Chapter 740

Wet Spot

John was worried about all the recent developments. It seemed a lot of things happened and there was no good explanation as to why. He was impressed with the way Savannah acted. She'd put his safety before her own. She was willing to use her own body to shield him. He felt it should have been the other way around. It was not.

He felt that really said something about her. A few seconds before she was about to allow him to take her virginity, a few seconds later she was going to give her life to protect him. How do you wrap your head around something like that? She was literally going to go all the way in whatever capacity that she needed to do to serve him for his well being and survival.

He needed to refocus.

It seemed this wasn't an attack on them. At least not yet it wasn't. There was much more going on here than met the eye. That didn't mean they wouldn't get caught up in it. Since they'd responded they actually were caught up in it now whether they wanted to be or not.

John didn't like to see Savannah and Gail need to protect him. He felt like he needed to do more. He was aware from Cameron's visits about the four Grays that were apprehended in a nearby room. There also appeared to be another male and female that were caught up in everything. Cameron wouldn't fill him in on the details. He decided it was time for action.

"I'm going to check on what's happening in the other room, first hand." John said.

Gail was troubled by what John just indicated. Cameron gave her orders to the contrary as to what John was allowed to do currently. She felt she needed to say something before he attempted to leave. She would need to prevent him from physically leaving the room.

"Cameron's instructed me that you're to remain here." Gail said. "It's unsafe to move from this location at this time. We don't know the full extent of what's happening yet."

John didn't like Cameron doting over his safety. He was supposed to be the leader. How could he lead if Cameron kept him safe all the time? He didn't like being told what he could do and couldn't do either. He wanted to make his status as the General known.

"I want to see what's happening myself." John said. "I need to know."

Gail could see that the situation was about to become a problem.

"You're to remain secure." Gail said. "Please, John."

Savannah could see John was going to cause a problem for Gail if he tried to leave and go see what was happening. She didn't want any animosity or hard feelings on anyone's part over Cameron's orders. She knew that Cameron's warning and Gail's enforcement of it was the correct thing for John currently. They simply didn't know enough. She would take the risk herself. She decided to act.

"John, you wait here." Savannah said. "I'll speak with Cameron and see what she wants to do. Gail is just doing her job. Don't cause a problem for her. We're all worried about your safety right now. We don't know what all this is yet. I'm asking you to use a little common sense on this one right now."

John looked at Savannah and saw she tried to diffuse the situation. If this was only the start of something bigger, maybe he could wait a little while. If there was a team of Grays looking for them. They currently didn't know where he was at right now.

"I can wait a few minutes." John said as he nodded at Savannah.

Gail continued her watch outside and spoke with Cammy as well from time to time. They wanted to make sure there were no new threats that developed. So far the situation outside hadn't changed very much. She was relieved that Savannah intervened on her behalf.

"Thank you, John." Gail said. "I don't want to be deactivated."

John nodded at Gail when he saw that she wasn't joking. He didn't think Cameron would actually do that but he did understand it could be a legitimate concern for the other Terminators.

Savannah touched John's cheek and smiled at him. She left their room and walked towards the other room that was two doors down the row.

John watched her go. His hand touched the spot on his cheek that Savannah just touched. There was so much feeling in that touch. It said so much without a word being spoken. Savannah offered him everything from herself to her life in just a few seconds' time span. That was really something heavy to contemplate. He could see it was all done through love too.

He really wondered where all this would lead. Like so much they dealt with, there were many unknowns.

Ally kept watch out of the front of the motel room that the Grays entered to attack. She checked to make sure no more Grays arrived and headed towards the room. It would be even worse if a hostile Terminator showed up. They needed some better answers.

She spotted Savannah approaching.

"Savannah's coming." Ally said.

Cameron looked at the four dead Grays. She'd terminated the last one as well. She grew tired of hearing him talk. She was afraid Savannah would be upset or angry at her for what was already done.

There was another long muted scream from the bathroom.

Cameron wanted to terminate the female Gray before Savannah found her. She' was still upset about what she believed was the earlier consummation of John and Savannah's long term relationship.

Ally opened the door to the room before Cameron made it to the bathroom. Savannah walked inside before she could tell Sheila to terminate the female Gray.

Savannah quickly looked around the room when she entered. It was obvious quite a bit went on in a relatively short amount of time. Then again that's how things were done 'Terminator style'.

"Cameron, John wants to come down here and see what's happening first hand." Savannah said. "I see there are four dead."

Another muted scream came from the bathroom.

Savannah's head quickly turned in that direction. She reached for her weapons but didn't draw them. She'd noted that none of the Terminators took a defensive posture when the scream was issued.

"Who's in there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron was aware she'd just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She figured she might as well come clean and spill it.

"Sheila is in there with a female Gray. She's being interrogated…." Cameron said.

Savannah started to go look. She wondered what Sheila was doing to her. It wasn't a pleasant thought. She thought she should check things out first hand herself.

Cameron knew that Savannah tried to work with Sheila to tone down some of her interrogations. Especially those against other females. She didn't want Sheila to take the rap for this one since she'd suggested that Sheila do whatever she wanted to do to the female Gray.

"Savannah, don't." Cameron said. "I told Sheila to 'work' on her. I gave it my blessing."

It didn't take Savannah long to deduce Cameron's demeanor and why she'd probably okayed the enhanced interrogation.

"Is that because of John and me?" Savannah asked.

Savannah was sure that Cameron wanted to hurt the Grays because she thought John and her were together.

Cameron thought about what Savannah said. It was true. That's why she'd allowed Sheila to go Scavenger on the female Gray.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I wanted to hurt someone."

Savannah looked at the door to the bathroom and turned her attention back to the bed.

"What's the story on the guy on the bed?" Savannah asked.

Another muted scream came from the bathroom.

Savannah quickly looked in that direction again.

Cameron felt enough information had been extracted from the property manager from the power plant. She believed that his own fate had been determined by his own actions.

"He's a collaborator and dealing with the Grays. He got greedy and they came to kill him." Cameron said. "The female Gray used her body to keep him here until they could do whatever they were going to do. The female appears to work with the Grays on more of a contract basis. Her motives are more monetary rather than ideological. She's still aware that the Grays are up to 'no good' even if she doesn't know the full extent of what that 'no good' actually is. Sheila referred to her as a collaborator."

Savannah looked at the man on the bed and turned her head back to the bathroom door before she faced Cameron.

"Do you have all the information?" Savannah asked.

Cameron didn't believe any of the men could tell her anymore, especially since four of them were dead.

"Yes." Cameron said.

Savannah looked at the condition of some of the four Grays that were against the wall in the room. She didn't like what she looked at. She understood that terminations were necessary when dealing with Skynet forces. She thought how the termination occurred should actually be part of the equation.

"Then terminate him." Savannah said. "Do it quickly this time. Get it over with."

Bob could tell that Savannah was less than pleased about what had occurred so far. He decided to act. He moved forward and snapped the property manager's neck.

Savannah went towards the bathroom.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to see what happened in there.

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

Savannah looked at Bob, Ally and Cameron. It was time for her to make some decisions and add her input. She was pretty sure that events would have been handled differently if she would have been at Cameron side for the last few minutes.

"Tell John to come here and have Gail bring all our stuff that's in the sheet." Savannah said. "Ally can help her and double check everything in the room."

Cameron could see where Savannah was headed. It didn't appear there's any way she was going to be able to stop her. She quickly communicated with Gail and sent Ally on her way to assist Gail and deliver John safely to the room.

Savannah paused at the bathroom door and composed herself. She decided she was going to assist Sheila. It was time to get her hand's 'dirty'.

She opened the bathroom door and prepared herself for the worst….

Moments ago:

John moved from his place of concealment on the floor behind the bed. He knew it upset Gail to expose himself more but he felt he needed to do it. He moved to the window and watched Savannah depart to enter the room where all the activity occurred. Just a short time later he saw someone exit the room. He thought it was Cameron at first but looked a little harder before he spoke. He was glad that he did.

"Ally's coming." John said. "Double check everything and bring it, let's move down to the other room."

Gail was bothered by her earlier confrontation with John about his safety. She felt she needed to address the situation.

"I'm sorry about earlier, John." Gail said. "I needed to carry out Cameron's instructions to help protect you."

John didn't want this to become an issue or a lingering problem.

"Don't worry about it." John said. "Cameron is looking after me, us. You are too."

Gail reflected on some of her conversations with Cameron. They were mainly in regards to Savannah. She felt the need to get Cameron's 'approval' before she expanded her relationship with Savannah. It didn't matter all the other female Terminators had been with Savannah. She hadn't been. Cameron didn't discourage her from pursuing the relationship. Cameron told her that she wanted all the love possible for Savannah. The unspoken part about that statement was that it was all to be female love except for John.

"Cameron is." Gail said. "She loves both of you dearly."

John was still a little confused about what did or didn't happen earlier. He decided to go along with Savannah's plan to allow Cameron to believe that something actually occurred when it didn't. He almost gave away the truth but checked himself at the last moment.

"I know she does." John said. "We're trying to do what she believes she wants. I still don't think it is but…."

Gail looked over at the bed. She was sure that Savannah was now 'soiled'. She understood what Cameron wanted. She also believed Savannah should be allowed to make her own choices. She knew that even if Savannah tried it that didn't necessarily mean that she would like it and go back for more. Then again maybe it would.

"It's too late now…." Gail said.

John looked over at the bed himself now. He was aware that he'd been one second away from claiming Savannah's virginity again. This time also ended in failure as did the first time.

"Things happen." John said.

Ally came into the room.

John thought she really looked Hot wearing her skimpy bikini.

Ally noticed that both John and Gail look like they were ready to leave. She looked over at the bed and the sheet full of clothes and weapons.

"Is everyone ready to move out?" Ally asked. "Is that all of our stuff?"

Gail was ready to leave the room.

"Yes. It's all of it." Gail said. "I double checked. Savannah missed nothing."

Ally figured out what was going on in the room with John and Savannah. She wanted to have some fun with John.

"Is that the top sheet or the bottom sheet?" Ally asked.

John looked over at the cache on the bed.

"It was the top sheet." John said. "Why?"

Ally looked at John with a straight face as she adjusted her bikini top which momentarily exposed both of her breasts.

"The bottom one probably has a 'wet spot' on it." Ally said. "I just wondered."

Gail was offended by what Ally said. It didn't matter if it was true or not. Savannah was a party to whatever occurred. She didn't want Savannah made fun of by anyone.

"Ally!" Gail said. "This is about Savannah as well. Stop it."

Ally was a little indignant with the challenge and rebuke by Gail. She decided to have a little more fun. This time it was at Gail's expense.

"I forgot. You're in love with her too." Ally said.

Gail moved closer to Ally and took an aggressive stance. She would defend Savannah's honor.

John could see the situation was rapidly escalating into something that it didn't need to be. That was even more so based on the fact they didn't even know what was happening yet.

"Both of you - STOP IT." John said. "Ally, take the stuff. Gail, check the bathroom."

John picked up the pillow as Ally picked up the sheet full of their things. John slid the pillow underneath it to the center of the bed. The move was intended to 'cover' what was not actually there. It was all part of the ploy to allow Cameron to believe that he'd been with Savannah.

He knew Savannah was right about trying to take the pressure off of them. Making Cameron believe what she thought she wanted to happen would make her stop pushing so hard.

Ally headed out, followed by John and Gail.

Savannah prepared herself for the worst as she stood outside of the bathroom.

She opened the bathroom door.

Sheila's head snapped around and the smile that was on it slowly faded away.

"Savannah!" Sheila said quickly. "I needed to get some information."

Savannah looked at the scene. The woman was in the bathtub, she expected to see the woman covered in blood.

There was no blood. The female was only passed out currently.

Savannah reached out and hugged Sheila. She was pleased that Sheila hadn't reverted to her earlier programming and allowed the 'Dark Jesse' to escape from inside of her.

"Thank you." Savannah said.

Sheila simulated her enhanced interrogation earlier with the female to make her believe that was what happened. The narrative, taunts and laughter all served to allow the female to believe she was being hurt worse than she was.

"I've tried to listen to you and improve myself. I want to be a better Terminator." Sheila said.

Savannah wanted to take Sheila's statement one step further. She believed all the Terminators were individuals. She saw each one of them as a 'person', not as a machine. She never saw any of them as machines. If anything, she would consider them more as mechanical humans than as machines who looked like humans.

"You're a better 'Person'." Savannah said.

Cameron followed Savannah in and was as surprised as Savannah that the woman hadn't been mutilated for information.

She was now ashamed that she'd been the one to abuse someone. The insults hit home with her and she let the words get under her sheath. She was upset about what happened, even if it was what she wanted to happen. It was what needed to happen for the future. It was the 'Natural Order'.

Cameron was worried that Savannah hadn't appeared to enjoy 'being with' John. She knew Savannah's preference was for females, not males. That was part of it. Cameron would encourage them to do it more often and maybe Savannah would change her mind. She needed to talk to Vanna about this or Future Savannah. Future Savannah would know better on how to 'guide' Savannah.

Sheila noted that Cameron appeared two seconds later after she'd seen Savannah.

"Cameron, I've extracted some information." Sheila said.

Cameron thought that was good news. She still wanted the female Gray terminated before Sheila did have a chance to go Scavenger on her now that Savannah was there.

"She'll need to be terminated." Cameron said.

Savannah could see Cameron was anxious to terminate the female Gray. She could see that the female was young and beautiful. She wondered if the intel was correct. It didn't seem like it. She certainly didn't appear to be anyone back from the future. Then again, Skynet didn't seem to have any trouble rounding up recruits locally.

"Is she really a Gray?" Savannah asked.

"She's a Gray. She knows she worked for people who were up to no good." Sheila said. "She knows they're from the future and she knows about Skynet. She was a 'street walker' that sought 'better employment'. She services all the Grays and stays with them. This was her first 'assignment' outside of their hideout. She's a Gray and knows too much about all this. She's seen way too much since her involvement with the Grays and at their various hideouts."

That was one issue that Cameron was going to deal with personally. She'd uncovered the location of a hideout.

"I already have the location of their hideout." Cameron said. "The last Gray gave it to me."

Savannah untied the woman's hands. She noticed irregularities on the female's arms

"What are those marks all over both her arms?" Savannah asked.

She was able to scan the problem through the female before the female admitted to what else she was doing.

"They're needle tracks." Sheila said. "They have her strung out on drugs."

Savannah began to wonder if the female was more of a victim than a participant. Either way it's still seemed that she knew way too much.

"Did she do this by choice?" Savannah asked.

Cameron didn't want to have this discussion. She tried to change the direction it was headed.

"Once someone is addicted, they'll do ANYTHING for their next fix." Cameron said. "I've seen it in some of the girls I've freed from the sex trade."

Sheila reached down and took the woman's head in her hands. She was going to snap her neck.

Savannah saw what was about to happen.

"Wait." Savannah said.

Cameron was worried about the hesitation by Savannah. She pointed out the obvious facts related to them. She wondered if Savannah would be open to a more 'peaceful' termination.

"She's seen our faces." Cameron said. "Find her 'kit' and I'll overdose her instead."

Sheila still wanted to snap her neck.

"She's complacent in all of this." Sheila said.

Cameron wanted to make the choice the female already made clear and remind everyone.

"She's the one who chose the lifestyle." Cameron said.

Savannah thought that there could be dozens of variables involved. Maybe it bothered her because the female was young and beautiful.

"You don't know that. What if she was assaulted and felt that was all she was good for or if she'd been forced into the sex trade?" Savannah asked.

Sheila felt that the writing was clearly on the wall. She'd dealt with dozens a female's in similar situations over the years. Some people didn't want to be reformed. They liked their chosen lifestyle. She knew where that lifestyle lived in the future. The 'Jesse files' in her system were proof of that.

"She'll never get off of drugs or change her source of employment. She's a Gray." Sheila said. "If she wasn't a Gray she would end up as a Scavenger after Judgment Day."

Savannah listened to Cameron and Sheila. She looked at the young beautiful female.

"This isn't right." Savannah said.

Sheila decided to introduce some alternatives that could be done to the female Gray to render her as a threat going forward less of a problem.

"I can bust her up." Sheila said.

Savannah wondered if it wouldn't be better to be dead at that point than all but completely useless. There was a difference from being alive to being able to live.

"What kind of life is that?" Savannah asked.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to forget what the future held. It was death and destruction from Skynet.

"Skynet and its operatives can be shown no mercy." Cameron said.

Savannah knew that they were going to kill the girl no matter what. She could order them to release her but she wasn't going to do that. If they wanted the girl dead then she would take the responsibility herself.

"I'll do this." Savannah said.

Savannah reached for her Glock. She didn't want the gunshot to be heard. She hesitated and picked up the knife and moved closer to the woman. She was still hesitant.

Cameron wanted this to be a teachable moment for Savannah. Not all the choices in life were easy. Some were very hard.

"It is time for a hard choice, Savannah." Cameron said. "She's seen us and can describe and identify us. She can talk to the authorities. The Grays will find her and string her back out on drugs. She'll give us up for an armful of 'junk'. She's a Gray and she's a threat."

Savannah knew that Cameron was right.

"I'll do it then." Savannah said. "Drag her out of the tub."

Sheila lifted her out and placed her on the floor.

Savannah moved over on top of her. She touched her face.

"Her blood will be on my hands. I think this is wrong but I know you're right. I must protect John and the future." Savannah said.

The woman's eyes opened and she stared at Savannah. She grabbed for her throat as she called her a 'Bitch'.

"I'll kill you first." The female said with crazed anger.

Savannah knocked the woman's hands off her throat and grabbed her throat now instead. Sheila held the woman in place. She couldn't struggle free or move from side to side. She was immobilized on the ground.

Savannah began to choke the woman to death with her hands.

"There can be no mercy for Skynet." Cameron said. "She would kill you if she could. She already tried."

Cameron put her hands over Savannah's hands.

Savannah felt the pressure of Cameron's hands over hers as the choking continued. The life slowly faded from the woman's eyes as the struggling stopped. Cameron held the pressure over Savannah's hands for a while longer. It was the only way to be sure.

Cameron released Savannah's hands.

Savannah released her hands from the woman's throat and touched the dead woman's cheek.

"I'm sorry." Savannah said as she stood and exited.

Cameron wanted to remind Savannah of the reality of the future.

"It was you or her." Cameron said. "She was going to kill you."

John watched from the other room but said nothing. He moved away before Savannah saw he'd seen her. It was a grim reminder to him of the time he needed to do almost the same thing on his sixteenth birthday. It was all a time he wanted to forget but never could.

He needed to kill two people that day and one of them was Cameron.

I Won't Ask You Again

When down is now up
And up is down
What once was a smile
Soon becomes a frown

Few things in life
Turn out to be easy
Some make me queasy
Some are very sleazy

I know I'm not
What you first thought
More than you can ever learn
I've already forgot

I'm here to claim
What is rightfully mine
It matters not if it takes
Until the end of time

I've made it very clear
From when this all begin
If you reject me for them
I won't ask you again

Nobody