Chapter 1529

Heavy Haze

The lights on Level Four flickered on and off more frequently now. The thick dust and smoke cloud from Level Five blanketed the area. A heavy haze permeated the entire area.

Gail pulled her knife out and was about to remove the chip from the Metal Bitch when another figure appeared at the electrical room door. They must have been inside of it already. She was on her knees bent over the Metal Bitch. She grabbed the ankle of the person and pulled. That caused them the fall over backwards. Gail stuck her 'shocker' on the Metal Bitch and stood to engage the new threat.

She rushed into the electrical room. She took in the contents of the room in a glance as she prepared for combat. There were two large power cells in there. They weren't the giant type like Cameron encountered before. They were big enough to bring down the rear section of the mine if not the whole thing.

The person she'd tripped was up on their feet in a second. It was another Terminator. They made a grab for her but she dodged most of the force. They were deflected off to the side.

She spun around and gave them a shove. They slammed into the rock wall. They turned and expected her to be there to grab them. She wasn't there.

Gail took two steps back once she'd sent the Terminator flying. She drew her Taser and fired twice. The Terminator was fast but not fast enough. He dodged the first set of barbs. The second set found its mark and he went down.

She went to pull her knife out but it was lying on top of the Metal Bitch. She needed to act fast. She went out and collected her knife. She could hear a few Grays asking if anyone was hurt. They were near but not close. The area outside the electrical room was a thick fog of smoke and dust at this point. Visibility was only a few feet. The lights stayed off longer between flickers.

Gail moved back into the electrical room. She cut the scalp open on the Terminator.

"Why is this door open?" The first Gray asked.

She could hear someone trip and fall. They were closer than she'd thought. This could be a different group too. The two clean rooms blocked a lot of space.

"'Bitchzilla' is down on the ground here." The second Gray said.

She drew her silenced M9 as she popped off the chip port cover on the downed Terminator. There was coughing outside the door.

A Gray stepped into the electrical room. There was another Gray behind him. She didn't have a clear shot at the second Gray yet. She didn't want to shoot the first Gray and have him fall backwards and knock the other Gray out of the way. She shot the first Gray below each knee. He collapsed forward with a scream. She shot the Gray behind him in the face and then shot the screaming man on the ground in the face as well half second later. They were both quiet now.

Gail quickly pulled the chip of the male Terminator. There were still a few seconds to spare before he rebooted. She reached out and pulled the Metal Bitch into the electrical room by her hair and closed the door. She removed her chip as well.

She placed each Terminator on top of a humming large power cell and set an explosive charge underneath each of them. They were set to detonate with Cam's timeline to blow along the nitro on Level Five. The explosives Bob and Jim found were set for detonation at that time too along with the other electrical room with the power source from the surface.

Gail was about to exit the electrical room when she noticed the hum of the larger power cells change pitch. There'd been a rhythmic pulse to the humming noise. That now changed for each of them. One started to hum faster. The other became irregular. Summer's encryption must have done something to their function or at least the energy demand. Cammy reported an increase in power demand when the Skynet TDE in Cameron's future was infected with the encryption.

She opened the electrical room door a crack and listened. There were intermittent shouts and calls. The area was in total darkness now. The dense fog like dusty mist was everywhere and thicker. She went out of the electrical room and closed the heavy door. She smashed the keypad with her fist. No one was going in there anytime soon.

Gail wanted to make sure Toto was still docked with the Skynet mainframe computer. She moved to the completed clean room. Toto was still engaged. She could communicate with the Command Center. She'd given a running commentary to John Henry after she took down the second Terminator.

"Toto is still connected." Gail said.

John Henry looked at the feedback from Toto.

"Skynet has fallen." John Henry said. "It's now trapped."

"I want to make sure." Summer said. "Gail, try to keep Toto connected. I'm not done yet with everything."

Gail unslung her suppressed M4 and held it in her left hand. She held her silenced M9 in her right hand.

"I will protect Toto." Gail said. "No one will pass by me."

There were more voices. It seemed like they were all around her. Lights could be seen moving through the heavy haze of the misty gloom.

Bob and Jim moved through the passageways and caverns on Level Three in total darkness. They killed a few more Grays. They neared the sloped shaft down to Level Four. There was smoke and dust that billowed up the slopped shaft.

They were able to contact John Henry. Once they reached the sloped shaft. There was a collapse of rock behind them somewhere. More dust swirled around them.

They heard Gail and Cam respond to the Command Center. It looked like the repeaters that they'd placed on the elevator in the Main Shaft kept the link open on Level Four. There was now a drone over the Main Shaft to keep the link hot.

"We will be back down to Level Four shortly." Bob said. "Level Three is clear of Grays. We found the girl. She was dead."

Jim wasn't content with what they'd found.

"We will turn this mine into her tomb to honor her." Jim said.

Bob was in total agreement.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

Cam made sure everyone on Level Five was terminated. She started up the sloped shaft. She unslung her M4 and held it in her left hand. She held her silenced M9 in her right hand. She would need to rely on thermal imaging until the air cleared some.

She didn't know what would await her as she ran up the sloped shaft. It was a long incline. The blast knocked out her communications. She'd checked her repeater at the bottom of the slopped shaft and it was good. She figured the one at the top of the sloped shaft was damaged by falling debris. It was a really big double explosion. There was still rock falling from the top in places. A big rock landed in front of her, she needed to dodge off to the side a little. Everything was clearly unstable. When she detonated the hundred gallons of nitro later on, there was going to be an even bigger explosion….

She neared the top of the sloped shaft. The smoke and dust was thick. The flickering lights on Level Four went out before she cleared the top of the sloped shaft.

She was able to communicate with John Henry and placed another repeater. She was linked up with her time bomb on Level Five. It could be command detonated at any point now or delayed. The nitro would still be explosive on its own. It was possible a rock could fall from the ceiling and detonate the entire batch prematurely. Nitro was very volatile and contact sensitive.

Cam was aware that Gail took down two Terminators and rigged the two large power cells with explosives and the Terminator's power cells

"Skynet has fallen." John Henry said.

"I want to make sure." Summer said. "Gail, try to keep Toto connected. I'm not done yet with everything."

"I will protect Toto." Gail said. "No one will pass by me."

There were more voices. They were all around her. There were lights with people moving through the thick haze.

"I'll join Gail in thirty seconds." Cam said. "There are a few targets."

"I'll remain with Toto." Gail said.

Cam and Gail received good news.

"We will be back down to Level Four shortly." Bob said. "Level Three is clear of Grays. We found the girl. She was dead."

"We will turn this mine into her tomb to honor her." Jim said.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

Cam spotted several lights in the hazy darkness. They were Gray coming to check on what they thought was an accident on Level Five. They seemed concerned but not in a hurry.

The voices grew closer.

"I told them it was insane to use nitro." The first Gray said.

"You look at that stuff the wrong way and it blows up." The second Gray said. "That's why nobody uses nitro anymore, not in liquid form anyway."

"Where's 'Bitchzilla' at?" The first Gray asked.

"She probably went down to see what happened to 'Gigantor'." The second Gray said.

"If we find her destroyed, I'm bringing her back to the living quarters." The first Gray said. "As long as we have her torso section, we are good to go indefinitely. It's got everything we need."

Both Grays laughed.

"It feels just like the real thing." The second Gray said.

Both Grays laughed again.

Cam raised her M9. She would pop both of them and deal with another figure moving on the far side. They all showed up on her thermal imagery. The lights they carried made the job easier.

Before she could act two more figured moved up and silently took care of them. Bob and Jim were back. They extinguished the lights.

She moved over to the third figure and snapped his neck. She turned off his light as well. It was 'lights off' in more ways than one.

Cam went over the timetable.

"We have fifty seven minutes to get out of this mine." Cam said.

Gail, Bob and Jim all acknowledged her. They all met at the clean room with Toto.

Young Allison and Anna were relieved that all four of the team in the mine were back together. None of them reported any damage. They knew that didn't mean there wasn't any.

"We need to make sure they get out." Young Allison said.

Anna thought it seemed like a good bet they would.

"They have fifty five minutes." Anna said.

Young Allison saw it differently.

"I want them away from there in forty five minutes." Young Allison said. "Has the Blackhawk departed yet?"

Young Allison instructed Anna to have CamNet send additional assistance once the big double explosion was caused by Cam. Skynet would know something was up by then anyway.

"Ken and Lou are flying there now." Anna said. "Al and Ed are with them…."

Young Allison waited for a little more. There was nothing.

"Who else is with them?" Young Allison asked.

Anna looked at her monitor and frowned.

"I don't think you want to know." Anna said.

John Henry watched Summer work. The team was back together and Toto infected the Skynet mainframe with the encryption. He wondered how Summer was doing. She was 'fighting' Skynet right now.

"It's going fine." Summer said without looking at John Henry.

John Henry was only a spectator to what was happening. Summer worked directly with CamNet through his server.

He was aware the Blackhawk left a short time ago. He wasn't aware of everyone on board. CamNet blocked what was happening inside the base from him. He was sure there were some 'hookups' that there shouldn't have happened.

Summer was able to see who else went. She also knew it was what they wanted. She allowed them to go by not stopping them. Everyone needed to get their feet wet at some point. One day that would be her.

Earlier:

Samantha came out of standby when she heard Precious stir. She figured that Derek and Riley were fast asleep at this point. She went and checked to make sure. They were.

She picked up Precious and went out into the hall with her. She figured that Vanna or Jesse would be 'busy'. One of them may not be. She didn't want to spoil a finish for one of the girls. They didn't have the ability to resume where they were at like a Terminator could if interrupted. She would listen to see which one of them wasn't near a finish as she passed their rooms.

Samantha spotted Young Jesse's door was open slightly.

Vanna and Young Jesse rested in each other's arms.

She knocked softly and went in.

Young Jesse looked up. She saw it was Samantha with Precious. She looked over at Vanna.

"Is Vanna needed?" Young Jesse whispered.

"Yes." Samantha said.

"Let me take Precious." Young Jesse said. "You can carry Vanna back to Riley's room."

Vanna sat up. If Precious needed her she was good to go. Her maternal instincts were awakened and very strong.

"I'm good." Vanna said. "I'll go to Riley's room anyway. She won't know where Precious is if I stay here. I don't want to cause her stress."

Vanna threw on a robe and took Precious. She headed for Riley's room.

Samantha and Young Jesse watched Precious nurse as Vanna walked with her.

"Maybe I should get dressed." Young Jesse said. "I'll join her."

Samantha picked up Young Jesse's robe off of the floor.

"You can wear a robe." Samantha said.

Young Jesse thought she should be properly dressed around Derek.

"It won't take me long." Young Jesse said.

Samantha watched Young Jesse dress. It didn't take long.

They headed out after Vanna. She was already in Riley's room.

Young Jesse spotted two armed Terminators head out to the carpool area.

"What's up?" Young Jesse asked.

Samantha didn't know.

"I'm not sure." Samantha said.

Young Jesse went to the nearest arm's locker and put on a vest and grabbed and M4, M9 and a Taser.

"What are you doing?" Samantha asked.

"I'm going with them." Young Jesse said. "There must be trouble."

"No." Samantha said. "Cameron will want to be with you. At least Camille needs to be."

"They're not here." Young Jesse said. "I am."

Young Jesse started off after them. She wanted to do more and take some of the load off of Savannah.

Samantha grabbed a vest and a complement of weapons and hurried after her. She called Holly and told her what was happening and to watch over Precious.

Holly told her she would be there shortly with Allison.

There'd been a heavy haze of fog roll in as they crossed the Golden Gate Bridge earlier in the SUV.

Steve and Tom let Camille and John off at the terminus of the Powell and Hyde cable car route. As they approached the ticket kiosk, two 'all access' tickets popped out.

"Now that's service." John said.

Camille frowned. She was aware that CamNet currently tracked them.

"Big Brother or Big Sister in this case, is always watching." Camille said.

Camille was aware it was CamNet and she probably knew everything that happened so far tonight. She looked up into the brightly moon lit sky to see if there was a drone above them. It was out of her hearing ability range if it was.

John saw Camille look upwards intently.

"What's up there?" John asked. "Was it another shooting star?"

Camille looked at John and smiled. She took his hand.

"It was nothing." Camille said. "Everything is fine."

They got onto the cable car. It was less than a quarter full. Two young men ran and hopped on the back as the cable car pulled away from the stop. They were loud and appeared drunk or stoned.

Camille didn't like the way they looked at her. She felt she'd been visually assaulted. She didn't take any crap form 'whackers'. As soon as they started up the hill Camille slid back to where they were.

"Are you looking for some action?" The first stoner asked.

Camille pushed both of them off of the back of the cable car. They rolled down the hill some.

"No." Camille called out after their tumbling figures.

She slid back up to John and cuddled up tight next to him. They watched the scenery and sites as they passed by.

Steve and Tom were one block in back of the cable car in the SUV when Camille shoved the two trouble makers off. There was no traffic around them. CamNet already took control of the traffic lights before John and Camille started out. She wanted to keep traffic away from the cable car.

"I'm going to run over their legs." Steve said.

The two punks just started to move around when he did that. They both screamed and rolled further down the hill. Their next stop would be the hospital. Tom thought they got off lucky. He holstered his M9.

Steve was given instructions to stop at the next drug store. Tom would need to go inside and pick something up from the pharmacy. It was already waiting for them. They would also need to stop at a Starsucks and obtain an espresso and a hot chocolate for John when he reached the terminus at Powell and Market Street. That would be ready for them as well to grab and go. They should be able to stay one block in back of the cable car at all times.

John was a little shocked at Camille's action earlier but enjoyed the way she snuggled up to him and held him. It wasn't something that Cameron would normally do. When he looked at her, she kissed him.

He didn't see the 'offensive driving' by Steve behind them. He'd been kissing Camille.

It wasn't a coincidence.

She wore her com and was aware of everything around her, including the other teams. She'd wanted to distract him and was able to do so as the Stoner's legs were crushed.

John pointed out what some of the things were that he remembered. Camille already knew all of them but smiled when he told her anyway. He only messed up a few of them. She gave him a little kiss and touched his inner thigh.

The fog seemed to roll in heavier behind them. Much of the bay became obscured. It was a very heavy haze.

Dan and Frank spotted new attack by the three male and one female gang members. Two of the punks held down a girl while the leader pulled her pants off. The female gang member gagged the girl and held her head. She told the girl what was going to happen as she fondled her. She said she was going to 'go first' and get her 'warmed up' for the boys.

There was a thick fog bank that moved in from the ocean side of the long park. It didn't give Dan and Frank any cover yet but the gang was fixated on assaulting the girl. The leader removed her pants and pulled her underwear off. One of the punks holding the girl took the underwear and put them in his pocket. It was something they did to remember their conquests. He had over twenty pair at home under his mattress. The other Gang members took turns collecting them too. It was his turn today.

Dan and Frank witnessed enough. They each drew their silenced M9 and fired once.

Sheila drove with Leticia in the front seat with her. Hanna and Ally were in the back seat.

"We have drone coverage." Ally said.

"That was fast." Hanna said. "I bet there are more here too."

She showed her phone to Leticia. They watched the assault begin.

Leticia was surprised that there was an overhead image from somewhere.

"Is that a satellite image?" Leticia asked.

Sheila wanted to keep it simple.

"No." Sheila said. "We have people that help watch over us sometimes."

Cammy received the drone feed too. She held her phone up for Mary and Laura to see.

"There getting ready to abuse her." Mary said. "Where's this image from?"

"Is it a satellite image?" Laura asked. "I read they could read a matchbook cover on the ground from some of those."

"No." Cammy said. "We have people that help watch over us sometimes."

As they watched, the two figures that held the girl on each side slumped over. The one punk had just put the girl's underwear in his pocket.

The leader of the gang and his squeeze didn't know what happened yet. There'd been no sound. The other two punks just fell over. There'd only been a faint 'wet meat' smacking noise.

The girl broke free from the female gang member. The leader was busy going through the pockets of the girl's pants. She yanked them out of his hands and ran away with them. He'd hoped to find some cash like they'd done with the foreign tourists. That was one sweet haul all the way around. They'd all gone twice with each of them. That was why they were so busted up. They wouldn't lay there and take it. They made sure they took it. They dumped them tied up, gagged and nude by the homeless camp when they were done as 'punishment'.

By the time the leader and his squeeze figured out what happened it was too late. They were still trying to rouse their associates. There were two large figures standing over them now.

The red eyes clued them into the fact there was going to be a problem.

"You're in our park." Dan said. "You were warned."

Now they knew there was going to be a real problem.

The darkness that overtook the leader and his squeeze was soon masked by the fog that rolled in. It was a very heavy haze.