CH 6
Other than the six 400's here, Cameron had not seen any other terminators. Once the 400's were dragged down inside the cave that was going to be Fire base Charlie, Cameron had her three soldiers stay at Charlie and wait for reinforcement and workers to come. She took the rest of the team, Jesse and Joe back to the mountaintop lookout post herself.
As they walked along, Joe asked, "Ah, General? what did that guy mean, you're a better terminator that those metal things?"
"I am," Cameron told him. "I am faster, stronger and smarter. Those were T-400's. They didn't stand a chance."
Joe looked at Jesse and asked, "Then why did we hide from them?"
Jesse eyed Joe and replied, "We're not metal and we didn't have big enough guns to take them on."
"But, the general here just walked in and wiped them out," Joe stated.
"With help, and the proper weaponry," Cameron told him.
Jesse eyed her and said, "That gun just made it easier for you."
Cameron said, "That is true, the proper weaponry does make it easier."
Joe frowned at her and said, "Those things were made of steel."
"I am made of a hyper alloy combat chassis, I would win. Even the T-800's we downed were made of inferior metals. They look very similar to a high quality terminator, but are not as strong," Cameron explained.
Joe looked closer at Cameron. Even with the face mask and goggles they were all wearing, not to mention how she was interacting with them, it was hard to believe. "You're not human?" he asked.
"I am TOK-715, and advanced model terminator and assistant to John Connor."
"That ... can't be," Joe cried, "I mean, you look and act human."
Cameron glanced at him and said, "You must begin to accept facts you are not familiar with."
"Like my world had been blown up?" he asked in a heavy tone.
"Yes. Like your world had been blown up. If we do not come together and beat Sky Net, it is over. Civilization, humanity, everything ends."
.
Marching back to the lookout post, a figure opened up a hatch and poked his head out. He was in a white coverall suit and full hood with a window for his face.
"Welcome back. Wounded first, we have a basic decon station here. One at a time, and we'll get you through fast as possible."
Cameron had Jesse go in first. It was a strange decon station. The white suited man had her hold a bare wire in her hand then used what looked like a modified shop-vac to vacuum her off. As he worked he said, "You are holding the negative end of a lead, this vacuum holds the positive end. the difference in charges will repel the radioactive particles off you and the vacuum will attract them and blow them back outside."
After he vacuumed off her clothes, he had her strip, then vacuumed her off again, and vacuumed her clothes separately. Another set of clothes that looked like a uniform was them passed in to her.
After Jesse was dressed and out, Joe went in and got the same treatment. As they watched, each member of the rescue squad got their outer clothes vacuumed off, then went in.
"Why aren't they stripping?" Jesse asked.
"We know they were clean leaving, and their clothes didn't get ripped," one of the soldiers said.
When Cameron came, in, Joe was expecting to see a meal sheathed thing, maybe with CCD camera eyes. He was surprised to see Cameron looked like a very pretty young woman.
"You are one of these terminators?" he asked.
Cameron grew a tiny grin. "I am a scary robot," she stated.
Joe thought briefly about these things looking exactly like people and being very much tougher. If she wanted to kill a man, he was sure she could just walk up to him, smile and crush his neck. "Yeah, you are," he agreed.
Once they were all inside, Cameron led them down the ladder and on to the Way Point station. Cameron held the door for Jesse and Joe and led them on to the counter. To the waiter behind the counter, she said, "These two are survivors, give them a full meal." To Joe, she said, "You were a policeman. We need guards and solders. If you wish to volunteer, come with Jesse to the main bunker when you're done." To Jesse, she said, "When you are done, John wants to see you."
"I'm still in the resistance?" Jesse asked.
"Yes, you are, Commander, even if we have no fleet. Yet," Cameron told her.
"Cameron!" Came a happy call.
Cameron turned to see Claire coming. Claire noted Jesse and Joe and said, "You found more survivors, good for you."
"Better for them," Cameron stated.
"Indeed." Claire saw Cameron was not in the best of moods. She offered, "You know you can eat here any time you like. You don't have to go all the way back to your bunker."
"I do, Claire. John is waiting for me to give my report," Cameron said in a flat tone. "I must be going now."
"Come by later then," Claire said and waved.
Cameron waved back and fled to the main office.
.
Since there was no eating or drinking anything while they were out, Cameron's team took full advantage of Claire's offer while they waited for her return.
Cameron called John and gave her report. Charlie Bunker was secure and waiting to be built up, Jesse Flores was here, and she'd left three men at Charlie with the six destroyed T-400's. A total of five people had been found and brought back.
John looked at his map as Cameron told him her information. When she was done, he said, "Good work, Cam. The roads to Charlie should be clear. We have one set of teams that came back with eleven more people. After they get decon'ed and inside, I'll give them time to rest, then have them load their truck up with essentials and drive up to Charlie to start making it a base." With a grumble he added, "We need more ... of everything."
"We do. John, we are getting there, a little more every day," she assured him.
John looked at the rescue progress. Three teams were back, only 16 people found alive. Part of him thought they should be doing much better than that. Where in the hell was everyone?
.
Lt. Baker was leading one team in the truck that stopped outside a small town. The roof watch, looking out the top of the truck had called out he saw movement in the town. The driver stopped. Lt. Carter got up in the hole in the roof and looked, then came down and gave Baker the binoculars. "Take a look, what do you think?" he asked.
Baker climbed up. In the distance he saw mostly intact buildings. Since the roof watch had been quick, the truck was still below grade and at this distance, no one in the town had seen them yet. He watched a figure walk along with a gun. OK, if he was in a town, he'd want it defended. He then noted in another part something was happening. Two men made a third kneel between them. Another came up and hit the kneeling figure. Another hit then a gun was pulled and the kneeling figure was shot.
Baker climbed back down. "Not good, they just executed someone," he stated. "Can't see how many there are."
Motioning, Carter said, "There's two roads to that town. This one, and another that runs east to west. We're not suppose to engage unless we have no choice. We only got ten fighting men between us."
Baker tapped his radio. "How about this. Keep the truck here, I'll take my four and sneak into town and check it out. If there is trouble and we can handle it, we will. If not, We bug out and bypass this town."
Carter weighed his thoughts then said, "OK. If you need help, let me know."
Baker looked at his men and said, "Let's go, we're sneaking into that town to see that's going on."
.
Baker had no trouble sneaking in. He found no lookouts. The only guard he saw was focused on the town streets. Crouched low, Baker and his men followed a ditch to the town, then got onto a side street and stuck to the side of a house. The place was
burned out. Gently pushing open most of a door, Baker was happy the place was build on a concrete slab. He slid in and motioned his men to check the place out. It was blackened with fire on the inside, but that didn't mean no one was here.
Creeping to the front, Baker got below a window, his corporal was across the room under another window. Voices came from outside.
"Get Everyone's hands tied tight! Someone gets a stupid idea of escape, then they get killed and take a few more with them," a man announced. "No one gets stupid, no one gets dead!"
Baker slowly slid up to peek outside. A long line of people were cuffed and tied together. He slid back down and motioned to his Corporal 'how many'
The Corporal shrugged and opened his hand, displaying five fingers three times then pointed one finger up. Great, fifteen or more, and there were five of them.
Straight offhand, it was a no-win situation. They were better off sneaking back out of town, calling it 'unwinable.'
A cry yelled out, "Leave her alone!"
One of the men sporting guns was behind a teenage girl, He ripped her blouse open as a few gun toting men laughed. The girl struggled, a young man in line tried to kick the molester. He received a rifle butt to the back of his head.
Baker noted the rest of his men creep in low. Corporal Hathcock mouthed, "We have to do something!"
Outside the girl yelped and squirmed, trying to get away as her shirt was torn open. All the men around guarding them were watching the show. This was their chance. Baker pointed to men, the windows then pointing out their targets, silently giving them firing positions. He pointed to himself then twitched his finger. He would fire first. They all crawled in place below their windows.
Baker shouldered his rifle then rose up and aimed. He didn't aim at the molester who was holding the girl with one hand, the other down the front of her blouse, but at the ones in front of him who were grinning at his antics. Lining up perfectly, he blew a shot through the neck of one to hit a second one, taking out his spine. As their blood flew, all his men opened up.
The four around the girl fell, the one fondling her flew back, missing a portion of his head, dragging the girl with him. Of the ten men on the street, six were down after the initial shots. While the ones still standing looked for where the shots were coming from, they were shot down. Baker rolled out the window and aimed at the trucks in the road as he barked, "Hathcock left guard, Deitz right corner, Jackson, Perry, get those people under cover!"
A single man raced out from beside a tuck and was hit by three bullets. He dropped. Two of the trucks started up and fled down the street. Baker shot the back of one truck, aiming for the tires. Thinking he saw a head poke up in the back, he raised his aim and fire into the bed. That truck drove into a building and stopped. The truck in front blasted out flame as the gas tank was hit. It turned and rolled over. The driver staggered out. Another shot and he fell.
"Jackson, Hathcock, Check the area clear, Deitz, intersection watch." Baker announced. "Perry, look at the bodies for ID's let's find out who these clowns were." Baker then walked towards the line of people who has smartly laid down to keep from getting shot. He keyed his mike. "Lt. Baker, we are in town, got downed hostiles and many survivors. Needs medics and fire support, first street into town."
"Is fire live?"
"Negative, hostiles are suppressed." Baker replied. It had been much easier than he could have guessed. Apparently those gray clad figures weren't very sharp when it came to combat.
Once his men searched and found no more of the flat gray clad men around, they untied the people. Baker went over to them and said, "Attention people! I'm Lt. Baker with Connor's resistance. We have a truck coming. If you are hurt, a medic will look at you. We have a safe, underground environment. If you wish to come , you may do so, it is for your benefit. If you don't want to come, that's fine. Can any of you tell me who these dead guys are?"
"They said they were the Gray Empire," a man said with a sarcastic snort.
"How about where they came from, anyone got a clue?" Baker asked. No one did.
"OK, is this all of you in town here, or are there more?" Baker asked.
"Why do you want to know?" a woman asked in a challenge.
"Like I said, we want to help anyone who's hurt, and we have a place safe from scum bags like those gray assholes, as well as Sky Net terminators. Those things will be coming too, and they are not nearly as easy to kill, but they will kill anyone they see." Baker explained.
"We got a civil defense shelter," A man said, "But thinking these gray fucks needed help, we opened it up for them. After that, we saw they had guns."
The truck came up the street and stopped. "Baker, status!" the man on top yelled.
Lt. Baker shouted back, "Green, no casualties, we're in the assist phase."
.
The people thanked them as they were freed. None of the grays had any ID, and every one was dead. The trucks were normal box trucks from various companies. A radio was captured, but nothing was on it to listen to.
The town's civil defense shelter was a basement under the church. Other than some food and water stocks, they didn't have much. They certainly didn't have any form of protection from radiation. Baker told a couple of the older men how to set up air tight seals, and warned them not to eat food that hadn't been sealed up. Most of the people wanted to stay, so Baker and his crew did their best to help them and promised to ask General Connor to give them assistance. A pack of young men who wanted to go fight 'in the army' to help get rid of 'the scum' came with them.
The townspeople even let them take one of the undamaged trucks with them to go find more people who needed help.
With the extra gas they got from this town, Baker's team drove to the next town to the north. In this one they found nothing but bodies. ome were fresh, one was a woman who'd been stripped and shot on the head told them it wasn't terminators who had done it. All the food stores had been stripped, and the gas stations tanks had been emptied. In the desolate town, they found the hardware store that was mostly untouched, and took all the materials they could find, from piping to steel stock, electrical wire, lumber, tools, nuts and bolts and even glue and paint. The truck they got from the previous town waddled back, packed full with materials, as did the truck they brought from the Bunker.
It wasn't the best search mission, but they did bring back results.
.
Upon the last search parties returning, John got the news, Grays were searching for people also, and killed anyone who didn't cooperate.
Sitting at the command conference table, Lt. Baker said, "The townspeople said these guys called themselves 'The Gray Empire'. That means there is a lot of them. One good point though, when we opened up on them, they were clueless. We killed ten right off the bat, then picked off the others who ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. No military discipline at all."
"And the next town to the north you found, they had already visited?"
"Correct, Sir."
"Cam, can we see towns from the mountain top?" John asked.
"Some. Fire base Charlie has the best overlook to the east," Cameron told him. That is in our hands now, but it needs to be built up from scratch."
"Then it will be," John assured her. "Lt Baker, you got plenty of material in that vacant town?"
"We did sir, both trucks are riding low on their springs," Lt. Baker told him.
"Good job, Mr. Baker, all the way around. I'm going to sent you out again with your full platoon to fire base Charlie," John told him. John then looked at Jesse, who had been quiet. "Commander Flores, Can I count on you to command fire base Charlie?"
Jesse nodded. "I will, Sir. I take it our priority is those Grays?"
"And building up Charlie. I have a team that can put together air cleaners to get rid of the radiation inside the base and provide you with some internal power. I'm also going to look at a tunnel between here and there as well as direct communications. That's for later. Right now, your top priorities are tracking Grays back to wherever they are taking people, and building up your base of operations."
"No hard feelings about Riley?" she asked.
"We are at war, Commander, we have no time for hard feelings," John said firmly.
"Yes, Sir."
"Captain Grammer, empty one of those trucks outside for a trip to fire base Charlie. Fill it with supplies and material for a base build up. Commander Flores will show you the way. Lt. Baker's men will assist your guard force. Time is of the essence."
"Yes sir," Captain Grammer said and got up. "Lt. Baker, meet me with your men by the entrance post, ready to work outside."
"Will do, Sir."
John then turned to Derek and said, "Send out scouts, I want to know where this Gray base is, and what they're doing."
"John, I should go help them," Cameron said.
John shook his head. Casting her an apologetic look, he said, "We need to talk."
Cameron tipped her head slightly. By John' expression, this was going to be a serious talk, and she had no idea what it was going to be about.
.
After the meeting, John took Cameron by her hand and led her to their room. He shut the door and led her over to sit back on the bed, holding tight to her hand.
"Did I do something wrong?' Cameron asked, curious why he brought her in here for a talk.
"No, No, you didn't," he assured her. Turing to face her, he said, "Cameron, I don't care what the truth is, I want to hear it. How much of Allison Young do you have in you?"
Cameron was caught off guard. She stared at John, not expecting to him to ask something like that. "I don't know," she said honestly.
"I remember a trip to the store that got very involved because you thought you were Allison," he said gently. "Many people heard your rant when you stopped in the cavern to show people those 800's. The also heard Claire Young basically tell you she was your mother. I also heard that after that, you pretty much cried your way to the train station. Now I don't care what other people think. If you are part Allison, then you are. If you're not, you're not. I do think it is important to you, and to Claire Young that we find out what the truth is."
"John, I'm not Allison," Cameron said quickly.
"I know that. You're Cameron. Do you have memories of when you were made?" he asked.
Cameron felt her breath hitch. "John, I do not want to talk about that," she said flatly.
"Frankly, I don't either," John agreed. "Certain dirty details I'd be very happy not knowing. I can see you're upset already. Your left hand is twitching, even if your voice didn't waver. The thing is, we need to know for your own sake, what the truth is. It will not change the way I feel about you one bit. We just need to know, me, and especially you."
"I killed her John" Cameron said in a rough tone. "I was trying to get information on your base, she lied to me, I got angry and I killed her!" Cameron said, shaking slightly. "Is that what you want to know?"
"What happened after that?" John asked, trying to maintain an even tone. Did you have her memories then?" he asked.
"No, only some information," Cameron said, her voice going hollow.
John put an arm around her. Her hand was quaking and her right hand, the one he was holding started to twitch. He really hoped she didn't break his fingers, but he wasn't going to let go. "Ok, calm down hon. It's all in the past now, just tell me, what happened after you killed her."
"I don't know!" Cameron cried. "I was directed to bring her body back to the lab. Tubes were stuck in her neck and I was told to lay beside her, then I was taken off line!"
John thought for a moment then asked, "How long between when you killed her, and when you were lying on the table?"
"43.5 seconds." Cameron stated as a tear ran down her cheek.
"That's it? 43 seconds?" he asked.
"43.5 seconds," Cameron corrected.
John realized he had learned something important in biology. The brain could survive up to two minutes from the time the heat stopped beating , if it got oxygenated blood flow.
"Cameron, this is very important. Was Allison still lying beside you when you came back on line?"
"No, her body had been taken away. It's use was over," Cameron said with another hitch.
"I see," John said slowly. Looking at her quivering in place and a tear travel down her cheek, he asked, "When we were helping Nancy pull wires out of those planes, You jumped out and hugged me, telling me you were free. Free from what?"
"Sky Net," Cameron said quickly with a choke. "The programs were gone, I … didn't have to follow them any more." Turning her head to John she paused and said, "I… I'm not confined any more. I love you because of who you are, not because some program forces me to. John … I …" she stopped speaking and lifted up her left hand to stare at if for a moment. "I'm in a fake body! This … isn't me! It hasn't been for a long time. I DIED in that room!" she whimpered.
John's jaw dropped.
"I DIED John!" she cried. "But that didn't end it, did it?" she asked casting him a questioning look. "I tried to convince myself I was all metal. No, Sky Net convinced me I was all metal! A fake, a terminator. That there was no human in me at all. But that's not true, is it?"
"I don't think it is," John agreed. "I haven't thought that for a while. The only thing Allison's body could have been good for after you killed her was her living brain. We may never know how much, but I think that if you are not running any command programs, it is Allison's brain that is in command of your body now. This is truly who you are, Cam. You are Allison in the TOK body. Enhanced by electronics, but … well, this is you."
"Oh god!" she whined and dove into John and cried her eyes out. John held her and petted her hair and back as she wailed out her agony.
"You are still you," he said softly as he did his best to comfort her. He kissed the top of her head and in a musing tone said, "Maybe that time you got confused in the store, some … glitch happened and the real you tried to get out. You have nanites to heal, right? That means even if your brain, NOT your CPU, was damaged, over time it would be getting healed. Possibly connecting paths to your memory locations and reasoning centers to rebuild itself. With no command programs, you're truly free to be who you are."
"I can't be Allison!" Cameron cried. "I killed her! I snapped her neck! I remember that …both sides if it," she said softer. She looked up at John. "I was sitting in that chair. I was standing on the other side of the table…I reached out in anger … I grabbed myself by the neck … how … how can that be?"
John shrugged and said, "You have memories of Allison and the terminator, because you are both," John concluded. "Like you said, Instead of Sky Net driving you, programs telling what to think and do, everything is open to you now. You belong to no one but you."
"Wrong," she said and hugged him. "I'm yours, John Connor, and you are mine."
John chuckled. "That's true too," he said.
They took a moment just to cherish holding each other.
"Do I dare tell Claire?' Cameron asked quietly.
"I think she suspects already," John replied. "Though, you might want to go have a talk with her. She is your mother."
Cameron let out a giggle. "I have a mother. I really have a mother!"
"And a boyfriend who loves you with all his heart," John added. "As well as a grumpy mother-in-law to be."
Cameron popped her head up. "Say that again."
"And a boyfriend…"
"No! The mother-in-law to be," Cameron said, watching him intently.
John blinked. "I, aah just assumed… I know, I shouldn't assume like that," he said. Slipping free, John got down on his knees, gripped her hands and asked, "Cameron, I know we lead one twisted life, but when we can find the time to do it right, would you marry me?"
Cameron's face widened in a big smile. It faded as she asked, "John? I have a metal body, not a real one."
"Don't care."
"I can't have children."
"Don't care."
"I can never again be human."
"Don't care. You're my Cameron. That's all I care about," John said seriously.
Cameron slipped down to kneel with him. Hugging him tight, she said, "Yes, John I would feel proud to be your wife. Very proud and very happy!"
"I love you and you love me," he said.
"For the rest of our lives," Cameron agreed.
They pulled back to look at each other lovingly, then came together in a heartfelt kiss. The kiss went on and became lustful.
No one saw them for the next 4 hours.
.
Claire and Daniel got home after a nice dinner at Way Point station. To their surprise, fresh butternut squash was now on the menu, as was honey glazed peanuts. Claire had to as where such fancy fare came from.
The waitress said, "The gardens we have underground are producing. To pollinate the plants, bees were brought in before the bombs dropped. So we have honey too. Not a lot yet, but for things like glazing peanuts and flavoring foods, it's enough, and people love it."
"Yes I do!' Claire said with a wide grin. "I never thought I would see fresh vegetables ever again!"
With a grin the waitress cast a look at Daniel and said, "Wait until the fish farm builds up steam."
"Fish farm?" Claire asked.
Daniel frowned at the waitress. "That was suppose to be kept a secret for the time being," he grumbled. He nodded and said, "If things go good, we'll have enough catfish to feed people and maintain the stock without deleting the natural population in the lake."
He then winked and added, "Same goes for the crayfish too. Those get to be big buggers," he said, holding his hands a foot apart. "All but lobsters, meaty devils too."
Having the day end with a great meal and the promise of things looking up even further, Claire was content when they headed home. Even Allison was sleeping peacefully from her rough all day of play with the other young children.
"Who's that?" Daniel asked. Claire looked up seeing someone sitting against the side of the house with a big rifle.
Clair looked closer as they approached. The person's hood was off, hanging down their back. With the light just right from the road below, she caught her profile.
"Cameron?" Claire asked.
Cameron lifted her head, then got up. Facing Claire she said, "You were right."
Walking up to Cameron, Claire asked, "About?"
"I didn't want to remember," Cameron said, looking off to the side. "That whole thing was frightening and brutal. John helped me remember. It was still very hard to admit … to know I did that to myself. I did though. Claire, I do have Allison's brain, but the rest of me is fake. A machine. Since I didn't want to face it, I didn't want you to know, either."
Claire passed Allison to Daniel, then hugged Cameron. "It's OK dear. Please, don't tell me the details. I already feel horrible you had to go through that. I want you to remember this, though. You do your best for others. You have gone through hell, and came out the other side. I don't give a damn if your body is metal or a … full sized Godzilla! You are, and always will be my daughter, I will always be proud of you, and you can count on me any time. OK?
Cameron sniffled and hugged Claire back. "OK … Mom. I have to go watch for Grays. Your house was on the way so I just wanted to tell you, you were right."
"Thank you for that. So, when do we get to sit down with this John of yours?"
Cameron cracked a small grin and said "When we make our wedding plans."
"Oh, you better come see us before then!"Claire admonished. "Unless this is immediate?"
"No, we want to wait until we're both not so busy. We want to do it right and enjoy it," Cameron said, her smile growing.
Claire smile back and said, "I bet you do! You've earned it, Cameron. Just be sure to find a camera. I want lots of pictures."
"OK, Mom. I have to go."
"Go on, be careful and we'll see you soon."
Claire took Allison back and went inside. She felt she'd just had the best day of her life. Her daughter was a real-life super hero!
.
One thing people in the bunker, and especially in the mountain top lookout post were glad for, was the heat generated by the hydrogen engines that powered their equipment. As the thickly overcast days continued, the temperature cooled. Instead of the mid 70's seasonal norm, the temperature outside in the middle of the day was down in the 50's. At night, one could see their breath.
So far, with everyone who went outside needing to have full coverage suits, it was a little more comfortable for them. Lt. Carter noted that unless these dark clouds went away enough for the sun to break through, it was only going to get colder. It was also pretty depressing when even mid-day was dimmer than a day of thunderstorms. Not that they had seen any rain yet. They were in for a nuclear winter. Hooray.
Carter's command post for his screen of scouts was on the roof of what used to be a motorcycle shop. He'd picked this place for a couple reasons. One was it had a good, commanding view of the area. He could see the highway and two roads coming from the north. The other reason was, there were motorcycles here. The gas station down the street still had gas in the storage tanks, and some hose to draw the gas out, keys in the office for the bikes, and they had transportation for each scouting party.
Lt. Carter send out four-man scouting parties in a east-west line, making sure every road from the north was covered. A highway road working shed had piles of those orange road cones. Each scouting team had a stack of a dozen cones. The plan was simple.
Upon sighting Grays, they would follow the Grays as far as possible. A cone would be placed on it's side the direction the Grays went, another cone when the grays turned, pointing the way. Each cone would be weighed down with a rock or whatever was handy to keep it in place. The only time a cone was to be set upright was when a Gray base was found. For obvious reasons, the scouting parties were to do their best to not be detected. Connor figured, and Carter agreed, when they had enough information on the Gray movements, then the location of the Gray base would present itself.
Carter's line only covered twelve miles of every road going north to south in the area. He only had three radios, so each 'post' in the three towns they covered had one. If a scouting party found Grays, three of the men would begin following, the fourth would ride to the nearest post with a radio, and report Gray numbers and direction. That word would be passed up the chain of command to decide if they were to be overtaken, or only watched. Unless told otherwise, Gray were only to be watched.
Hearing a motorcycle, Lt. Carter saw a rider coming across a field from the west. He rode right into the shop and came up the ladder to the roof, where Carter met him.
"Sir, he said and pointed, "We got six vehicles going north, two are tractor trailers. Guys in gray clothes, carrying guns visible. No idea what's in the trucks."
"How fast, what road, show me," Carter told him and led him to the map.
.
Word was passed to command. John had the route and makeup of the Gray convoy in a matter of minutes. Updates on their track came from the scouts following the convoy. Another scout team reported the another convoy's position they were following.
John also got another report from fire base Charlie. Watching to the west with a telescope, headlights were seen going north and south on a coastal road. Small convoys that moved only during the day. From what John was seeing, it looked like Grays
were basing themselves in the Hollywood area. He decided to move some troops by those roads to grt a better look at who was coming and going.
.
Refugees were still trickling in with a near constant flow. The town that once decided they would stay in their town, thought better of it after a few people died from radiation poisoning, and they no longer had any food. By that time, several more died, and the rest of them, 63, were sent to the Charlie's medial center in the cavern hoping he could save some of them.
Their population now was 11,600 inside the bunker and cavern system. 83 were at fire base Charlie, and Weaver's facility had 340 people. A simple form of trade emerged.
Weaver made things like the prototype 'Connorstug', a small car sized vehicle on tracks, lightly armored with an inch of ceramic over the armor to ward off heat bearing weapons, and a 20MM semi-auto canon on top. The thing was also good for 62 miles an hour over roads and smooth ground. The highest point on it was 4.5 feet at the 20mm canon sight that was remotely controlled from the passenger seat.
Having two of these vehicles, in exchange for a few carts of vegetables, mushrooms and catfish, John put them to work with the scouting teams. Each one also had a radio. Carter's scouts were thrilled to have them. Between the Connorstug vehicles and motorcycles, they were able to cover more ground, quicker.
.
Three weeks after Carter's scouts began looking, they had tracked the Gray convoys back to what used to be a mansion. Despite protests, and Cameron insisting she was coming also, John went to the place where his troops were hiding near the large walled property that was now some kind of factory. There were guards there, metal T-400's and early T-800's. All the terminators though were guarding to keep people in.
In a hotel nearby, John looked at the hand drawn map Carter showed him and Derek.
"The outer wall is patrolled on the inside by 400's," Carter explained. "We have identified 10 T-400's, and six T-800's. Man wise, around three hundred, we can't be exact, they have many prisoners they are holding as slaves. We saw a couple 600's, I think those are being tested. Two convoys of semi trucks leave every day. They come and go through this gate. We've seen enough of the inside to say the large buildings here are the manufacturing plant. The smaller structure is for the Grays quarters, we don't know where the prisoners are being kept."
John studied the map and the plan Carter had made, and Derek approved. "What about their comms?" he asked.
Derek pointed at a tower and said, "Radio tower, right there. Sneak some men in to plant charges on the radio tower, when the gate is opened for a truck, a rocket takes the truck out so the gate can't be shut, the radio tower is blown, then the fun begins. Sniper and grenade launchers cover the open yard from the wall tops, we go in right though the gate. Once the yard is clear, we move in, blowing doors before us. Anyone in Gray we find, is surrenders of is shot. Anyone in gray we find with a gun is killed along with every terminator we can find."
The man on the balcony outside said, "Convoy coming in, two trucks as usual, three SUV escort."
John nodded to Derek and said, "Do it."
Derek nodded back then said on his radio, "Everyone on alert, we're blowing that first truck, get in position!"
Ladders went up against the outside walls of the mansion. Soldiers climbed up near the top, but not over. One man with a rocket launcher across the street on a roof, peeked up. As the truck turned to go into the gate he aimed. when the cab was about to enter the gate, he shot.
The gate looked impressive, but when the RPG hit the truck and blew the cab apart, the gate flew away in chunks of twisted iron. All terminators in the yard turned to the explosion. The escorts recoiled. Resistance soldiers came out of hiding nearby and poured fire into the escorts outside. Many dropped, a few just cowered in place. Those who tried to run never made four steps before they were shot down.
All the terminators inside focused on the explosion and gunfire. They moved towards the fight, looking for a target. Above them, resistance men finished their climb up to lean on the walls and shoot grenades and .50 Cal rifle fire down on them. The terminators were slow to react, causing them most of their numbers. Only three 800's turned to shoot back.
Outside the gate, the pair of Connorstugs raced up to the gate and through the mess, into the courtyard. One slid to a stop and put a 20 MM round right through an 800. The other shot, taking off an 800's arm. The machine jerked as it's arm and it's gun went flying. Men on the walls peppered the two standing 800's with .50 cal fire until they fell.
A side door opened in the building. an 800 came out. It shot at a Connorstug, the vehicle deflected it due to the steeply angled armor. The Connorstug fired back, hitting the 800 to knock it down. Both Connorstugs fired into the interior though the doorway as Connor's men poured in through the gate, and over the walls, sliding down on ropes.
Inside the factory, when the explosion and gunfire sounded outside, all the workers dropped to the floor and tried to tuck themselves under or behind machines. The terminators all moved to eliminate the threat. The Grays carrying guns, saw the 800 get blown back into the building with a large hole in it, and a couple T-400's were hit, pieces coming off them before they fell. The Gray men who saw this headed for the back of the factory, away from the fight. They ran into the stockroom to find several blackish clad men with big rifles, who opened up on them. A couple got to scream out before they were blown away.
A Gray near the production line, who was waiting for a woman to get done for the day so he could have his turn with her, ducked upon hearing the chaos outside. He forgot all about the woman as the gunfire increased and strange figures burst in to step over the downed metal terminators. He got down and aimed to fire back and something hit him in the head. He fell to the side, holding his aching head. The last thing he saw was the woman with his gun, glaring at him, and the flash of the muzzle as she shot him.
In his office, Ron realized all the exits were covered, there was no way out. The stairs down from his office had two soldiers there, aiming up at his door. He'd had his little toy in a bikini, just because she looked cute in it. He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the door. He opened the door and pushed her in view.
"Drop your guns! Back away, or I kill her!" he yelled.
He peeked out, the men hadn't moved. Another man yelled back, "If you let her go and surrender, we won't kill you. You hurt her, and there is no way you're leaving here alive!"
"I want to talk to your leader, NOW!"
After a few tense minutes, a man called up, "General Connor is coming up."
Connor? He peeked out again. Their dark clothes covered them from head to toe, even their eyes were only slits of goggles.
General Connor. John Connor, the one Sky Net was after? Was that who was coming up the steps. If he took Connor out, he was sure Sky Net would reward him handsomely. To be sure the man got close enough, Ron waited until he was only a few steps away, then stood up from behind the girl and shot Connor in the head.
Connor took another step up.
He shot again, watching the bullet move the cloth as it went in, then blood appeared. Connor took another step and was now on the other side of the girl. Ron backed up and shot again. Connor pushed the girl aside, grabbed his gun hand and twisted.
Cracking sounded as agony filled Ron's arm. He was forced to turn and bow, then he was shoved so hard he hit the wall and bounced. Dazed, he felt his other arm lifted and twisted. Crackling sounded as he wailed in pain. He then hit the floor on his face, hard.
Gasping for air, he heard a female voice. "Are you hurt?"
This bullet proof soldier was squatting in front of his girl, who was sitting, staring at her. With the head gear off, he could see the woman was young, and had a bloody trench on her cheek that had a silver bottom, two holes in her forehead were backed by silver also.
His girl asked, "Are you going to kill him?"
"Only after he tells us what we want to know."
"Can I watch?" the girl asked eagerly.
"Sure. Just stay out of the way." the woman said like a mother speaking to a child.
Ron tried to get up, his arms were useless, even trying to move them hurt bad. "I won't tell you anything!" he roared.
"You will," Cameron said, then added, "I called for a medic. Not to help you feel better, but to help keep you alive. I will torture you until you tell me everything I want to know."
"Fuck you, bitch!" he spat. He tried to kick her, His foot slammed into her hand and stopped. She squeezed, he screamed as she crushed his foot to the sound of bones crackling and snapping.
"First question, who do you work for?"
Ron paused, afraid to tell her to fuck off. She crushed his foot harder and bent his toes back against his shins. He wailed out in pain again.
"Who do you work for?" she asked calmly.
"Sky Net," he said in a squeak.
The girl he'd been abusing sat and smiled as the man who'd mistreated her was being punished for what he did. She liked this lady.
.
John was appalled at the condition the people here were in. They were bone thin, his men gave them their rations. Many were loosing their hair and teeth. Talking to some of the survivors, they were being kept alive as long as they worked. If they were too sick to work, or simply refused, they were thrown into the incinerator to be burned alive. The girl Cameron brought down from the single office above went searching person to person, looking for her father.
"This is a scrap metal recycling plant," Cameron told John. "They separate metal types to be melted down into ingots, then shipped to other Sky Net factories to be reused. It is functional, but not vital. such plants can be made easily."
"The slave labor is what made it worth operating," John concluded.
"Yes. Sky Net told the Gray what they want, he shipped it to where Sky Net told him."
"Is this the only plant?" John asked.
"No, there are more. I have the list of places he shipped to. Some are in Oregon, Utah, and farther east. There is a storage facility in Nevada he was told to send material to when there was no other need for it."
"Places to hit when we can," John stated.
"Yes. John Henry thinks we have a couple more weeks before Sky Net tries it's long distance communications again."
"And what do you think?" John asked.
Cameron tipped her head slightly and said, "I think John Henry looks hard at facts, but misses some things. Instead of trying to force a signal though the radioactive air at a long distance, Sky Net will work at a string of short distance radio towers like we are forming. That will be more efficient and less chance of failure."
"I think you're right," John agreed. "Have we picked up anything from Sky Net yet?"
"Not directly, No," Cameron said in a grumble. "It's almost like Sky Net is hiding. It had units and Grays, yes, but every communication is second or third hand. Sky Net does not come into this half of North America at all. I'm afraid it is building up massive forces to hit us with."
Cameron felt a tug in her arm. The red headed girl in the bikini, now wearing a resistance blanket around her shoulders, said, "My dad died, he was burned up. I found out from a man who was in the next cell, I have no place to go. What do I do?"
"Come back with us, I am sure Claire can find you something." Cameron told her.
"Who's Claire?"
"My mother."
"I don't have a mother any more … or a father." the girl said sadly.
"What's your name?" Cameron asked.
"Cindy."
"Would you like it I asked my Mom ad Dad to be your Mom and Dad too?" Cameron asked gently.
"So, you'd be my sister?" Cindy asked.
"I would."
"OK!" Cindy heartily agreed.
"General!" Derek called over. "Area verified secure. We also got a truck load of coltan in the second trailer."
"Thank you Colonel. Get that truck ready to move, Weaver's going to need it." He grinned at Cameron and said, "We might have coltan terminators before Sky Net does."
Cameron nodded, then with a grin, said, "I know where there's another truckload of it. Right where I dumped it in the ocean."