Chapter 972

A Leash

John waited for something to happen at the old supermarket, nothing did.

John Henry could see John's uneasiness and that he was antsy.

"This could go on for days or weeks like this." John Henry said. "That's how some of the operations go down."

John was aware of that, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. A lot of activity happened in the last few days and into the weeks before that.

"I'm just thinking of all the activity that's occurred in the last few weeks." John said. "It seems things picked up quite a bit."

John Henry was pleased with all the captured HK equipment.

"It's been very active." John Henry said. "I think we've scored quite a bounty of rewards."

John wasn't sure if 'rewards' was the best choice of words. He was worried about everything that they didn't capture. He didn't know if it was twice as much or ten times as much. He was more concerned about the overall picture.

"Are we getting better or is the threat level growing?" John asked. "Maybe we're just finding more because there is more, not because we're doing a better job."

John Henry thought about John's question for a few moments. There seemed to be only one conclusion that he could come to.

"It's probably both." John Henry said. "There's really no way to know for sure."

There was no doubt that things seemed to have picked up for the Resistance. It often seemed they came across something different than what they'd originally been looking for.

As to what exactly was there at the new location needed to be determined. That's where they were now. Whenever they entered into a surveillance mode, it was always a waiting game.

Savannah was worried about Cameron. If this operation was going into a surveillance mode, Cameron could return back to the base. There was no need for her to be there if nothing was going to happen. She would rather have her use her time in a better manner.

"Cameron, nothing is going to happen here anytime soon." Savannah said. "You should go back and spend more time with John."

Cameron wanted Savannah out of the danger zone. She would like for John and Savannah to complete their love. They'd been so close in Las Vegas.

"I want you to do that, Savannah." Cameron said. "You can fulfill your destiny."

Savannah sighed slightly. She was used to Cameron always 'pushing' her. She understood the 'Natural Order' and importance of protecting John not only from Skynet but the anti-Metal faction as well. She didn't need Cameron to try to force things to happen. They would happen on their own when they were supposed to. That was her personal belief. That was how she wanted them to happen. She didn't want it to seem like a 'job' or a specific task. She didn't want it to seem like it was something that she had to do.

"Everything will happen when the time is right." Savannah said. "I don't want to force anything. If it happens naturally, that's what is supposed to happen. I don't want it to feel like it is my 'job'."

For all practical purposes Cameron's plan to have John and Savannah together was like an 'arranged marriage'. They happened all the time, mostly in other parts of the world. She wanted it to be free of pressure and to be organic.

Savannah wanted it to be like when she shared with the girls. She didn't want it to be something she 'needed' or 'had' to do. She didn't want to feel like she was being 'trafficked'. She'd learned quite a bit about girls who were 'sex trafficked'. They didn't want to be where they were at or do what they were forced to do but they usually complied with what was demanded of them. They would normally end up dead if they didn't.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to feel forced. She wanted her to act on what her heart told her to do.

"You know what's best." Cameron said. "You have a real heart. I don't. I just have a power cell in that location."

Savannah knew the heart was just an organ that pumped blood throughout the body. What a person felt actually occurred in their mind. When they felt something strongly, maybe they felt it in the center of their being. Based upon how love actually came to be, she believed Cameron was able to experience the same thing.

"So do you, Cameron." Savannah said. "What we call the 'heart' for feeling and emotion, all happens in our minds. You have a mind that can feel. You have a 'heart'."

Cameron needed to agree with that assessment based on personal experience. She possessed a symbolic heart. She had a gold locket that was heart shaped under her sheath and against her Colton chassis.

She looked over at Savannah. She knew that when Cammy and Savannah left Palmdale they weren't headed to where they were at now. She had a pretty good idea where they were actually going to go.

"Were you going to see CamNet earlier?" Cameron asked.

Savannah could tell that's made Cameron a little bit uneasy. She knew it did the same thing for Cammy. She didn't see any reason not to tell Cameron the truth. She would know it anyway soon enough. She didn't see anything wrong with her actions.

"Yes." Savannah said. "I need to see CamNet and discuss some things with her in person."

Cameron experienced a slight glitch impulse. She was able to contain it. It stopped before it started.

"Are they 'private things'?" Cameron asked.

Savannah didn't know for sure what would happen. If Cameron wanted to go with her she didn't have a problem with it. What she'd done for CamNet is what she believed was the right and proper thing to do.

"Yes." Savannah said. "You are welcome to accompany me. I have nothing to hide from you. You know everything I do or have done."

Cameron was aware of everything Savannah did since the day at the swimming pool, when she chose Savannah as the 'Prime Specimen'. It was the day she decided to make Savannah the human version of herself. She also decided to do the same thing for Young Allison not too long after that. It was at that time they became the 'Chosen Ones'.

Future John wanted John to have the same things he did. He wanted the same people close to his side in the past to help advise and guide him. He wanted the same people near him who kept him human. It was all part of Cameron's mission.

Cameron didn't want to get in Savannah's way for any other endeavors she wanted to have. Maybe in the case of CamNet it was more like needed to have.

"I don't want to intrude." Cameron said. "You're entitled to your privacy and alone time."

Savannah didn't want to make it seem too dramatic. There was no set plan in place as to what would happen. She didn't want there to be a schedule that needed to be followed. It was the same way she didn't want Cameron to push her into John's arms. If things were supposed to happen, then they would do just that.

"I don't know what will happen." Savannah said.

There were times Cameron regretted creating clones of herself, including CamNet. They all shared her program and her appearance. Anna and Metal Summer both shared her program as well, even if their appearance was different.

"I'm not CamNet, even if she is 'me'." Cameron said.

Through her personal interaction, Savannah learned long ago Cameron and CamNet, while similar in many ways, were not the same individual any longer. They were distinctly different to her, even if they were the same.

"I understand that." Savannah said.

Cammy was about to tell Savannah and Cameron to 'get a room'. She decided not to, as they might. That would really leave her redundant. She didn't want her negative feelings for Cameron to be directed at Savannah in any way.

Vanna called Riley to see how things were going.

Riley said that Jesse was by earlier and she should be good for the next nursing. If she ran out she would call.

Vanna hung up after the call. She looked at Allison.

"Well, it looks like someone gets to bring the pressure down a little." Vanna said. "I won't be needed for a few hours."

Allison fondled Vanna a little bit. She thought by the wording of Vanna's statement that she wanted someone else to do that for her other than her.

"Do you want me to call Claire or Jesse?" Allison asked.

Vanna didn't want to make anyone feel bad about themselves or her.

"I would never make you do that." Vanna said.

Allison shrugged her shoulders. Vanna was her lover. She wanted her to be happy and feel good about herself. Half of her life had been spent in the company of Vanna.

"Sacrifice is the true test of love." Allison said. "I'm willing to sacrifice for you. I know I'm not normally here and you're allowed to seek comfort and pleasure elsewhere. Our relationship has always been open, even if it's usually not."

Vanna and Allison always returned to each other. The extra exposure to others was rewarding for sex but their love was always stronger. Sometimes they were able to learn something new but that didn't happen often because they pretty much knew everything already. Maybe it was just the way something was done in a different way is what it actually was.

Vanna looked at Allison with love in her eyes and in her heart. She'd been with many females over the years but there was only one that owned her heart.

"You're here, Allison." Vanna said. "It's you I want to share with the most. It always has been."

Allison secretly watched Vanna share with other females long before their first sexual encounter. She was young at the time and didn't have any experience with a female. She secretly watched Vanna and saw how two females were able to please each other. She was aware Vanna was aware that she spied on her. She made herself available to Vanna all of the time but nothing ever happened. Sometimes she wondered if Vanna was actually afraid to touch her. Then one day it happened. Everything was just right. It wasn't planned or forced. Things started and one thing led to another. It was the most special day of her entire life. She looked at Vanna with love in her eyes and in her heart.

"I remember when you first 'took' me." Allison said.

Vanna often wanted to make a move on Allison. She never did. She loved Allison dearly and wanted anything that happened to be Allison's choice and her own decision. One day everything just fell into place. It was the most special day of her entire life.

"The moment was right, for both of us." Vanna said. "I could tell you wanted more but were unsure what to do. I wanted it to be your choice. I never wanted to push you."

Allison couldn't believe that it took so long for it to happen. She knew that they both felt the same things. Maybe that was what made it even more special when it finally happened. It was the ultimate expression of love between two individuals.

"I loved you." Allison said. "You knew I was 'ready'."

Vanna remembered the incident where she met Allison for the second time. The first time was when she agreed to be the Scavenger leader's 'woman' in exchange for Allison's freedom when she was still a girl. To prove to the Scavenger leader that she was serious she voluntarily submitted to being branded. Her entire body shuttered a little bit as she remembered the intense pain. She remembered the white smoke and sizzling noise as the red hot metal touched her soft smooth flesh and forever marred it. Allison was released and she would have done everything that she agreed to do that was part of the deal. An attack on the Scavenger camp by a Terminator freed her of that obligation. She was the only survivor to that altercation because she was underneath the remains of a wall while everyone else in the camp was terminated. There were several times that day where she thought that she was going to die. She didn't.

"I knew I loved you from the moment I realized it was you." Savannah said. "That was when you drug me out of the burn pile for the dead."

Vanna was deathly sick at that time and thought her life was over. If Allison wasn't the one to have found her, it would have been over. That was what happened to the others that were sick with her. They all died. Allison saved her with help from Derek and Kyle. It was Allison that gave up her food ration to Vanna. Derek and Kyle gave some of their food to Allison. She only took enough from them to stay alive. They saw how important it was to Allison that Vanna survive.

Allison remembered when she went to strip the pants off of a 'dead girl' what she saw when she started to pull them down. It was the scar that was burnt into Vanna's smooth soft flesh. It was the scar, along with the pain and suffering that Vanna took for her. Vanna 'bought' her, her freedom and most likely her life. She would have done anything at that point to save her and that's what she did.

"You were almost dead." Allison said.

Vanna was aware that she wasn't allocated any food rations because those in charge thought that she would die. There wasn't food to waste on the 'dead'. Allison gave up her entire food ration to Vanna for weeks.

"You gave me all your rations." Vanna said. "You kept me alive."

It was very traumatic for both girls to relive those events of the past - the future.

"When I saw your scar, I knew it was you. I cleaned you up and saw your beautiful red hair again." Allison said. "I never forgot that from the day you saved me. It was the most beautiful hair on the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."

Allison knew as she cleaned Vanna up in a private area that she wanted her. As she cleaned and scrubbed the dirt and grime off of Vanna, she thought her body was so beautiful. She knew she touched places a little longer and more than she should have. She was a developing young teenager then and Vanna was fully shaped as she was now. It was a beautiful body to go with a beautiful face. The only mar on Vanna's body was the one Savannah took to free her from the Scavenger camp.

"That was a close one for both of us." Savannah said. "Everyone in the Scavenger camp died that day except us. I was glad you were out of there before the Terminator arrived. I only survived because I was buried under rubble."

Allison and Vanna faced each other as they relived the past - the future.

"Kiss me like you first did." Allison said. "I want to be that same young teenager again."

They both realized that was exactly what Savannah was now. She was that same teenager back then.

Vanna sat Allison down on the bed.

"It started like this." Vanna said.

At that time, Allison wanted Vanna to touch her so very much. She wanted Vanna to see how much she loved her. She could tell that Vanna was still hesitant to proceed.

"I wanted you to see the love in my eyes and on my face." Allison said. "I saw it in your eyes and on your face. You never pressured me. I needed to prompt you."

Vanna was very self conscious about everything as it started to unfold back then. She'd never taken more from anyone than was ever offered. She never pushed anyone and she knew that 'no' meant 'no' and 'stop' meant 'stop'. She never had a choice with what happened to her with males and even her first few female experiences.

"I wanted it to be your choice." Vanna said. "I knew what it was like, not to have a choice."

Allison could see how traumatized Vanna was by males. She'd suffered from individual abuse with a knife to her throat or a gun to the side of her head. They were always over in just a few minutes. She'd never needed to suffer violent group abuse like Vanna did. Vanna savaged repeatedly in every way imaginable and even those unimaginable. Some of that abuse went on for days.

"I know you hated all men for what they'd done to you." Allison said. "It happened to all of us but not like you suffered."

Vanna could see that Allison was ready for more from her at that time. She wanted to make sure that Allison made her own choices. She didn't want to guide her in a different direction if she wanted to go elsewhere.

"I did hate them." Vanna said. "I could tell you wanted more. You were still young. I didn't want to impose."

Allison was painfully aware that life could end at any moment in time. The Wastelands weren't known as a place for survival. They were known as a place of suffering and death.

"We all know things happened early in the Wastelands and life was short." Allison said. "Everything started earlier there. I was ready. I wanted more…."

Vanna sat next to Allison. She looked deep into her eyes. It was the look of love that didn't need to be spoken.

"This is how we looked at each other." Allison said.

Vanna drew closer to Allison.

Their faces touched.

Vanna moved her lips to Allison's lips. She gave Allison a soft gentle kiss.

Allison moved forward as she sought more.

Vanna kissed her again. She deepened the kiss. Allison took it and returned it.

Allison lay back on the bed. She gently pulled Vanna with her.

Vanna moved above Allison and paused. She gave Allison the chance to stop her.

There was love in both of their eyes and hearts.

Allison made a choice. She pulled her top off and tossed it aside.

Vanna removed her top and tossed it on top of Allison's top.

Allison reached up and fondled Vanna. The warm, smooth, soft but firm flesh excited her greatly.

Vanna smiled at her.

Allison placed Vanna's hand on her belly. She indicated that she wanted Vanna to touch more….

Vanna moved forward and kissed Allison again as she touched her.

Soon Allison felt things where she never knew she could feel such intense pleasure.

The relationship was cemented that day.

Vanna never kept a leash on Allison. She was aware that if someone was kept confined and isolated, when they did break free, they would be less likely to come back than if they were free to choose on their own. She allowed Allison the freedom to experiment and try others. She knew if their love was strong that Allison would always return. She always did, just like she did right now.

Life was good in Paradise.

Claire made sure Summer was all set to study with Jan.

Sarah said she would watch them.

Claire set out to find Vanna. She went to Vanna's room and heard there was already someone there. She thought it was Allison.

Allison gave Claire her blessing to share with Vanna. Allison told her it wasn't what she wanted but it was what Vanna wanted. Allison told her she wanted Vanna to be happy and feel loved. She also wanted happiness and fulfillment for her because she was her mother. She was only a little bit older than Allison in the past. She was younger than Vanna or Jesse.

Claire thought what a strange life they all led now. None of this seemed possible. It would have seemed impossible a few years back when it all started if someone told her how things were going to be. She never believed that she would be able to experience her true calling again. She didn't want to divorce Paul because of the children but there was nothing in life for her other than the children. She needed a fresh start. She needed to be who she was again. Cameron gave her that opportunity. Cameron provided her with everything she wanted in life. She loved Cameron dearly for everything.

She headed off to Jesse's room. She stood outside for a minute and listened. It was quiet.

The door opened. It was an invitation to enter.

"I've been waiting for you." Jesse said. "I take it Vanna and Allison are busy."

Claire looked back in the direction of the girl's room

"It sounded like it." Claire said.

Jesse looked intently into Claire's eyes.

"I'm not." Jesse said.

Clear moisten her lips lightly as she moved towards Jesse.

"You will be." Claire said.

Jesse's right breast popped out of her top.

"Prove it." Jesse said.

Claire's eyes widened in anticipation. She intended to. Jesse had fast become her favorite. She was very excited with Jesse's Asian features and her firm and compact body type. Everything was very well defined and shapely. It was all very responsive to her touch. That always seemed to raise the level of excitement greatly between both of them.

Life was good in Paradise.

Young Allison wanted some answers. They'd already come across a hard target. It could lead to more or bigger 'fish' or be an isolated dead end. It was currently a giant unknown.

"We need to know what's inside the old supermarket." Young Allison said.

Anna I thought that was something that was going to have to wait.

"How do we do that?" Anna asked. "They're in surveillance mode."

As it was right now, the Resistance could only observe the outside and the coming and going of anyone at that location. It could get painfully mundane.

Young Allison felt more than a little frustration. She understood the need for caution that Savannah professed. If there were chemicals or biological toxins inside, they didn't want to unleash those into the environment. She still preferred action to inactivity.

"This could go on for days or weeks." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted answers like everyone. She wanted Young Allison to think about what else they could do to start to obtain some of those answers. It wasn't just waiting for something to happen at the old supermarket.

"What can we do?" Anna asked.

Young Allison knew that she needed to think. There were resources that were available to her to give her a look into the recent past. There were several methods available to do that.

"I need CamNet to search past satellite photos and look for any trucks that were there, especially any refrigerator trucks." Young Allison said. "Any traffic cams in the area need to be searched for any trucks that approached that area or that appeared to leave that area. There will more than likely be a few repeated hits in that regard."

Anna could see that Young Allison was off to a good start. She wanted her to expand her horizons somewhat.

"Maybe John Henry is already doing that." Anna said. "He may be trying to identify any other vehicles that were seen there as well."

Young Allison wanted all hands on deck.

"I want CamNet to double check." Young Allison said.

Anna smiled. She wanted to further encourage and prompt Young Allison.

"What else do you want?" Anna asked.

Young Allison understood the key to the location was what exactly was inside.

"I want someone to get a better look inside the building." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted to remind Young Alison of the extreme danger for anyone to enter that area. They didn't know if the earlier incursion had been detected are not. There was no apparent reaction by anyone inside of the old supermarket if there was. That didn't mean that they hadn't set up an ambush. It was clear that if someone was there once that they would return. Maybe the Skynet forces would be waiting for them.

"That's very risky." Anna said. "There could be an ambush waiting or booby traps set."

Young Allison was aware that their best infiltrator was on site.

"Cameron is still there." Young Allison said.

Anna needed to point out the obvious.

"So is Savannah." Anna said. "Savannah will accompany her."

Young Allison made a slight face and let her breath out slowly.

"That's why Gail went in the first place." Young Allison said.

Anna wanted Young Allison to look at the overall picture.

"So where are we now?" Anna asked.

Young Allison felt very frustrated. The discussion had gone full circle and ended up back where it began.

"We're in the same place we were when we started this conversation, nowhere." Young Allison said. "We need a better lead."

Anna felt that she'd made her point. They needed to wait and let things play out some or until more information was uncovered. That was the nature of surveillance. There were no shortcuts without extreme risks.

"Maybe you can practice your music, dance or art now." Anna said.

Young Allison thought that some of those things could take her mind off of everything for a while.

"Maybe I need to do one of those to unwind a little." Young Allison said.

Young Allison had a full plate of things in front of her.

"You have many options or things to choose from." Anna said.

Young Allison was aware there were many things available for her to do.

"I always do." Young Allison said. "What a coincidence…."

Young Allison understood that much of her life was being orchestrated by others. Most of it was Cameron's doing either directly or indirectly.

There were always plenty of options available to her. She seemed to master most of them. While they gave temporary distraction from things, they always faded and she ended back up where she was now. It was clear this was her true calling and fit in with her place in the 'Natural Order'.

She wanted her future and she wanted her future now. She wanted all of it.

A Leash

Maybe it's all about trust
How much freedom is too much
When one can roam freely
They may find another to touch

It all happens
In one's own mind
They know what's proper
But they like what they find

It may even be smooth
When another will entice
They calculate the odds
They're willing to roll the dice

It seems to happen a lot
It's actually more often than not
Some things in life are sought
Few are given much thought

There's only one way to curb it
Even if it seems selfish
One must keep the other
Close and on a leash

Nobody