Chapter 1564
Nothing Happened
Young Jesse was on top of the elevator. It had just slowed and stopped. She heard what sounded like gunshots and then an alarm. It seemed like things just got worse. It looked like she was on the right level anyway. She still didn't know if there was more than one level. Even if there wasn't an elevator stop, there could be additional levels to the area where she was at.
She currently looked over the front of the elevator. There was light which filtered in from the double doors. It was very dim. It showed the elevator stopped where it should have. It was aligned with an opening anyway.
Young Jesse saw the lights dim several times in a random order. She wasn't sure what was going on. She still wore her night vision. It seemed to fluctuate some when the lights dimmed. She noticed the thick wires were all bunched into one corner. She realized with the elevator in the down position, no one could get to them to use them.
She was about to remove the piece of electrical conduit. It kept the hatch in the top of the elevator from being opened from inside the elevator. She paused and looked at the wires. She found the communication's line. Camille or Gail should be back at the top of the shaft by now. Maybe they should all get on the same page first. She wanted to give them a situation report.
Camille and Gail were both back at the shaft.
The lights flickered once.
"What was that?" Gail asked.
It happened again a few seconds later. It became intermittent afterwards.
Camille was very concerned with the implications.
"We're losing the power." Camille said. "The elevator is going to get stuck down there. I'm going to go down."
The lights all flickered several more times.
Gail heard some noise. She picked up the communication's line to check it.
"Jesse?" Gail asked.
Camille reached over for the line. She was upset Young Jesse went down alone, and with the backpack nuke.
"Give it to me." Camille said.
Gail didn't want any further hard feelings. She gave the line to Camille. She figured they were about to lose the power. She looked at the forklift and the hoist assembly. She wanted a better solution for getting the elevator car up.
Camille all but grabbed the line from Gail.
"Jesse?" Camille asked. "Where are you?"
Young Jesse wanted them to know all of the details. She didn't know many of them.
"I'm on top of the elevator car." Young Jesse said. "I'm at the lower level."
Camille was concerned about her.
"Are you alright?" Camille asked. "Where's the 'package' at?"
Young Jesse didn't want her to worry.
"I'm fine." Young Jesse said. "I'm on top of the elevator right now with the 'package'. I heard what sounded like gunshots as the elevator arrived and there's an alarm going off somewhere inside. I don't know how many levels there are to this place. There didn't seem to be more than one by the elevator controls. I don't know what the interior layout is."
The mention of gunshots and an alarm going off was more than Camille wanted to hear.
"Stay where you are for now." Camille said. "I'm coming down."
Young Jesse thought of the trouble with her night vision equipment.
"No." Young Jesse said. "I don't think you should. The lights keep going out and there's a strange pulsating electrical hum. It keeps getting worse."
Camille recognized it for the danger it was. Young Jesse shouldn't be down there.
"It sounds like one of the energy fields which will affect everything electrical." Camille said. "We'll bring you up while we still can."
Young Jesse wasn't about to leave without the others.
"No." Young Jesse said. "I need to find the other girls first. They're all down here somewhere."
Camille wanted her to understand the danger.
"If we lose the power, you're going to get stuck down there." Camille said.
Young Jesse wanted to make herself clear.
"I'm not leaving without the girls." Young Jesse said. "Figure out a way to get the elevator up if you do lose power."
There was a long pause.
"Someone's coming." Young Jesse whispered. "I don't think it's the girls either."
Camille listened. She could hear more gunfire and metal banging noises. There was a sustained burst of suppressed gunfire. There was a pause and another long burst of suppressed gunfire.
"Jesse?" Camille asked.
Camille listened to the silence.
"Jesse?" Camille asked.
Every second seemed like an hour.
"Jesse?" Camille asked.
Young Jesse needed to take care of a couple of problems.
"I'm good. I killed two Grays. I'm inside the elevator now." Young Jesse whispered. "I see Samantha, she's down. She can move for a short time and then collapses again. There is some kind of energy field down here. It's getting worse. I'm going to help her. You and Gail need to be ready to pull out so you don't get trapped if it goes critical. I'll finish up down here one way or another. I love you, Camille. Bye."
Camille understood what Young Jesse indicated. It wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"Jesse!" Camille shouted.
Camille looked at the dead communication's line. She knew Young Jesse thought she wasn't going to make it. She started over towards the opening.
Gail was able to hear the conversation.
The lights flickered and went out. They didn't come back on.
"Stop!" Gail said. "You'll get trapped like the rest of them are. We need to get power to the elevator hoist and controls. It's the only way we can help them from where we are. If you get stuck down there as well, it will be an additional problem for Young Jesse to deal with. You already heard the report."
Camille looked at what was available where they were. It looked bleak.
Everything was monitored in the Command Center. John Henry sent them a message and some instructions.
Gail and Camille went to work at a frantic pace.
A short time ago:
Cammy was weak. She'd experienced something like this before. Savannah was the one who'd ended up doing all the fighting and helping all of them get out. Savannah wasn't there this time. There were no human Resistance team members down there with them. They were on their own. She needed to get the Metal girls and get out. She needed to get out of the room first. The further they could get from the pulses. The less affected they would be. The pulses would continue to grow in strength as the power supply became critical before it ruptured and exploded.
She made it out into the hall. There was another pulse and the lights flickered. She fell to the ground. She saw Hanna lying on the ground as she tried to go back the way she'd come. She could only manage to move on her hands and knees. It appeared it was all Hanna could do too. They saw each other and tried to head for the elevator shaft. If they could tie themselves to the cables, they could be pulled up.
A short time ago:
Hanna went back into the room she'd just killed the Grays in and searched it. It looked like a communications room. Nothing worked. Everything was locked up and jammed. She left it as it was with the lights on and closed the door. She went back the way she'd come. She wanted to link back up with Cammy and Samantha.
She heard the gunshots and the alarm. She was stunned and then knocked to the ground by something. It seemed to paralyze her.
She was able to crawl and link up with Cammy. They joined up at the intersection which led back to the elevator shaft. They tried to head for the elevator shaft. Neither of them could stand. There was another pulse and the lights flickered.
Both Hanna and Cammy were knocked down flat again. They could see Samantha was laying near the elevator now before they went down.
A short time ago:
Samantha paused and listened. She was pretty sure the elevator was on its way down. She was about to go look. She spotted Sheila down the hall to her right as she faced the elevators.
There was gunfire and then an alarm. She was stunned by an electrical impulse. It knocked her down the second time. The lights flickered each time there was pulse.
She saw Hanna was at the far end of the hall. Cammy joined her. They both could only crawl.
Sheila was down and tried to crawl to where she was at. Everyone was on their hands and knees. The energy pulse seemed to worsen each second.
There was the sound of running footsteps. There were a few more gunshots. She tried to bring her silenced M9 up but was felled by another impulse.
Two Grays ran past her to the elevator.
A short time ago:
Cam, Ally and Sheila all felt another pulse of energy. They were all paralyzed for a second. The lights flickered.
"It didn't seem as bad." Sheila said.
Cam knew it would fluctuate and vary. The pluses would be worse sometimes and less other times. They would also seem to have a cumulative effect.
She looked in through the little window. No one inside seemed affected. There must be some kind of insulation.
"We need to leave." Cam said. "Go back now or we'll be stuck down here."
Sheila and Ally started to go but saw Cam wasn't leaving.
There was another pulse of energy. It knocked all of them down. The lights flickered.
The two Grays in the clean room ran out. They tripped over Cam and sprawled on the ground. One of them fired a few shots wildly as they scrambled to get up. They could see there were three females there and they were all down. They ran towards the elevator. They spotted another one sprawled on the ground. The lights flickered and she dropped the pistol she held and collapsed.
The Grays ran past her to the elevator. They worked the controls. They'd received an indication in the 'clean room' the elevator was now at the lower level now where they were. It was the only way out. They'd left their two Terminators behind. Neither one functioned properly. They didn't want to stick around and get terminated, especially since the elevator was there now.
"We've got to get out of here." The first Gray said.
The second Gray was surprised there were others down there.
"Who are all these females?" The second Gray asked.
The first Gray could only speculate.
"Look at them." The first Gray said. "They're all 'Metal Bitches'. It looks like the attack was worse than we thought."
The elevator doors remained closed.
"Nothing's happening." The second Gray said.
The first Gray looked through the narrow gap between the doors. He saw what he wanted to see.
"I can see the elevator is there." The first Gray said. "Help me open the doors up."
They pried the outer doors open, and then the inner ones. They made it inside the elevator. They pushed the buttons. Nothing happened. The energy pulses grew louder and the lights took longer to come back on. They took one look back the way they'd come. The 'Metal Bitches' sprawled on the floor couldn't get up.
They frantically worked the controls but nothing happened.
"Maybe we can climb up." The second Gray said.
It didn't seem like a very good proposition to the first Gray.
"It's a long way." The first Gray said.
They could see the Metal girls move every now and then. There were more of them at the far end of the hall near where the big power cell was at. So far they'd spot six of them. They were sure there was probably more.
"Do you have a better idea?" The second Gray asked. "Get on your knees so I can reach it."
One Gray stood on the other's back and pushed on the hatch. It didn't move. He pulled his pistol out and pounded on the roof hatch with his pistol. Two seconds later the ceiling of the elevator was turned into a sieve.
There was a full auto burst of suppressed gunfire from the top of the elevator followed by another from the other side of the elevator roof. Both Grays were down. The lights went out.
Cam was aware the Grays tripped over her.
There was some gunfire but she wasn't hit.
She still held her Taser. Her M9 was gone.
The two Terminators came out and they were both knocked down by another electrical pulse and landed in front of her.
None of the three of them could move.
The pulse passed.
Cam managed to fire her Taser twice and hit both of them.
They would be down for two minutes.
Another pulse of energy hit and the lights went out
The darkness overtook Cam.
The darkness was total. The Metal girls were all down. The pulses of energy were too frequent for any of them to reboot long enough to escape. It looked like they were finished.
John Henry and Summer listened to the reports from Gail and Camille. They heard what Young Jesse reported as to what happened down in 'The Hole'.
Summer went over the footage of Gail and Camille's body cams as well as the camera on 'Cherry Bomb'. It gave her a good overview of what was available there.
She made some calculations.
"Here's what they can do for right now…." Summer said.
She laid out a plan for John Henry.
John Henry thought it was workable for now. The magnitude of the pulses would determine what would follow. Right now it looked grim.
Young Allison was relieved to see the Huey leave the area with the drone secured underneath it.
"It looks like they made it away OK." Young Allison said.
Anna monitored everything.
"Maybe they haven't yet." Anna said.
Young Allison looked over her screens.
"What do you have?" Young Allison asked.
Anna wasn't sure.
"Trouble…." Anna said. "There is a small drone closing in on the helicopter."
Young Allison didn't want it spotted. She didn't believe the small drone could keep up with the Huey, but it could identify it.
"Bring it down." Young Allison said.
One of their drones was low down at five thousand feet. It was over the helicopter right now. It accelerated and passed the helicopter in a dive to close in on the small drone that approached. It fired a burst from its minigun at twelve hundred feet and scored. The small drone was obliterated.
The helicopter changed course and gained altitude. It climbed up to ten thousand feet. CamNet assured them all radar was blocked.
The sun would be up very soon.
"Have CamNet engage any additional threats with the drones at altitude." Young Allison said.
Anna was a little worried at such a broad 'order'.
"Do you want to know what the threats are first?" Anna asked.
Young Allison was more worried about the deteriorating conditions in the side of the hill with the Metal girls and Young Jesse.
"Tell me only if we will need to do some kind of 'clean up'." Young Allison said. "I'm more worried about the possibility of temporal extractions right now."
Young Jesse was a little worried when the Grays started to bang on the hatch in the top of the elevator. She also knew right where they were at now. She took two steps back and fired a full auto burst at an angle. It should hit whoever was under the hatch. She moved off to the side and fired again. There was only silence below her. The pulsating noise in the distance grew louder and louder. The lights stayed off now. She quietly changed her position and the magazines in her M4.
She was ready to fire again if any shots came up from below. There were none. She silently moved to where there was a group of bullet holes in the top of the elevator car and looked inside with her night vision. There were two men dead on the floor. She removed the length of electrical conduit and opened the hatch. She shot both of the men in the head with her silenced M9. She dropped down inside the elevator with the communication line attached to her vest. She looked out of the elevator with her silenced M9 up and ready for a target.
She figured she'd better finish her report to Camille.
"I'm good. I killed two Grays. I'm inside the elevator now." Young Jesse whispered. "I see Samantha, she's down. She can move for a short time and then collapses again. There is some kind of energy field down here that's getting worse. I'm going to help her. You and Gail need to be ready to pull out so you don't get trapped if it goes critical. I'll finish up down here. I love you, Camille. Bye."
Young Jesse didn't know if Camille would listen or not.
She moved over to Samantha and grabbed her right foot. She pulled her into the elevator. She placed her against the side of the elevator. She grabbed the foot of one of the dead Grays and pulled them out. She could see two figures on the floor at the far end of the hall. They both moved until another pulse hit. She changed to her Taser and ran down to them. It was Cammy and Hanna. She went to move both of them at the same time but it was too hard and slow. She looked over and saw where the electrical pulse seemed to come from. She grabbed Hanna's foot and dragged her into the elevator. She placed her against Samantha. She pulled out the other dead Gray.
Young Jesse started back towards Cammy when there was movement on her left side. She dropped down low to the ground and looked. There was a figure which moved for a second, but fell flat again with another pulse. She approached with her Taser ready. It was Sheila.
She looked further. Ally wasn't far away. Cam was by an open door. There were a lot of sparks and electrical noises coming from the room. There were also two figures with Taser barbs in them. They must be 'Robby The Robot' and the 'Metal Bitch'.
Young Jesse took Cam's Taser from her hand and Tasered both of the enemy Terminators again. She took out her knife, pulled their chips and pocked them. She grabbed Cam by the foot and pulled her into the elevator. She went back for Sheila and then Ally. She placed the three of them on the other side of the elevator. The center section was open. There were still more Terminators to add to the collection. She needed to get the 'package' off of the roof of the elevator too. She figured a boost would help.
She ran and grabbed 'Robby'. She pulled him underneath the hatch in the elevator ceiling. She stood on his back. She needed more height. She ran and grabbed the 'Metal Bitch' and dragged her into the elevator. She was able to get her chassis on top of 'Robby's', a half at a time. She stood on top of her. She was able to pull herself up and get back onto the roof of the elevator. She scooted to the edge of the opening and moved the 'package' to the edge of the hatch. She braced her legs on the other side. She pulled the heavy wire she'd attached to it around the center support for the elevator. She pushed the package through and it dropped down about five feet and stopped right as it impacted the 'Metal Bitch'.
Young Jesse dropped back inside the elevator. She looked out into the darkness for anyone else. Cammy was still at the far end of the hall by the throbbing electrical sound. There was a pulsating glow by where Cammy and Hanna were, as well as from the room the two enemy Terminators were in front of.
She cut the strap on the backpack nuke which held it to the wire. She lifted it off the "Metal Bitch' and onto the floor of the elevator. She used the cut strap to pull it along the floor of the lower level. She took it into the 'clean room' and placed it in a corner. The sparking had stopped at this point. She armed it for thirty minutes. She started to leave. She looked at the computers there and knew this was some version of Skynet. She smashed the control panel on the backpack nuke with the butt of her M4. There was no way to stop it now.
She covered it over with a shirt which was on the back of a chair. She turned around and saw something pass by the doorway with a small light of some kind. She drew her silenced M9 and moved up to the door slowly.
There were two figures there.
"I'm telling you, man, there's no one else here." The first Gray said. "They all split already."
"We shouldn't have tried to fix the power cell." The second Gray said.
"It's going to blow up in less than a half hour." The first Gray said. "It would have already blown up if I hadn't shut down the output."
"How are we supposed to get out of here?" The second Gray asked. "If there's no power, the elevator won't work."
"I saw it was down and the door was open." The first Gray said.
Young Jesse looked back the way the Grays came from to make sure there were no more. She stepped out.
She shot both of them in the back of the head from close range. They both dropped like a ton of bricks. She picked up the light they carried. It was a chemical glow stick. She tucked it inside of her vest. The area was back in darkness. She went in the direction they'd come from to make sure there was no one else. She could see a bright glow coming from a room on her left. The pulsing noise was very loud.
There was arcing which actually shot out of the room. She needed to turn her night vision off. It only worked occasionally. With the glow stick she didn't need it at all. She ran by the room between pulses and arcing. Something in there looked white hot as she passed by. Cammy was on the floor up ahead. She grabbed her foot and pulled her as fast as she could go. She pulled her into the elevators and picked up the communication line.
"Get us up." Young Jesse said. "I have everyone. We need to hurry."
There was no response.
Nothing happened.
She pushed the buttons.
Nothing happened.
She took out her silenced M9 and took off the silencer. She pointed it through the roof opening up the shaft. She angled it away from where the opening would be for the elevator along with the controls. She fired five shots in a pattern.
Bam-Bam pause Bam-Bam-Bam
There was a jolt and the elevator started up. Every second seemed like an hour.
The door was still wide open. There was no way for her to gauge how far up they were. She thought it was at least halfway. She looked up through the open hatch. It was total darkness. There was a blinding flash of light from below and the elevator slowed and stopped with a jolt. There was a loud roar and the elevator shook wildly. It was buffed back and forth against the rock walls of the shaft. She didn't think it was the 'package'. She was pretty sure she would have been incinerated and everything around her would have collapsed into the cavity created by the explosion.
She took out her M9 and fired five more shots.
Bam-Bam pause Bam-Bam-Bam
Nothing happened.
The Terminator was informed a drone would arrive very soon. CamNet wanted one of the trucks to leave the location. He decided to make a move on the truck driver outside the hall. He moved up in back of him and grabbed his neck. He choked him out with one hand. He quickly bound and gagged the man. He moved him off to the side. He looked in the little window in the door.
The two men walked down the hall.
"Is anyone here?" The first man called out.
Nothing happened.
There was no response.
They looked in the rooms as they moved down the hallway.
"There's no sign of them." The second man said.
They reached the sleeping quarters. They opened the door and turned the light on. They could see there were four men in their bunks.
"Wake up." The first man said loudly. "We've been waiting for over a half hour for you losers to open the door."
The second man looked across the hall. It was the security center. There should be someone in it.
"See if you can roust these morons." The second man said. "Let me check the security center."
The first man was irritated when no one looked up when he called out.
He went over to the closest man and shook him. He watched his head roll back and forth a little too easily. It ended up at a goofy angle when he let go. He quickly moved to the next man and then the next man. It was the same. They were all dead. Someone had snapped their necks.
He pulled out his pistol and hurried to check on the other man.
The second man entered the security center. All of the screens showed nothing but snow. He looked at the computer system and could see all the hard drives were gone. It could only mean one thing. He pulled out his pistol and hurried to tell the other man.
The two men met in the hall.
"This place has been attacked." The second man said.
The first man looked around with his pistol in his hand. He indicated with his head the room he'd just left.
"Everyone in the room is dead." The first man said. "It looks like three of them died in their bunks. All of their necks are snapped. You know what it means."
The second man gripped his pistol a little tighter.
"It most likely means a Terminator." The second man said.
Both men were clearly nervous.
"We don't have any weapons with us to stop one." The first man said. "We need to get out now while we still can."
The second man didn't disagree.
"We can go out through the side." The second man said.
The first man looked down the hall where they'd left the truck driver.
"The other guy can find his way out." The first man said. "Let's go."
The two men headed for the door on the side of the building. They made their way out and headed for their truck.
"See if the keys are in the other truck." The second man said.
The first man hopped up on the side of it and looked in the window. The ignition was empty.
"No." The first man said.
The two men got in the truck they'd arrived in and drove off. They'd only gone a few blocks when they were acquired by a drone. It would shadow them to wherever they went. If either of them got out of the vehicle before it arrived at a building location, they would be hit with 'metal hail'.
The Terminator didn't like to let the other two men go. He watched them panic and then leave the building. CamNet informed him a drone was over them. He picked up the truck driver and carried him down the hall and dumped him on one of the bunks in the room with the other for terminated men.
It was time to question the truck driver 'Terminator style'.
Earlier:
The female Fanatic and Jill watch the water level start to go down even quicker than it had risen. They both remained where they were at on the ladder up against the hatch. Soon the water was only ankle deep. There was a lot of debris inside of the pipe now. There was a pile of it up against the grate. They moved down the ladder and stood in the water.
"The water isn't cold anymore." The female Fanatic said. "I think the fire must have been really hot."
Jill tried to figure out where so much water came from so quickly.
"How was there so much water at once?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic thought she had a pretty good idea.
"I believe several of those large tanks we saw contained water." The female Fanatic said. "I think the explosion dumped over one. Then it was another one or more. It's the only way such a high volume of water could appear so quickly."
The smoke began to build up inside of the pipe in the small chamber they were in. The water level dropped a little further. There was still a flow.
The female Fanatic moved over to the grate and looked at it. She could see the area outside was lit up with a faint orange and yellow glow. She figured it was from the fire of the building. It lit the entire area.
There was a padlock which secured the grate closed.
Jill began to move some of the debris away which was piled up against the grate.
There was a metallic sound when she moved some of it.
The female Fanatic reached down and picked up a three foot long piece of metal.
They both began to cough on a regular basis as the volume of smoke continued to build and grow in density.
The female Fanatic placed the length of metal against the hasp which held the padlock. She couldn't generate enough force on her own.
Jill set the phone with the light on it on one of the ladder rungs and went over to assist Jackie.
"Let's both do this." Jill said. "We're in this together for everything."
After the third try, the hasp broke. The piece of metal they'd used to pry on it with was bent as well.
The female Fanatic swung the grate open. She looked down below the opening. She expected to see a mass of mud and water. Instead there was a concrete spillway which was there to prevent the water exiting the pipe from eroding the dirt below it, which would eventually undermine it.
Jill helped Jackie go down. She went over and retrieved the phone with the light and handed it down to Jackie.
The female Fanatic turned off the light. The area outside was very well lit from the fire. They were currently below ground level down in the dry gulch. It was anything but dry right now.
Jill lowered herself down and stood next to Jackie on the concrete spillway.
"I hate to say this, but this is the first time I feel clean since I was abducted." Jill said.
The female Fanatic agreed with her. They'd been in some dirty places over the last few days.
"Let's hope we don't get too muddy when we get out of here." The female Fanatic said. "I want to take a look at what we're leaving behind."
Jill wanted to know as well.
"I think we can go up on the side of the spillway." Jill said.
The two females were able to go up the concrete on the right side of the spillway. It was the location outside of where the chamber they'd been in was located. They both carefully lifted their heads above ground level. They were a little surprised at what they viewed. The large building they've been in was completely destroyed. The entire front section of it was gone. What was even more strange was, all of the out buildings were burning as well.
"Wow!" Jill said. "This entire place is wasted."
The female Fanatic figured the HK drone which was there earlier probably destroyed everything. She listened carefully to see if she could hear it. She couldn't. She hoped after everything was destroyed it left. She didn't know it was long gone.
"It's possible there may be a few stragglers." The female Fanatic said. "I believe there was another group which attacked the building and did all of this."
Jill realized they hadn't done very much on their own. She did get her personal revenge though. She could see they were by the high tension power lines.
"Let's just get out here." Jill said. "I think we're far enough away from the building and the main road to it, there shouldn't be anyone here."
The female Fanatic carefully looked over the landscape.
"I don't think we're too far away from where we left the vehicle." The female Fanatic said.
They scrambled up to ground level. Jill went and looked at the manhole cover she'd tried to open from the inside.
"I don't see a lock on this thing." Jill said.
The female Fanatic took a closer look at the manhole cover.
"You would never have been able to open it." The female Fanatic said. "It's been welded closed."
They quickly made their way over to the dirt access road which paralleled the high-tension power lines. There was still enough yellow glow behind them to light the area. It didn't take them too long to reach the car. It was where they'd left it.
"I hope it starts." Jill said.
The female Fanatic climbed in and started it. She opened the trunk and got out of the car. She went to the back of it and looked in the trunk.
"Someone has been here." The female Fanatic said. "The weapons we left behind are gone."
Jill quickly looked around them.
"Why didn't they take the car?" Jill asked.
The female Fanatic wondered the same thing.
"Whoever took the weapons, knows what this vehicle looks like." The female Fanatic said. "If it's spotted on the road, they know anyone who's in it is from this location. Let's see what we have."
Both of them still had their Beretta. Everything else was gone. The female Fanatic tried all of the phones she carried. Only two of them still worked. The rest of them were inoperable. Of the ones Jill carried, only one of them worked.
"So what do we do now?" Jill asked. "Do we drive out and take our chances?"
The female Fanatic could see it would be light soon. She reached inside and shut the car off. She decided if any Grays survived and made it to where it was at, it was better to let them take it and be targeted by the unknown group. She'd seen the unknown group in action several times. She really wondered who they were.
"The railroad tracks are on the other side of these hills." The female Fanatic said. "Let's go towards them."
They hurried along the access road. When they reached the top of the last Hill they could see the railroad tracks down below them.
The female Fanatic and Jill made their way down to the railroad tracks. They could hear an air horn in the distance.
Lena led and Tina followed her. They each drove a big rig. They put some distance behind them and the facility they'd just destroyed. They wanted to get the captured Skynet material away from the location and not be intercepted or attacked by anyone in the process.
They headed towards a location CamNet directed them to. They were informed the Resistance operation was still underway.
Lena inquired if there was anything they could do to assist them. They were informed the operation most likely would be concluded, one way or another long before they could reach the area.
Tina followed behind Lena. It looked like they were out of the picture for now.
The two female Terminators drove the trucks towards their assigned location.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 26 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron and Young Allison made their way to the top of the rise. They could see there were already several trucks down there. More than likely some of them had been left there overnight. If they were, there most likely would be some type of security guard present. If they all arrived this morning, maybe not.
Young Allison felt some excitement.
"Do you think we'll see any famous actors?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron was unsure what they would see. Everything below them might just be extras and stunt men.
"I think it depends upon the sequence for whatever they're going to film." Cameron said. "They might get all the rough filming taken care of first before the main actors arrive. There are a lot of cuts, with doubles and stunt men, to keep the big name actors safe."
Young Allison thought about it for a short time. It made sense. If one of the big name actors was injured in some type of way, all of the filming would need to come to a halt. All the other people who were part of the program wouldn't be able to work. They most likely wouldn't be paid either. If something was broken, the actor could be out for six weeks. The filming schedule was pretty tight, especially for a TV series. If the production company fell behind on the filming schedule, the program might be canceled for lack of episodes.
She realized there was more to it than just the actor's ego. Everyone was there because it was their job. It wasn't about who they were, as much as the fact it was they were able to work. Only the big name actors would be fussy about the work they needed to do. She wondered if Cameron could see the man from last night.
"Is Tiny there?" Young Allison asked.
Cameron looked for him. A few more vehicles arrived and more people got out of them. There were a few trailers there for wardrobe. Some of the people arrived and entered them.
"I haven't seen him yet." Cameron said. "It's possible there's filming going on in several locations on this property. It's a very large movie ranch. There's also the Spahn Movie Ranch and Corriganville very nearby."
Young Allison thought about it a little more. A lot of what went on at the Iverson location was generally about the more open spaces or something happening through the rocks. The other two locations would be for more close up work in a representation of a Western town. There were plenty of those at each of the big movie studios as well.
"I can see a few females down there." Young Allison said. "I think those two who just came out of the trailer aren't involved with wardrobe, make up or catering. It appears they're wearing Western costumes."
Cameron wanted to get closer. She figured they could mingle with the crowd gathered around the trailers.
"Let's move along the back side of the ridge and come up from the dirt road." Cameron said.
Young Allison and Cameron started on their way. It didn't take them long to reach the dirt road.
A pickup truck pulled in behind them about thirty seconds after they were on the dirt road. It hauled a horse trailer. It passed by them slowly. The truck stopped. The passenger side door opened.
Cameron hurried up to it. Young Allison was right behind her. They looked inside of the cab. It was Tiny.
"You're the two girls from last night." Tiny said. "Excuse me if I forgot your names. It was pretty hectic last night."
Cameron smiled at him.
"Hello, Tiny." Cameron said. "I'm Cindy."
Young Allison looked around the side of Cameron.
"I'm Emily." Young Allison said. "Are Black Magic and Big Red in the trailer?"
Tiny look very pleased they remembered the name of his animals.
"Hello, to both of you." Tiny said. "Big Red and Black Magic are with me as well. Climb in. I'll drive you to the location."
The girls quickly entered the truck. Cameron sat next to Tiny.
Young Alison closed the door as Tiny drove off.
Tiny was very grateful they'd been able to stop Black Magic. He wasn't quite sure how they were able to do it.
Young Allison didn't want there to be any type of problem if they were where they weren't supposed to be.
"Will anyone be upset if we're there?" Young Allison asked.
Tiny didn't think it would be a problem on the outdoor shoot. He was very pleased the girls helped him when he'd needed it. He did tell them he would be at Iverson's today. He didn't think they would actually show up. It wasn't exactly an invitation. He wasn't going to complain.
"I'll tell everyone you're my cousins." Tiny said. "It won't be a problem here. Just stay in the background and listen to what the director or anyone else says. Make sure you don't do anything counter to it."
Tiny parked on the side where there were other horse trailers.
They all got out of the truck and went to the horse trailer. Tiny went and checked in with someone with a clipboard. He returned and opened the horse trailer up. He brought Black Magic and Big Red out of the back of it.
Black Magic still seemed a little skittish.
"Whoa, easy, Black Magic." Tiny said.
Cameron stepped over next to it. The horse looked at her for a moment. It instantly calmed down. She figured it was a combination of her pheromones as well as some visual recognition.
The horse didn't perceive Cameron as any type of threat. It also remembered she was very powerful.
"I can see you have a way with animals." Tiny said. "I need to get them saddled up. I was running a little behind this morning."
Tiny went to the back of the truck and took out a saddle and the rest of the gear.
Cameron picked up the other saddle with one hand and collected everything else.
Tiny was a little surprised to see 'Cindy' was behind him with the other saddle. He could see she carried it with one hand as if it was weightless.
"Wow, you're really strong." Tiny said. "No wonder Black Magic respects you."
Young Allison didn't want there to be too many questions.
"She works out." Young Allison said.
Cameron wasn't sure anyone would understand the reference in 1963.
"I'm a gymnast." Cameron said. "I need to have good strength in both my arms and legs to do my routines. Show me what to do when you put the saddle on Big Red. I'll do the same for Black Magic."
Young Allison looked around as Cameron and Tiny got the horses ready. She could see more than a few people begin to pay attention to them.
Nothing Happened
Some get mired in the past
There they are firmly stuck
They think their luck is bad
They need to make their own luck
It takes two hands
For one to wash the other one
To try to do it with one hand alone
The chances of success are zero to none
A horse can be led to water
It can't be made to drink
When one is a little hesitant
Maybe it's time to rethink
The goal may be the same
It's the journey which is different
When the paths don't cross
Both may become indifferent
Many things are possible
When one is determined
The hopes were higher when there was help
The sad part is nothing happened
Nobody
