Chapter 857

Next One

John wanted to have someone available to follow the bobtail truck if it left. The two Grays that arrived with it seemed to indicate that they brought an HK Track with them. It sounded like they were going to unload it for security at that location. Ally previously expressed concern that her SUV was already compromised because the occupants of the bobtail truck and at least one Gray from inside the building spotted it sitting down the street.

Cammy specifically wanted to go inside the building with the Grays so she could assist with the termination of everyone. It was decided she would switch her SUV for Ally's SUV. Ally would still be the one to go after the truck this way with a 'new' or different SUV. Cammy would join Gail after the switch.

She drove over and met up with Ally. They moved Ally's SUV over two blocks. Cammy turned her SUV over to Ally. Ally still wanted to participate in the take down of the building. John Henry needed to remind her of the other priorities and why they were actually there.

Ally looked over the new vehicle. it was a completely different color than the one she previously drove. She thought that was a good thing since the Grays already observed the vehicle she was in earlier. They'd tried to ambush her but failed. She really wondered how many seconds away she was from being ambushed by them. She figured it was pretty close based on Gail's description of where the men were who started to run to come up in back of her. She noticed that Cammy was going to depart on foot to join Gail.

"Do you want me to drive you closer?" Ally asked. "It won't take long. I can let you off near the alley."

Cammy planned to take a more clandestine route to join Gail. She needed to think about the Terminator that was associated with this group. So far the Terminator hadn't been spotted yet. She was aware that this group of Grays was very sloppy. If she was the Terminator who watched over them, she would hang back and observe everything they did before she made her determination whether they would live or die. She wanted to make sure she avoided any such possibility of running into that Terminator.

"No." Cammy said. "I'm going to go through the other businesses and in the back way through their properties."

Ally noticed that Cammy wasn't very heavily armed.

"Aren't you going to take more firepower with you?" Ally asked.

Cammy planned to use her hands as much as possible for the terminations. They weren't just terminations to her.

"I have what I need." Cammy said. "This is personal."

Cammy was unaware how personal it would become before the events played themselves out. What she was about to hear, would be a real 'future shock'.

Before Ally could protest, Cammy headed through a parking lot and over a fence.

Ally watched her go and was all alone again.

"Great." Ally said as she looked around. "I'm still stuck here."

Ally thought she should make entry into the building with Cammy and Gail. It would better ensure a successful entry and take down. It would also put her away from either SUV. She needed to be ready to act.

Sheila was in the casino with the unknown man. He played at a table near her. He looked like he was going to get closer to her. She was ready to spring into action if necessary. She looked to make sure she didn't see a Taser or anything like it in his hands. They were under the assumption that he was from the future so he would know what a Terminator was and how to take one down. She looked around and spotted Dan in the distance. He paid attention where she was at and if she was in distress he would be able to assist her. If he needed to come in with 'gun's blazing', then he would.

She watched the man move toward her. She continued to play and win. She was up to twenty thousand dollars already. She only took a little loss, every now and then, to keep from winning all the time on every hand. She'd learned before that when she won every hand, it soon brought down the heat. That caused a lot of grief and hard feelings in the past. She didn't know all the details but she did know it led to a few terminations with bodies being buried in the desert.

Sheila saw the man look around one more time. She knew he was ready to move out. She finished her hand and took off before the man did. She wanted to be in front of him. She headed for the parking structure.

She made it outside and looked for a place to hide. She was far enough ahead of him, that he only worried about what was behind him.

She moved behind some bushes and looked back. The man was headed her way. He kept looking back. He exited outside and headed for the parking structure elevator.

The question now would be which level of the parking structure he would exit onto. Without knowing that, it would make observation or interception more difficult. She hoped that the casino Command Center might be able to give her a heads up.

"John Henry, I'm headed for the stairs." Sheila said. "Keep me posted on which level he gets off of the elevator at."

John Henry would do his best to assist her. There was also another team member in the parking structure.

"I'll keep you notified." John Henry said. "Frank's waiting there as well."

Frank selected the best level that he thought he could intercept any other vehicle on.

"I'm waiting on the second level." Frank said. "We'll be able to follow him."

Sheila wanted to do more than follow the man. She wanted to ensure that they didn't lose him. The way the men tried to be so evasive, there was a good chance that they could lose them in traffic or through some other planned event to make sure that no one followed them.

"I want to tag his vehicle first, if we can." Sheila said. "I don't want to lose these blokes."

John liked the idea but it sounded risky to him. She wouldn't know which vehicle was his until he approached it. He wasn't sure how she'd be able to tag it after he was at it or even in it.

"That is a good idea." John said. "Then you won't have to follow them so closely. You're going to need to use extreme caution when you're around his vehicle. If he spots you, there may be trouble."

"I'll give it my best shot. I think I can pull it off." Sheila said. "I'm in the stairway now."

Dan followed further behind Sheila and the man. He didn't want to be spotted again.

"I'm behind him." Dan said. "I see that he's entered the elevator."

Sheila didn't want Dan to be 'made' and blow the operation.

"I think you can just hang back for now." Sheila said.

John didn't want anything compromised either. It seemed the best idea would be for Dan and Frank to link up now

"Wait for Frank to come down." John said. "You can join up then."

Sheila received word the man exited on the third level. She quickly moved down from the fourth level, back to the third level.

"I see him." Sheila said. "He is getting in a blue sedan. It looks like an older car. I'm making my move now to tag it."

John was concerned for Sheila's safety. If the man were to notice her, things could turn hot fast.

"Use caution." John said.

Sheila tried to make light of the situation.

"I'd say I was born cautious but we all know that would be a lie." Sheila said.

John Henry was about to inform her that she wasn't born but constructed. Before he could speak he noticed John saw what he was about to do and waved him off. He quickly realized Sheila's statement was a figure of speech and nothing literal. Sometimes he thought that the Metal girls were a little too 'human like'. Then again, that 'human like' quality might be beneficial if Cameron ever allowed the Terminators to 'mix socially' between genders. He looked forward to the day that he would be able to have 'relations' with a female. He would prefer that it was a human female but a Metal girl would work just fine.

He felt some discomfort in his pants and looked down. He quickly realized what the problem was. He was glad he had on full length pants and not just a pair of underwear like John wore. He certainly wouldn't be able to hide the 'stiffness' that he'd developed in the front of his pants.

Cameron was now in the same tram car with the other unknown man. She watched him from a small hole in a casino 'newspaper'. She held it up in front of her face to hide her identity and the fact she was observing him.

She watched the man, he checked his phone. She saw him make a call. She was only close enough to hear him and not who he called.

"Did you get it?" The man quietly asked.

Pause.

"OK, I'll get off at the next stop." The man said. "I'll meet you at the side entrance. We'll do it the same way as we did last time."

The man ended his call and looked around again.

Cameron looked busy as she read her casino brochure.

"John Henry, pass the word." Cameron said quietly.

She figured that they would be able to get the phone numbers of both of the men who just used the phones. They should be able to dig deeper into what else the phones were used for and when. It's possible that the phones were just 'burners' and they would end up in the trash can at the conclusion of whatever these men were up to.

It really made her wonder what all the 'cloak and dagger' routine was about. Now she needed to wonder if what the men actually said over the phone was correct or not. When the man in front of her stated that they would 'do it like they did last time', that sent up a red flag for her. As far as she knew that was code to set up some kind of an ambush. It could be exactly as the man said it would be too. There was no way to know. She looked around the interior of the tram car. There were too many witnesses to start an interrogation on the man now. She didn't want to terminate a carload of innocent riders.

John and John Henry discussed Cameron's report. They were as weary as she was whether it would go down like he said. They determined that it was probably safer for Savannah to get off at the next stop anyway whether the man did or not. Either way Cameron was in the car with the man and she already indicated she was ready to terminate him as soon as possible.

John Henry wanted to make sure that Savannah knew all of the information that they did so far. It still wasn't a whole lot.

"Savannah, it looks like the man will get off at the next stop." John Henry said. "The other man with him retrieved a blue sedan and is headed for the next casino. It sounds like they will link up at the side entrance."

Savannah trusted the report from John Henry. What she didn't trust is what the unknown man would actually do. Based on their past behavior anything could happen.

"OK, I got it." Savannah said. "I'll exit immediately and head for that direction. I want to be ahead of him. Cameron can follow him. We will have him sandwiched between us."

Gail was still in the back of the building. She grew impatient as she waited for Cammy. She was ready to make her move now.

There were new sounds that came from inside the structure. Gail listened by the back door. There was the sound of a forklift moving. There was a lot of cussing. There was one loud metallic 'clang' noise.

It sounded like they'd successfully unloaded the HK Track.

The Grays discussed what they wanted to do with it.

"Are we supposed to activate this piece of crap or wait for the 'freak show' to arrive?" One Gray asked.

"I say we leave it turned off." The Second Gray said. "I don't even know why we need this thing."

"It's so they can spy on us." One Gray said.

The two men from the box truck gathered their stuff and prepared to leave. They wanted to know if the two Grays there still might have a female 'around'. They said they didn't but might the next time.

Gail heard the roll up door at the back start to open. She needed to move quickly. She headed back to the dumpster that she'd hid in earlier. The SUV drove out first. It was followed by the box truck. The box truck pulled past the SUV and headed down the alley. The SUV backed past the open door and then headed inside. That way they would be lined up to drive forward out the front when they left.

"The box truck is moving eastbound out of the alley." Gail said. "From what I gathered there are two Grays in it. That still leaves the original two here."

Ally hoped that she was going to be able to join the 'party' with Cammy and Gail. Evidently that wasn't in the cards. With a new set of wheels she was good to go in pursuit of the box truck. They shouldn't recognize her if they spotted her.

"I have Cammy's SUV now, I'll follow him." Ally said. "I already know what the truck looks like."

Gail heard the roll up door lock. She moved back up to the rear door to listen. She didn't like letting two of the Grays get away. She could have taken them all while they were inside the building.

Now she needed to hope they didn't activate the HK Track while she waited for Cammy to arrive.

Young Allison didn't like how their troops in the field continued to be separated from each other. Now Ally was off to the unknown by herself. Savannah was basically on her own patrol with Cameron close by but not close enough. Sheila, Dan and Frank were all on three different levels of the parking structure.

"All of our people are being strung out." Young Allison said.

Anna didn't think this was anything new for what was basically surveillance right now. If Cameron went in alone, she most likely already would have acted at either location and the situation would be resolved. The perpetrators would all be terminated.

"You know this is how these things unfold." Anna said.

Young Allison was concerned for everyone but especially for Savannah.

"I'm worried about Savannah." Young Allison said. "I don't feel comfortable with her being around all those people in the casino, let alone with Grays and an unknown group as well."

Anna understood Young Allison felt Savannah would be uncomfortable around the people who frequented the casino.

"Savannah and you both lead simple, sheltered and protected lives." Anna said. "You know the real world is an ugly place."

Young Allison felt as ugly as the world was now that it was going to be a lot uglier in a Skynet future. Maybe that was just one of the things that made where Savannah was currently at worse. It was because of all the beauty and grandeur that surrounded it.

"That's just the thing." Young Allison said. "Where they're at is a beautiful and fancy place. It's the places I've seen in the future from Cameron's files that worries me even more. They are two opposites and I don't care for either one."

Anna was sure this was a case of 'the grass was always greener on the other side of the hill'. Things and places were often different than what people thought they were going to be when they actually got there and saw them.

"You may find the past less appealing than what you think." Anna said.

Young Allison didn't plan to go to the past just to go to the past. It was supposed to be a safer environment for her to stay for a year or two so she was a little older when she returned. She didn't have any illusions that the past was something great because she knew that it wasn't. She didn't think the present or the past offered the same nightmare that the future did.

"I would find growing up in a Skynet future tied naked to a rotting mattress in a Scavenger camp even less appealing." Young Allison said. "I know what happened to Vanna and Jesse and even ME – Allison a few times. We all know it will happen to all of us at some point anyway if Skynet ever takes over."

Anna sure hoped that the girls would have Terminator protection to prevent that. If the Terminators were offline or taken down by the enemy, whether that was Skynet or the anti-Metal group, the girls would eventually face the horrors of the future at some point.

"The world is an ugly place." Anna said. "Skynet will make it uglier."

Young Allison watched the video feeds from Las Vegas.

"I want Savannah to be safe as well as Cameron and everyone else too." Young Allison said.

The thought of her mother and especially Summer being ravaged by the future sickened her. She was going to do everything she could to prevent that from happening. It was time for her to act and start taking decisive action. Cameron and the Metal girls trained her for as long as she could remember. It was time to step up and help. As long as Savannah was out there and needed to face the unknown, she was done being a spectator and was now a participant. Maybe John wanted to run around and feel important in Las Vegas when there was no need for him to go but she didn't. She wanted to make sure that the enemy was dealt with in the swiftest and harshest manner possible when they were encountered.

Cammy was a little upset to hear that the truck just left. Maybe she should have had Ally drive her up and let her off at the entrance to the alley. That didn't really matter now. What was done was done.

"Gail, I'm coming over the fence, one building to the west." Cammy said.

Gail heard a soft thud, seconds later Cammy came from behind the next building.

"I want to take them now." Cammy said.

Gail wanted to know Cammy's plan of action.

"Do you want me to go to the front and come in that way?" Gail asked.

Cammy's biggest worry right now was what was just let off from the bobtail truck.

"Was the HK Track activated?" Cammy asked.

Gail knew that they hadn't because they said they didn't trust it.

"No, they decided to leave it off." Gail said. "Listen…."

"I just tried those two clowns again." One Gray said.

"Maybe they split." The Second Gray said.

"Pat and Sam were kind of flaky." One Gray said.

"One of us needs to head out and find some fresh 'skirt'." The Second Gray said. "Let me have some of those drugs first."

"If I give some to you, I bet you'll end up 'doing' the one we have again." One Gray said.

"She's been 'checked out' for two days." Second Gray said. "We need to dump her before we get the next one. She is going to go ripe on us real soon."

"Let's put her in the SUV and we'll go." One Gray said. "We will throw her in a dumpster a few miles from here. She's just a piece of trash anyway."

Both of the men laughed.

"We should have dumped her in an empty rail car when we were at the rail yard. One of the hobo rail gangs would be blamed for it." The second Gray said. "I want to pick the new one this time."

"Whatever, dude. Trim is trim. All of it is good, some of it's just better." One Gray said. "Anything is better than those skanks from the work camps. Most of those were used up."

Gail noticed that Cammy seemed to be increasingly agitated as she listened to the Grays talk. She'd needed to listen to them a lot longer. She was pretty steamed herself.

"When I was still with a Scavenger group, I was able to get my hands on this younger redhead bitch once…." Second Gray said.

Before Gail knew it, Cammy was up and moving. She smashed through the back door. She hit it with such force that she tore it off its hinges.

"Wait for me." Gail said as she hurried after Cammy.

Gail was angry about what the Gray said too. The implication was that it could have been 'Savannah' from whatever future these Grays were from. They were going to die a much worse death now, than before the Gray shot his mouth off.

It was clear to her that this was way more than personal now to Cammy. Because of the mention of the 'younger redhead' it was to her as well. Sheila wasn't the only one who could take pleasure in the administration of 'justice' of someone who deserved it.

John watched a video feed of the platform where the second man was about to get off the tram.

John heard a crashing noise and then heard Gail say, 'Wait for me'.

"What's happening there with Gail and Cammy?" John asked.

John Henry would have preferred that they had their vests on with body cams but they didn't. He could only go by the com traffic.

"I think Cammy just smashed down the door to the Gray's location." John Henry said.

John wasn't sure why they needed to act suddenly without any warning to them first.

"She didn't even warn us." John said. "Were they discovered?"

John Henry was sure that there would have been shooting if that was the case.

"No." John Henry said. "I don't think so."

John tried to reach Gail or Cammy over and over.

Nothing but background struggling noises and muted cursing came through his com.

They soon heard some screams. Soon after that, they heard two loud screams followed by two more blood curdling screams.

Neither Gail nor Cammy responded to their questions.

John wondered what was happening inside that building. One thing that he knew for sure is that those screams didn't come from Cammy or Gail.

Savannah felt the tram slow and got up to exit.

The tram stopped and the door opened, Savannah exited with a small group of people and headed for the escalator. She didn't look in or even at Cameron's tram car. She did everything like the people around her did. They wanted to get off the platform and hit the casino.

Savannah started down the escalator and looked back quickly before she was lower than eyesight level on her downward travel.

The doors started to 'beep'. The man was still in the tram car….

It appeared that they'd just got played again.

Next One

Some need to wonder and ask
When is enough ever enough
It seems to be when one
Thinks they have the right stuff

They know what they want
They don't care who they hurt
They soon seek out more
With those that they flirt

It matters not to them
Who was there first
They want more than one
To quell their inner thirst

They don't really care
In whose face they rub it
They got what they wanted
In another's face they spit

They plow on ahead
They create their own fun
When that one's used up
They move on to the next one

Nobody