Chapter 75

Eight Days

Bob was able to close in on the enemy Terminator. The Terminator needed to stop to move a boulder out of the road Cameron placed there to slow him down. Her plan worked as intended. He wasn't far behind the Terminator at this point and was able to watch what went down. His presence was to keep up pressure on the Terminator. It was to make him watch behind him, as much as in front of him.

The more the Terminator was distracted, the better the next plan could be implemented. John already notified him what they were going to do. It was still spectacular to see it all unfold. He watched Cameron send the Terminator in his vehicle over the side of the cliff.

Bob pulled up behind John as he moved the SUV to the side of the road.

John went to join Cameron to look over the cliff side and see the results of their effort.

Cameron peered over the side of the cliff as the surf crashed on the rocks below. She figured enough time passed for the Terminator's power cell to explode if it had been ruptured. She looked off to the side where the burning car was at on the boulders below. She didn't detect any escape from the burning inferno.

John joined them after he moved the SUV off to the side of the road.

"I don't see any movement." Cameron said. "The Terminator is terminated."

Cameron was satisfied the event was concluded for now. She headed back to the SUV.

John remained there as he peered over the cliff side for a few seconds longer. He was satisfied when the car exploded. The Terminator was terminated. He knew how hard it was to get a positive termination at times. He started to walk back to the SUV. He wanted to get back to his honeymoon with Cameron.

Bob already moved back towards his SUV. He thought he heard some noise. He turned back and looked over at the breach in the fence where John just started to walk away from it.

"John, look behind you." Bob yelled.

John glanced over his shoulder. He felt his heart skip a few beats. He saw the hostile Terminator was behind him. Where did he come from?

The Terminator came up over the side of the cliff. He drug his right leg as he advanced. There appeared to be a lot of damage to it.

John went to run. He tripped on a large crack in the pavement. He sprawled on the ground. He scrambled to get up as the Terminator came closer to him.

The Terminator began to reach his hand out to grab John.

Cameron turned around at Bob's warning. She needed to get between John and the Terminator. She saw Bob move away from his SUV in an attempt to do the same thing. They were both too far away. Neither one of them was going to get to John in time to protect him.

She was sure John would be injured or terminated because of her inattentiveness. She'd been lost in thought about her remaining honeymoon time with John and how they would spend it. There were a lot of things she wanted to do as well. She'd made a major mistake by not being more thorough. The open door on the car should have been a giveaway. Now it looked as if John would pay the price.

Sarah urged Kyle to speak with his brother. She didn't want her trouble with Jesse to carry over to Derek. She didn't want it to develop into any 'bad blood' between the brothers. They were freshly united.

Kyle felt he needed to lay down some rules, or enforce the ones already there, even if they weren't written. He wanted to make sure his brother understood where he was coming from. It was important everyone remain on the same page.

"Look, Derek, I know you care for Jesse, but she has to get along with our operation here." Kyle said. "We work closely with the Terminators here. They actually do most of the fighting when it becomes necessary. You know they don't hesitate to enter the danger zone. It offers all of us better protection, as well as a little less risk."

Derek didn't want to hear it. It seemed he needed to hear it from every place Jesse went with him. She simply played by her own rules. It actually seemed as if she made them up as she went along. Her actions were unpredictable and changed from place to place. If it was possible to rub anyone the wrong way, she seemed to be able to do so almost instantly. He figured there must be a certain amount of voluntary participation behind it, but it didn't always seem to be the case. People just didn't like her.

"You know how she can be." Derek said. "If you tell her 'No' about something, then she'll do it anyway, even if she wasn't going to do it in the first place. It's not like when you discipline a dog, and tell it not to do something anymore, it doesn't. Jesse is more like a cat. You tell a cat not to do something, it waits until you leave, and then it does it anyway. I'll talk to her again."

Sarah was there with Kyle as he spoke with Derek. She didn't feel the answer was good enough. She wanted Jesse to get her head and her rear end wired together. It was important for the team effort. She figured if she could learn to work with Terminators, anyone could. It had been very difficult for her at first, especially with Cameron. She realized now she'd been wrong all along about Cameron. She wanted to make 'her rules' clear to Derek.

"You'd better get her under control, or I will." Sarah said. "I won't tolerate anything, or anyone, to mess up our operation. I don't want to see our people injured or killed because of the actions, or inactions, of one person. Everyone needs to be on the same page all the time. We all need to be able to trust each other."

Both of the Reese brothers looked at Sarah and knew she wasn't joking.

Derek was made aware of what an 'alternate timeline' Jesse, Future Jesse, did. Future Jesse also killed a girl in an attempt to blame it on Cameron. Sarah didn't want to discuss it anymore than what she mentioned. She gave no further details. It all sounded like a really 'bad episode' to him.

In the past, the future, Derek heard of several incidents which already occurred. He heard Cameron tell the stories of Sarah Connor and that she was the best fighter she knew. A statement of recognition and praise from Cameron meant something. It meant something to everyone who heard it. He'd seen Cameron in action and she'd saved Kyle's and his bacon more than once. She was damaged each time she did it, but she still did it anyway.

Derek felt deep respect for Cameron. If Cameron shared such respect for Sarah, it was well deserved. He also knew Sarah was the founder of the Resistance. It was something she needed to do on her own, all alone, without any support or help.

He wasn't surprised John and Cameron were married. He could see their love and bond in action, in his future. Both of them were originally out of different time periods. Both of them were there to help Kyle and him smash Skynet, and the Scavengers in his 'timeline'. It was still a trip in itself, there were other 'versions' of him in different timelines, and some of them were dead. He was glad he wasn't one of them, the dead ones. It also applied to Kyle. The dead ones were the versions from Cameron's future.

Mrs. Weaver was another story. She'd helped them out one hundred percent. She installed Restorators alongside the Resistance leaders in all aspects of rebuilding the society as equals. She then took a force of Restorators into her future, to try to smash Skynet there. From what he understood, it should have been the same future as Cameron's future. There was no way to know what happened after she left with her army of Restorators.

Derek's thoughts drifted back to Jesse. He wanted to try to explain the situation. It was personal to him.

"You know I love her, Kyle." Derek said. "I care about Jesse."

Kyle understood love. It could make things better, or make them worse, depending on what needed to be done. He didn't want to begrudge his brother any happiness he could find. Happiness and love was very elusive in the past, the future.

"I know you do." Kyle said. "I know it can be complicated."

Derek brought Jesse with him for more than love or sex. He tried to help his future timeline as well. He was aware how she seemed to create chaos in a relatively short amount of time.

"I brought her with me so she wouldn't mess things up in our future." Derek said. "You know how she can be."

Derek worried about more than a few things. One of them was Jesse gaining access to the TDE, and running her own temporal missions. He didn't think she would hesitate to do anything which would benefit her. He knew she would do things to hurt others as well.

Kyle thought about Derek's reasoning. Maybe it was better to bring Jesse there, than to leave her alone unsupervised. A lot of females would thank him too, if they only knew….

Vanna and Allison were alone. Vanna was bothered by what Cameron said to her earlier right before they'd left on their honeymoon. She reflected back on a troubling incident which involved Cameron. She thought about mentioning it to Allison earlier, but didn't. She figured it was bound to cause a certain amount of contention. There didn't need to be any hard feelings between them for anything.

"Cameron told me in eight days John would be alone for two nights." Vanna said.

Allison didn't see the connection to anything. She didn't see what the significance was, or why it mattered. It seemed to indicate Cameron was going to go on a mission. She knew Cameron liked to operate alone. She would need to see if she could go with Cameron when she went. She wondered if she missed something.

"What happens then?" Allison asked. "Isn't it right after they get back from their 'honeymoon'?"

Vanna decided to spell it out clearly.

"She's monitoring my reproductive cycle, and yours too." Vanna stated.

Allison was a little taken aback by it. She wondered if it was time for 'breeding sex' again. It never left her with a good feeling afterwards. It always made her think it was how animals reproduced.

"What are we supposed to do?" Allison asked. "Show up at his room and receive his seed? It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes."

Vanna experienced the same thing many times. At least there wouldn't be a beating to go along with it. There would be no knife to her throat, or a gun pressed into the side or her head, or even worse, a group of men. She hated it the most when they held her down and took turns. They all laughed and called her a whore, a bitch, and a slut, as they abused her. They made it seem like it was her fault.

There was deeper trouble than the past which bothered Vanna about all of it.

"I don't know. I'm afraid Cameron isn't planning on a future for herself." Vanna said.

Allison felt a lot of pressure from Cameron. There seemed to be a certain amount of guilt associated with it as well.

"We know what she wants for John and us, and why. I just can't do what she wants." Allison said. "I can't do it to her, and know she knows. Just the thought of it hurts ME. We were only there because we thought she was dead. We only did what she asked us to do. She made us promise to do it. We were there for John…."

Vanna felt it was all out in the open and everyone knew what Cameron wanted them to do. She also understood their 'inaction' could hurt Cameron just as much as any 'action' they took. Terminators were very goal driven. They would continue the task, until the goal was reached.

"It's not like we are going behind her back." Vanna said. "She seems to be on some type of timetable only she knows. It can't be anything good for her."

It seemed like the timetable of doom to Allison. She was really unsure what she would be able to do about it.

"I feel the same way too. It disturbs me so." Allison replied.

They thought Cameron fixed her 'problem' when she saved Future Allison. It appeared there was still some other issue, or issues. Maybe it was because the pain of past events never dulled for Cameron. It actually seemed as more time passed, it made them worse. Maybe it was because it allowed her more time to continue to think about them. The thoughts would always be at the same intensity as when they first occurred.

The hostile Terminator was about ten feet from John. He was going to reach him before anyone could act, or John could get up to flee. At that moment, Al came around the corner in the 'bobtail' truck. He hit the air horn and slammed into the Terminator at speed. Al jumped from the truck as it carried the Terminator over the side. Al hit the pavement and rolled several times.

One arm, and both legs, could be seen detached from the hostile Terminator as everything disappeared over the side of the cliff.

Cameron and Bob reached John.

John didn't feel he was the one who needed attention. He only tripped on a crack in the ground. Al jumped out of a moving truck at speed.

"I'm good." John said. "Go check Al. He experienced a hard landing."

Cameron helped John up.

Bob helped Al up.

Al only received a few small abrasions. Nothing was damaged. He was one hundred percent operational.

John looked at the group of Terminators. He appreciated everything each one of them had done. He hadn't been so close to a hostile Terminator in a long while.

"Thanks, it was a close one." John said.

John went to look over the side of the cliff. He knew the Terminator was severely damaged at this point. He wanted to see the Terminator parts. Cameron, Al and Bob joined him.

Cameron felt guilty about not being as attentive as she should have been. She'd been thinking about personal matters, when she should have been focused on the current incident. The bottom line was, she'd been inattentive at a crucial time period.

"I'm sorry, John. I didn't see him on the side of the cliff. I should have looked better." Cameron said. "I saw his door was open, but I failed to notice he exited the vehicle before it landed, and later exploded."

John noticed Cameron was a little 'off' at times. The incident which occurred only a short time ago, when Cameron drifted into the oncoming lane and was headed for the guardrail, was the most recent one.

"You've been a little distracted lately, Cameron." John said.

Cameron frowned. There was a lot on her mind and it wasn't about their honeymoon.

"I know." Cameron said. "I'm sorry."

Cameron looked at John. She wasn't sure how to say what she needed to say. There were issues which needed to be dealt with. There was no way to deal with them, other than dealing with them.

"John…." Cameron started, and then paused.

They walked back to the SUV after telling Bob and Al to make sure the Terminator was terminated. They were to try to retrieve his chassis for spare parts, or for conversion into projectiles. They weren't leaving anything to chance.

Cameron took the wheel as she climbed into the SUV.

John could see Cameron was troubled. With this incident, maybe it was time to wrap it up. They could finish their honeymoon some other time. They would need to investigate the current incident further. They needed to find out what the Terminator was about to do, or may have already done.

"I think we should go back to the base." John said. "We've already shared quite a bit of alone time. Life goes on. We need to do our jobs too."

Cameron didn't seem to hear him. She was worried about her personal agenda. She wanted to make clear what needed to be done.

"John, in a few days, I want you to do something for ME, for US…." Cameron said.

'Here we go again'. John thought.

John had a pretty good idea of what was about to occur. It was something he felt was totally unnecessary.

Cameron already sensed John's negative attitude. It actually irritated her. She believed she possessed much more information on the subject than he did. She thought her personal experience should count for something.

"John, you don't know the future like I do. You don't understand how bad it can be." Cameron said. "You've seen part of it, but not lived it for years or decades as Future John has done. You don't understand what long term exposure to toxins does to people in the future. It can happen to you too."

John just didn't want to go there again.

"Cameron, I know what YOU want." John said. "I don't want to talk about it."

Cameron was irritated John couldn't see the bigger issue before him.

"Do you think I WANT to?" Cameron asked. "You need to START listening to me. This NEEDS to happen before Judgment Day. It isn't all fun and games. There is a harsh reality out there waiting to rear its ugly head."

John thought about some of what he saw in the alternate future. There was a lot of ugliness to all of it. Death and destruction were rampant everywhere. It wasn't because he didn't believe Cameron why he didn't want to do it. It was because he loved Cameron and didn't want to do anything to hurt her. He knew even if it was something she wanted, it was going to hurt her. It would leave some type of negative effect forever.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Days

What makes us who we are
Took a lot more than a few days
When our mind thinks back on it all
We are sort of left in a daze

Each day is a new struggle
As we wind through life's maze
Every bit of forward progress
Seems to be met with endless delays

We can mope over who is gone
Or take some joy in who stays
They will help clear the fog
That fills our mind with a haze

If we allow them into our heart
They can set our soul ablaze
Into each others eyes
We may then forever gaze

If they are the one we want
To be at our side always
We should worship their value
And fill them with praise

Nobody