Chapter 785

Scratch Two

Cammy was being stalked by a Terminator. She set her trap into motion.

She watched and waited. The Terminator moved toward the X-ray room. He slowed as he was about to enter the door. He thought his target was trapped inside the X-ray room.

This was what Cammy waited for. She sprang up and fired her Taser. She fired all four sets of barbs. The Terminator was fast and took evasive action. He fired his pistol at her. He dodged as he shot at her. She felt two rounds strike her but the Terminator went down. Only one of the four sets of barbs struck him. She'd learned that trick from Savannah when she'd taken down a mouthy and disrespectful Summer, the Metal one. It was only later learned that it was all part of an 'act' orchestrated by Cameron to anger Savannah enough to make her kill a Gray captive in cold blood without hesitation later on. Cameron wanted to harden Savannah at that time. She didn't think Savannah would kill the Gray in cold blood on her own. Her scheme worked. She needed to stay focused on the immediate threat and not worry about Cameron's manipulation of Savannah.

What counted now was that she'd scored one solid hit on the Terminator. The Terminator that stalked her was down. She needed to be wary of any other Grays with him or even worse, another Terminator. She didn't know what else was out there. She didn't want to find out the hard way either.

There was movement at the door they'd both entered from. This looked like a new threat. There was someone else that was about to enter the building now.

Cammy pulled her Glock as a second Terminator entered the building. She took aim as she sought cover and prepared to fire. She would need to rely on the Coltan rounds to do their job.

She needed to act fast before the first Terminator rebooted. If that happened she would need to face two threats and they were both right on top of her.

Bob moved toward the door of the building he was about to enter when he heard a Taser fire at the same time he heard more gunshots.

He quickly entered the building to see a Terminator go down as Cammy pulled her Glock and aimed it at him, even as she took evasive action. It appeared she was about to open fire on him.

"Tiger…." Bob said quickly.

He expected to be shot at.

He didn't take any rounds.

"Aqua…." Cammy answered back. "I'm sorry, Bob. I was unsure of the nature of the threat."

Bob wasn't convinced this was the only threat on the ground that they faced. They needed to take every precaution going forward. They also needed to get the captured HK drones in the air and away from the area.

"It's understandable." Bob said. "There may be more Grays or Terminators here stalking us. I haven't spotted them yet but that doesn't mean they're not there. Sheila appears to be engaged with a threat of some type now. She's gone dark as well."

Bob watched the way that they'd come in to make sure no one else entered. He was just as worried as Cammy was.

They both turned their coms back on as Cammy removed the Terminator's chip.

They needed to get caught up on what everyone was doing and how things went. They hoped to find out more about the threat that Sheila was involved with.

John and John Henry we're both in the dark right now as to what their three Terminators on the ground currently experience. It was obvious they were either stalking or being stalked.

John Henry received some good news.

"I have Cammy and Bob back." John Henry said. "Cammy was shot twice but is still operating at one hundred percent. She was able to bring down and deactivate the hostile Terminator. Bob is with her now."

John Henry filled them in as to what happened and was happening.

Cammy was very worried about Sheila. She'd just been able to bring down an enemy Terminator. It was possible Sheila currently faced another one. She wanted to get out there and help her.

"I need to find Sheila." Cammy said.

John Henry told them what her assignment was. She'd been given the task to get the captured HK drones into the air.

Cammy told Bob which way she was going to go and which way he should go to find Sheila.

Bob wanted to inform the Command Center what their plan was going to be.

"We're headed back that way now." Bob said. "We'll approach from two different directions."

John was concerned about more enemy Terminators. He knew that there could be Grays as well. They wouldn't pose as big of a threat but they could be armed with Tasers or other types of electronic devices that could be used to bring a Terminator down.

"Maybe you should stay together." John said. "You would better be able to support each other if there was an attack that way."

Bob knew that wasn't going to happen.

"You're too late. Cammy's already gone." Bob said. "I see her headed down the alley."

John just shook his head. It sounded exactly like something that Cameron would do. Then again he needed to consider the source. It was 'Cameron' for all practical purposes.

"Nice…." John said.

John Henry delivered more bad news to John.

"She has gone 'dark' again as well." John Henry said.

John would have at least liked to have known why. It was out of his hands now. He was worried about Sheila but he was also concerned with getting the captured HK drones out of that area as soon as possible. He was sure additional Skynet forces would show up at some point.

"Bob, use caution and let's get those captured HK drones out of here." John said.

Bob wanted to look for whatever threat was after Sheila on his way to where the HK drones were at.

"Affirmative…." Bob said. "I'm going 'dark'."

John needed to turn his attention back to what was happening at the old granite quarry.

"Ally, what's happening?" John asked.

Ally had her hands full at the moment.

"Give me a minute…." Ally said.

Seconds ago:

There were two HK drones that followed Ally to the granite quarry. One was shot down but the other one was still in the fight.

Ally looped around. She was still high above the quarry.

She spotted the HK drone take evasive action as she closed on it. Due to her steep, nearly straight down descent and the fact that the HK drone hugged the ground in the quarry, she didn't have a clean missile shot. There was too much ground clutter. She went to guns as the HK drone turned to face her. The HK drone was going to fight

She maneuvered with a sliding motion and slowed almost to a stop. The rounds from the HK drone passed through the empty sky where her aircraft should have been. The maneuver thwarted its attack.

"Ally, what's happening?" John asked.

Now it was Ally's turn to open fire.

"Give me a minute…." Ally said.

Ally's aim was true and effective. The minigun barked out a buzzing roar with a tongue of flame as the Coltan rounds searched for their target. They found it and the HK drone dropped off to its port side. It slammed into the burnt out wreckage of the helicopter, which was still smoldering there. It cartwheeled wildly after that and slammed into the granite face of the rock and bounced off. It came to a rest near one of the burnt out cars.

She was pleased with her marksmanship.

"Scratch two." Ally said. "Have our drone stay here to police this area and make sure it remains safe for the two helicopters. We don't want anyone else to show up, especially unannounced. We know for a fact that they've sent two different groups to this very location." Ally said. "I'm about to return to the action zone now."

John was pleased with all of Ally's actions. It was also sound advice to keep the granite quarry under surveillance to make sure no hostiles showed up.

"You did a good job." John said. "That was really good thinking to lure the HK drones away like that. It will make everything easier and safer for everyone."

Ally didn't think she did anything too much different than any other Terminator would have done. She may have had a little bit of unexpected help.

"I think I still have a little 'Future Allison' in me." Ally said. "She was a real firecracker."

They all knew Cameron contained a lot of Future Allison in her. The main difference there is it was the 'original' Future Allison and not the 'improved' Future Allison that Cameron created.

Ally wanted to know if there were other pressing issues. Something else could have turned up in her absence. She wondered if more Skynet forces were on their way.

"John Henry, is there anything else I need to concern myself with?" Ally asked. "If not, I'm going to back up our team on the ground."

John Henry hadn't identified any additional threats.

"That's fine at this time." John Henry said.

John wanted to point out another suspected Skynet location.

"We also have the other location across town that we believe the HK drones were launched from." John said.

Ally firewalled the throttles.

"I'm on my way back at full speed." Ally said. "I'll go where I'm needed."

Ally was pleased she was able to corral the HK drones in the quarry where they could both be brought down safely. She was worried about the team on the ground. John Henry filled her in on some more of the details. While the immediate threat of the HK drones was over, there were still Terminators on the ground stalking the team. It appeared that Sheila currently faced the biggest threat. That was unacceptable to her.

She wanted to get back and help them out. She pushed the manned drone to its fullest performance level and then some.

"I'm coming Sheila, just hang on." Ally said softly to herself.

Sheila observed she'd picked up a tail. It was probably the same individual that targeted her for the HK drone strike. She hoped it was because she still needed to settle the score on that account. She also needed to remain mindful that the individual was a threat.

She moved past the building the captured drones were in and then cut across the street to the other side. She went down the side of that building. Once she was out of the view of whoever was tracking her, she broke into a run. She ran at her full Terminator speed.

At the end of the building, she doubled back through the alley and came up along the other side of the building and out to the street again. She was alongside the next building. She stopped and paused. She saw someone cross the street to follow where she just was a few seconds ago. Now she spotted a new problem. She saw additional movement the way she'd come from before she crossed the street. They'd disappeared before she could identify them. She'd heard gunfire twice from the other end of the street earlier. She hoped Bob and Cammy were OK. She would need to go check on them as soon as she eliminated her current threats. At least the HK drones stalking them were gone.

She would have to commend Ally on that wild flying. She'd already thought of a few ways to personally thank her. She needed to keep her head in the game. There was the immediate problem to deal with. She still planned to give Ally a special treat when they were alone together.

Sheila decided to engage the closest target to her. She moved along the front of the building. She hoped to come up behind the person that followed her. With this maneuver, she should come up behind them while they would expect her to be in front of them. Then again, they could have anticipated this and be waiting for her….

At this point she doubted she would finish this operation without some kind of sheath damage. She really wanted the individual that targeted her.

Earlier John Henry dispatched two of their drones to the area that he suspected the two HK drones that almost attacked them were launched from. John wanted the building flattened immediately. He would have liked to have checked it out a little bit better first but John was adamant that the building be destroyed before any further threats could be launched from it. There was a strong possibility that the Grays and the Terminators that they'd encountered so far came from the same location.

"Both of our drones have arrived near the building the HK drones were launched from." John Henry said.

John wanted to nip any further threats from that location in the bud.

"Hit it." John said.

John Henry fired two missiles. Both of the missiles tracked true and struck the target. Much of the building collapsed and what remained began to burn. They were both solid hits.

"Each drone has fired a single missile." John Henry said. "There's some movement in the flames."

John wasn't about to take any chances. He didn't like the danger that is troops on the ground faced just a short while ago.

"Hit it again." John said.

John Henry fired the remaining missile on each of the drones at the target. There were two more fireballs where they struck. The drones searched for any additional threats, none was detected.

"The missiles have been fired and tracked true. Both of them have struck the target." John Henry said. "There's no longer any movement."

John wanted to make sure that there was no breakaway or an escape. He also wanted to verify that there was no new attack headed towards their troops on the ground. The Skynet forces had more than a few minutes to do either of those things before they were able to identify the latest target and neutralize it.

"Search the surrounding area for any vehicles fleeing or approaching our people on the ground." John said. "Have the next set of drones ready to move in."

John Henry made the check. The search came up empty.

"Negative." John Henry said. "There's nothing moving."

John wanted to get things finalized.

"What about the first structure we took down?" John asked. "Has anything else happened there or has anyone tried to get out?"

"Negative." John Henry said. "There's nothing that's happened there since the building was taken down."

John wanted more assistance for the three Terminators that were on the ground. His biggest worry right now was Sheila.

"Send that drone to assist Sheila." John said.

John wanted to wrap this up and get the captured HK drones out of there. It bothered him greatly that they hadn't been able to get those captured HK drones sent off yet. They did need to deal with the threats on the ground first.

He needed to wonder how all of these operations seemed to expand on their own and grow into major events. It seemed to happen more often than not. It was no wonder Cameron often returned shot up after attempting to deal with these situations on her own. He at least felt somewhat lucky on this operation that they are able to have some of their drones available to assist them. If they hadn't had any of their drones with them, things would have turned out a lot differently than they had so far. He wasn't sure how much bigger the operation would expand or if it was nearly over.

Bob heard a drone approach his position. He was sure it was one of theirs. He was behind a block wall. It was one of their drones.

He saw a figure cross the street, it wasn't Sheila. They moved alongside a building. Another figure emerged and moved across the front of the same building to follow the first figure. The second figure was Sheila.

He was a little surprised to see that she'd already moved around the building and moved behind the individual that had been following her.

Bob looked around and then headed that way at a run. He wanted to get over there and back her up.

Cammy wanted to back Sheila up. She'd just been stalked by a Terminator. She didn't care much for it. It was very unpleasant to be hunted. She'd managed to turn the tables and get the drop on the Terminator who tried to get her.

She moved along the back alley on the opposite side of the street from where the captured HK drones in the back of the big rig waited. She saw a figure come around the side of a building in the distance and run back up the other side of the building after they crossed along the backside of it. She thought that was highly unusual. She didn't get a good look at them but she believed it might be Sheila.

Cammy looked around and increased her speed to a run. She stopped at the edge of the building before the one she saw the figure run around. She peered cautiously around the corner and saw the figure take off at a run. It was Sheila. She headed across the front of the next building. Which was the same building that she just run around the back of. She figured that Sheila did that maneuver to try to get in back of whoever had been in back of her. It was a good move to turn the tables.

She decided to move along the backside of the same building to head in the same direction as Sheila but come up the other side of the building. Since Sheila was headed back that way from the street side, she thought she could head off whoever had chased Sheila or who Sheila now appeared to chase. As she passed the gap between the buildings, she saw Bob in pursuit of Sheila as well. She was glad that Bob was right there to back Sheila up. She was pretty sure that the threat would be headed directly towards her. See briefly wondered how much more gunshot damage she would take before this operation was over. It didn't really matter right now. She was there to help her team.

Cammy hurried to the corner of the next building, her Glock was up and ready….

There was gunfire on the far side of the building.

A second set of gunfire was answered in return.

Cammy came around the corner and gave it a wide berth at full speed.

She didn't want to come around the corner too close as there might be someone there. If there was someone there, they would expect her to be close to the corner to use the wall for cover, not away from it and on the attack.

Seconds ago:

Sheila made her way up along the side of the building and was back on the street. She was about to go around the corner of the building for a second time when she saw a figure was in pursuit of her from two buildings back. She perceived this as the bigger threat. She was about to change the direction of her response when she saw a welcome face. She was able to identify it as Bob. She immediately resumed her trek to continue around the side of the building after the original figure that had pursued her.

With Bob behind her, she came around the corner wide at full speed. Gunfire split the night as projectiles flew by her, only one struck her. It appeared that her stalker expected her to come right around the edge of the corner, not wide.

She returned fire as she went behind a dumpster.

More shots clanged into the dumpster. The full metal jacket pistol rounds were unable to reach her. Both lids on the top of the dumpster we're open and down over the backside. That gave her three layers of metal to protect her from the aggressor's bullets.

She was a little surprised when there was more gunfire from further back at the rear of the building. Since Bob was behind her, it must be Cammy. They seemed to have someone pinned between the two of them with Bob on the way. It appeared it would soon be three to one. For once it was in their favor.

Sheila figured her sheath was going to be damaged at some point. It looked like she was right. Now that whoever shot at her was trapped between Cammy and her, she was itching for some payback.

It was doubtful that the figure was going to stay in that location for very long. They're going to have to make a choice to try to make a break for it either back the way that they'd come or continue along the direction that they were going. They didn't know for sure what was in front of them besides one shooter. What they did know is there was only one individual behind them. That was because they didn't know Bob was about to arrive and back Sheila up.

The constant throb of the helicopter's rotor beat a steady rhythm into Allison's head.

She looked around, everything was dark. She hadn't been able to see much on the flight so far. Now it seemed there was even less to see.

"Where are we?" Allison asked. "This looks like the middle of nowhere."

Cameron briefly looked back before she continued to search the sky in front of them and to both sides of them. Both John Henry and CamNet cleared the air space around them for twenty miles in all directions.

"A lot of the Central Valley looks like this." Cameron said. "There are communities along each set of railroad tracks every now and then and a lot of farmland or even just open land."

Savannah checked her instruments and readings. She glanced at her map briefly.

Cameron liked the detail that Savannah paid to everything. They've been given a new destination and we're currently headed for it. She wanted to reassure Savannah.

"You're doing perfect." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't want any mistakes. She knew that there were two other Resistance aircraft in the area.

"Tell me if I'm not." Savannah said. "I know we have the Blackhawk and a drone in front of us."

Cameron was on the lookout for both of them.

"I'm watching. We'll be at the quarry soon." Cameron said. "Allison, rock the house."

Allison was glad to keep the tunes coming.

'Blue Suede Shoes' by 'Johnny Rivers', followed the request.

I Need To Show You Something

I'm trying to express myself
To me it's all very confusing
I feel I should be the one
Instead of who you're choosing

I know what I'm feeling
It seems beyond my control
Is it not what we both seek
A way to make each of us whole

When I covertly touch you
I can feel what your response is
We both know the answer
Without taking a pop quiz

When you see me change
Because it's hot out
You really know what I'm asking
Neither of us need doubt

I must make you understand
That I'm more than nothing
I'll let you see and feel me
I need to show you something

Nobody