Chapter 1418
That's Terrible
The prisoner was back on the main street. She was aware there was more of a chance of being spotted. She was sure the Terminators were going to miss her at some point. They would definitely be back to look for her when they did. She needed to get some different clothes. She headed back in the direction the truck came from. With all the starts, stops and turns, she'd lost all sense of direction or even time traveled. She'd been unconscious twice on top of it since her capture.
There was a grocery store up ahead. She hurried there and found a donation bin for clothes out in front of it. It was overflowing. There were sacks and boxes piled up around it full of clothes. She looked in a box and pulled it around the backside of the bin up against a wall. She didn't want to be obvious and draw more attention to what she was about to do than necessary.
She found some dark clothing in the box. She stripped off her shirt and tossed it in the box. She was about to put a sweatshirt on. There was a slight noise behind her.
"What happened to you?" A female voice asked. "Are you hurt?"
The prisoner looked down at her burn scars and withered breast. She already had several cover stories ready for different scenarios about different things.
"I'm a little down on my luck." The prisoner said. "The scars are from when my apartment burned down. I lost everything."
She moved further behind the bin and quickly changed her pants.
"I won't hurt you." The female said.
The prisoner picked up a pair of sneakers that looked like they would fit.
"I need to go." The prisoner said.
The female wanted to help.
"I can take you to a shelter." The female said.
The prisoner wanted to get away from there. She tried not to look at who spoke to her.
"How far is it?" The prisoner asked. "Maybe I better not."
The prisoner went to move off. She saw it was an elderly lady holding a box full of old clothes.
"You can look through my things. I was going to donate them." The female said. "Let me set this down. I can donate them to you. Please look and take whatever you want."
The elderly lady set the box down and backed away from it.
The prisoner moved up cautiously and looked in the box. The clothes were too nice for her to wear right now.
"I'll get jumped if I wear those nice things on the street." The prisoner said.
The elderly lady looked a little uneasy.
"That's terrible." The female said. "Has it happened before?"
The prisoner thought back to her time in the future. The Wastelands were a terrible place to be. A lot of bad things happen there. It wasn't just the abuse either.
"Yes." The prisoner said. "No one cares."
The elderly lady looked concerned.
A horn honked twice.
The elderly lady looked over at a car. There was an elderly man behind the wheel.
"That's my husband." The female said. "We can take you to a shelter."
The prisoner didn't want to be offensive to the elderly lady.
"Thanks. I don't want to be a bother." The prisoner said. "Sometimes bad things happen at those places too. Not everyone is nice. Normally once they get my shirt off, they get disgusted and leave me alone. Not always."
The elderly lady clearly didn't like what she'd heard.
"That's terrible." The female said again.
The horn honked one more time. It was longer and louder this time.
"I need to go." The female said.
She reached in her pocket and walked over and put something in the prisoner's hand.
It was some money. The prisoner was glad to see it. She needed some. She also didn't want to put someone else in a bind.
"I can't take this." The prisoner said. "You look retired and are on a fixed income."
The horn blew again.
The elderly lady glanced back with a look of disgust on her face.
"We're good." The female said. "My husband was a lawyer. I'd give you more if I had it on me because he's rude and honking. He'll be appropriately 'punished' for the next week because of this."
The elderly female turned to walk away.
"Thank you." The prisoner said. "Most people don't care."
The elderly female looked back.
"Good luck and get off the street before it gets late." The female said.
The prisoner watched her get in the car and drive away. The older man glared at her as they passed.
She looked at the money and saw it was more than enough to get a burner phone. There was a liquor store on the corner by the supermarket. She took one more look at the clothing from the elderly lady and took out a sweater and some socks. She put everything on and headed for the liquor store.
She paused and went back and took a blanket that was neatly folded. It might get colder later on. She also might need it to cover someone over if she needed to kill them. She wouldn't want them spotted right away. It was about survival right now. She knew she couldn't do too much too fast. The money was a good start. The burner phone would be a further start. She still needed a weapon and transportation.
She figured transportation would be easier to obtain than a weapon. She wanted to get out of the immediate area as soon as possible. It was where the Terminators would look for her first.
Cammy was on an intercept course towards where the prisoner was.
Savannah watched the drone images from her phone. She could see the female move away from the donation bin. One of the trackers remained there.
It was located in the clothing the prisoner wore. It was supposed to be an easy find for a detection device. The hope was it would prevent them from looking further once it was found. It was no longer the case.
"We just lost one of the trackers." Savannah said.
Young Alison didn't want them to worry. She'd planned for such an eventuality.
"There are still two more and there's a drone over her." Young Allison said.
Anna viewed a zoomed in image of the female and the elderly lady.
"It looked like the other female gave her some money." Anna said. "She can use it to buy a burner."
Cammy hoped it would give them a break. She wanted to know who they contacted. It would give them additional targets.
"John Henry should be able to track it." Cammy said. "That's unless she's on some encrypted Wi-Fi VPN network."
Young Allison saw it as a 'break' for them.
"He just needs to track who she calls." Young Allison said. "It will be someone else in her group. We can see where the phone is at. I don't think it'll be the main group yet either. We need to let things play out."
Savannah could see things might work out a little better than she'd thought at first. John Henry and CamNet should be able to track everything. Maybe this is the break they'd been waiting for. She would like to deliver a knockout blow to the anti-Metal group while Cameron was away. It should give her a little peace.
She also hoped it would quell Cameron's actions somewhat. She didn't want her to get carried away with what she was doing on the ship.
Allison and Vanna stripped and took a bath in the big whirlpool tub. They shared a playful time with each other. Vanna found a bubble bath packet and added it into the water. It was soon a frothing mass of bubbles.
They would spend some time 'relaxing' in the tub. They both 'found' a strong water jet. They let them go to 'work' as they touched and kissed each other. They were both going to 'finish' before they even got started in the bedroom.
The 'dessert' was good with the girls from the ship. Right now is where they most wanted to be. It was always in each other's arms.
Hanna and Ally were headed to the casino.
They both received a message through their coms.
They were redirected to go to the top of the sky lounge and relieve Jim so he could return to his post. The message was from CamNet.
"It looks like we get babysitting duty instead of gambling action." Ally said.
Hanna saw it as a higher duty.
"If Cameron needs us, I don't care." Hanna said. "We don't sleep."
Ally didn't really want to go to the casino anyway. Being there with Sheila caused enough anxiety anyway.
"I'm good with it too." Ally said. "We probably won't score with the girls from the ship now."
Hanna didn't want to get pegged for not being Vanna.
"I've gotten by so far with the girls. I don't have a scar. My breasts are smaller than Vanna's and nothing comes out of them when someone tries to make it." Hanna said. "I could tell they checked me out. I quickly focused on them and they soon forgot everything."
Ally knew they could take a human girl to the 'edge'.
"Taking a human female to heaven, and holding her there, will do it." Ally said. "You have to worry they will 'forget' how to breathe if you go too far."
Hanna was aware Gail did it with Jesse more than once.
They headed for the rear elevator. It opened as they approached.
Hanna thought about kissing Ally as the elevator went up but decided against it since CamNet would be watching them.
The elevator reached the top of the sky lounge and they exited from the small room the elevator was in out onto the deck. They went around to the back and found Cameron and Jim.
Ally wanted to have some fun with them.
"Couldn't you two have at least been kissing or groping each other when we arrived?" Ally asked.
Cameron wondered why they were there. She figured CamNet sent them. She was ready with a quick reply.
"I just told Jim you two would allow him to do it before he returned to his post." Cameron said.
Hanna hit right back.
"What makes you think we already didn't do it?" Hanna asked.
Jim was relieved to see them. He hoped they would both volunteer their chassis before Cameron asked him to borrow his. He was sure she was building up to it. He decided to make a break for it.
"I'll leave you three here and get back to work." Jim said.
He excused himself and left.
Ally and Hanna were out in the cold air with Cameron.
Hanna looked at the darkness around them. There was nothing to see where they were.
"I've got hard nipples already." Hanna said. "Why are we out here again?"
Cameron touched herself. She wasn't cold, but her sheath still reacted as a human female's would.
"I wanted to get away from it all for a while." Cameron said. "I think everything is hard or shrunken on me by now."
Ally could think of a place with a little more action as well as warmth. It was right below them.
"We could go down a deck and be inside the sky lounge instead of on top of it." Ally said.
Hanna thought it would be a better environment for Cameron. She didn't want her to do anything rash from the upper deck of the sky lounge.
"We can find a nice corner and settle in there until you need to go elsewhere." Hanna said.
Cameron felt bad the girls were going to be tied up with her.
"You two can go on and have some fun." Cameron said. "I'm good."
Hanna wasn't about to leave Cameron alone. The 'Vanna' in her wouldn't allow it.
"Being with you is fun." Hanna said.
They went down the stairs on the outside and entered the sky lounge from the far corner. No one seemed to notice their arrival. They could see people dancing and hear the music. The alcohol seemed to flow very freely. It was the last night of the cruise and some people tried to make the most of it.
They would pay the price tomorrow in more ways than one. They would be hung over and receive their bar tab. For some people, the bar tab far outweighed the cost of the cruise.
Mary and Laura gambled with 'Barbara', 'Mysti' and 'Lisa'.
It was really Camille-Holly, Holly-Camille, and Gail-Cam. Their chips were all in a different chassis right now. Their human girlfriends were all back in the private area in their suites.
The three of them helped Mary and Laura to 'clean up' some. They all seemed to have a good time with each other. The Metal girls hoped to be with Mary, Laura and Leticia later on.
Sheila was with Leticia now.
Leticia thought Camille-Holly as 'Barbara' was Cameron. She hoped for a little more action. From what she'd witnessed, it appeared 'Barbara' was of the sharing type. It also seemed to be something Sue wanted her to do. She was more than willing on her own. She wanted to make sure it was OK.
"Will I get to be with 'Tony' tonight?" Leticia asked. "I don't mind. I'll let him do whatever he wants. I'll do whatever he asks."
Sheila was aware Cameron considered the option at one time. John was with Young Jesse currently. It seemed unlikely at this point.
"I think 'Stephany' has it covered." Sheila said. "She appears to like her new found activity."
Leticia would be happy to be with Sheila then. It didn't sound like she would have a chance to be with 'Stephany' either. She decided not to mention it. She didn't want to upset 'Sue'.
"We can go back to my suite anytime." Leticia said. "Or do you want to win some more?"
Sheila already won plenty for Leticia. She didn't want to get carried away. It was easy to do when she started to win. She always felt the need to push it when the overseers in the casino became nervous.
"We can go back." Sheila said. "Did you want to be with Mary or Laura again?"
Leticia didn't think it would be a problem going forward. She was a little worried about what her future held. She really hoped 'Sue' was going to take her in as her submissive.
"We may hook up after the cruise." Leticia said. "I still need a place to stay since I won't be living with Tracy anymore."
Sheila already made plans for her. She knew she was going to have to do something. She thought about terminating Tracy and allowing Leticia to have her place. She didn't think it was a good strategy going forward. There would probably be some questions about Tracy's disappearance. The finger would surely be pointed at Leticia sooner or later. She wanted something better for Leticia anyway.
"I'll help you out with it." Sheila said. "If Mary and Laura will have you, and you want to make it a threesome, it would be better for you."
They talked over a few more things and decided to leave. Mary and Laura left as well with them. They all went back to their suites.
Sheila turned Leticia over to Holly-Camille. It left three Metal girls with the three girls from the ship.
After they were in their suites, Sheila went to the private area to check in with Jim. She wanted to see what other duties she needed to perform before she got carried away with anything. She was a little surprised he wasn't there.
Cam-Gail was still there.
"Where's Jim?" Sheila asked.
Cam-Gail thought he would return soon.
"He went to get some supplies." Cam-Gail said.
Sheila knew she'd slacked off on her maid duties. She knew it was her duty to help. It was what she was there to do now.
"It's my fault." Sheila said.
Cam-Gail got her up to speed with what was happening on the developing operation against the anti-Metal faction.
Sheila didn't approve of the experimental technique either. She thought she could have handled things better herself, quite literally.
"I would've made her 'sing' a long time ago." Sheila said. "I hope she's still alive when we get off the ship. I'll go and pay her a special visit."
Sheila didn't think there was much she could do about any of the outside operations until tomorrow.
She checked on how Young Jesse was doing. She really hoped to get Cameron to use her chassis one more time before the cruise was over. If not, she planned to be with the three girls from the ship one more time. It seemed all the Metal girls wanted the same thing.
The prisoner was able to buy a burner. She went to the neighboring coffee shop and made a few calls. She didn't use the cellular network.
She watched a pick up truck pull up in front of the liquor store. When it stopped, the driver ran up on the tire stop bumper and then backed up off of it. He staggered out of the cab and went into the store to buy more liquor. It was obvious to her the driver was intoxicated. It seemed like the opportunity she'd been waiting for. She sent one last message and went back outside. There was something she needed to retrieve which she'd left in the coffee shop. It was the blanket.
The driver returned to the truck and got in. He opened a bottle and took a heavy pull. He coughed harshly for a few seconds and took another long pull. It went on for a time until the bottle was empty. He tossed it in the back of the truck bed. He started the truck and were about to leave. Nothing happened. The truck sat there running.
The prisoner previously climbed in the back of the truck and covered herself with the blanket. She'd gone back to the coffee shop to retrieve it. There were a multitude of cans and bottles in the bed of the truck. They were all empty. It appeared the driver was an alcoholic. She was a little surprised when a bottle was tossed in the back and landed on top of her. It landed on the blanket actually. It rolled off to one side.
She waited for the truck to pull away after it was started but it never did. It just sat there running. She lifted the blanket and looked out. She edged her eye up to the rear window and looked in. The driver was slumped over off to the side. It looked like they'd passed out.
The prisoner got out and tried the door on the driver's side. It was locked. She went to the passenger's side and tried it. It was open. She opened the door and looked at the driver. She grabbed him and braced her feet against the side of the seat and pulled him over enough for her to get into the driver's seat. She hit the 'unlock' button to unlock the driver's door. She went around and climbed in. She put the truck in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. She looked around and headed out onto the main street.
She felt she'd been fortunate so far in acquiring the items she wanted. What she needed most now was a weapon. It worried her some because none of the weapons she might find were going to do much damage to a Terminator. They certainly weren't going to stop it.
Cammy's team watched the whole event.
"Now she has some wheels." Young Allison said.
The hope was the prisoner would lead them back to her base of operations.
"All we need to do is follow her back." Cammy said. "It looks like easy money."
Savannah wasn't so sure about it. The prisoner attempted to evade their surveillance in the coffee shop.
"What about those calls or messages she sent?" Savannah asked.
Young Allison wondered about it too. She didn't think it was easy money either. She thought they needed to be extra cautious.
"I think she is going back, but she is having an ambush set up." Young Allison said.
Anna thought of another issue.
"What if she directed them all clear out of wherever they were?" Anna asked. "They could all be gone by now."
If it was the case, they'd be even harder to track down. It looked like a lot of possibilities without any concrete answers.
Young Allison was a little concerned about Anna's scenario. If they'd allowed the Terminators to beat the answers out of her, they would know where some of the anti-Metal group could be found, if not all of them. If they cleared out from whatever location or locations they were in, they would only have the female prisoner. She may or may not know where they'd relocated. They might have a protocol in place for such an eventuality. They could beat on the female prisoner until she terminated and they still wouldn't know.
She still believed her hunch would pay off. Right now it looked like it was up in the air.
John Henry tracked the messages even through several VPN sites.
"The messages make no sense." John Henry said.
Summer looked at them. It appeared to be a built in safeguard.
"They're prearranged trigger phrases." Summer said. "Whoever looks at them will know what each one means."
The messages didn't go to anyone specific. They were posted into a search engine and popped up as part of the search list. They were all for common things where thousands of people searched for every minute.
"I don't have a target." John Henry said.
Summer believed they could narrow the search considerably.
"You need to isolate any of the searchers within a ten to twenty mile radius of here." Summer said.
John Henry already made the attempt.
"I've already done it." John Henry said. "There are dozens of hits every few minutes."
John Henry would try and correlate any of the hits with any of the other hits from her previous messages.
Summer thought there were other things they needed to worry about as well.
"I think she'll run through at least one ambush to get to where she's going." Summer said. "Warn the troops."
It was John Henry's assessment of the situation as well.
It seemed the operation had a lot of variables. He was sure once she made contact with her group, they would find one, if not both of the trackers on the female.
Sheila went out and found Jim. She took over anything he needed to finish up on.
She could see he tried to busy himself. It seemed he was troubled.
"What are you so worried about?" Sheila asked.
Jim didn't want to say. He was pretty sure Cameron would want to use his chassis before they disembarked.
"I'm fine." Jim said.
Sheila figured it was because he was worried about doing 'chassis duty' in the Owner's Suite. She wanted to ease his mind some.
"I'll take your place, sport." Sheila said as they worked. "Don't worry about it."
Jim was worried about it.
"Thanks." Jim said.
Sheila was sure if John had his choice, he would pick the human girls first. It was what she would do in his situation anyway.
They finished up and returned to the Control Center.
Sheila hoped Cameron did 'call' Jim. It would give her another chance to be with John with Cameron in control. She would even allow Cameron to switch chips with her. At this point, she really wanted to switch chips with one of the male Terminators and make the rounds of the Metal girls herself. It would be nice to get the 'male feedback' this time as opposed to 'nothing' with 'Steely Dan'.
Well, she did get back something. She got to see the reaction it produced with the females she used it on. It seemed to be a little more explicit with the human girls as opposed to the Metal girls.
Cam-Gail was surprised to see John leave the Honeymoon suite. She was sure he would stay there all night. He was out and went back to the Owner's Suite. He did pause as he was about to leave the Honeymoon suite and lean his head back inside. She saw two arms wrap around him for a few seconds and then disappear as he left.
Jim and Sheila were walking towards her when it happened. They'd missed it.
She quickly filled them in.
Sheila wanted her 'one time' with John like Cameron promised her. She looked at Cam-Gail. She thought she might have the best shot.
"Jim's here, it frees you up, love." Sheila said.
Cam-Gail felt the timing wasn't right.
"I'm fine assisting here." Cam-Gail said. "There are too many of 'Cameron' out now."
Sheila came up with a better idea. Cam-Gail could play 'Cameron' and she could go into the Owner's Suite with her for a 'chassis swap'. They could both get their 'one time'. Nobody really believed Cameron would make good on her 'promise'. Cameron got what she wanted from each of the Metal girls. There was no incentive for her to reciprocate at this point.
Jim didn't want the Metal girls to get in trouble.
"I just notified Cameron that John was back in the Owner's Suite." Jim said.
It wasn't what Sheila wanted to hear.
"Let me go over and see how Young Jesse is doing." Sheila said.
She wanted to check things out first hand.
Jim didn't think his next action would go over very well either. He wanted to show some justification for it.
"I already notified Holly-Camille that Young Jesse was available." Jim said. "She asked me to do it previously."
It was more bad news to Sheila.
Cam-Gail saw the chance for an opportunity.
"It's going to leave Laura without a partner." Cam-Gail said. "I can go by and help her out."
Sheila knew Cam-Gail must have been watching what was going on in the suites on the hidden cameras Jim installed for 'security purposes'.
Jim wasn't so sure it was a good idea. They would need to be careful in their actions going forward.
"Camille-Holly is there now." Jim said. "You'll need to go as 'Allison' as 'Peggy' since Camille-Holly is there as 'Barbara'."
Cam-Gail didn't see it as too big of an obstacle.
"I'll do it." Cam-Gail said.
Cam-Gail left and passed Holly-Camille on her way back to the Honeymoon Suite.
"Cameron is on her way back." Jim said. "Ally and Hanna are with her."
Sheila figured she could do something with Ally and Hanna. She needed to speak privately with Cameron first.
"If you have everything here under control I'll go meet them." Sheila said. "I'll take the heat off of you with Cameron."
Jim looked relieved.
"Thank you." Jim said.
Sheila smiled at him and blew him a kiss as she went out into the private area. She still hoped she would be able to borrow his chassis with a chip swap. She really wanted to make the rounds with all of the girls. She didn't care who she started with. Wait, she should start with her own chassis. It would give Sheila-Jim something to think about right from the start. It would also set a baseline as to how each of the Metal girl's sheaths 'stacked' up.
John Henry directed the five teams on where the truck was headed. There was a drone with each team and two with Cammy's team. It was 'Coltan Overcast' and 'Cherry Bomb' who'd asked to take over as their drones. They wanted to be with Savannah and Young Allison.
There were two drones over the truck and several more on recon around the teams. Everything seemed covered. The only question was where the truck was going.
Summer watch the drone images as well as the satellite overlay map. She deduced what was about to happen.
"She's started an evasive pattern." Summer said. "You need to have the teams back off or they will be identified with the maneuver she's started. It was the same technique the anti-Metal team employed before."
John Henry knew the previous group ended up in the 'deep blue' when they were done with them.
"I've sent out the 'stand down' warning." John Henry said.
Summer knew there was another issue no one mentioned. She thought it was a very important one based upon their previous experience with some of the anti-Metal groups.
"They most likely have an EMP, or a few of them." Summer said. "We know they have possessed them before. Send out the warning."
John Henry did know it. It meant the burden of the assault would fall on Savannah's back again. The worst part of it was, Young Allison was going to be with her. He didn't want to see her in combat again until Cameron came back. If she was in combat twice without Cameron, he knew she was going to be upset.
He wondered if he should involve Derek and Kyle at this point. Most likely Sarah would want to go along. If Claire found out, she would want to go. It meant Jesse would go with her. They would need a Terminator escort so he would need to go with them. It all seemed very convoluted and complicated.
"I don't think you should involve them." Summer said.
John Henry checked his files. He hadn't said anything. Summer knew what he thought. He looked at Summer and nodded.
John Henry sent out the notification.
Cammy's team received the EMP warning.
Savannah quickly realized what it entailed. It meant the Terminators may become incapacitated. It could also affect the drones and would most likely affect all of their electrical devices, including their phones.
"I won't be able to cover all the teams." Savannah said.
Young Allison saw it as an opportunity. It was time to step up. She was more than ready.
"I can cover two of them." Young Allison said.
Savannah knew it was a sound tactical decision. She knew Young Allison wasn't going to leave the fight at this point no matter what she did. If there was an EMP attack, she would need all the help she could get.
"It may come to it." Savannah said. "The drones all need to get some additional altitude and distance too."
Anna could see the effectiveness of the drones would be affected as well.
"They'll be out of gun range. The EMP may affect a missile's trajectory." Anna said. "It's going to limit their usefulness."
Young Allison was glad they'd previously developed unconventional attack methods.
"They can do gravity shots with the gun and a missile dropped like a bomb." Young Allison said.
Everyone knew those were techniques Young Allison worked on and perfected with CamNet. They would be useful. They'd proven their worth more than once so far. They would most likely be tested again.
They would need to know what the yield was on the EMP devices. It could be a small one, or a larger one. It was doubtful any would have a range greater than a few miles. They didn't know for sure if they even possessed any, but they could. It was doubtful anything which was detonated on the ground would have a range of more than five to ten miles maximum. The drones operated at higher altitudes already in the daylight. It seemed most likely EMP grenades would be used. They were small, easy to use and affected only the immediate battlefield. They were most effective against Terminators or HK equipment.
Young Allison wanted some safeguards.
"They could also have access to a Skynet jamming field." Young Allison said. "They could trigger it and then wait to use the EMP once everyone was cut off from communication."
Cammy could see the confusion in it. No one would know where anyone was at after a few minutes.
"What's your proposal?" Cammy asked.
Young Allison looked at Savannah.
"Savannah knows." Young Allison said.
Savannah glanced at Cammy and then at Young Allison.
"I'm going to need to go in alone." Savannah said.
Young Allison looked at Savannah.
"You won't be alone." Young Allison said.
Savannah didn't want it to play out, but she knew it may come to it. Young Allison already proved herself in battle. She didn't want Derek, Kyle or Sarah to get involved again. They'd done it on their own before. They'd done it to get her out of the building.
She knew they came for her. They didn't know Young Allison was in there with her.
Cameron was elated John returned to the Owner's Suite alone. She hurried to get back. Ally and Hanna needed to hurry to catch up to her.
"She seems fine to me now." Ally said.
Hanna thought so too. They didn't want Cameron to get sidetracked.
"We'll follow her back anyway." Hanna said.
Ally hoped for a little action with the new girls.
"Maybe we can get the other Metal girls to share some with us." Ally said.
Hanna planned on something else if Camille-Holly and Gail-Cam were tied up.
"Maybe we can see Allison and Vanna." Hanna said.
Ally liked the idea if the new girls were tied up.
"It sounds good to me." Ally said.
Cameron started to pull away from them. It seemed she was in a real hurry.
"Let's stay with Cameron." Hanna said as they hurried to catch up to her.
Cameron tried to keep herself from running. She felt a compulsion to do so. She knew what needed to be done and was fine with it. If John did his 'business' a few times and then returned to their suite, it showed he wanted to be with her. Maybe she would reward him with one of the Metal girl's chassis as part of a treat. Ally and Hanna were behind her. She would talk to him first and see who he wanted.
Jim should be back in the Control Center. Maybe she would give John a real surprise…. She would really like to see the look on his face when she - started. It would be hard to do since he'd be facing away from her. The thought actually excited her. It would also give John a taste of his own medicine, quite literally.
It was discussed and decided the teams would combine into bigger units. Steve and Tom would be with Al and Ed in the same SUV. Richard and Michael would combine with Larry and Hank. One of them would go into standby and reboot every three minutes. The time interval may be cut shorter as they neared a destination.
Savannah took over the wheel of the SUV. Mel joined Cammy and her, when Young Allison and Anna left.
Young Allison took over the wheel of the other SUV. Anna joined her along with Randy and Brian.
It gave them four teams.
The drones all moved to higher altitudes and much wider orbits. It always gave the zoom lenses on their cameras a workout.
Cammy and Anna elected to be the ones in standby so they could be with Savannah and Young Allison after an EMP was deployed. All bets were off if there was a second EMP blast. Everything might fall on the backs of the girls, again.
The prisoner drove the truck she'd 'borrowed'. She was afraid the driver was going to wake up soon. She'd found a revolver in the glove box. She hoped she didn't need to use it on the driver. She would if she needed to. They were fighting a war and there were casualties in wartime. It would be the driver's actions which determined their fate. Maybe she should just dump them by the side of the road. She didn't plan to be in the truck much longer if her messages were received.
She was close to making contact with some of the people in her group. There hadn't been any tail spotted and she was sure her escape was genuine at this point. It looked like a clean getaway.
She was going to have one wild story to tell. She sure hoped she wasn't being tracked somehow.
She really didn't know how badly she'd been set up.
Lena and Tina kept up their relaxed pursuit of the white van. It appeared it would arrive at the old supermarket soon. They knew there was a possibility the van could head for the port next. Both of those locations were part of the same operation. There'd been a lab involved with them as well.
If they headed towards the port, it could turn into a serious issue. The cruise ship with the Resistance members was supposed to dock tomorrow morning. Any incident around the port could delay the ship's arrival. It could be held outside of the breakwater for an undetermined amount of time.
The satellite overlay map showed the van was headed for the old supermarket. The drone stayed with it from a higher altitude. It was because of the situation with a current Resistance operation and the possible threat of an EMP from the anti-Metal faction.
It was believed the men in the white van were Grays. A few precautions still needed to be taken.
Lena felt they should take a different course of action.
"I think we should terminate the two men so we can assist in the operation with Savannah and Young Allison." Lena said.
Tina wanted to assist as well.
"I don't think it's going to happen yet." Tina said. "We need to see what the two men are up to. Everything they've done is highly suspicious."
CamNet instructed them to remain with their current operation. They needed to ascertain if something was going to happen at the port later on.
They always tried to take a different street than the white van took. They didn't want to get led into an ambush. The white van pulled up in of back of the supermarket.
"They don't seem very subtle about it." Lena said.
It worried Tina more than a little.
"It's almost as if they want to be challenged." Tina said.
Lena thought so as well.
"I don't think it's us who they expect to challenge them." Lena said.
Tina thought about the other possibilities.
"It could be the anti-Metal faction, another group of Grays, or the Fanatics." Tina said.
Lena thought it could be a little more involved.
"We still need to consider the Syndicate." Lena said. "They lost a lot of soldiers with their involvement at this location. It was a follow up on their association with Skynet forces in Las Vegas."
Tina hoped it wasn't.
"It brings up the possibility of the port again if it's the Syndicate." Tina said.
They checked the drone images over the big rigs. They were also able to check up on the female Fanatic and her new friend. It still appeared there were a couple of men who thought they were going to get a couple of new 'friends' as well.
CamNet's Terminators watched the drone footage as the two men from the white van attempted to gain entry into the rear of the old supermarket. There was also footage from the surveillance cameras they'd hidden around the area previously.
The female Fanatic looked around both sides of the gas station before she entered the restroom. She used the toilet and stood in front of the sink. She took some paper towels and wiped off all of her exposed skin. She felt very dirty from being in the back of the big rig. It had been hot in there during the daytime.
She knew she needed to follow the big rigs. She didn't know how long it would be until they pulled out. There was a shabby looking motel near the diner. It was possible they might spend the night there. It might not be the entire night. It might only be four to six hours. She really didn't know.
Jill remained outside the restroom. She was a little surprised to see the truck pull up in front of the gas pumps. She didn't think it was a good sign. She could see the two men look over at her. She reached back and touched the pistol behind her. She knew all she needed to do was point it and pull the trigger.
The female Fanatic came out of the restroom.
Jill looked over at her.
"We have trouble." Jill said. "It's those two men in the truck."
The female Fanatic could see Jill was spooked. She didn't blame her.
"Be cool." The female Fanatic said. "Don't pull your gun."
There was a loud scraping noise as a truck pulling a toy hauler trailer entered into the gas station off of the main highway. It pulled across in front of the truck up to the pump on the other side. The trailer blocked their view of the truck. It also prevented the truck from turning into the area where they were at.
"Should we leave?" Jill asked. "We didn't get any more supplies."
The female Fanatic thought exposure was their best bet. They could drive around the back of the gas station and pull up on the other side of it. They would be in a well lit area. No one would try anything if they were there. Wait, if they were in the well lit area, anyone from the diner could look over and see the car. They would see it was two females as well. She didn't want the car identified.
If the truck was going to be a problem, she would rather engage the men on the road away from any population or witnesses. If they played their cards right, they might even be able to take the truck after they killed the two men.
Seconds ago:
The two men in the pickup truck pulled up to the pump where the first skank originally parked with her beat up car. It was almost like déjà vu to them. They'd done exactly the same thing earlier.
"I see one of the skanks by the car." The first man said.
The second man looked around them to see if anyone was paying attention. It didn't look like it.
"If we move quickly, we can put the grab on her and wait for the other one to come out of the restroom." The second man said.
The first man wasn't so sure.
"She might not come out of the bathroom if she hears anything." The first man said.
The second man was anxious to put the grab on them.
"I don't want them to get away." The second man said.
They saw the second female emerge from the restroom.
"There's the other slut now." The first man said.
The second man wanted to act.
"Let's go." The second man said.
No sooner had he finished his sentence, than there was a loud scrape noise. A pickup hauling a trailer pulled across in front of them just as they were about to move.
"You've got to be kidding me." The first man said.
The second man could see their path forward was blocked.
"Back up and go around." The second man said.
The first man thought the truck with the trailer would pull a little further forward. If it did, he would have room to go around the back of it.
"Hold on a second." The first man said.
The second man decided to act.
"Back up and come around from the other side." The second man said. "I'm going to put the grab on them now. We'll have them boxed in."
The second man got out of the truck. He moved around the rear of the trailer.
"Damn." The second man shouted.
Two people had gotten out of the passenger side of the truck with the trailer.
"Is something wrong, buddy?" The first person asked.
The second man looked over. He knew there were witnesses now.
"Everything's good, bro." The second man said.
The second man continued along the side of the service station. When we reach the far side, the pickup truck arrived with the first man in it.
The first man looked around.
"What happened? The first man asked.
"They're gone." The second man said.
"Where'd they go?" The first man asked.
"They're just gone." The second man said.
The second man walked over and got in the truck.
"That's a bummer, dude." The first man said.
The second man looked all around.
"Did you see the car anywhere?" The second man asked.
The first man thought it should be obvious.
"I didn't see anything." The first man said.
The first man backed the pickup up and made a three point turn at one of the gas pumps on the other side. They pulled out to the street and looked in both directions. There was no sign of any tail lights. They looked over towards the diner. They could hear a big rig start up. They could see two of the trucks had their lights on and were already running. It looked like they were ready to leave. A few seconds later the lights came on in the third one. They pulled away one by one and went back out onto the main highway.
The second man looked around in total disgust.
"Damn." The second man said. "I already pulled some 'wood' in anticipation of what would happen."
The second man glanced over.
"TMI, dude." The first man said.
"Let's just go." The second man said.
The two men in the pickup pulled out onto the cross street and stopped at the stop sign. They turned onto the main highway
Earlier:
Jill opened the driver's door.
The female Fanatic knew it was time to leave.
"Quick, get in the car. Let's go." The female Fanatic said.
Jill got in and closed the door. She started the car.
The female Fanatic hurried to the other side. They quickly drove away.
"Which way should I go?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic quickly evaluated the situation.
"Go straight across the street and behind the motel." The female Fanatic said.
The female Fanatic could see one of the big rigs was already started. The lights were on.
Jill noticed it too as she pulled in along the side of the motel and headed for the back. She was more worried about the men in the truck right now.
"Do you see them?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic looked behind them.
"I don't see them at all." The female Fanatic said.
Jill watched the lights come on in the second big rig.
"It looks like our friends are on the move." Jill said.
The female Fanatic knew they needed to wait a little bit.
"We need to let them leave." The female Fanatic said.
The third big rig started. The big trucks left the lot behind the diner one by one and went back onto the main highway.
The female Fanatic watched the big rigs leave. She knew they would need to wait a little bit before they began to follow them. She spotted the pickup truck go in the same direction a minute later. She wasn't convinced she'd seen the last of them. They were going to be out on the road with them again soon enough.
That's Terrible
Two may not always remain
Joyful, happy and compatible
They always need to watch out
For any unforeseen variable
A journey may become more
It could turn into a crucible
Many things are possible
Not all of them are feasible
Take a good look around
There's an ever changing ensemble
There's more than one
Who can become available
Things can quickly devolve
Into a wild messy scramble
One needs to adjust and adapt
Everything must remain flexible
To let the other speak liable
May turn into a fatal quibble
It's not the way to end things
It's a finish that's terrible
Nobody
