Chapter 984
Teachable Moment
There were two figures tracking Savannah. They'd entered into the building that she'd just entered. She'd eluded them by passing through a hole in the wall between two closed shops and came up behind them.
Savannah held her M4 and Taser on the two figures. They faced away from her. It was clear they tried to determine where she'd gone. She had both of them zeroed.
"Zap…." Savannah said. "Bam, bam, bam…."
Bob and Jim turned around. They both saw the Taser and M4 pointed at them.
Savannah lowered her weapons.
Bob and Jim thought they were going to surprise Savannah. That's not how things played out.
"Savannah!" Bob said.
Savannah checked her surroundings.
"Hi, what are you two doing here?" Savannah asked.
Jim was still a little surprised at the way the events played out.
"You could have terminated us." Jim said.
Savannah wasn't sure who followed her earlier. That was why she'd taken an aggressive posture.
"I didn't know who was stalking me." Savannah said. "You sort of arrived unannounced."
Bob wanted Savannah to know where the request to back her up came from. He felt it was important that she should know. He thought that it mattered.
"Young Allison sent us to back you up." Bob said.
Savannah thought that explained a few things. It also raised a few questions.
"Did she now…." Savannah said. "Is that why I didn't know you were coming?"
Bob wanted to put the 'blame' where it belonged. He was only following instructions. He didn't think it was a good idea to sneak up on Savannah. That isn't how he would have played it on his own.
"Yes." Bob said. "She wanted us to check your proficiency."
Savannah suspected the unknown figures were from the Resistance when she spotted them. She didn't know for sure since they were unannounced. That was why she needed to play it safe. Since she was at a location with a known Terminator and Grays, she needed to be on alert.
"Did I pass?" Savannah asked.
Jim looked over at Bob. He felt it was more like they failed.
"You got the drop on us." Jim said. "You could have terminated us."
Savannah wanted to get moving. She knew that Cameron was about to act.
"It happens." Savannah said. "Follow me. We need to enter the front of the store. Cameron is about to make her move in the back."
Bob wanted to cut some of the risk to Savannah.
"I'll lead." Bob said.
Jim thought that was a good idea. They could sandwich Savannah between them. It would help protect her from any gunfire.
"I'll bring up the rear." Jim said.
Savannah wanted to get into position. She knew exactly where she wanted to go.
"Follow me." Savannah said and headed out on her original trek.
Bob and Jim looked at each other and fell in behind her. That clearly wasn't how they thought things would play out. They both wanted to change that.
It was clear Savannah was very independent.
Bob and Jim both watched Savannah grow up from a young girl into a beautiful teenager. She'd absorbed every bit of training that was provided to her. She excelled at everything. She'd gone with Cameron on numerous operations. She'd been to two futures. She'd nearly been terminated more than a few times. Now she was leading two Terminators into potential combat.
As much as they admired Savannah's fortitude they were both concerned for her safety.
Sheila started a fire that spread by design in back of the old supermarket. It was Cameron's and Sheila's intent to draw the occupants out. They'd taken the bait and opened the secure door. That was the goal so they wouldn't have to blow it open or blow a hole through the wall. That would be noisy and bound to attract some attention. Right now the Skynet forces literally opened the door for them.
The belligerent man was after Sheila. He wanted her because he saw she was the one who started the fire. He was tired of the homeless losers always hanging around in back of their building. He was going to do something about it this time. He was able to tell she was a female. He planned to drag her inside the building and give her what she deserved. There was a special bed just for females like her. He went to move around the back of the dumpster to grab her. That was a mistake on his part.
Sheila was waiting for him. She grabbed him and snapped his neck like a rotten twig. He fell soundlessly. Cameron came out from the other side of the dumpster and shot both of the men trying to put out the fire with her silenced M9.
One man fell into the burning pile of rubble and lay there unmoving. His clothes started to burn. The man with the fire extinguisher fell backwards sending a shower of white powder over the area. It extinguished the fire and the burning man.
The Terminator sprang into action. He immediately moved toward the dumpster to go after Cameron. He pulled a pistol from his belt as he advanced on her.
Gail and Cam were on the move. They came up fast behind him. Gail was headed straight for the door with her Taser and suppressed M4. She wanted to get inside and eliminate any additional threats. Cam focused on the Terminator.
The Terminator heard the noise behind him and started to turn to see what it was. He began to realize he'd been 'played'. It all happened fast and there were now threats on both sides of him.
He turned to face Cam. Cameron came around one side of the dumpster and Sheila came around on the other side.
The Terminator raised his pistol to shoot at Cam when Cameron Tasered him. He fell like a rock before he even got a shot off.
Cameron looked at the four downed figures. She thought that they'd taken them down almost too easily. She didn't have time to dwell on that. She needed to keep moving. There were additional threats inside of the building and she wanted them neutralized.
"Take care of this." Cameron said to Sheila.
Gail went inside the building, Cam was right behind her. Cameron jumped over the downed Terminator and followed Cam in.
Sheila pulled her knife and went to remove the Terminator's chip before he rebooted. She would move them inside the building to get them out of the alley. It was only a matter of time until some more homeless people would pass by. Right now the drones indicated that there was no one in the immediate area.
The operation moved very swiftly. So far none in their group received any damage. That might be about to change. Whatever was inside the building was unknown. They didn't know how many Grays there were nor did they know if there were more Terminators. That included either type. It was the Liquid Metal aspect that worried all of them. That wasn't something that they set out to deal with when they'd started out.
Earlier:
Hanna and Holly followed Cammy's escapade through the drone footage on their phones.
They were on the other side of the cryogenics lab away from the action. Hanna was ready to drive up to where Cammy was if they would be needed. They weren't. Now they waited for the truck to leave.
"That was rather entertaining." Hanna said.
Holly didn't know if entertaining was the correct word. It was something that needed to be done and someone needed to do it. Cammy chose to handle it herself.
"I think she did quite well." Holly said. "We don't know what we're about to face as soon as that truck leaves."
They kept track of what happened around them, which wasn't much and waited for the truck to leave. It drove away from the facility a few minutes later. They watched on the drone footage that the brown sedan followed it about a minute later. They were satisfied that they were alone at the cryogenic facility.
They checked their equipment and their vests and headed out. They moved silently towards the rear door by where the truck had just been parked.
They contacted Cammy and Ally. They were good to go.
Everyone moved up into position. They were all ready to act.
Moments ago:
Cammy tossed the homeless man's shirt in the back seat of the SUV. She only wore her vest over her bra. The ragged shirt from the homeless man helped conceal the fact that earlier she'd worn her vest under the shirt.
Ally looked over at Cammy with her vest on over her bra.
"That looks Hot." Ally said.
Cammy smiled.
"You can always take your shirt off and look like me." Cammy said. "I mean you really can."
Ally looked down at the front of her sheath.
"I don't have a bra on." Ally said.
Cammy pictured how that would look. It was an intriguing possibility.
"That would look even Hotter to wear a vest and be topless." Cammy said. "It would save a lot of our tops from being ruined on combat operations. The tops do nothing to stop bullets or shrapnel anyway."
Cammy considered taking her bra off now to do that. John Henry cut her thoughts short.
John Henry notified them he'd cut all communications at the target locations.
It was time to act. Ally and Cammy checked each other over and everything looked good. They moved up to the front door of the cryogenics lab.
Cammy and Ally went through the front door of the cryogenics lab. They were armored up and carried their weapons. Each made sure they covered the other one. Their initial entry was unopposed.
Hanna and Holly were armored up as well and went in through the back entrance at the same time.
Earlier:
Anna listened as Young Allison sent Bob and Jim on their clandestine 'proficiency test' mission. They were headed to back Savannah up. Young Allison wanted them to arrive unannounced to see at what point Savannah detected them.
They monitored everything that was going down at each location from the Young bunker.
The 'drill' was worked into the operation.
"Do you think that was wise?" Anna asked.
Young Allison thought that Bob and Jim would arrive before the critical time. If Cameron had already acted before Bob and Jim contacted Savannah, she would have notified Savannah that they were on the way. She didn't see anything wrong with a little test if the time permitted.
"I wanted to make sure Savannah stayed on her toes." Young Allison said. "It was a good training opportunity."
It looked like Savannah passed with flying colors.
"Who learned the lesson today?" Anna asked.
It was Bob and Jim who fell a little 'short' on the mission.
Young Allison didn't see anything wrong if any of their troops received some additional 'training'. It would be a reminder for all of them to pay better attention and always stay alert.
"Bob and Jim were schooled." Young Allison said. "It was a teachable moment for all of them."
Anna watched Young Allison set all that up on her own. She bypassed CamNet, John Henry and her to do it. She wanted to verify how proficient Jim and Bob were supposed to have been.
"You didn't tell them to go easy on her did you?" Anna asked.
Young Allison didn't think it would be a realistic test if she would have.
"No." Young Allison said.
Anna checked her screen.
The operation was now underway.
"It is going down in the back of the old supermarket." Anna said.
They watched drone footage of the events as they played out in the back. There was another screen with Cammy's and Hanna's teams as they moved in and body cam footage from all of them. There was a lot to look at and process.
Savannah led Bob and Jim toward the front of the old supermarket and disappeared inside. Bob moved ahead of Savannah right before they entered.
Anna knew Savannah wanted to take the lead.
"You told him to do that." Anna said.
Young Allison was fairly certain that Savannah would try to lead Bob and Jim into the building. She wanted to make sure that once they actually entered the building that Savannah was properly protected. Since there were troops there to do that, there was no reason not to use them to their fullest extent.
"I did. Sometimes it's nice to have help." Young Allison said. "Savannah knows she needs to be protected. She let him go when he made his move."
She thought about the earlier chase with Cammy and the two unknown men. It was like watching some creepy for real video game. She was glad it wasn't Savannah who had to do that.
"Everyone needs to know their limitations." Young Allison said. "That applies to both humans and Terminators."
John was a little tense as the troops prepared to act.
"Well, it's all happening at once, again." John said.
John Henry didn't see it as a problem. Everyone was trained and knew what to do. They laid out a plan as to what everyone would do specifically. He thought it went down very well. At least the start of it did. They didn't know what was inside the cryogenic lab or the old supermarket. Things could take a turn for the worse. Time would tell.
"It's a multi phase operation currently." John Henry said. "Everyone knows what the plan is. They're all ready to go."
John watched as all his troops went into action.
He noticed Jim and Bob were there now. He didn't know how they were instructed to arrive and challenge Savannah.
"When did Bob and Jim get notified to back up Savannah?" John asked. "I was unaware of that."
John Henry didn't know for sure that Young Allison sent them on her own accord. He thought that it was CamNet who sent them. It seemed like the best answer for now.
"CamNet sent them." John Henry said. "She may have been prompted."
It made John a little uneasy that John Henry was the only Terminator left at the base.
"That leaves us low on Terminators around here." John said.
John Henry tilted his head slightly. He didn't see it as a problem.
"Samantha and I are still here." John Henry said.
John forgot about Samantha. That made him feel better she was there. He wanted the Resistance members more involved.
"Have Derek and Kyle step up to alert status." John said.
It was clear John was worried about their safety.
John Henry was a little surprised at the drone images that appeared on one of his screens.
"John, you need to take a look at this." John Henry said.
John looked at another screen.
'Now what?' John thought.
There was drone footage of the Resistance base location.
"Why are we being shown on drone footage?" John asked.
John Henry checked the drone coverage area.
"There are two drones in a wide orbit around the base." John Henry said.
It was clear that the drones were there to watch over them.
John thought about it for a few seconds. He was pretty sure of the answer.
"Don't tell me…." John said.
John figured it was CamNet's plan and most likely at Young Allison's direction for the two drones to watch over them.
"I'm not going to." John Henry said.
John thought about it a little bit more. Allison, Claire and Summer were at the base. That was something different than usual.
"Is that because the girls are all here?" John asked.
John Henry understood who was really being protected. He wanted to make sure that John understood as well.
"No. It's not for the girls." John Henry said. "YOU are being protected."
John nodded his head slowly several times. He understood he had another protector.
"She is watching out for ME and all of us." John said.
John was surprised and impressed that Young Allison made a point to make sure he was protected while she protected Savannah as well.
It seemed much of what Young Allison did with CamNet was a teachable moment. He felt they were all lessons that he should learn.
John needed to wonder why he hadn't thought of those same things. It was someone else miles away that took care of Savannah, Cameron and him. There was plenty of drone coverage over the target areas and all the operations that were being conducted. None of that was his doing.
He began to wonder if his thinking had become stagnant. He wanted to know how much further behind he was than Young Allison appeared to be.
"When did Young Allison suspect the Syndicate was involved?" John asked. "It looks like she out thought me on that one as well."
John Henry was immediately updated by CamNet.
"It was as soon as the brown sedan was detected." John Henry said. "She made the connection instantly."
John nodded his head slowly several times. He was very pleased with all of the ability that Savannah and Young Allison both possessed. He also needed to agree that Cameron did as well. She was the one who mentored the girls and it showed.
"She's amazing. They're all amazing." John said. "They're all amazing and I'm just average."
John Henry couldn't disagree with John's assessment. He didn't think now was the time to dwell on that.
"Let's just concentrate on the current operations." John Henry said.
The assault began at the old supermarket.
The Grays and Terminator outside were down in seconds.
Gail went in the back door. There were two targets. She fired her M4 in two 'double tap' shots each. She held her Taser ready in case one was a Terminator. The targets were both down.
She continued forward as Cam stopped to double check the fallen men.
Cameron entered the building seconds later and moved up alongside of Gail. She indicated that Gail would take the right side and she took the left side.
They weren't sure how many more targets they would encounter.
Cameron entered the freezer area. There was a figure working with the vat they saw unloaded from the truck. He wore heavy protective clothing. She knew he wasn't a Terminator. She moved up behind him and choked him out. He could answer some questions later.
She looked at the vat. Nothing moved in or around it. There were several other closed vats in there This was some kind of research facility. Cameron closed the vat lid that was open and secured it. She didn't want any surprises to pop out of any containers.
Cameron stripped the coat off the man as she bound and gagged him. She figured he would be more talkative as his core temperature started to drop. The extreme cold would be used as an interrogation incentive. If that didn't work, Sheila was with them.
She looked for another exit out of the freezer, there wasn't one. She exited and started off after Gail. Sheila was inside now along with all four bodies and the outer door was shut. Cam must have followed Gail.
Cameron went in search of additional targets and the captive female. It was probably not going to end well.
Seconds ago:
Bob didn't like Savannah in the lead. Young Allison told him to take the lead when it looked like it was going to go hot. He took the directive from Young Allison literally.
They prepared to enter the structure.
"Please, Savannah, I'm going to lead." Bob said. "I must do this."
Savannah looked at Bob for a second. She could see he was distressed at her leading two Terminators into possible combat.
"Go ahead." Savannah said. "I'll be right behind you."
Savannah didn't want to cause any problems for Bob. She was sure that Young Allison was behind Bob and Jim being there. The way that they arrived further made her suspect that. She was sure that Young Allison probably directed them to lead as well.
She wanted to establish everyone's field of view. It was important that they each covered a sector and concentrated on that sector.
"Bob, you can watch the left. I'll watch the right. Jim, check above us and behind us." Savannah added.
They moved forward past where the checkout counters were once located. Most of the interior was stripped of all shelving. There were still several groups of shelving standing.
Bob turned his head in the direction of the rear wall.
"They're behind that solid wall." Bob said. "I heard four suppressed rounds fired."
Savannah was sure there was some type of escape route that came through the wall that looked solid. She didn't believe that it was.
"Do you see anything that looks like an opening or door?" Savannah asked. "Use your multi spectrum vision, check for heat signatures."
She'd put on her night vision when she left the SUV.
Bob studied the wall in the darkness. He used several vision spectrums as Savannah suggested.
"There's one panel that looks like it can be opened from the inside." Bob said.
Savannah thought she detected an anomaly. She wanted to see if it was the same thing that Bob saw.
"Is it the one below the basket of fruit painted on the wall?" Savannah asked.
Bob was impressed that Savannah was able to identify the suspect panel. He thought maybe he should move in to reinforce Cameron's team.
"Yes." Bob said. "Do you want me to breach the wall?'
Savannah didn't want to tip their hand yet. She was pretty sure if someone used the emergency escape route that they wouldn't expect there to be two Terminators and a Resistance fighter on the other side.
"NO." Savannah said. "We're going to see if anyone comes out."
Jim detected more gunfire. He didn't think that was a good thing.
"There are more shots being fired." Jim said.
There was a muffled boom.
Savannah was pretty sure what that loud noise was.
"That was a shotgun." Savannah said. "Only one round was fired."
Savannah hoped none of their team was damaged. She knew none of them carried a shotgun.
She wanted to make sure they got all the targets if they breached the wall.
"Let them come all the way out, in case there is more than one of them, before we shoot." Savannah said. "I don't want anyone to hang back and wait to ambush one of us."
They moved to conceal themselves in two locations behind some of the old shelving that was abandoned.
Savannah looked it over. It was all metal shelving. She was pretty sure that it would stop most of the bullets if she needed to take cover. She hoped to avoid a shootout. She wanted it to be a turkey shoot.
The assault started at the cryogenics lab at the same time as it did at the old supermarket.
Cammy and Ally went in the front door.
Holly followed Hanna in the back door. It hadn't been locked yet since the truck left. That was if they even bothered to lock it at all. They knew this place was 'dirty' if they worked for Skynet or Grays.
They each held their M4 ready. They weren't expecting to encounter a Terminator. Their Tasers were ready if they did.
They didn't really know what to expect except the unexpected.
Cammy yanked the glass front door open as Ally followed her inside. They weren't sure what they would face but this place needed to be cleaned out.
"Hanna hasn't reported contact yet." Ally said.
Cammy wasn't sure what to expect. She hadn't heard any alarm raised yet with their entry from both the front and the rear of the building.
"Maybe we'll make first contact." Cammy said.
They advanced through the building. They checked a few rooms along the way.
Teachable Moment
Everyone claims that
They can change
Everything remains the same
Is it really that strange
People are creatures of habit
Even if those habits are bad
It seems sooner or later
They will make others sad
Why do most still fall
For the one full of danger
That's the very one
They should keep as a stranger
Knowledge is painful at times
People don't like what they learn
It may alter their course
Or direct where they turn
There are many things in life
That people can't prevent
Maybe those are the ones
That become a teachable moment
Nobody