Chapter 1561


Bit Players


Cam and Cammy went down the cable and were inside the elevator car.

Cammy carefully pried the doors apart an inch. It was still total darkness. She shoved them the rest of the way open.

There was nothing but solid rock in front of them.

"What the Hell?" Cammy asked.

Cam reached out and touched the rock wall.

"They must have raised the elevator car up to prevent someone down there from using it." Cam said. "If it was up from the opening, no one could get in it or try or climb up the cable either."

Cammy thought about it.

"It must mean there are Grays down there. They think they'll try to flee." Cammy said. "It doesn't want anyone to escape."

Cam thought about it a little more.

"They might have some better control over the elevator than just an up or down button." Cam said. "Maybe it's hooked to a computer."

Cammy figured it was worse.

"Maybe it's hooked to Skynet." Cammy said. "Maybe the elevator is just 'stuck'."

Cam thought about it. From the information they'd gathered so far, it seemed when the version of Skynet in the mine sent out the 'distress call', the virus Summer created was transmitted with it to everything the computer was in contact with. It was probably why the blast doors weren't closed and the HK Tracks were just sitting there and not doing anything.

"Maybe the elevator was on its way back up when the virus confused this version of Skynet and stopped everything from working." Cam said. "Everything was pretty wide open when we arrived. This place should have been buttoned up."

Cammy knew Summer was a force to be reckoned with. It could be this version of Skynet thought everything was secured when it wasn't.

"If one, or both, of the Terminators here tried to interface with the computer to see if they could find the problem, they should be afflicted too." Cammy said. "We can hope they are anyway."

There was some noise above them.

Cammy and Cam pointed their M4 carbines up at the opening in the top of the elevator.

A coil of electrical wire dropped onto the floor of the elevator between them.

"Purple." Ally said.

Cammy gave the recognition word.

"Chimpanzee." Cammy said.

There was a thud on the top of the elevator and Ally looked down inside the hatch opening.

Cammy's and Cam's weapons were pointed at her head.

"It's nice to see you too." Ally said. "If those are phallic representations, you're out of luck. I still prefer 'tacos'."

There was a second thud on the roof of the elevator as Sheila landed.

Ally dropped inside the elevator followed by Sheila.

Sheila looked at the open doors of the elevator and the rock wall.

"What's this?" Sheila asked.

Ally touched the rock wall.

"It looks like 'The Twilight Zone'." Ally said. "You've entered a realm where all doors lead to nowhere…."

Sheila and Ally got Cam and Cammy up to speed on everything which happened at the surface so far.

"What's the electrical wire for?" Cammy asked.

She noticed Sheila and Ally were tethered by more of the same.

"It was in case there was some kind of energy field and we fell off of the elevator cable." Ally said.

Cam didn't like the sound of it.

"What would have happened to us?" Cam asked.

Ally thought it was self evident.

"We would have used the other wire to attach to your smashed chassis and have you hauled back up." Ally said. "Hopefully your chips could have been recovered. You could obtain a new chassis and pick your own DNA."

Cammy didn't like the prospect either.

"Wouldn't you have been affected too by then?" Cammy asked.

Ally and Sheila looked at each other.

"Maybe so." Sheila said. "At least we wouldn't have impacted with the bottom."

Cammy wasn't impressed.

"Thanks." Cammy said.

Cam looked at the roll of heavy wire.

"We can use this to lower ourselves down from here." Cam said.

Sheila looked at the close clearance between the elevator car and the wall.

"I'm the thinnest one here. I can't fit through such a narrow gap." Sheila said. "I don't think 'Twiggy' is coming either."

Cammy already thought about the space shortage. She figured out a way to get around it.

"There's just a little more than a foot of usable space around each of the four sides of this elevator car." Cammy said. "Watch this."

Cammy went over to the open elevator door and held one side of it with her right hand and pushed against the rock wall with the other hand. There was a 'thud' sound as the elevator was shoved against the far wall. A gap just over eighteen inches wide was available at the bottom of the door and the rock wall now. The elevator was at a slight angle. There was enough room for them to pass through this way.

"It will work." Sheila said.

Cammy was ready to go. She picked up the roll of wire.

"We didn't have any rope or this wire before." Cammy said. "Now we do. Boost me up."

Cam lifted Cammy part way up through the roof hatch of the elevator. She attached the heavy wire to the support for the cable on the hoist and the elevator car. She didn't want the wire to run through the elevator car itself. She needed to figure the elevator car could move at any moment. It would raise a lot of questions as to what the wires were for if someone else found them, especially a Terminator.

"Go to the door and catch the cable." Cammy said.

Sheila moved to the door and caught the coil of wire as Cammy tossed it over.

Ally and Sheila quickly unhooked from their wires and handed them up to Cammy who also dropped them over the side.

There were now three wires available. Two were attached to the top area they'd left from. One was attached to the hoist cable itself at the junction with the attachment on the elevator car roof.

Cam lowered Cammy back down.

"There's someone coming from up above." Cammy said. "It looks like two people."

They wondered who it was. There weren't many choices.

"I hope it's not Young Jesse." Sheila said.

They all hoped it wasn't.


John Henry was worried about the Metal girls who were headed down into 'The Hole'.

Summer was as well.

"Can Camille and Gail haul the elevator car up by hand?" Summer asked.

John Henry figured both of them could. They would need to run the cable through the brake if they did in case it started to slip or fall.

"I believe it's possible." John Henry said. "I would prefer such a scenario not need to be used."

Summer didn't know if they could control it any other way. She wanted to make one of the other contingencies available.

"It was just a thought." Summer said. "Let's get the Blackhawk ready."


Ned and Wes were given the go ahead to push the Blackhawk away from the executive transport 727. The UH-60 sat on wheels as opposed to skids. It was much easier to move around in this manner.

"It looks like we're done with the jet." Ned said.

Wes nodded.

"Secure the side door and we will use the airstair." Wes said. "Whoever they send to replace us will need to use it for easier boarding."

Ned and Wes went back through the fuselage. They took another look at all the sleeping nude girls as they passed. They'd all captured plenty of images to review later on, along with the video files. They reached the aft galley and opened the rear door which led to the airstair.

"I'll close the rear door and secure it once you're out after I raise the airstair." Jesse said.

Ned and Wes both turned around quickly. They were a little startled she was there. There was a silenced M9 in one hand and a Taser in the other. All she wore was a smile on her face. She was naked.

"I see you don't miss much." Ned said.

Jesse tipped her head back towards the bedrooms.

"I see you two didn't either." Jesse said. "Just ask me and I'll show you everything if you really want to see it. I'll even let you touch everything."

Ned and Wes looked at each other. They liked the idea.

Wes wanted to let her know what they were up to.

"We need to push the Blackhawk away from the jet so it won't be so loud when we start it." Wes said.

Jesse was a little worried. Why did they need to start the helicopter?

"Is everything alright?" Jesse asked. "We're blacked out on most of the information here."

Ned didn't want to get into the details.

"Everything is fine." Ned said.

Ned and Wes quickly left so they wouldn't have to answer anymore questions.

Jesse waited until they stepped off of the airstair before she retracted it.

"Stop by sometime for a real look." Jesse said as the airstair rose.

She secured the rear door. When she turned around Allison and Vanna were there. They were armed as she was and wore the same thing, nothing.

"No one sleeps sound after they've lived in the Wastelands." Vanna said.

The three girls from the future knew Ned and Wes checked them out twice. They'd all experienced worse things than someone looking at them nude, it was nothing new. There was little privacy in the tunnels and bunkers in the future.


Samantha and Hanna started down with a direct wire communication link.

They made quick progress. They soon reached the top of the elevator. It was empty inside.

"Where'd they go?" Samantha asked.

Hanna looked at the narrow gap.

"They must have pushed the elevator car off to the side to squeeze through there." Hanna said. "I see the wires hanging down."

Samantha checked the three wires which went over the side of the elevator. All three of the wires were still under tension.

"They're still using them." Samantha said.

Hanna thought it was better than smashed into the ground at the bottom of the shaft.

"Let's hope they're not dangling in dead space." Hanna said.

Hanna and Samantha shoved the elevator car off to the rear side and squeezed through the gap. Each one held the elevator car off to the side for the other to pass.

They sent Camille, Gail and Young Jesse a progress report.


Young Jesse was worried for the Metal girls who went down into 'The Hole'.

"I want to have a way to raise or lower the elevator." Young Jesse said.

Gail and Camille looked at the controls.

"Everything is locked up." Camille said.

Young Jesse wanted them to 'fix' it.

"Disconnect everything and rewire it if you need to." Young Jesse said. "I want it to function. Make it work from up here."

She wondered if they could use one of the HK Tracks to pull the cable up or lower it down.

Camille said it would work. They would lose communications again if they moved one of the HK Tracks. They both were equipped with a powerful transmitter.

Hanna gave them another progress report. She told them about a big forklift. It was at the first blast door.

Young Jesse wondered exactly what they could use it for. She could think of a couple of things.

"I'll go get it." Young Jesse said.

Camille didn't want Young Jesse to go off on her own.

"I'll go." Camille said. "You stay here with Gail."

Camille took off at a run. She didn't want Young Jesse to get any more involved than absolutely necessary. She didn't feel Gail should need to do all the footwork either.


Young Allison and Anna waited for something to happen with the damaged HK drone. So far nothing changed.

Anna was mindful of the time. She wanted to give Young Allison a reminder.

"It will be light soon." Anna said.

Young Allison knew it was going to be a problem. Both sides would want to take some type of action before daylight arrived. Once the area was lit up, it would advertise whatever anyone did to anyone who happened to look.

"It will force our hand or theirs." Young Allison said.

Anna went over their options. There weren't very many of them.

"We can do nothing and someone may find and report the HK drone. We can keep waiting to see what happens, or we can send Ned and Wes after it now."

Young Allison didn't want to leave the girls at the jet without Terminator protection. She decided to use her own protection Detail instead.

"We can send Brian and Randy after it." Young Allison said. "It will be dawn as they arrive if they leave now. They can go back and pick up the Huey."

Anna knew the risk of the HK drone playing possum. They might want to make sure it was out of the running. It would require damaging it further.

"Do you want to hit it again with 'metal hail'?" Anna asked. "We can make sure it's destroyed or severely disabled."

Young Allison hoped to capture it intact. With the drone subassemblies they'd just recovered, they could get it flying again for their team. Every Skynet asset they could appropriate strengthened the Resistance.

"I'm not sure." Young Allison said.

Young Allison began to wonder why Anna didn't question her about sending Brian and Randy after the HK drone, unless they were already on the way there. She quietly checked the drone status around the house. There were four of their drones around them right now. It was highly unusual. She believed it could only mean one thing.

"How long ago did Brian and Randy leave?" Young Allison asked.

Anna only found out about it herself a few minutes ago.

"It was as soon as the HK drone was first damaged." Anna said. "CamNet kept some of our drones from earlier around the area. She didn't want to make a big deal about it."

She was aware when the last two drones arrived, they didn't arrive together. It indicated to her they were already out on an operation somewhere. She didn't know where. Nothing showed as being active other than where the team was at now inside of the hill.

Anna was filled in on the plan by CamNet. She filled Young Allison in.

Young Allison saw it for what it was. There was only one other person who would make such a bold move. She didn't disagree with it either. It took her a little longer to come to the same conclusion. She knew Summer was always several steps ahead of everyone else, including the Terminators.

"This has 'Summer' written all over it." Young Allison said.

Anna could see it now too.

"She does seem to play the game about two moves ahead of everyone else." Anna said.

Young Allison always knew Summer would be superior to all of them.

"Summer is the real future of the Resistance." Young Allison said. "We're all just 'bit players'."

Young Allison believed Summer was the 'Chosen One'. She didn't think it was actually Savannah or her.


Cammy lowered herself down on the heavy gauge electrical wire like a rope. She constantly monitored her systems to make sure she wasn't caught up in some kind of an energy field. It could either be the work of Skynet, or some Skynet equipment which was about to overload and go critical. It would most likely result in an explosion. She'd experienced similar things before. Several of the explosions were quite catastrophic.

She left the elevator car a few hundred feet ago. She began to wonder if she missed an opening. She paused and replayed her scans. She also did another diagnostic to make sure she wasn't being affected by an energy field.

Cammy looked up. Cam was twenty feet above her. Ally was twenty feet above Cam. Sheila brought up the rear another twenty feet above Ally.

She spotted something down about thirty more feet. It was a crack with light.

Bingo.

Cam signaled for everyone above her to slow down as she did herself. She was pleased the bottom of the shaft was about three feet lower than the closed doors of the elevator exit. It would allow her to stand and walk right up to the crack for an easier look inside. Cam, Ally and Sheila all joined her.

"There's someone else coming down." Sheila whispered. "They just moved the elevator car off to the side."

The Metal girls all looked up.

Cam was more than a little worried as to who it might be.

"I hope it's not Young Jesse." Cam whispered.

Cammy looked through the crack in the outer elevator doors. She could see nothing of value. The area was dimly lit. It might be a good thing for their entry to be unobserved. It appeared stealth and surprise would be to their benefit in this operation.

She took out her phone to see if she could stick her hand through the gap in the doors if she made it wider and take some video. It didn't work. There was definitely some kind of jamming field in effect, or something running out of control. She moved all her limbs. She didn't detect any sluggishness. She was good so far. She'd been in a couple of places where the problem only got worse until there was a catastrophic failure. The brunt of the operation fell on Savannah's back in each of those cases.

Cam moved up alongside of Cammy. Maybe it was time to take a better look. They would need to do it the old fashion way.

"Let's each pull a door open four inches." Cam whispered.

Ally moved behind Cam. Sheila moved behind Cammy. They were all behind the doors. Ally and Sheila pointed their M4 carbines at a twenty degree angle inward from opposite directions. Cam held her Taser in her free hand. Cammy held her silenced M9 in her free hand. The doors opened smoothly in three seconds.

Cammy cautiously poked her head out. It was clear around them.

Cam and Cammy opened the doors so there was a three foot gap. Ally and Sheila went through. Cammy followed them. Cam stayed where she was at and closed the doors. She would wait for whoever was on their way down. It looked like Hanna was the closest. She couldn't tell who was above Hanna yet.

There were two hostile Terminators down there and some version of Skynet. There were most likely Grays as well. They didn't know how many.

Ally and Sheila fanned out on each side. Cammy went up the middle. She held her silenced M9 in one hand and her Taser in her other hand now.

The three of them moved forward. They passed by a couple of dark openings. They followed the light.


Hanna was on her way down the shaft. Samantha was behind her. She spotted three girls at the bottom exit out of the shaft. One of them stayed behind.

"It looks like we have about two hundred feet to go." Hanna said.

Samantha looked down. She assessed the integrity of the location.

"This location is 'bunker buster' proof." Samantha said.

Hanna knew they brought along an 'Ace'.

"It depends on where the bunker is busted from." Hanna said.

Samantha knew this location needed to be destroyed, even if they pulled the hard drives. Skynet's forces were here once. They'd be back.

"Your point is taken." Samantha said. "I'll let them know up top to send the package down."

Hanna wanted to make sure they secured the area. She didn't want to get ahead of themselves. There were bound to be a few surprises for both sides. There always were.

"Let's see what's at the bottom first." Hanna said.


Gail worked on the elevator controls.

"I think I have it." Gail said.

Young Jesse looked over at her.

"The Skynet computer down there is tied up with Summer's virus. It's fighting to survive right now." Gail said. "I've routed control of the elevator solely to this panel."

Young Jesse was glad to hear it. She was worried about what the enemy could still do.

"What about the power?" Young Jesse asked. "Can Skynet get to it and cut it?"

Gail didn't think they could prevent Skynet from shutting the power off.

"I think it's most likely." Gail said.

Young Jesse was worried. She didn't want to lose power to the elevator.

"Beautiful." Young Jesse said.


Camille ran out towards where the forklift was at. She passed the inner blast doors and the first HK Track. She made her way through the zigzag and neared the outer set of blast doors.

She thought she spotted some movement.

More Grays, or even worse, hostile Terminators would be something they could do without right now.

"I may have a hostile on the east side." Camille said.

The word was received inside the Young bunker and at The Command Center.


Young Jesse looked at Gail when they received the warning from Camille. She didn't want Camille to face the threat alone.

"Go help her." Young Jesse said.

Gail didn't want to leave Young Jesse alone. It was her task to watch over her.

"I need to stay with you." Gail said.

Young Jesse pointed out the obvious. It actually seemed quite logical.

"The threat isn't here." Young Jesse said. "Stop it before it gets here."

They heard gunfire in the distance. There was the distinct sound of a minigun firing. It fired again a few seconds later.

Young Jesse knew how to make her point. She wasn't bluffing either.

"Go." Young Jesse said. "Or I will."

Gail frowned and took off at a run.

Young Jesse drug the backpack nuke off to the side over in front of the spot in the shaft where the elevator door would open. She armed her Taser and brought her M4 into firing position. She was protected on three sides with metal around her. It also limited her view.


Cammy's team heard males talking behind them. They were headed for the elevator shaft. So far they'd remained undetected.

"I don't think it's there." The first Gray said. "I checked earlier."

"Robby said to check again." The second Gray said.

"Why didn't he do it?" The first Gray asked.

"He was too busy fooling with the 'Metal Bitch'." The second Gray said. "Something happened to her when she tried to fix Skynet."

"If something happens to Robby, I'm 'doing' the 'Metal Bitch'." The first Gray said. "We'll pull their chips if they both go offline. I don't want either of them to 'flip' on us. I've seen it before, man. Nobody knows why."

"What if we get stuck down here?" The second Gray asked.

"You saw what the 'Metal Bitch' looks like. We'll die happy." The first Gray said. "I've got 'wood' now just thinking about it."

"TMI, dude." The second Gray said. "I'll get some too."

The two Grays arrived at the elevator and pushed the buttons. Nothing happened.

"That's just great." The first Gray said.

"See, dude." The second Gray said. "I told you it wasn't nothing."

The first Gray tried to force the doors open. Nothing happened.

"Help me." The first Gray said.

The two Grays managed to open the outer elevator doors a foot. There was nothing there but empty space.

The first Gray put his head inside and looked up. He looked around inside too before he pulled his head out.

"I can't see anything but rock." The first Gray said.

The Grays pushed the buttons again and nothing happened. They closed the outer elevator doors and left.

"That was a waste of time." The second Gray said.

The Grays moved away from the elevator and went back the way they'd come.

"Let's go back and tell 'Bolt Brain'." The first Gray said. "I'll let you do the honors."

"I'm going first with the 'Metal Bitch' then." The second Gray said.

Cammy sent Sheila and Ally after them. She figured they would lead them somewhere important. She continued down the main passageway.


CamNet directed the Terminator to re-approach the location on foot from the street. She informed him there were more drones on the way. It would take some time. None could currently be spared to assist him.

There were half a dozen buildings between his location and where the building with the rail siding was located. He'd set up a few surveillance cameras inside of the building before he left. He checked his phone periodically to see if there were any new developments. He would be alerted by CamNet if she detected anything first.

He watched the box truck turn to the west side of where the building was at. It could go to the building next to where it was at. Without the drone coverage, he would have to take a visual look to see what was actually occurring.

The Terminator checked behind him as well as in front of him as he hurried along the row of buildings on the north side of the street. He soon neared the intersection where the box truck turned. He quickly crossed the street and moved to the corner of the building on the west side of the target building. He could see the box truck was backed up to the building he'd been in earlier. It was by the roll up door on the west side. There were two men out of the truck. They both stood by the door next to the roll up door. One of the men pounded on it. He listened to their conversation.

"What are those morons doing inside of there?" The first man asked.

"Maybe they scored some fresh meat." The second man said.

"All I can say is they better have." The first man said. "I'm going to knock one off if they did, whether they like it or not."

"I hear you, bro." The second man said. "I'm going to pull some wood right now thinking about it."

The first man looked at the second man with disgust.

"TMI, dude, don't get too descriptive." The first man said.

The two men pounded on the regular door as well as the roll up door.

The second man scratched the top of his head.

"You don't think they pulled out do you?" The second man asked.

"You mean cut out." The first man said. "Those imbeciles were always a little on the shady side as far as I'm concerned."

The second man looked back at the car parked near where they were at.

"They were told to get rid of the car a few weeks ago." The second man said.

The first man pounded on the roll up door and looked over at the car.

"All it does is attract more lowlifes and losers." The first man said.

The second man looked North along the west side of the building.

The Terminator moved back a little at the building where he was concealed.

"Let me check on the doors here and in the front." The second man said.

The first man looked south towards the railroad tracks.

"I'll take the south side." The first man said. "It's the side which always seems to attract the real losers. If I see any homeless people, I think I'm going to pop them."

The second man paused for a moment.

"If one of them is a chick, put the grab on her." The second man said. "We can take her back with us. No one will miss her."

The first man laughed.

"I can guarantee no one will miss her." The first man said. "I'm going to smoke anyone else who's with her."

The first man went around the corner to the south side of the building.

The second man continued up the west side of the building towards the street.

"We'll call each other if we spot something." The second man called out.

"It sounds good." The first man said loudly from around the corner.

The Terminator was aware of what both men sounded like. He decided to take out the second man when he went around the corner to the front side of the building. If anyone called him on his phone, he would respond using his voice.

As soon as the second man turned the corner, he moved around the corner slightly on the west side. He crossed the street and used the corner of the building to block his view from the second man. He kept watch down the length of the building to the south side to make sure the first man didn't reappear.

The Terminator moved up the corner and peered around the front side. He could see the second man at the front door. He looked down the side of the building to the south. There was no sign of the first man. He decided to make his move.


The security chief hoped he could make it past the spatial portal. He hoped the HK Track and two Terminators wouldn't be able to follow him. Maybe he shouldn't have hidden for so long. He didn't really have a choice. There hadn't been an opening through the flames before.

He could hear part of the building collapse in back of him. Maybe he shouldn't have waited for so long. He could also hear the HK Track was on the move.

He cleared the part of the building which had already collapsed. There was still a path forward he could use. He looked up above him and worried about an HK drone. He understood what he'd experienced earlier was an HK drone attack.

The security chief could see the spatial portal on his right side as he made his break for it. He would try to get to one of the other buildings and see if he could get to a vehicle. He spotted something ahead of him. It slowed his progress considerably. It was one of the female Terminators. He looked to the other side of the spatial portal. He could see another female Terminator. He wondered how many of them there were. He didn't think it was the same ones. Maybe they were. He was pretty sure he'd spotted four different females earlier.

The Terminators blocked his path forward. He thought about going back. He could hear the HK Track coming. There was nowhere for him to go. The spatial portal was about twenty feet away from him on his right side. There was another brilliant flash of light from it. Other than the brightness and the sound of the electrical discharge, it didn't affect him. He looked over where the two female Terminators were at. He didn't think it affected them. Maybe the effects only went in one direction.

He saw one of the females raise an RPG. He wasn't sure if it was the one he'd discarded or not. He didn't think so. He couldn't load another rocket into it earlier.

Wait.

Maybe a Terminator could.

The sound of the HK Track was very loud behind him.

The security chief was out of options. He made a dash for the opening of the spatial portal. He would rather take his chances with the unknown. To remain where he was at was certain death.


The water was now ankle deep in the smoke filled trench as the female Fanatic and Jill hurried to get away from the building. Luckily it wasn't flowing very fast. Ankle deep water which flowed fast could knock someone down. Once they were knocked down. The water would carry them along. It would slam them into every obstacle in its path.

"Try to keep your footing." The female Fanatic said.

Jill hoped to keep her footing and the phone which lit the area.

"The water feels very cold." Jill said.

The female Fanatic was aware what could make it feel a lot colder.

"You don't want to fall into it." The female Fanatic said.

The trench they were in was now more of a pipe.

"I'm going to follow you no matter what." Jill said.

The two females needed to bend forward to prevent hitting their heads. The water was now up to mid calf level on both of them. It still wasn't flowing very fast.

"I don't think we're under the building anymore." The female Fanatic said. "I think we're under the land which leads to the dry gulch. I'm sure it's not very dry at this point with this much water passing through it."

The level of smoke continued to increase. It caused them to cough as they moved along.

The girls continued to hurry. The water level was now up to their knees. It still wasn't moving very swiftly. If it was, they would both be along for the ride as their bodies bounced along the sides of the pipe.

The female Fanatic spotted a brilliant flash of light ahead of her for a moment. It took a second for the sound to reach her. She heard it from both in front of them and in back of them. It sounded as if there'd been a massive explosion. The pipe seemed to shake a little around them as passed through it. There was something else she could hear after the sound of the explosion. There was a roar behind them. She was sure it was a mass of water. More than likely whatever exploded ruptured the rest of the water mains. The water was designed to go in one direction. It was through the trench and into the pipe, where it would exit into the dry gulch. They would be in its way.

"Run." The female Fanatic shouted.


Lena and Tina were soon on the other side of the area where the spatial portal was at. All they could see were flames and the HK Track approaching it. They could see a man running as well. There was some type of electrical discharge from the spatial portal.

The man seemed to spot them and slowed. He was almost even with the spatial portal. It appeared as if he was going to turn around and go back the way he'd come. It appeared he was willing to take his chances with the burning building instead of facing them. There was one more thing he was going to need to consider. Before he could get back into the burning building he was going to need to deal with the HK Track.

Tina could see the HK Track behind the man. She lifted the rocket launcher. It appeared the man felt she aimed it at him. He made a mad dash towards the spatial portal. She didn't see him on the other side of it.

A moment after the running man disappeared, there was another bright flash of light.

Lena and Tina both felt the effects of it. They decided they needed to move back further. The progress of the HK Track had slowed considerably. It was still on a mission to approach the spatial portal.

The two female Terminators joined each other further back from where the spatial portal was at. The HK track was able to drive right up to it. It was too big to fit inside.

Tina fired the RPG. The rocket tracked true and struck the HK Track. There was an explosion. It was followed moments later by a large secondary explosion as the power cell ruptured. The massive explosion did something to the spatial portal. There was another bright flash of light and an electrical discharge.

Both of the Terminators felt it. It caused both of them to stagger. They were both able to remain upright. The effects of the electrical discharge passed quickly.

Everything around it was gone. There was no sign of the spatial portal still existing in midair as it had been. The blast seemed to be directed towards the rest of the burning building. Most of it collapsed from the concussive effect.

Lena and Tina checked for any other threats around them. None were spotted.


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Temporal Mission:

Past Timeline:

November 26 1963

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Cameron headed down from the top of Oat Mountain on a different tributary to Browns Canyon Creek. It took some time. She was soon near where the second dam was at. It was completely stilted up to the top with trees growing where water once stood. It was clear the dam builder didn't take into account the heavy runoff which would happen several times a year during a cloudburst. It carried a lot of water and debris, as well as silt, sand and mud along with it.

She made her way to one of the horse trails and followed it back towards where the safe house was at. She approached from the front of it this time instead of from the rear. She didn't think there'd be anyone to ambush her. It never hurt to play it safe.

Cameron looked around to make sure it was clear and jumped over the two fences. She landed with a soft 'thud' sound. She made a sweep around the house as well as the outbuildings. Everything appeared to be undisturbed. She carefully moved up to the window of Young Allison's bedroom and listened.


Earlier:

Young Allison climbed back into bed. She felt she needed to release some tension. Maybe it's what she should have done when she went to bed like she normally did. It didn't take her long to release the tension. She continued what she was doing and was rewarded several more times in rapid succession. It took her a moment to catch her breath. She quickly fell back to sleep.

She could hear the sound of water. For a brief moment she thought she was at the beach. There was only one problem. It was dark. She never went to the beach when it was dark. It was unsafe to go in the ocean at night. It didn't take her long to realize where she was at. She would rather experience the danger at the beach, as opposed to the danger where she currently was.

She was in a passageway. It was underneath the anti-Metal bunker. Savannah had just gone on her own to manually detonate a B61 nuclear bomb. She needed to do it before the chamber it was in flooded. There was no guarantee the timer would still work once it was submerged. A manual detonation of the nuclear bomb was the only way to be sure.

The water poured out of a breach in the passageway wall because of the tunneling anti-Metal group had done. They were as big of a threat to the Resistance as Skynet was. The anti-Metal faction didn't view the Resistance led by John Connor as anything different than another version of Skynet.

'Cherry Bomb' was currently against the side of the passage at a forty five degree angle. It was inoperable. Somehow Summer was 'in her head' instructing her on what to do to fix it. She frantically worked on it to restore it back to operation.

Savannah's light had faded into the distance. She was gone. Savannah went instead of her. When Savannah didn't look back at her, she knew it was the end of the line. She needed to get out of the passageway. The entire mountain they were underneath would collapse in the next fifteen minutes if Savannah was successful. She knew she would be. Savannah never failed.

She was able to get 'Cherry Bomb' to power back up. It righted itself and quickly sat down on the floor of the passageway. She could hear the sound of something 'screaming' in the distance towards her. The sound kept getting louder and louder. She could see a light moving rapidly. She quickly ducked down. 'Coltan Overcast' moved past 'Cherry Bomb' and her. It was going after Savannah.

"Go get her!" Young Allison screamed as she jumped into the air.

A few seconds later she could hear the minigun open up as 'Coltan Overcast' attempted to weaken the concrete and carve out an opening where Savannah could place a Thermite grenade before it fired its missiles. There were a series of explosions seconds later.

She climbed on top of 'Cherry Bomb' as it lifted off the ground and turned around to head out. She could see a light in the distance from the direction Savannah and 'Coltan Overcast' had gone. She knew they were on the way out.

Young Allison sat up in bed. Her Hi-Power was in her right hand. She flipped the safety off. She was out of bed in an instant. She thought she'd heard something outside. She didn't hear anything inside.

She moved over to the window of her bedroom. She didn't know if it was a 'Peeping Tom' or some type of animal. She pointed the Hi-Power at the wall. She knew the bullet would punch right through it like tissue paper. She saw a figure move away from the window. The threat wasn't immediate. Well, they may have placed a bomb against the outside of the wall. She didn't think so. They could have thrown it through the window just as easily.

Young Allison passed from her bedroom into the hallway. She made her way into the dining room. She sat in a chair in the corner and waited.

The door opened a moment later. It was very quiet. She almost didn't hear it at first. She didn't even hear the key in the lock.

"How did it go?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron turned and looked at her direction.

"It was a very successful infiltration mission." Cameron said. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Young Allison re-engaged the safety on her Browning and lowered it down from the direction it was pointed. It was pointed at Cameron.

"I thought I heard something outside my bedroom window." Young Allison said. "I don't think you heard what you thought you were going to hear."

She didn't bother to tell Cameron it happened earlier. She thought all girls needed a few secrets.

Cameron quickly looked around. It was exactly what she wanted to see if she could tell was happening.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was secure before I came back inside the house." Cameron said.

Young Allison got up and went back into her bedroom. She slid the P-35 back under her pillow.

Cameron gave her a brief explanation as to what she'd done and the possible ways to disable the Nike site as quickly as possible.

Young Allison felt it applied more to a Terminator than it did to her.

"You know I won't be able to do those same things on my own." Young Allison said.

Cameron didn't think it was a big deal.

"I only relied on my 'natural ability'." Cameron said. "Did you dream any when you were asleep?"

It was Young Allison's turn to feel a little uneasy. She remembered her dreams very vividly and clearly. She didn't wish to share them. She didn't want to lie to Cameron and say 'no'.

"There were a few." Young Allison said. "You know they're easy to forget when they're over."

Cameron briefly touched Young Allison as she pulled the cover up on her. She did a quick scan of her.

"I guess it's easy come, easy go." Cameron said.

Young Allison knew Cameron scanned her. She was used to it. It was something all the Metal girls did. They didn't try to hide the fact they did it, they just tried to do it subtly. She knew if they couldn't scan her, it caused them some distress. She understood they were concerned about her well being.

"Are you going to go out again?" Young Allison asked.

Cameron pointed to the clock on the dresser.

"It will be morning soon enough." Cameron said. "I might go out into the garage for a while. We can go by Iverson's tomorrow. We'll hike in. It won't take us long. You'll be able to get your exercise in as well. Get some more rest."

Young Alison didn't realize it was as late, or early, as it was. She must have been able to get a few good hours of sleep in. Maybe the dreams were a little rocky at the beginning and the end. She wasn't sure if there were any in between.

Cameron left the room.

Young Allison hoped she should get one more hour of sleep in. Maybe she should just get up now.


Bit Players

One may not always be able
To play it by the numbers
They would like a do over
If they had their druthers

When something is not nourished
It dries out and soon withers
It can leave one shaking
Or filled with the jitters

Things may become confusing
When there are too many dividers
Things need to be viewed
Without the need for filters

When one seeks out the world
They will find many wonders
The can take it all in
If they sort out the layers

When one wants more
They may seek too many partners
The end result will be
Little more than a few bit players

Nobody