Chapter 985

One To Go

John Henry and John monitored everything from the Command Center.

"Everything's a go." John Henry said as they watched.

They observed the body cam footage of the troops at the two locations as they advanced.

The drones that were above the old supermarket and the cryogenics lab searched for any threats that could approach either location. A drone stayed with the brown sedan and with the truck that visited both of the target locations.

They wanted to know where the truck ended up at. They knew it was headed for the port but they didn't have an exact location. As soon as they were able to determine the location, they would have an additional target. The brown sedan was still an unknown. They'd come to the conclusion that it was probably Syndicate related. They needed to deal with Skynet from several futures as well as the Fanatics and the anti-Metal group. The prospect of having to deal with the Syndicate as well was nothing but an additional headache.

John wanted to make sure that the truck was still on its way to the port.

"Let's hope it goes well." John said. "What about the truck?"

"The truck is still on the freeway." John Henry said. "The brown sedan is following it from a distance."

John and John Henry continued to watch the drone footage and body cam footage as the operations unfolded. Things seemed to happen in their favor so far. That might change. The battlefield was always fluid.

The drones on wide recon searched for any enemy reinforcements that might approach either location. They also checked the air for any HK drones that might approach any of their troops. So far none had been detected.

It was always a worry of theirs that one of the other groups that they dealt with would attempt to attack the location they were at. So far that had never happened.

Cameron exited the freezer. She left behind one Gray stripped of his warm clothing. He was bound and gagged. He was currently unconscious and would be dealt with later on.

She heard some movement in the direction Gail and Cam went. She heard some more suppressed shots from an M4. There was a single shotgun blast.

That was the first of any returned fire.

Cameron rushed toward that area to see what happened. She was worried that either Gail or Cam may have been damaged.

Seconds ago:

Gail went past the freezer where Cameron went into. She continued on her own. She entered what was once the refrigeration area. It no longer functioned. It looked like it was used for storage. She noticed Cam moved into position to follow her.

Cam followed Gail as she branched off into what appeared to be the refrigerator section. She broke off and continued on to an open area where the restrooms were located and what looked like sleeping quarters. There was a crude kitchen area set up by several large wash basins.

She spotted movement near the sleeping area. Two men were over in that area trying to get weapons. One man jacked a round into a pump shotgun's chamber. Cam hit him twice with rounds from her suppressed M4.

When the first round hit him the shotgun discharged. The shotgun blast struck the other man who now held a pistol. He doubled over as a suppressed round from Cam slammed into his head. It was clear that both of those targets were deceased.

Gail exited from the storage area once she'd made sure it was clear and secure. Cameron exited from the freezer and joined with her. They both moved forward to where Cam went and the shotgun round was fired.

Cameron and Gail passed by Cam and continued into an area that was originally for storing pallets of incoming stock to be put on the shelves. There were two cars parked in this area. There was room for one more. There was a large roll up door that was secured from the inside.

No more Grays or Terminators were located. They would conduct a secondary search to make sure there were no cowardly Grays hidden anywhere. More than likely if a Gray was currently hiding, they would remain that way until they thought they could escape. If they were going to engage the Resistance forces they would have done so already. It would be clear to them at this point that they would be killed as soon as they engaged the Resistance forces.

The building looked secure. Then again, looks could be deceiving.

John Henry informed Cameron's team where Savannah's team was located. The front of the building was secure too. No one attempted to breach the wall and escape out the front. They wouldn't have gotten far if they'd tried.

Savannah's team did a final check of the store front. There were no targets. They decided to head around to the back rather than breach the wall. It would allow them to keep the area more secure. They removed the surveillance equipment that they'd placed there earlier when they left.

Savannah and Bob drove around to the back with one of the SUVs. They told Cameron's team what they were going to do and were told they could park inside the building. There was a roll up door that they would open for them. Jim went on foot around the other side of the building. He went in the opposite direction that Savannah and Bob took as they drove around to the back. They all looked for anything they missed previously. Everything was clear around the building.

Gail opened the roll up door and Savannah backed inside.

As soon as Jim arrived it was closed and secured again.

The two teams at the old supermarket were all together now.

Cammy and Ally moved from the front of the cryogenics lab toward the back. They cleared the rooms along the way. So far they hadn't encountered anyone.

They both felt a little concerned that there was no one there.

Ally expected to find at least someone.

"Where is everyone?" Ally asked.

Cammy looked all around her one more time.

"I don't know." Cammy said.

Ally wanted to go back and double check but she knew for now they needed to keep moving forward. They needed to link up with Hanna and Holly and make sure there was no one hidden between them.

"I hope this isn't a setup." Ally said.

Cammy hadn't spotted any explosives or booby traps. She didn't think that it was a setup. There was always the chance that it actually was. Either way they needed to keep moving forward. She wanted to see how the other team was doing.

"Hanna, what do you have?" Cammy asked over her com.

Hanna was in the main part of the building that faced the loading dock. There were a few store rooms, a utility room and an electrical room.

"We've found nothing, so far." Hanna said. "Holly's checking a store room out."

Holly exited out of the store room. It was the second one that she'd checked.

"It's empty." Holly said. "The other rooms were as well."

Cammy was very dissatisfied with that information. There was no one in the front of the building and apparently there was no one in the rear of the building. She didn't believe that was correct.

"There has to be someone here." Cammy said. "They must be hiding in a very secure location. I want everyone to search harder."

They didn't want to be attacked from an unknown location or have the perpetrators slip away in some hidden tunnel. Their entry was very swift. It was relatively quiet as well. They should have caught everyone inside by surprise. Now it was only the two teams that were surprised by the fact no one was apparent.

John was mostly pleased with both operations so far.

"Cameron's operation went fairly smoothly." John said.

John Henry reviewed the drone footage of the truck. Both of the Grays had gone inside the building and returned a short while later with what appeared to be another cryogenic vat. They placed that inside of the truck and drove away. There was no third person that accompanied them. There should be somebody inside of the building. It seemed highly unlikely that the building was left open and unattended.

"It seems suspicious where Cammy's and Hanna's teams are at." John Henry said. "I believe there should be at least one person there if not more."

John mulled several possibilities over in his mind. He didn't like any of the conclusions that he came to. He wondered if the earlier incursion by Cammy had been detected or if it was the chase that followed through the alley with the two unknown men in the brown sedan. It was something that needed to be considered.

"It looks like they may have known we were coming." John said. "Perhaps there was some type of surveillance that we're unaware of. The ordeal with Cammy may have been picked up."

John Henry thought about the day of the week and the time. There was only one car in the parking lot. It didn't appear the building was staffed.

"All communications were cut." John Henry said. "It's Saturday night. Maybe there was only an attendant on duty."

John thought about that for a few seconds. If there was only one person they were probably doing something that was fishy. He knew people in low paid jobs were always open to making a few extra bucks to look the other way at times. It was like that over a range of industries and businesses.

"I bet they were dealing with the Grays under the table and off the books." John said.

John Henry was aware that was a common flaw of humans. Even though they were in a position to serve their employer, there was very little loyalty involved with most of them. They were simply at the job because they needed money. Any extra money they could get, they were going to take.

"Some people are always looking to make an easy buck." John Henry said. "It's a strong possibility if that's the case, we are most likely dealing with a future Scavenger."

John wasn't so sure it was necessarily a future Scavenger. He was sure it was just somebody trying to make a little extra spending cash. He doubted they knew anything about Skynet or what the liquid nitrogen was being used for. He figured it was probably just a young man looking for some extra spending cash. He knew that the Terminators would view the person as a collaborator. They may be helping the enemy but they certainly didn't know what the enemy was. He wouldn't interfere with what the Terminators on site decided to do with the person if they were found.

He saw them load something in the truck earlier but he didn't know what it was.

"What do you think they were doing there?" John asked. "It looked like they did something specific."

John Henry noted an ever increasing disturbing fact. It appeared that the Skynet forces attempted to keep all of their activities as clandestine as possible. There were several ways that they could do that. Most of them were illegal. That didn't matter to them at all. Most of what they did was illegal too.

"I would have to guess they were there to obtain liquid nitrogen. It could be some other chemicals as well." John Henry said. "The Grays kept everything related to this off of the books. They obtained supplies by stealing them or back door dealings like I think we are going to find here."

John Henry thought this group of Grays wanted to stay in the shadows and not have their activity picked up by any other Skynet related groups, especially the Fanatics.

John thought about what they'd uncovered so far with the current operation. Not only did the Skynet forces want to keep things off the books they wanted to remain hidden. They tried to hide in plain sight at the old supermarket.

"That explains why they left the front of the old supermarket abandoned and derelict looking while they sealed off the back and were using it." John said.

John Henry figured the Cameron's team should have been able to conduct a detailed search of the old supermarket area that was inhabited by the Skynet forces.

"Let's see what Cameron's team comes up with." John Henry said.

There'd been no report yet so John decided to ask the question. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer but knew he needed to know.

"Is there any sign of the girl?" John asked. "Did they find any female captives either dead or alive?"

Earlier:

Savannah hopped out of the SUV as soon as she backed inside of the storage area at the old supermarket.

"Is there any sign of the girl?" Savannah asked.

Cam was the first one to enter the sleeping quarters of the Grays.

"No." Cam said. "I checked."

Gail checked as well. She didn't like what she'd found. It only reinforced their previous belief.

"There is rope on both ends of one of the beds." Gail said. "There are dried traces of flesh and blood on the ropes."

Savannah went over and looked.

It appeared someone was tied up there at one point. It looked that they struggled in an attempt to free themselves. It appeared they'd only ended up abrading their skin that the ropes were tied around.

Cameron came over to look. She pulled back the rumpled blanket.

There was a bare mattress underneath it. There were small spots of dried blood with other discolored stains on the mattress. None of them were fresh.

Savannah and Cameron looked at each other. It was clear what happened there.

"The girl or someone else was tied here at one point." Savannah said. "It looks like someone was abused here. There's prior evidence to indicate that."

It was evident that Cameron was upset. She wanted some answers and she knew where to get them.

"I have a live one." Cameron said. "He'll tell us what we need to know."

Savannah looked back at the stains on the mattress. She wanted retribution.

"I'll assist you." Savannah said.

Cameron looked at Savannah and nodded. She could see that Savannah wanted justice.

The team searched the area thoroughly a third time as they collected the Gray's phones and the computer hard drives. The dead men were searched and the deactivated Terminator was loaded into the SUV along with the weapons they'd collected.

Cameron led Savannah to the freezer area. Sheila was in the freezer with the stripped man. She handed Savannah his coat to put on.

Savannah could feel the intense cold and welcomed the coat.

"What is this place?" Savannah asked.

Cameron looked around the freezer area. It was clear there was some type of testing and research going on. Exactly what the nature of that was and entailed she didn't know yet. She also wanted to know what everything was that was currently in there.

"We are going to find out." Cameron said. "I'm going to empty these vats out and see what's inside."

Sheila looked around the freezer as well. She'd come to the same conclusion that Cameron had.

"It looks like testing was done here." Sheila said.

Savannah heard enough. She pulled out a Thermite grenade.

"It may be some kind of Liquid Metal." Savannah said. "If we can contain it to a corner, we can use Thermite on it."

Cameron thought that Liquid Metal of some type might be involved as well.

"Stay back, Savannah." Cameron said. "We need to know more."

Cameron moved Savannah to the open doorway. It was so she could make a getaway in case things turned wild inside of the freezer.

Savannah glanced over her shoulder and called to Bob.

"Bob, I need you and your M4 with the M203 and a couple of acid rounds." Savannah said.

Bob moved forward with his grenade launcher ready.

Bob entered the room. He removed the HE round from the M203 and put in an acid round.

Cameron welcomed the acid round that Bob could fire at any Liquid Metal target.

"Cover us." Cameron said.

The stripped Gray on the floor started to come around. He'd begun to shiver uncontrollably.

Cameron started to go to him.

Savannah moved over and stopped Cameron. She looked into her eyes. She wanted justice.

"I want Sheila to deal with him." Savannah said. "You saw the bed."

Cameron nodded and went to the vat the man was working on when she'd first entered.

She was ready to open it. The threat of some type of Liquid Metal was enough to cause Cameron major concern.

"Maybe you better wait outside for this one, Savannah." Cameron said.

Gail wanted Savannah better protected too. She'd watched Savannah re-enter the freezer to speak quietly with Cameron. She would prefer if Savannah were at a safer distance from whatever the freezer held inside. She walked in and took the Thermite grenade from Savannah.

"I have this, Savannah." Gail said.

Bob was worried about Savannah too.

"We don't know what this is, Savannah." Bob said.

Savannah could see the high level of concern that all the Terminators inside the freezer expressed. She didn't want to cause them any more anxiety. They had acid rounds and Thermite grenades to deal with any threat. There was nothing she could add to the equation herself.

"OK, Cameron." Savannah said. "I'm not going far."

Cameron was relieved. Savannah would be a little better protected outside the freezer.

"Thank you, Savannah." Cameron said. "Close the freezer door."

As soon as Savannah walked out, Gail closed the freezer door.

Savannah looked at the closed freezer door. She turned back to the interior.

She saw all the bodies were now back where the two cars were parked. Cam and Jim were about finished and ready to do another inspection.

Cam came over to Savannah.

"I saw the bed." Cam said. "I know what happened."

Savannah looked at the pile of dead Grays on the floor. Their toll had already been collected. They might be dead but they were able to elude justice.

"They're all dead now." Savannah said. "There's only one to go. I asked Sheila to take care of it."

Cam gently squeezed Savannah's hand.

"Justice will be served. There's a price to be paid for the abuse of females." Cam said. "Sheila will collect the 'debt'."

Savannah glanced over at the bed. She wanted to collect the 'debt' herself. She wanted there to be some type of accountability for the actions of others. It didn't appear there always could be.

She'd been to two different futures. She'd seen the aftermath of what Grays and Scavengers did to females. It was actually what they did to people in general but they both specifically targeted females.

The two teams searched the cryogenics lab.

Holly went back and double checked the storerooms. They were empty.

Hanna searched as she moved around the equipment in the lab, there was no one.

Cammy arrived in the rear area of the building from the front.

"The office area and break room are clear." Cammy said. "Ally is double checking."

Hanna and Holly removed the hard drives from all the computers.

Cammy took one last look around.

Ally exited out of the door that led to the front of the building.

"There is nothing that I can find except these." Ally said.

Ally carried several hard drives.

"I want this place torched." Cammy said.

Ally took out a Thermite grenade.

Cammy wanted to play things up a little bit first. She received and update and a suggestion from CamNet. An idea popped into her head.

"No." Cammy said. "There's a lot of compressed flammable gas here in some of these tanks. Open the valves and we'll exit. I want it to look like an accidental explosion. The entire building should be leveled."

Cammy went over to a large tank and turned a valve.

Cammy looked at Holly, Hanna and Ally and each nodded in turn as they understood what was about to happen.

There was a loud hissing sound as compressed 'gas' entered the atmosphere.

"Let's go." Cammy said. "This place is going to explode."

Hanna and Holly made a noisy exit out the back and Cammy and Ally did as well out the way they'd come from in the front.

They wanted to make it clear that there was 'gas' venting into the room and that they'd all left. The indication was that it was only a matter of time until the 'gas' found an ignition source and was ignited. If the entire room was filled with the 'gas' there would be a massive explosion.

Young Allison was unaffected by any of the events. Much of this was routine to her now. Cameron wanted her 'hardened' for the future. She thought that task was pretty well accomplished at this point in time.

"What do you make of the progress?" Anna asked.

Young Allison was pleased that nothing appeared to be hidden from her on this operation. That was seldom the case. There were often various parts of the operation she was prevented from viewing. She didn't think that it was fair to her but it was done at the request of Savannah so she needed to abide by Savannah's wishes. She didn't want any problems between them.

"It was as I expected." Young Allison said. "CamNet hasn't filtered any content yet that I'm aware of."

Young Allison asked that nothing, unless it was personal, be kept from her.

Anna thought Young Allison might be a little more anxious than normal. She didn't appear to be. She wanted to verify her state of mind.

"Are you bothered?" Anna asked.

It was clear to Young Allison what events occurred at the old supermarket. What was done was done. The path was forward. It did no good to dwell on the past.

"We won and they lost." Young Allison said. "No, I'm not bothered by anything."

Anna wasn't so sure about that. She wanted to know more.

"I can tell you're troubled." Anna said.

Young Allison frowned. She would have liked for there to be some resolution. Right now there wasn't. There was only the unknown. The unknown always left room for a lot of speculation.

"I hoped they'd find the girl." Young Allison said. "Even if she was deceased we would know her fate. Now there's nothing."

Anna didn't think all was lost yet. They were still the opportunity for them to get some answers.

"There is still one Gray to interrogate." Anna said.

Young Allison thought about that. She understood the real reason why Cameron wanted Savannah out of the freezer. It wasn't for fear of encountering anything Liquid Metal. It was what was going to be done to the Gray that was currently held for interrogation. She knew that's what it was.

"That's why Cameron sent Savannah out." Young Allison said.

Anna wasn't so sure that was the main reason. Savannah was no stranger to the battlefield or some of the interrogations that Cameron conducted previously.

"Savannah has witnessed many interrogations." Anna said. "Maybe Cameron wanted her safe in case there was some type of Liquid Metal Terminator in there or being constructed."

Young Allison based her assessment on the evidence that she'd witnessed so far. She understood the threat of a Liquid Metal Terminator was the secondary issue in this particular case.

"You saw the body cam footage of the bed." Young Allison said. "We all know what happened there."

Anna turned her attention to the cryogenics lab. She was a little surprised at what she saw happen inside and what the valve Cammy actually opened on the large storage tank was.

"I see Cammy is being somewhat 'original'." Anna said. "Did you suggest that to CamNet?"

Young Allison flashed a faint smile. It was exactly what she'd done. She thought that it was a good way to flush out anyone in hiding.

"I may have run a few ideas by her." Young Allison said.

Anna could see that Young Allison continued to think outside of the box. She always looked for a way to help protect the troops in the field. What Cammy did was one of them.

"Interesting…." Anna said.

Young Allison thought some of those ideas would present less risk for their troops and have the enemy come to them.

"I have a feeling they will produce the results they seek." Young Allison said.

Young Allison was concerned about what was going on inside of the freezer at the old supermarket. She felt the action at the cryogenic facility was minor at the most. She checked all the monitors for any possible reinforcements on the ground to either location or any threats in the air. Everything came back negative.

One To Go

Some people light up
They can really glow
Those are the ones to whom
We want to say hello

They give hope and promise
They set the heart and mind aglow
There's a feeling of joy
It's almost like one won the lotto

Some move forward rapidly
They're full of gusto
They brim with enthusiasm
They turn clouds into a rainbow

Everyone wants to expand and grow
Some go fast, others go slow
There are things each must forego
Or the other they will outgrow

There is always darkness lurking
It casts its ugly shadow
Everything reaches a plateau
One down and one to go

Nobody