Chapter 694

I'm In

Dan and Frank followed a box truck that appeared to be empty. If it wasn't empty, it only carried a very light load.

Dan didn't like the way things played out. The area around them became more remote.

"There aren't many places for the truck to go." Dan said.

Frank looked around. The businesses thinned out. There was very little activity around them. It appeared in a very short time they were going to stand out and be spotted following the box truck.

"Make sure we're not being led into an ambush." Frank said.

Dan kept a constant watch around them, especially behind them.

"I've been checking." Dan said.

Frank noticed something was about to happen. He saw the brake lights come on, on the truck.

"I think they're slowing." Frank said. "This may be it."

Dan was afraid if they went any closer that they'd be 'made'.

"Let me drop back even further." Dan said. "I think you're correct."

It seemed that Dan and Frank followed the truck to an unlikely destination. They sent the report to the Command Center.

"We've reached a destination." Dan said. "The truck's now parked."

John followed their progress on the satellite overlay map. He wanted to know what they'd found.

"We've been tracking you." John said. "What does it look like?"

Frank used his Terminator vision to zoom in on the sign painted on the building.

"It says it's a furniture manufacturing firm." Frank said.

John Henry knew that Skynet was full of deceit. One would think to look for something Skynet related to be associated with an electronics or technology firm. Not a manufacturer of household goods like furniture.

"That's a nice cover." John Henry said. "Who'd think to look there?"

Dan zoomed in his vision as well into the front window of the location.

"It looks like they actually have furniture as well." Dan said. "They're trying to look legitimate."

John Henry did some quick research at locations where furniture was actually made. He discovered some interesting facts. He thought that they would work out quite well when they destroyed the building.

"Furniture stores are known for burning spectacularly." John Henry said. "They usually have an assortment of chemicals for treating or varnishing wood. They're all highly flammable."

Frank observed the wooden furniture inside as well.

"I'm sure this one will be no different." Frank said. "Do you want us to take a look inside?"

John knew that the Terminators were all ready to act. He knew that they couldn't get ahead of themselves until they uncovered as much information as they could. He needed to know where the big rig ended up at and what Cam's status was.

"Not yet, keep it under observation for now." John said. "We don't want to tip our hand before Cameron is ready. I still need to hear from Cam too. I don't want anyone cut off or trapped. If the truck leaves I want you to follow it, the building isn't going anywhere."

"Affirmative…." Dan and Frank both said.

They both understood that if the building went anywhere, it would be up in smoke.

Young Allison was aware she needed to continue with her physical training and other studies. It was a busy schedule when there was action happening. Some days left her with little time to do anything else. Some days she needed to cut back on her sleep. There was only so much time and shortcuts came out of her rest.

She'd been a little concerned earlier when her mother and Sarah came down into the bunker. She heard them discuss her appearance, which bothered her. They also discussed her abilities, which pleased her.

With a lull in the current activity, she decided to get her music practice in. Anna would keep her updated if anything developed, especially with Cameron and Savannah.

Claire asked her daughter to start out on the piano. She wanted Sarah to hear her daughter play. Being her mother may not have been the best judge but she thought her daughter was exceptional.

Sarah was impressed with Young Allison's ability. She was perfect on the piano and could play whatever Claire instructed. There was only one minor correction. It was actually more of a suggestion than a correction. She never knew it was even off a little.

Hanna left Jan and Summer in Summer's room and went to check with Anna. There were no changes in the operation. Everyone sat tight for now. It looked like they needed to wait for the big rig to arrive at a location. They still needed to hear from Cam as well.

Young Allison was finished with her music lesson. Now it was time to start on her dance routine.

"I can dance for you if you want to see." Young Allison told Sarah. "I try to move like a cat. That's how Cameron taught me. She said it was 'fluidity in motion' to feel like I'm a cat."

Sarah knew cats were fast with quick reflexes. It was the quick reflexes that really gave them their 'nine lives'.

Jan and Summer came to watch Young Allison. Sarah and Claire both noticed.

"You girls will be able to do that one day too." Sarah said.

Jan hoped one day to be as good as Young Allison. Cameron already showed her the basics.

"Cameron says we are all destined for greatness." Jan said. "She's taught me too."

Sarah was actually surprised to hear that. She didn't know that Cameron worked with Jan on any dance routines. She knew Cameron worked with Jan but she thought that she taught her other things.

"Can you show me?" Sarah asked.

Jan did. She danced while Young Allison played.

Sarah felt tears in her eyes. She saw what beauty Cameron could teach. She knew there was true beauty in Cameron. There was a saying that Cameron used to describe it. It was something like, 'Dance is the hidden language of the soul'.

Sarah knew Cameron was so much more than any of them could understand.

Wait, Savannah and Young Allison understood Cameron. It was the 'Natural Order', Sarah thought.

Allison was with Cammy before Holly returned home. Now she'd just 'finished' being with Holly. She didn't think that she was addicted to sex but she did like to 'finish'. It was the only time when, just for a moment, that nothing else mattered. The past was forgotten and the future didn't matter. There was just that moment of escape and release from everything. That was the moment to live for. That moment was the only freedom from life in the future.

She was well aware that Vanna lived for that moment even more than she did. Jesse was even more addicted to the moment than Vanna and her combined. None of them thought that there was anything wrong with that. Even with all the girls available, both Metal and human, all three of them still liked to finish by themselves at times. What she liked about those times was that she could be 'anywhere' and with 'anybody' during those moments. She was the one in total control as to what happened, even if it was all in her head.

"I don't know why I even bother with clothes." Allison said. "I think I have them off half the time."

Holly felt it was her job to provide Allison with as much sexual gratification as she desired. She enjoyed it herself. She believed that it was therapeutic for Allison for more than one reason. She remembered Cameron encouraged all the Metal girls to provide their charges with as much sex as possible.

"You need an outlet for your frustrations and anger." Holly said. "You're able to channel it into sharing and pleasure. It relieves your stress. It makes you feel better to 'finish' repeatedly. It lowers your stress levels."

Allison was afraid sometimes that she overdid it but she was always ready for more. She sometimes wondered if Cameron controlled her through sex. Whenever there was a Metal girl involved, she always knew she was going to 'finish' and 'finish' repeatedly.

"It does take my mind off my problems, even if it's for a short while." Allison said. "I seem to have plenty of problems."

Holly thought that Allison was provided with plenty of opportunities to forget those problems, even if it was for a short time.

"Everything will be fine." Holly said.

Allison looked at Holly for a long moment. She was pretty sure that they were being controlled through sex. At this point in her life she didn't really care and it didn't really matter anymore. Growing up in the Wastelands, there was no 'tomorrow'. There's only the 'right now' and what might happen in the next two minutes. Death stalked them at every corner and turn.

Now she wanted to watch her younger self play music and dance. She wasn't sure how Young Allison was able to do all those things since she wasn't able to do them herself. What made it all worse was the fact that they were the same person. They literally were the same person and Young Allison could do them and she couldn't. It really made no sense to her. It certainly didn't add to her self esteem or confidence. The feeling of 'not good enough' wasn't far behind that either.

"Let's go watch Allison play." Allison said. "I can't seem to learn half of what she does. I've tried. It just seems like she knows things on her own somehow."

Holly cared very much about Allison. She didn't want her to sell herself short.

"Allison is very intelligent, like you, Allison." Holly said.

Allison was very grateful to Holly because she helped her expand her knowledge and work on her education. Life was tough in the Wastelands. Most of the education was on how to stay alive during that time. The sexual education for all the females was something that they all learned through assaults. She didn't know a single female her age that hadn't been assaulted for her first experience. It seemed that became a way of life and nobody really paid any attention when it happened to someone or cared. That was just how things were and how people grew up. The majority of females sought comfort in each other most of the time. Some of them tried 'breeding sex'. Very few were successful. Most waited for the next assault.

"I didn't have much proper schooling but I've learned a lot more since we've been together." Allison said. "That's all thanks to you."

Holly saw Allison was about to open the door, she was still naked. She thought that she should say something.

"Do you want to put a robe on or something?" Holly asked.

Allison paused and looked down at her naked form. She wondered why she was about to walk out of the room naked. She'd been deep in thought about the past in what life was like growing up in the Wastelands. She wanted to make light of the situation.

"It's not like they haven't seen me or others who look exactly like me naked before." Allison said. "That's ALL of them."

Holly didn't want to point out that Sarah and Jan were there. She was sure Allison remembered. She handed Allison some underwear, shorts and a top.

When Allison turned around Holly was completely dressed. It always amazed her how quickly the Metal girls could do anything. She slipped her top on.

"I don't know how you do it." Allison said.

Holly tilted her head slightly.

"First I put my panties on, then my bra, next…." Holly said.

Allison just smiled at her and shook her head. It was one of the things that made the Metal girls so special. There was always a certain amount innocence about them, even if they were stone cold killers and very scary robots from the future. They were also the best in bed and always to deliver a 'finish'. What else mattered? No really, what else mattered?

Cammy went on a sweep of the neighborhood. It was something that Cameron used to do before she was able to get more Terminators in place to watch over the Young family. She wanted to make sure all was in order and nothing was different or off. She saw a dog but it ran off when she got closer to it. She hoped it didn't run too far. It looked like someone's pet. She often wondered what it was like to touch and hold an animal. It seemed most humans enjoyed doing it. She hoped one day they would have pheromones that made animals like them, instead of fear them. Without the 'fear pheromones' that Cameron developed, it seemed that animals hated them.

She'd passed by a cat one time that had been hit by a car, it was dead. She thought about petting it to see what it felt like but somehow it didn't seem right so she didn't stop and kept going. She'd noticed with humans that it was the reaction of the animal to them touching it that seemed to be the reward, not just to touch its fur. It seemed to be a way of physical communication as opposed to verbal communication.

She wondered how much different that was than what happened in the bedroom when she was with another female. That seemed to be pretty much the same thing. She did need to smile to herself though because there was no 'fur' involved on any of the females associated with the Resistance. The only hair on any of them was on their head.

Cammy moved down a side street. She didn't like the look of one house. It wasn't well cared for and looked run down. There were cars parked on the front lawn. She would return with a crew from the Detail house and help these people 'relocate' to a neighborhood more suitable for them. She decided to sweep the surrounding streets as well. There might be some more people who would need to 'move out'. Cameron always took control of the recently vacated houses once the current occupants we're no longer there. At that point she could control who lived there.

Those people were potential future Scavengers and would need to be dealt with. She wasn't going to take any chances around Young Allison or Summer. It was time she took out the trash.

Cam made it as far as she could through the drainage pipes. It was a dead end where she was currently at. Four smaller pipes led into the tiny chamber she was in. She felt the ground around her start to vibrate. She didn't think it was an earthquake. The vibrations continued to grow. They were constant and steady. This was something different. It seems to be some type of machinery. It was something that must be big and powerful to cause them.

She quickly moved back to the last opening she'd encountered and was about to peer out when she heard the throaty rumble. There was a switch engine moving towards the boxcars on the siding. It paused at the gate. There were two men there to open it. The engine RPM picked up and twin columns of black exhaust shot from each of the stubby short exhaust stacks on the switcher's hood. She identified it as an SW1500. She quickly ran through her database as to the makeup of the locomotive. It was powered by a V12 diesel engine. Each cylinder was 645 cubic inches. This particular model wasn't turbocharged, it was normally aspirated. The turbocharged locomotives were equipped with a single exhaust stack on the locomotive engines. The turbocharger on locomotive engines normally produced approximately fifty percent more horsepower as well.

"Bob, is anything else happening?" Cam asked.

Bob was relieved to receive a transmission from Cam. He'd been very worried about her long period of silence.

"No. The locomotive just arrived with a short train. It left the other cars on the mainline." Bob said. "It looks like the switcher is going to pull the two boxcars that are there out and then replace them with two more."

Cam quickly called up her files of her earlier trek over to where the rail siding was at. She determined that she might be able to get inside the compound unobserved. It was going to take quick action on her part.

"I'm going dark for awhile." Cam said. "I'm going to move back into the flood control channel and get closer to that stopped train."

Cam moved quickly away from the opening so she didn't receive any negative feedback from the Command Center as to what she wanted to do. She headed back out the way she'd come and entered the narrow flood control channel that fed into the larger one next to the railroad tracks.

"I'm out and headed for the short bridge the spur track crosses over the flood control channel." Cam said. "I think I can get under one of the boxcars that they're about to move inside the facility."

John looked over and John Henry and saw that he was as concerned as he was. It was clear what Cam wanted to do sounded exactly like something that Cameron would do. Then again, he needed to consider the source. What was the difference between Cam and Cameron? It seemed that the difference was four less letters in her name and that was it. Oh yeah, one shared his bed while the other one didn't. Not yet anyway.

"That sounds risky." John said.

Cam ran out of the drainage opening from the old newspaper facility into the flood control channel feeder branch. She headed into the main channel that the small railroad bridge crossed over. She knew she needed to hurry to pull this off, if it was even possible and not be spotted. That would blow the whole operation.

She didn't want any negative feedback. She pointed out that everything was risky.

"Crossing a street is risky." Cam said.

John didn't want to argue it out with Cam. He knew she was a 'version of Cameron'. The argument would go nowhere and Cam would be agitated and upset with him afterwards. She would most likely still do the task that she'd set out to accomplish regardless of what he said or even 'ordered'. There was no point to make a scene or issue over something that he really didn't have any control over, even if he was the General.

Cam saw the locomotive pull the two boxcars from the old newspaper building. They passed over the small bridge in front of her. She quickly pressed herself against the side of the flood control channel wall so she wouldn't be spotted easily. She didn't want to be spotted by the locomotive crew or the Grays that waited at the gate.

As soon as the locomotive passed, Cam ran towards the bridge. She was directly under it. Above her, off to the south side, she heard the boxcars couple together. The locomotive accelerated again, followed by the 'pop' of air hoses or 'glad hands' as the two fresh boxcars for the facility were pulled from the rest of the short train.

It was time to act. Cam jumped up and caught the bottom of the bridge. It was an 'open deck' bridge. She moved out along the bottom of the ties. She was ready to pull herself up after the first boxcar was shoved across and come up underneath the second one. The two boxcars would be moving during this procedure. Timing would be important. She didn't want to lose an arm or a leg and be spotted in that condition. It would make combat much more difficult.

She could hear the locomotive slow as the switch was thrown for the siding. The rumbling increased and the bridge began to shake slightly. A dark shadow moved over the top of her. The first boxcar started over the bridge. It was directly above her. The first set of axles on the lead truck of the first boxcar passed over her. She pulled herself up between the narrow gap between two wooden ties and flattened herself out along the ties between the rails. The two axles of the rear truck on the first boxcar passed over her. She remained flat against the ties as the two axles of the first truck on the second boxcar passed over her. She rolled over onto her back and reached out to pull herself up and cling to the underside of the second boxcar as it moved along. She was able to get a good handhold and pull herself up flat underneath the boxcar. Unless someone actually looked underneath the boxcar, she shouldn't be visible.

Cam saw the legs of guards standing on either side of the gate as she looked from underneath the boxcar. The SW1500 shoved the cars into the siding. She passed by the guards without them checking anything. There was a hiss of air and a jolt with a loud squealing sound. The boxcars stopped moving. There was a loud clang as the boxcars being pushed ran out the slack in the coupler draw-bars. There was a crewman that climbed down. He set the hand brake and uncoupled the boxcars from another boxcar. That was followed by the sound of the locomotive backing away. She bent her head down and saw the locomotive with the two box cars it originally pulled out of the siding move over the bridge to reclaim its train. One guard closed the gate and locked it. They disappeared toward the west side. They never even glanced back at the newly spotted boxcars.

"I'm in." Cam said. "The guards have moved away."

Bob watched the entire process with a lot of concern and trepidation as Cam boarded the train while it moved along the siding and disappeared behind the east side of the building. A short time later the locomotive returned with the two box cars it originally pulled out of the siding and went to collect the rest of its train which still sat on the main line.

"The guards are headed to the west side and will soon turn to head north." Bob said.

It appeared Cammy went from the frying pan into the fire.

She was all alone and at the enemies' doorstep, literally.

I'm In

Is there such a thing as too close
Where one can't see
What's in front of them
Or hear a simple plea

Love is like a drug
The more one gets
The more they need
Their brain goes on the fritz

Love makes one deaf
Love makes one blind
The sad part about it is
It all happens in their mind

The destination is always the same
The path to get there is not
Maybe that shows one's true intent
If they're only focused on the slot

If the goal is only to win
At that point it's just a sin
It's over before it can begin
When all that matters is - I'm in

Nobody