Chapter 624

Vibrations

There was a fire inside the mine somewhere. It would use all the oxygen at some point. It would also fill the air with smoke. The tunnel needed to be sealed. There was a better than even chance that whoever did that task might be terminated.

Savannah didn't want anyone, a human or a Terminator, to ever take a risk for her. Here it was all Terminators around her but it didn't matter. She didn't feel it was fair to all of them.

"We'll draw lots." Savannah said. "We'll all share the risk. I'll take the risk as well."

Cammy didn't want Savannah to risk herself.

"NO, Savannah." Cammy said.

Cameron felt a Terminator would have a better chance of survival.

"Please, Savannah, don't." Cameron said.

The four male Terminators conducted a discussion among themselves. They were all in agreement.

"Savannah, if you go, we'll all go as well." Al said. "I speak for my brethren."

The Terminators weren't about to risk Savannah being terminated in their place. Everything Savannah did made the Terminators respect and love her more.

Cameron wanted to know more about the area that Cammy recently discovered.

"Let's check out the narrow gauge mining tracks in the sloping shaft Cammy found first." Cameron said. "We should do that before we close any doors prematurely and permanently."

Cameron knew they may have to go in the direction the fire was located in to search for another way out. The lower level area where Cammy was at earlier may also need to be checked even with the cave in that occurred.

The six Terminators all hoisted a deactivated Terminator, along with the oxygen tanks for Savannah.

Cammy led the way.

Savannah followed her. She now held a bright lantern to guide her.

Cameron looked around the boarded up entrance that Cammy tore open. The wood was heavily rotted. Boulders and rocks covered the ground. It was clear the area was unstable.

They went down the sloped shaft and reached the spot with the narrow gauge mine tracks. There were a half dozen old mine cars on a separated track. They were all battered and rusted. They'd probably sat in the same place for fifty to a hundred years. There was no way to tell.

Cameron dumped the 'Metal Bitch' on the ground and went to one of the cars. She pushed it. A loud squealing noise came from it as it rolled. She checked a few others. She wanted to place the deactivated Terminators in three of the cars and push them along. That would free up three Terminators to clear debris and assist as necessary.

The male Terminators went over and helped her lift three of the best rolling mine cars that she'd chosen onto the main track. The switch that was there broke when they tried to throw it earlier. The moveable point snapped when it was forced. It hadn't moved on its own when the lever was actuated.

They dumped two deactivated Terminators in each of the small ore cars. It was time to head out.

Cameron went back to the opening and looked out. She called Tom over. He was the closest.

"Remain here for now." Cameron said. "I don't want any surprises behind us."

Cameron wanted Tom to stay at the junction with the main tunnel. Since there'd been Grays and Terminators earlier that tried to go that way, there could be more.

"Affirmative…." Tom said.

Tom thought that Cameron wanted him to seal the tunnel. He reached for the M79.

Cameron was surprised. She didn't want any 'doors' closed yet.

"Not yet." Cameron said.

Tom nodded.

"I want you to make sure no one gets in behind us. I don't want collapse the tunnel yet." Cameron said. "I'll be back."

Cameron walked away. Tom watched her go. He looked over to where Savannah was at with Cammy. He would never allow Savannah to be the one that sealed the tunnel. There was a 'feeling' deep inside him. He was sure it would override any 'order' he was given to the contrary. Like all of the male Terminators he was in 'love' with Savannah. They just didn't know how to deal with and express the 'feeling'. It was as uncomfortable as it was overpowering.

Savannah held the bight lantern. It allowed her to look around at their surroundings. She could see the section they were in now was the worst looking of any she'd been in yet.

Cameron and Cammy could see it too. The light only made what Cammy observed earlier look worse. It was time to move out.

Cammy led the way. Savannah was behind her. Cameron was behind Savannah.

Al, Ed and Frank each pushed a small mine car with two Terminators in it down the tracks behind them.

Savannah noticed Tom wasn't with them.

"Where's Tom?" Savannah asked.

Cameron could see that Savannah was afraid he been sent off to his doom.

"He's at the entrance to this section to make sure we can get back out if we need to and that we don't end up with anyone behind us." Cameron said.

Savannah looked back.

"OK." Savannah said.

Cameron was still worried that more Grays or Terminators might show up from some unknown connector tunnel. They still didn't have a clue as to the layout of the mine or any additional work that Skynet may have done.

"Watch your backs." Cameron said. "There've been too many unknowns here."

"Affirmative…." All three male Terminators said.

The small procession creaked and squeaked along.

There was a loud 'crack' and a large rock fell and hit the center of the track in front of them. It splintered the wooden tie that it impacted but didn't damage the rails.

Cammy and Cameron moved forward to move it out of the way. It was lifted over the rail and shoved off to the side.

Cameron motioned for Savannah and the rest of the team to move forward.

Cammy stood with one foot resting on top of a rail. She was sure she'd felt something. It might be another falling rock. She didn't think so.

"Wait." Cammy called.

She knelt down touched a rail. She put her ear to the rail and listened.

"Listen." Cammy said. "I thought I detected this earlier as falling rocks. It's more than that."

Cameron bent down and touched the rail as she listened.

"It's machinery." Cameron said.

Cammy reaffirmed her earlier belief.

"They're coming for us." Cammy said.

Savannah felt the same caution that Cameron did earlier.

"The question is who?" Savannah asked.

What if there'd been some battle on the outside and it was the Skynet forces coming for their people and what would be 'Skynet' in the future.

It was unlikely but a possibility.

It was something they all felt.

Cammy led the procession along. Cameron and her cleared newly fallen rocks as necessary.

John grew antsier the longer they waited. He hated to keep interrupting the workers but he needed to know more.

"What's the status, Bob?" John asked.

Bob felt they'd made good progress.

"We've started with the auger." Bob said. "We should be able to get a ten foot long pipe in if the hole holds."

John Henry didn't want anyone to get ahead of themselves. They were a long way from any real progress.

"Remember, they don't know how much material they have to go through." John Henry said. "It could be solid material for a long way if the opening was blown closed before the mudslide."

Bob was ready to check his progress.

"We're removing the auger now." Bob said.

There were several Terminators ready with the pipe as soon as the auger was out. They shoved it into the hole. It went half way in and jammed.

Bob motioned for the bulldozer to move forward and push on the pipe. The blade came up and made contact. The pipe was shoved into the hole. Some dirt filled the pipe as it was shoved.

John Henry wanted them to see if they could shove another pipe in back of the first one.

"Bob, flare the back end of the pipe out so the next one can be put against it and shoved again." John Henry said.

Bob moved forward with several Terminators, and they flared the end of the pipe by hand.

John wanted to see if there was any contact from inside yet.

"Stop everything for a minute and listen for any signal." John said. "Maybe they can hear or even feel the work that's occurring."

They did pause, there was nothing. There was only silence.

Bob helped his team lift the next pipe up and the bulldozer started to shove on it as they held it in place.

Cammy led the team to the rickety wooden trestle. They'd needed to clear a few rocks off of the tracks but it wasn't too many.

Cammy went across.

Savannah looked at the old wooden structure. She figured if Cammy could make it that she could too.

Cameron stopped and looked at it. She didn't know if the weight of the small mine car with two Terminators in it would collapse the rickety structure. It seemed about a fifty-fifty chance at this point.

"I'm going across." Cameron said. "I want you three to shove the first car across. Cammy and I will stop it."

Al understood the need for caution. He also looked down into the area where the trestle would collapse. He didn't want Savannah to be trapped on the other side.

"Go on ahead first and see if this will be necessary." Al said. "If we lose the trestle, Savannah will have a harder time to come back."

Cameron could see that was a good idea.

"Watch our six." Cameron said. "We'll be back."

Cammy, Savannah, and Cameron continued forward. They reached as far as Cammy was at before. It still looked like a dead end.

The light Savannah carried showed the extent of the tunnel blockage. It was complete. There was still no way to tell if they were at the end of the line or somewhere in the middle.

Cameron could tell that extensive digging would be necessary. She figured they could fill the mine cars with dirt and dump them where the trestle was at. If it was done in a controlled fashion, they could fill the trestle in. That was actually how some early railroad construction was done before the use of power tools.

Savannah felt something land on her. It was dust, no, it was dirt.

In the glow of Savannah's light, little streams of dirt could be seen as they drifted down in places above and around them.

"Wait." Cammy said.

They all touched one of the rails.

They could feel vibrations on the rails.

It seemed obvious that there really was someone on the other side of the blockage. Even if it was the enemy they could fight their way out. Six Terminators was a lethal fighting force anywhere.

They hadn't found any digging tools in their earlier search.

Cameron looked around them. She knew they could improvise some tools.

"I want a mine car." Cameron said. "We can remove the wheels from the axles. We can punch into the dirt with the axles to loosen it and use the wheels to scoop the dirt away."

Cameron and Cammy went back, Savannah followed them. She really didn't want to get separated at this point. She figured if there was a cave in, it would be better to 'go out' with Cammy and Cameron at her side.

Cammy told the male Terminators it was a 'go'.

The three male Terminators sent the first car across. Cammy and Cameron moved it further down towards the blockage. They went back to receive the other two cars. Savannah tried to push the first car that came across further along but she could barely move it.

Cameron asked her to leave it as she would use more oxygen if she exerted herself.

The male Terminators sent the other two cars across as the trestle swayed and creaked. There were 'splintering' sounds. The trestle seemed to have developed a slight sag in one spot.

The three male Terminators came across, one at a time.

Cameron told them her plan. They broke the two axles in half on one of the mine cars. Cammy and the three Male Terminators started using the four wheels to scoop out earth.

Cameron looked around. She saw that Savannah was distracted. She didn't know how long the excavation would take but she wanted to cover all of the bases. She slipped away to go get Tom. She took the power cell with her. She would have liked to have a satchel charge to detonate it with a timer. It wasn't the case.

Cameron went across the rickety trestle which seemed to sway even more now. There were additional splintering wood sounds. It was topped off with a loud 'crack' sound. It was clear one of the supports broke into two.

The smoke was thicker as she closed on Tom's location. She filled him in on the help that worked on the outside.

"I need to block the tunnel." Cameron said

Tom looked at the area they were currently in. It looked like it could collapse on its own.

"We can block it here." Tom said.

Cameron didn't know how long what they worked on was going to take. There was no way to know the length of the blockage.

"No, I want it blocked back further." Cameron said. "I want more air for Savannah."

The air was already heavily laden with smoke.

Cameron figured if she blocked the tunnel at the first cavern that Savannah would have at least enough air for a few days. They should be out by then. The dust and smoke should settle in a day or so. She took the M79 from Tom.

Savannah started to help them. She could see that they were more efficient but she could move some of the smaller rocks out of the dirt pile that began to grow.

Cammy knew it was a bad idea.

"Savannah, I need you to stop." Cammy said. "You'll use more air. We don't know how long this will take…."

Savannah looked around and saw the air was laden with smoke now. She hadn't noticed it before. She also noticed Cameron wasn't there anymore.

"Cameron's gone." Savannah said. "Where is she?"

Cammy kept Savannah distracted when Cameron slipped away.

"She'll be back." Cammy said.

The vibrations increased. More dirt fell from the ceiling and walls. There was a loud 'clang' as a large rock crashed onto the mine car they'd removed the wheels from. It was now severely dented. It would have killed Savannah if it fell on her or severely damaged a Terminator.

Cammy came over and checked Savannah's air supply and changed the tank.

Savannah watched the air thicken with smoke. She saw there were seven more tanks of air.

Savannah wondered if that was how much time she would have left….

The Terminators dug at a frantic pace. They all knew how much time Savannah had left too.

Cameron moved down the tunnel. She headed for the chamber. She passed the four Grays Savannah terminated. Cameron quickly checked them over again for anything useful. There was nothing, Cameron moved on.

She was almost to the chamber. There was a body lying on the ground. It hadn't been there before. It was a Gray. There was still a threat from the area she was in. Cameron transferred the M79 to her left hand and drew her Glock.

Cameron carefully looked around and moved to the Gray, he was still alive. It looked like he was hit by a falling rock. There was a pistol that slipped from his grasp as he'd blacked out. He wore breathing gear. Cameron checked his air tank, it was a third full. She took it. She snapped his neck and moved on. Savannah needed the air more than he would.

She reached the chamber. The heat was intense. The air was thick with smoke. She went to the area where Cammy went down to a lower level. There was nothing new there. She could see smoke billowing up from around the cage that sat over the shaft in the floor. It was doubtful anyone could survive down there. That was unless they were a Terminator.

Cameron went back to the chamber and into the tunnel she'd come from. She replaced the 'buckshot' round with an HE round. She pointed the M79 at the top of the entrance and fired.

There was an explosion and some rock fell. Cameron reloaded and fired again. The same result was repeated with less rock. She reloaded and fired a third time. Even less rock fell this time. It seemed there was more falling from the direction she came from and would need to return by.

The opening was only a third of the way blocked. She figured it would come down to what was necessary. She took out the power cell. She knew it would do some damage. She moved back up to the pile of rubble she'd just created. A large rock fell behind her. She didn't want to get trapped in there.

Cameron damaged the power cell so it would rupture and explode. It began to smoke. It was compromised. She set it on the pile of rubble and ran at full speed down the tunnel back towards where Tom was at.

The explosion was massive. Cameron pressed herself into a small depression in the tunnel wall as the shock wave came. There was a fireball with it but it didn't reach her.

There were rocks that fell all around Cameron. They fell both in front and in back of her. They continued to fall.

Cameron doubted she would make it back….

Sheila and Ally left the two deceased Grays behind. They tossed them in a dumpster for disposal. They headed out for the location where the two Terminators were let off.

"We really don't know any more than we did." Ally said.

Sheila thought that was because Ally didn't question the Gray aggressively enough.

"You were too easy." Sheila said. "I don't like sissies."

Ally scanned the Gray as she'd questioned him

"He told me what he knew." Ally said.

They Metal girls checked in with the operation at the mine.

"Maybe we should just go there and help out." Ally said.

Sheila thought it may come to that.

"If they don't make progress there soon we can." Sheila said. "We can dig ourselves."

They arrived at the location the Terminators were let off at.

"This looks like a bust." Ally said.

It was a boarded up video rental store.

"This place has been vacant for a decade." Sheila said.

The girls passed by without slowing.

"I don't get a good feeling about it." Ally said.

Sheila looked over.

"That's the 'Allison' in you talking." Sheila said.

"She has some good things to say." Ally said.

"As long as she says, 'How far', when I say, 'Spread them', that's all I care about." Sheila said.

"Up yours…." Ally said.

"You wish." Sheila said.

They drove over two blocks and parked.

CamNet sent a drone with them.

"We could use a low level drone scan." Ally said. "I think it's a sucker play."

CamNet reminded them a Terminator would be able to hear the drone if it scanned low.

They hoped to spook the Terminators if they were inside. They didn't think anyone was.

"I think the building is a booby trap." Ally said.

The drone scan came back negative.

"I don't like it either." Sheila said. "Let's toss a few Thermite grenades on it."

They readied three of them. Sheila drove back in front. Ally tossed two up on the roof and one through the only intact window in the front. They drove off. The drone went back up to altitude and watched. No one came out of the building as it burnt.

CamNet suppressed all emergency response.

The girls watched from the next intersection as the building burnt.

"Like I said." Ally said. "The place looks like a bust."

Sheila lifted her top up.

"This looks like a bust." Sheila said. "You can touch this one."

At that moment the burning building exploded in a massive fireball.

"It was a booby trap." Ally said.

Sheila still held her top up.

"So are these." Sheila said.

The Metal girls were at a dead end.

Hurts

What HURTS is to see you feel:

Hurt
Alone
Lonely
Lost
Want
Need
Sad
Depressed
Used
Abused
Disrespected
Punished
Exploited
Confused
Forgotten
Helpless
Hopeless
Victimized
Suffering
Nothing
Morbid
Suicidal

What HURTS More
Is what or when you do it to yourself
Things you KNOW are bad
It makes me feel helpless and sad

It HURTS the most
To not be THERE
To physically take away the poison
To replace the need with emotion

I see someone so beautiful inside
So special, fragile and unique
The damage done by others or you
HURTS me because it HURTS Y O U

Nobody