Chapter 1549


That's The Reaction


Young Allison didn't like it because there was a group of buildings they didn't know what was inside of them. She wanted to take a risk and see what they could flush out.

"I think we should have a drone drop down to just out of Terminator hearing range for some better scans." Young Allison said. "If they have anything more capable than a Terminator, we should know soon enough. There might be an HK drone response."

Anna figured it might provoke a reaction if there were any HK Tracks or HK Treads there as well.

"If the drone is detected, and they have any, they should send them out to investigate." Anna said. "It will tip their hand more than we tipped ours."

Young Allison thought now was the time to find out before Cam's team was too involved. CamNet indicated there were six of their drones in the area, plus 'Coltan Overcast' and 'Cherry Bomb'. There were also four drones over Bob's team or at the location of the manager at the Hotel Six. She believed their drones held an advantage in effectiveness, as well as quantity.

"Our drones are set up for air to air, as well as air to ground capability." Young Allison said. "I think we have them outgunned and contained right now."

Anna wanted to have John Henry run it by Cam first. She wanted to make sure everyone was in the loop.

"We'd better check this out with the team on the ground." Anna said. "I don't want to create any surprises for anyone or problems."

Like so many of their operations, there were a lot of unknowns involved.


Cam and Samantha already started out.

John Henry updated them with the latest info about the drones.

Cam believed they could use a little better information, or at least more than they currently possessed.

"I'd like something better to go on if it's possible." Cam said. "We're two hundred yards from the first building."

John Henry wanted to know what their approach would be.

"Are you going to bypass the building?" John Henry asked.

Cam didn't think the buildings were going to go anywhere.

"I think anything of value is inside the hill." Cam said. "Everything out here is a target. If the drone scans don't detect anything in the buildings, we may look inside."

Samantha thought of the layout of the street. She tried to calculate where the enemy might be. She wondered how many more troops they actually had available.

"My guess is building three and four are the ones with Grays, if they have any left." Samantha said. "We must have put a dent in their personnel. There's been quite a body count racked up."

Cam thought it was on Skynet, not them. If they weren't there in the first place, there wouldn't be a body count. The enemies of the future, were the enemies of the present.


John Henry dropped one drone down far enough to remain undetected by a Terminator. The drone couldn't detect any heat signatures. He knew it was a risk if there were any active HK Tracks or HK Treads inside of the building. They possessed superior sensors due to their size.

Summer didn't want them to get ahead of themselves. Right now they should hold the element of surprise. She thought it was important for them to keep it.

"It's not low enough to give us any accurate readings." Summer said. "It would need to go closer. So far the team on the ground seems undetected. There's no need to push it yet. We need to wait."

John Henry didn't want to alert anyone on the ground they were under surveillance. If they knew they were, security would take on a whole different tone. He gave Cam his report.

"I have nothing conclusive." John Henry said.

Cam would have hoped for some better information.

"Roger." Cam said. "We'll check things out on our end."

It looked like they would have to do it the hard way.


Young Jesse didn't like being held back.

"I want to move up and follow them in." Young Jesse said.

Gail didn't think so. It was her job to keep Young Jesse safe. Circumstances might dictate further action. Currently they weren't warranted.

"No." Gail said. "Not unless we detect a threat and can't warn them."

Young Jesse knew it would be from a Skynet jamming field, if there was one.

"It would be a bad sign for sure." Young Jesse said. "I still want to move up."

Gail began to wonder about human intuition. Savannah and Jesse explained it to her before. It was more of a 'feeling' which humans 'got' in some situations. She wanted to know a little more. Human intuition had saved more than one group of Terminators on past operations.

"Do you sense a threat?" Gail asked.

Young Jesse didn't like the layout of the location to begin with. She was sure there was more than met the eye. She didn't know what it was though.

"I don't think everything here is what it seems." Young Jesse said.

Gail knew Young Jesse expressed the same type of opinion earlier.

They would like to have a little more information as well.

Gail and Young Jesse received a communication directly from Anna.

"'Coltan Overcast' and 'Cherry Bomb' are there to back you up." Anna said. "They can violate the 'hard deck' if you need them. They will come to assist you whatever the situation is. They can even extract you if it is necessary."

Gail acknowledged the transmission.

"Roger." Gail said.

Young Jesse saw it for what it was. She knew who was looking out for them. She was pretty sure Young Allison viewed things the way she did.

"It's Young Allison backing our play." Young Jesse said. "She feels it too. We'll hold for now but be ready to move."

Gail scanned the area around them, as well as the drone images from the drone which looked down on them.

Young Jesse needed to think about the 'extraction' part. It would most likely indicate she would need to ride on top of a drone to flee the area. She'd spoken with Savannah about what it was like to ride on top of one. It seemed to be a very exhilarating experience, even if it was somewhat unsafe. She figured the alternative to not accepting the ride would be terminal. She hoped it didn't come to it, but if it did, she looked forward to the ride.


Cam didn't want to walk into an ambush or set off a booby trap. She slowed her pace as they neared the first building.

Samantha touched Cam's arm to stop her.

"There's a trip wire." Samantha whispered.

Cam paused and looked at it. It was rigged to a sensor. She thought maybe there would be a Claymore mine at the other end of the trip wire. There wasn't.

"I think it's the first one." Cam said. "It was a good spot."

Samantha hadn't been on any real combat missions before, even though she was programmed with such events. The training was all there. She felt she was extra alert about everything. She didn't want to make a mistake on her first time out.

They moved past the first building and looked for a way in.

Since there was external security, Samantha figured the structures most likely contained something as well.

"The building is probably wired too." Samantha said.

Cam agreed. Everything about the location seemed to indicate there was more than met the eye. The external security was a big tip off.


John Henry and Summer looked over the satellite photos taken during the daylight.

Summer wanted to look a little deeper.

"I'm sure there are satellite images taken during the night." Summer said. "I know there will be fewer, but there are still some."

John Henry tilted his head slightly. They mainly used satellite images for historic reference. Things could happen at night as well.

"Yes." John Henry said.

He began to go over the few images he could find. CamNet provided them for him almost instantly. It meant someone else probably requested them. It was most likely the Young bunker. They often seemed to be one step ahead of him. It was usually a few steps when John was with him.

Summer was able to spot what she'd suspected from the satellite images taken during the night time.

"I can see there was more work done during the hours of darkness." Summer said. "They'd been at work on the hillside for a year before the one Chinese daylight image."

John Henry wondered about it. He wondered if something may have gone wrong at some point. It was highly likely. Based upon what they knew occurred at the mine, accidents happened when things were pushed too quickly.

"I think they may have encountered a problem or accident on the day or the night before the one daylight image." John Henry said.

Summer knew when someone tried to hurry through a job, they tended to take shortcuts. Those didn't always work out well in the end. There were also other options to consider. Not everything was a hundred percent reliable.

"Someone was careless, or they may have experienced an equipment failure." Summer said.

Some of the nighttime images revealed there were two helicopters housed in the one building with the wind sock. There were no images which contained drones or any other HK equipment. It didn't mean there weren't any. There was plenty of truck traffic at night as well. It was probably another bad sign.

John Henry notified Cam's team of the new discovery. It appeared the threat level continue to rise with each new revelation.


Cam discovered another trip wire. It was already tripped. It was down. It didn't look fresh. Since it didn't appear to be recent, the external detection system might not be monitored any longer.

"I don't know if the sensor network is still active." Cam said as she pointed at the downed wire.

Samantha noted there were animal tracks.

"It looks like a canine has been through here in both directions." Samantha said.

Cam thought of the semi rural location where they were.

"It was probably a coyote." Cam said. "They will most likely avoid us if they're around. They don't feel the need to associate with humans like dogs do."

Something sprung from cover near Cam's foot. She pointed her suppressed M4 at it. She quickly identified the target. It wasn't a threat.

"It was a lizard." Cam said. "I must have disturbed its hiding place. They're not usually active during this time."

Cam and Samantha moved to the backside of the first building.

There was no external roof access.

Cam figured if there wasn't a ladder on the outside, there must be one on the inside. Workers needed to access the heating and air conditioning equipment which was usually located on the roof. She reviewed some of the drone images. It appeared there was an access door.

"Boost me up and I'll pull myself over the top." Cam said as she slung her M4.

Samantha knelt down and interlaced her fingers. Cam stepped one foot into them.

"Get ready." Samantha said.

Cam was ready to be 'launched'.

"Now…." Cam said.

Samantha straightened and brought her arms up over her head in one swift motion. Cam was catapulted almost past the lip of the roof. She simply grabbed the lip and pulled herself onto the roof.

She spotted the roof access hatch for service of the heating and AC unit which was up there. She didn't think it was wired but maybe it was. For humans to access the roof, they would need a ladder, or a rope with a grappling hook.

There were no skylights on the structure.

The cover for the roof access fit loosely over the opening. She was able to run her fingers around the three sides of it without the hinges. She took up the slack in the cover and exerted some force. There was a metallic 'snap' noise as the cover's latch broke under the strain. She opened the cover up and checked for a sensor. There was none. She closed the cover behind her as she went down the access ladder. The building was dark.

She quickly checked the interior. There were stored vehicles inside. Most of them were military surplus. There was no HK equipment. The area closest to the roll up door was empty. It looked like room for six more vehicles. There were fresh grease spots on the floor. Someone stepped in one of them and tracked it to the restroom which was by the small office area. The doors and windows were all wired.

Cam went back to the roof access ladder and climbed back out. She closed the hatch after she lifted it to exit. She made her way to the side where Samantha was at.

Samantha looked up and gave her 'a thumbs up'.

Cam grabbed the lip of the roof and lowered herself down and dropped fifteen feet to the ground.

She gave everyone a report.


John Henry wondered about the missing vehicles. Cam reported everything was covered with dust including the floor. It indicated the vehicles must have been in there for a while. None of the satellite images ever showed any being moved to or from the location.

Summer watched the two men at the Hotel Six location. They'd left in different vehicles earlier. The manager was headed for the machine shop and the other man was headed in the direction Cam's team was at. As he neared the location, he passed by an old gas station once. He went around the block and passed it again. He went further and then approached the gas station from a different direction.

"I think we just located the ambush point." Summer said. "It wasn't on the route Cam's team took. They avoided it when they followed the high tension power line access road. They passed a mile behind it."

As more cards began to be played, it appeared the game was bigger than they'd first anticipated. It wasn't anything they wouldn't be able to handle, whatever it was.


Young Jesse didn't like the car which passed the gas station. It stopped two blocks away from it the third time it passed. A car came out of the back of the closed gas station five minutes later.

"It looks like there are two more cars which will arrive here soon." Young Jesse said.

Gail didn't like how exposed their vehicles were if someone was specifically searching for anything 'different'. With the obvious threat of other hostile vehicles arriving, they would need to use extra caution. The enemy vehicles could be interdicted at any point. They wanted to see what else they might turn up first.

"We need to move these vehicles further away." Gail said.

They each got in one and drove them into the heavy brush on the other side of the road.

They wouldn't be visible easily now from the street. An HK drone would find them in no time. They hoped not to encounter any. Their drones would engage any HK drones before they threatened them.


Young Allison watched the one Gray and the vehicle which left the old gas station. The two vehicles met up. One man from the second vehicle joined the Gray in the first one. He carried a long gun.

They continued towards the location where Cam's team was at.

Anna wondered if they'd missed something. They played everything very carefully to not reveal their hand.

"They must suspect something." Anna said. "Their communications haven't been cut yet. It would tip them for sure."

Young Allison checked on any outgoing calls or internet traffic. There were none. The Grays didn't want to make it look like they suspected anything if they were being watched, especially by a 'Skynet like' computer.

She didn't know what it was, but she was sure there was more in play than they understood, or knew yet.

"Something's going down." Young Allison said.

Anna looked over at Young Allison monitors to see if she looked at any images of the females from inside the executive transport jet. It wasn't her reference, this time.

"CamNet has control of all of their communications and internet traffic, if there is any. She can control what goes out or in." Anna said. "Everything is mum."

Young Allison wondered if there was some other way they could communicate.

"What's the energy usage level?" Young Allison asked.

Anna checked.

"It has doubled since they lost contact with the helicopters and the other building." Anna said.

Young Allison wondered what all the power was needed for. She thought about asking to have it shut off. She wanted to do what they'd done earlier.

"Have CamNet prepare to give them a massive power surge." Young Allison said. "Not yet though. John Henry can do it with their phones too."

Power surges were a way for them to damage and destroy enemy equipment without being anywhere in the vicinity. They could also overload the batteries in anyone's phone. The procedure always ended with a phone which would catch on fire and then explode.


Bob and Jim watched the manager head for the machine shop. He arrived in a short time and parked in front. It was the same spot he'd parked in when they'd visited previously. He entered through the front door after he deactivated an alarm.

"He's a creature of habit." Jim said. "It's probably what he does in the morning."

Bob looked at the eastern sky.

"It's still a few hours off." Bob said. "Let's see what the security cameras pick up. Maybe we can hear something."


Young Jesse felt the two new cars of Grays, which were headed towards them, as a threat. They could take some preemptive action to lower the threat level.

"We might want to disable the two cars before they actually arrive." Young Jesse said.

Gail thought about it. There was a small knoll where they left the SUV and the captured Gray's car.

"We have a good ambush point with cover." Gail said.

Young Jesse went over some options with Gail. They contacted the Young bunker and ran it by Young Allison and Anna. They came up with a plan.


Earlier:

Riley retreated when Ally went to get the bottle. She returned soon enough. She listened to Hanna and Ally talk. Ally left suddenly.

She waited thirty seconds and stood in the nursery door. She watched Hanna with her top open feed Precious with a bottle held between her breasts.

Hanna didn't look up.

"I hope we didn't disturb you." Hanna said.

Riley wondered if they knew she was there all along. She figured they probably did. She wanted to say what she felt.

"No." Riley said. "I didn't want to intrude. I know not all of you get to spend time with Precious. You look so content."

Hanna was the only Terminator Riley was with years ago. It was only one time. She'd craved to be with a Metal girl again since then. It finally happened. She was with who she wanted to be with the most. It was Samantha.

Hanna looked Riley over.

"Do you want to give it a go?" Hanna asked.

Riley wasn't sure exactly what the nature of the question was. It could mean two things. She was up for either of them.

"Yes." Riley said.

Hanna offered Precious to Riley.

Riley took Precious. She sat next to Hanna facing her somewhat. She opened her bathrobe and attempted to nurse Precious. She noticed Hanna made no effort to close her top. She was given a reminder of those super pink nipples. She swallowed hard as she remembered what she'd done with them years ago. There was now an image of a pink butterfly in her mind. What a beautiful thought.


Derek woke as Riley left. He watched her leave the room and followed her to the doorway. He watched her listen and spy on whoever was in the nursery. He needed to make a rapid retreat when Riley made one. She quickly returned to her LP and so did he.

She eventually entered the nursery. He moved up to her spot and listened. It sounded like she was with Vanna since she'd been nursing Precious when Riley entered.

He peeked in the room and saw the two faced each other with their breasts exposed. 'Vanna' made no attempt to cover herself. He didn't know it was Hanna. He'd missed the size difference. He'd been too busy concentrating on her super pink nipples. He'd viewed a lot of naked women in the future. He'd never viewed anyone with nipples which were as pink. He'd spied on Vanna and Allison together in the future. He knew she was the same pigment elsewhere too. He thought about Jesse and how totally opposite she was from Vanna, everywhere.

Derek moved back now since he knew who it was for sure. He wondered if they would do a little more once Precious was tended to.

He looked down at his robe and saw the results of his anticipation. He was excited at the thought. He was open to the idea of them being together as he watched. He even pictured himself behind Riley as she worked on 'Vanna'.


Hanna knew someone was outside the room. She figured it was Derek. She was a little upset because Ally and her woke everyone. It was the only thing which bothered her.

She spotted Derek glance in once. The bottle was out of his view. She figured he thought she was Vanna. He soon disappeared.

Hanna liked the way Riley looked at her. Riley was very 'hungry'. She didn't know the extent of Riley's recent involvement with the other girls. Maybe things would escalate. She was ready to relive their encounter from years ago. What could it hurt? There was plenty of love to share. It wasn't like it was anything anybody needed to do. It was what they all wanted to do.


Claire and Cammy finished up with Leticia and moved on to Mary once Holly and Camille arrived where Leticia was at.

Sheila was ready to move on to Laura. It looked like Jesse wanted to stay a little longer. She allowed them to finish one more time alone. She saw Holly and Camille stuck to the timetable and left Laura's room when they were supposed to. She looked back and could see Mary was about to finish again. She went and joined Laura on her own. She figured she could knock one off before Jesse arrived. She did. Claire and Cammy passed by. Jesse soon joined them. Sheila let Jesse and Laura share on their own before she joined back in.

Moments ago:

Claire and Cammy arrived at Mary's room and watched Jesse send Mary over the top in grand fashion. Jesse finished up too. She smiled at them and headed off to join Sheila and Laura.

Claire thought Mary looked tired.

Mary was tired. She knew Sheila was one of the 'special girls' whatever they really were. Jesse just worked her like one of the 'special girls' could. She knew she was human with her nursing breasts and her scar. It was a big one. Somehow it made her more intriguing. It gave her a 'story'. It was something which was real.

Cammy let Claire join Mary first. She watched them together. It seemed Mary recovered quickly once she saw she was going to be with Claire alone first. She joined in soon enough.


John was surprised how much like Allison that Ally was, as opposed to Cameron, Cammy or Camille. Then again, it was all in the programming. Ally was based off of Holly as her base program, not Cameron like the other clones were. The 'Neural Interface' was with Allison instead of Future Allison as Cameron's program was.

He couldn't help but think of the time Future Allison visited. She was very young and vibrant. She'd offered to be with him since she was already with him in the future as Future John. He knew now he should have done it. If the opportunity ever arose again, he planned to take it. It was really a mistake to let her slip through his fingers when she was more than willing to share with him.

Right now Ally held him in her arms and he liked everything she offered. He held back because he could feel she was close. He wanted to deliver for her first. He did. She kissed him as she made it and held the kiss. It was soft but firm. She deepened it as he finished.

She held him tighter and wrapped her legs around him to hold him in place. He was surprised at how many of the girls did the same thing. It was something Cameron seldom did. Sometimes he wondered if she just wanted him to finish so he could move away. Maybe it was one of the drawbacks of two people being together thousands of times without others involved. Everything sort of became routine. There were always bright spots which would appear and things would liven up for a while. Soon enough, they would resume back to the daily drudge.

Ally was very thrilled with her 'first experience'. She knew she didn't want it to be her last either. She wanted more and she wanted John to know. She wanted to make it crystal clear.

"It was beautiful, John." Ally whispered in his ear. "You can have as much as you want."

John was pretty sure all of the girls said the same thing, more or less. He really wished he would have listened to Cameron years ago when she'd tried to set all of her 'plans' into motion. He could have retired 'Rosie Palm' about a decade ago. He looked over at the box of tissues next to the bed and shook his head in disgust. Now it was only the girls who would need to use them, not him.

Ally rolled John over effortlessly. They were in the same position. She was just on top now.

He was pretty sure it was identical to what Hanna did. Then again Hanna's base program was Holly's too. He would need to see if Holly did the same thing when he was with her. He really wanted to be with Holly. He tried to refocus on where he was at, and who he was with now. He didn't want his mind to wander during such a private time.

They kissed and talked a little as she encouraged him to fondle her. She did a lot of touching herself.

Ally wanted to give John some additional incentive to invite her back sooner. She believed there was a pretty good way to do it. It was to offer more of the same.

"I can come back with Hanna, or even Allison, if you'd like." Ally whispered as she nuzzled him.

The thought excited him. He would love to compare Ally and Allison side by side.

Ally lifted her head and looked into his eyes. She was pretty sure what John just thought about.

"That's the 'reaction' I wanted." Ally said. "Everyone does it. You can too."

She moved her knees along each side of him. Her body was more upright as she faced him.

Her hair hung down over her face and enclosed his like a waterfall. She bent and gave him a kiss as she changed her position slightly.

"My turn…." Ally said as she started in.

She brushed her hair around one side of her neck to keep it out of her face.

John fondled her and went along for the ride. He was glad Metal girls never tired out or slowed down.

Life was good.


The Terminator drove the box truck to the pre-arranged location. CamNet told him she would deal with it from there. He started out on foot back towards where his SUV was at.

One drone orbited between his position and the building he'd just left. The other drone would stay with the Coltan on the box truck. CamNet wanted to take possession of it and make sure it didn't get intercepted while it was unattended.

So far no one else had shown any interest in the location the Coltan was taken from.

The drone was back over the Terminator's position. It alerted him to a potential threat up ahead. It appeared there were several individuals in back of a building. They'd just exited from inside of it. It was a pharmacy.

The Terminator cut over one street to head off the direction they were going. He should be able to intercept them when they exited out of the alley. He arrived at the entrance to the alley before they were able to leave. He stepped out in front of them.

"Nice night for a walk." The Terminator said.

The two men froze in their tracks. They both carried two large bags. They were most likely filled with drugs of various types.

"Who are you?" The first man asked.

The Terminator's eyes glowed red in the darkness.

"I'm your worst nightmare." The Terminator said.

Both of the men took a step back. One of them tripped and fell. He landed on his rear end. They both dropped the bags they carried. The man on the ground fumbled to pull out a knife.

The Terminator produced his silenced M9.

"Only an imbecile would bring a knife to a gunfight." The Terminator said.

The man who was still standing, lunged at him.

The Terminator grabbed the man by the neck and slammed him down into the ground. There was a loud 'crack' noise. The man no longer moved. He was silent. He still held his silenced M9 on the other man.

The other man quickly dropped the knife and held his hands up in the air.

"Easy, man easy, take it easy." The other man said. "We're cool, we're cool."

The Terminator searched the first man and tossed his body in a dumpster.

"Get up." The Terminator said.

He quickly searched the second man after he stood.

"What are you going to do?" This second man asked.

The Terminator reached for the man's neck.

"I'm going to throw out the trash." The Terminator said.

He snapped the second man's neck and tossed him in the same dumpster as the first man. He broke the knife in half and tossed it on top of both of them. He moved some cardboard boxes around and covered them over. He picked up the four sacks of narcotics and carried them back to the pharmacy. He put them inside the rear door and closed it.

The Terminator continued on his way back to his SUV. CamNet already provided him with a new target location.


The security chief didn't hear the HK Track moving. He hoped it was paralyzed like the other one. He moved forward with the RPG ready to fire. If he would have been able to get into position quick enough, he would have fired it at one of the two trucks which drove out of the building. Right now he needed to deal with the HK Track.

He carefully moved around some of the equipment which was in the building. He moved in back of one of the large storage bins. He hadn't heard the HK Track move since the last bright flash of light and electrical noise.

It occurred to him the HK Track might be playing possum as well. It might wait to see who came to it, instead of it searching for them.

The 'electric hum' from the front of the building was louder and intermittent. He wasn't sure what was going on up there. He had two armor piercing grenades. He planned to use both of them.

The building was very poorly lit with the few emergency lights which were actually on. He needed to be careful he didn't trip over anything.

The security chief came around the corner with the RPG ready to fire. The HK Track was sitting there. It was waiting for him.


The female Fanatic and Jill could hear the HK Track. It was over in the location where the other two big trucks left from. After the last loud electrical noise from the front, they didn't hear the HK Track moving around anymore.

"Do you think it's stuck?" Jill asked.

The female Fanatic didn't know what was what for sure.

"I don't know." The female Fanatic said. "I want to rupture its power cell like we did with the one in the mine and in the other building. It will bring this place down."

Jill looked around. It was a big place.

"We still have the explosive charges." Jill said. "We should be able to disrupt the first one as well."

The female Fanatic and Jill headed back over towards where they last heard HK Track.

"I think we're just about done here." The female Fanatic said.

The female Fanatic looked at some of the equipment in the dim light. She noticed it earlier from the catwalk. She took a good look at it now. It was some type of drainage trough. She figured it let out to the dry gulch.

She held up her hand to stop Jill. She spotted something she didn't want to see.

"There's a man in front of us off to the side." The female Fanatic whispered. "He's carrying an RPG. He's going after the HK Track. Depending upon where he hits it, will depend upon the explosion which follows. We need to keep watch around us for any others."

The female Fanatic and Jill moved in pursuit of the Gray with the RPG.


Lena and Tina both drove with their lights off. They neared the front gate. They both hoped CamNet was able to get a look at them inside of the trucks as they drove out of the building. So far none of their drones had fired at them.

The Gray at the checkpoint moved from his hiding position onto the road. He waved his hands over his head and in front of him in an 'X' pattern. It indicated he wanted the truck to stop.

Lena was in the first truck.

Tina was behind her.

Lena didn't slow down. The Gray was a little slow to realize the truck wasn't going to stop. He tried to dodge out of the way. He didn't quite make it.


Seconds ago:

The Gray wanted to flag down the truck. He wanted to know what was happening inside of the building. He wanted to know what all the shooting was about.

He waved his hands over his head to get it to slow down.

He quickly realized it wasn't slowing. There was no downshifting or anything. The truck continued along at the same speed. If anything, it was going faster. It dawned on him as the truck was very near him the headlights weren't on. It seemed there was only one type of individual who could see in the dark without headlights. It was a Terminator. He knew there was one inside of the building. He wondered why he was leaving in such a hurry.

He realized the truck was closer than he thought in the darkness. He tried to jump out of the way as the truck barreled down on him. He almost made it. It clipped his left hip and knocked him down. He rolled several times before he stopped. The truck was past him in a flash. It went through the gate and kept going. Before he could move from where he was at, the second truck was already there. He realized it was going to hit him. He opened his mouth to scream. He was too slow.


Tina spotted the man in the road. She saw Lena hit him. He sprawled on the ground off to the left side. She aimed her big rig towards where he was at. She could see his mouth open before the front of the big rig was on him. She felt a slight bump five times as the big rig passed over him. She closed up on the truck ahead.

Lena and Tina were out of the compound with the two big rigs they'd captured. They wanted to get out of the Skynet jamming field. They were going to call in a drone strike on the disabled HK Track by the spatial portal.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Temporal Mission:

Past Timeline:

November 25 1963

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Cameron and Young Allison turned into the Safeway parking lot. It was on the west side of Mason Avenue, just south of Lassen Street. They parked off to the side in the lot. There were only a few cars currently there. They got out and walked along the side of the building towards the entrance.

Young Allison looked at ads from the past before they'd gone on their temporal mission. It was a different thing to actually see the prices as inexpensive as they were.

"Food is almost going to seem like it's free." Young Allison said.

Cameron knew money wasn't a problem for them. She thought it was for other people.

"You need to remember the minimum wage is only a dollar and twenty five cents in 1963." Cameron said. "It will remain the same for the next year. It will then go up one penny in 1965."

Young Allison thought it was pathetic. No wonder everyone was so thrilled who dealt with them. The tips they'd given them were equivalent to several hours of their wages, if not several days.

"I could see why we were such a hit everywhere we've gone" Young Allison said. "Here I thought it was our good looks."

Cameron was pleased with their interaction on a positive level. There were a few low spots with some individuals.

"They will all be willing to deal with us again." Cameron said. "The best part is, they will do it with a smile on their face, and a little extra effort."

Young Allison was aware 'money talked', even if it couldn't speak.

"I guess people will do just about anything if the price is right." Young Allison said. "It hasn't changed at all in our time period."

Cameron knew when money wouldn't talk. It was after Judgment Day. After J-Day, money was worthless. It was simply the paper with green ink it actually was. Other commodities were more important to survive. Gold and diamonds weren't part of them either. For the first few weeks they mattered. It quickly became evident other things mattered more. She hoped to prevent it from happening again. She didn't know if they'd be able to. They'd been successful so far.

"People can be motivated to do anything if the motivation is right." Cameron said. "Sometimes being allowed to live will be enough in the future."

Young Allison understood Cameron referred to people doing things under the threat of death. She was pretty sure everyone who was captured by Skynet forces, and ended up in a work camp, thought they were going to get out by escape or liberation. It wasn't usually the case.

"I guess some things matter until they don't." Young Allison said.

Cameron watched a female pull up in a high end European car. She parked sideways and took up three spots. It was late so it didn't really matter. She figured it was probably part of her attitude. She went to the store.

Young Allison noticed the sloppy parking job as well.

"She looks like a winner." Young Allison said.

Cameron and Young Allison entered the store.

Young Allison selected a shopping cart and pulled it out from the rest of them. She looked at Cameron.

"Do you want to drive?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron felt a slight glitch impulse. She remembered the last time she'd pushed a shopping cart. It started an entire chain of events which were mostly negative.

"You can drive." Cameron said. "Watch out for the stuff in the aisle."

Young Allison wanted to go up and down every aisle. She started on the north side. It would give her a chance to not only look at the prices, but at what was available as well. She noticed one thing about the pricing. It seemed all of the cans and boxes actually had a price tag on them. It was a lot different from the time period she left. She also noticed another thing about the aisles. There weren't boxes and displays set up in them. All of the aisles were clear of obstacles.

Cameron noticed the difference as well. There was plenty of room in the aisles.

"They actually stock the shelves at night." Cameron said. "They won't have people pushing pallets and carts full of merchandise in the middle of the day when people attempt to shop."

Young Allison saw the female who did the sloppy parking job. She was over in the bakery section. She watched as she picked up a cake in a box. She looked around and flipped it upside down. She then put it back on the shelf. She looked around and did it several more times. She moved on.

"Did you see that?" Young Allison asked. "That Bitch just destroyed some merchandise for no reason. She didn't even have a goofy look on her face, even if it was in her mind."

Cameron did notice. It disgusted her.

"After Judgment Day, maybe she'll think about what she did." Cameron said. "When she's boiling tree bark to eat because there's nothing else, maybe she will feel some remorse then."

Young Allison went over to where the incident occurred and looked at the damage. Most likely the cakes would end up in the trash. It was lost revenue for the store. Everyone else paid higher prices to cover the losses.

They continued their trek through the store. When they were ready to switch over to another aisle from the back of the store, Cameron reached out and stopped Young Allison from going around the corner with the cart. She motioned for her to quietly approach. The vulgar female was up to some more antics.

Cameron and Young Allison watched the events unfold with the rude female in the Safeway store.


That's The Reaction

Little things slowly creep up
They compound and become a distraction
They don't ever add much
They will usually cause a contraction

The progress going forward
May only be a small fraction
The wheels start to slip
There isn't any traction

Some do little to assist
They wait for an extraction
Nothing positive is added
Instead it's a subtraction

One needs to get up on their feet
It's time for some action
It's the only way one
Will ever achieve satisfaction

To go nowhere fast
Is all about inaction
When one moves ahead they feel it
That's the reaction

Nobody