turned back on. They'd been close to her when it was reactivated. It didn't seem Cameron made very good time.

"We're behind them. We're tracking them." Cammy reported. "We have Cameron covered."

Cameron should've listened for a drone. She should've been looking around.

"Cameron?" Savannah asked. "Is everything alright?"

Cameron didn't get specific. There were more loose ends to deal with.

"I think so." Cameron responded. "I needed to think about some other things…."

John wondered where Cameron was at for the last half hour but didn't ask.

"Now isn't the time." John said. "Everyone needs to be focused."

Cameron could see that they all cared. She expected someone to ask why she'd been off the grid earlier. No one asked, yet. She decided to inform them of what was occurring now. She'd stretch the truth a little.

"The tail vehicle behind me contains some of my Terminators. I waited for them to arrive." Cameron said. "They're here to back me up. I wanted Savannah to stay in for the rest of the night. I'm pushing her too hard."

Savannah was glad when Cameron came back up on the grid earlier. She wanted to ask her where she was but she would need to do that in person. Cameron offered an explanation but she didn't buy it. She wanted everyone to know including John that she was her own person for decisions.

"Nobody pushes me, Cameron." Savannah said. "You know that. We all have free choice in everything. We all act because we want to, on our own."

Savannah knew it needed to be a joint venture, especially in the future to smash Skynet. It needed to be machines and mankind and they needed to work together. That was the only way to insure the peace. Right now they attempted to prevent Judgment Day. They all knew that was the best solution to keep it from happening in the first place.

Cameron knew that Savannah wasn't about to back out of this operation at this point. She might as well consolidate everyone's position. It would better protect Savannah that way.

"I don't want people hurt or damaged." Cameron said. "I'm slowing so our three SUVs can convoy."

Cameron never wanted anyone to be hurt or damaged because of her. The 'Day Of Loss' still burnt in her mind. It didn't matter even if she'd 'fixed it' and corrected those events, they still hurt her. They still bothered her. People 'died' trying to help her. The fact that she'd fixed that didn't seem to matter because she still knew it happened, even if it didn't.

John was worried about everyone. When he asked about the Gray prisoner, Cameron said that they'd self terminated rather than be questioned. There was concern there was a 'fanatical' wing or faction in the Grays. That was worse if Grays 'believed' in Skynet, rather than just worked for it. John Henry explained that Cameron believed it was two different groups of Grays working in conjunction with each other. He asked John Henry to establish a 'secure link' with Cammy only.

"Cammy, I don't want Savannah taking any unnecessary chances." John said.

Cameron through CamNet was able to access that 'secure link'. She smiled to hear John say that. He finally started to listen to her and he cared about Savannah more than as just a fellow team member or a pretty face. She knew that John fell in love with Savannah. It was what she'd wanted for YEARS. This WAS the future and it was happening NOW. She looked at her left hand. It was steady as a rock. The smile on her face grew. Savannah was the 'Chosen One'.

It appeared John was ready to choose Savannah now.

She'd already done that very thing herself years ago.

Anna was a big hit at the Young residence in Palmdale. It seemed everyone was infatuated by her. The Terminators knew she was Metal but Claire and Allison didn't.

Young Allison approached her because she thought she was Savannah.

In seconds Young Allison knew something was 'different'.

"You're not MY Savannah." Young Allison told her. "You're like Holly and Hanna."

Anna hoped this would happen and it did. Young Allison recognized a 'threat', even if it wasn't a real threat.

"My name is Anna. I'm also like Cameron." Anna said. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Young Allison cherished every moment she could spend with Cameron and Savannah. There were many times when she couldn't.

"I like MY Savannah better." Young Allison said. "I wish I could see her everyday."

Anna was aware that Cameron still wanted to bring the Young family to their base for better 'protection' but Paul Young was a 'problem'. Cameron didn't want him around Vanna or Jesse and especially Savannah. Cameron knew he could be 'controlled' with a female Terminator but she didn't want that either. Several of the female Terminators previously volunteered for the assignment. She wanted to provide Young Allison with reassurance. The 'Savannah' in her wanted to reach out to Young Allison.

"I can help you with your schoolwork or play with you." Anna said. "I'm a lot like Savannah and Cameron."

Young Allison weighed the options. She was sure there was more at play here than she'd first thought. She was aware that all of the 'unattached' Resistance females were protected by a female Terminator. She was aware of what else they all shared. She secretly watched them whenever she could. She wondered why they never close the door tight. It made her wonder if anyone knew what she'd started to do at night when she was in bed alone. She'd started to do what she witnessed her older self do. She needed to play this cool.

"That may be true but you're still not MY Savannah." Young Allison said. "I miss her. She's so special…."

Anna could see that Young Allison would accept her.

"Let's go see how long it takes Allison and your mom to figure out I'm not Savannah." Anna said. "It'll be like a game."

Young Allison decided to play along. She wanted to have some control even if it was in the background on this one.

"It can be a game! OK, that sounds like fun." Young Allison said. "I like you."

Anna knew if Young Allison tagged along happily alongside of her, it would take them even longer to figure it out.

Anna quickly decided that she would request that she be 'assigned' to Young Allison specifically as Holly was to Allison and Hanna was to Claire. This would give Young Allison better protection. If Cameron took Young Allison into the past, she would go with them. Both the 'Cameron' and 'Savannah' in her overwhelmed her with the feelings they both shared about Young Allison. She received a double dose of it.

She didn't lose the significance that she would be to Young Allison what Cammy was to Savannah. She would be a Terminator version of her future lover. It would be the 'Natural Order' before the actual 'Natural Order'.

John Henry looked over at John. He could see that he 'chomped at the bit'. He wondered if that was for Cameron or Savannah that he was so worried. He figured it was for Savannah. Cameron could take care of herself and she seemed to always survive somehow. He hoped to put John at ease.

"There's still no activity at the target location." John Henry reported.

John's head snapped around. He'd been lost deep in thought.

"Do you think it's a trap?" John asked.

The team in the field could hear all of the com traffic.

Savannah was still unsure about all of this operation. There were a lot of pieces that didn't fit.

"What if there's nothing there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron fixated on what John said. There was a trap laid for her earlier. She'd avoided it, barely, twice.

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked. "Do you think this is a trap too?"

Savannah along with everyone else was in the dark about Cameron's earlier activity. They only knew what they were after now.

"What if this is a dead end?" Savannah asked.

John already called up all the drones. He was ready to end it before it started.

"We can call in a drone strike." John said. "We can flatten the place from the sky."

Savannah still wondered about Cameron's last statement. There must be more than they knew. Maybe this was all more than they knew.

"No, everyone stop for a minute." Savannah said. "What if this is a test, not a trap."

Cameron reflected back on her earlier encounter. Maybe it all made sense if looked at from that perspective.

"Do you think it is to test our response time?" Cameron asked. "It could be to see if we respond at all."

Savannah was ready for some cat and mouse to see what the mouse did. They would be the cat. There was no reason to play the Gray's game when they could play their own game.

"Yes. I think it's both." Savannah said. "I think we should place the location under surveillance for now and see what THEY do."

That was John Henry first desire. He wanted to get more than the bit players. They still needed to track down any Coltan if this group possessed it.

"We may get more leads if we watch them first." John Henry said. "Maybe we will get some more targets or to see if there's something bigger that they have going on."

Cameron thought about the girl at the warehouse where she'd just been. She didn't like how Savannah was endangered earlier. She wanted these Grays dead.

"I would rather eradicate them now. They almost hurt Savannah." Cameron said. "I'm going in alone."

Savannah would not allow that as long as she was right here. There needed to be more to all of this.

"Cameron - NO." Savannah said. "You can still go in anytime. This is a big risk for a small prize. There must be more than we've found so far. You heard and saw that TDE running at Skynet Central. It was going on for several days that we know about."

Cameron remembered the lack of female Terminators. They must have all been sent on specific tasks. They didn't know what any of those tasks were or even when.

"There were few female Terminators left that we saw." Cameron said. "They could be on temporal infiltration missions."

Savannah tried to think of their past encounters and what could be in the future. Skynet always ran into trouble when it dealt with the past. The past was what they'd experienced already.

"I think they're in the future ahead of us by a few years and in the past behind us." Savannah said. "I've discussed this with Cammy several times."

John was appalled by that revelation. It sounded like a new nightmare.

"Just what we don't need, more timelines to develop." John said. "There are at least three that we know of."

Cameron was sure there were more. She decided to keep it simple.

"Four, if you count River's future" Cameron said. "I've been to all four of them."

John Henry wondered how many others Cameron created in her other 'lifetimes', if she actually relived her life over and over.

Savannah didn't want Cameron to act on her own after they'd left, if they left. She wanted Cameron to make the decision. There was more of a chance for her to adhere to it if she made it herself.

"Cameron, what do you think is best?" Savannah asked.

Cameron didn't want to lead the team into an ambush. She didn't want Savannah hurt. There were still other leads she could follow up on.

"I don't know." Cameron said. "I feel the desire to hit them now but if we gather more information it may be a long term benefit. I'll have my Terminators start surveillance. Everyone can stand down."

Cameron wanted Savannah out of harms way even more. She knew what was happening inside her, she did nothing to stop it….

Careless

People aren't known
For thinking things through
That often leaves decisions
Somewhat warped and askew

Random impulse over logic
Is what seems to be the norm
Such hastily made decisions
Are bound to cause a storm

That is the way of human nature
It seeks things in the now
Tomorrow is not planned for
Few would listen anyhow

These are things everyone knows
Often that knowledge is unheeded
People seem to hear less and less
They can't separate what is needed

People take more chances
Their actions become reckless
It's almost as if they can't see
That they've become careless

Nobody