Chapter 280

Is That True

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In Some Future:

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Cameron listened and searched for any additional Skynet threats. She wanted to make sure there were no more HK drones in the area or Terminators on the ground advancing toward them. The HK drones were often the lead force in an assault. There was no clanking of any HK Treads or HK Tracks which often accompanied Terminators on a search and destroy mission. Those tracked weapons were deadly and packed a lot of firepower. It looked clear for now.

She quickly moved the scared Resistance fighters from where they were hiding. She knew she needed to move them in case their location was sent back to a Skynet base by one of the two HK drones. More could be on the way now. They didn't want to remain there for long.

The two Resistance fighters gained some composure. They were more than a little surprised to see Cameron there. They looked around to see if there were others.

"What you did was amazing. I thought we were dead." One man said. "Who are you?"

Cameron wanted to keep it simple for now. They seemed like recruits or poorly trained troopers.

"I'm the person who just saved you." Cameron said. "I'm a friend."

One of the Resistance fighters looked around.

"Where is the rest of your team?" The other man asked.

Cameron was a little concerned by their question.

"I'm alone." Cameron said.

Both Resistance fighters look surprised.

"You mean there's nobody else with you?" The first man asked.

The two Resistance fighters looked at each and at the two HK drones smoking on the ground.

"Nobody is with me." Cameron said. "Let's go. I want to check over the HK drones. I need to make sure they're deactivated."

One of the Resistance fighters looked skeptical.

"You just knocked down two HK drones by yourself." The other one man said. "That's impossible."

Cameron briefly wanted to ask if it was impossible, then how did she just do it, but she refrained. Her 'natural ability' as a Terminator was superior to any human for most things.

"I must be a lucky shot." Cameron said. "It was lucky for both of you anyway. We need to get out of here now. More Skynet Metal of some type will come. Is there another entrance into your complex?"

The two Resistance fighters looked at each other.

"How do you know about our complex?" One man asked.

Cameron told it like it was. She thought they were all very unprofessional and inexperienced.

"I've been watching the area for awhile." Cameron said. "I know you were headed for the main entrance when you were intercepted. It's unsafe to use the same approach for now. It's too exposed. If more HK drones arrive, it's where they will head first. They'll go to the location where the others were searching. It's why I need to make sure they're deactivated. I need to make sure there's no signal being transmitted of any type."

The two Resistance fighters were both worried.

"We thought we were clear." The one man said.

Cameron looked over the wreckage of both HK drones.

"Apparently not." Cameron said. "You weren't clear. Your actions endangered everyone at the base, myself, and both of you. We need a different way in. We don't have a whole lot of time."

The two Resistance fighters didn't want to be responsible for bringing Skynet down on their base and the rest of the troops.

"There's an emergency exit around the bend in the road." The other man said. "We can try to enter there. We may not be successful."

Cameron wanted to put some fear and urgency into the two Resistance fighters.

"We need to get there fast." Cameron said. "They will send more HK drones to investigate. They always do. There could be Terminators as well as HK Tracks or HK Treads."

It was actually a true statement.

Cameron moved to the nearest downed HK drone and removed its chip and power cell. She stopped at the second one as they moved on and did the same thing. She looked over the damaged weapons and designs of the HK drone itself. The model could be modified in the field for independent control. She knew if she could get one which was operational, she could reprogram it so she could ride on top of it and control it. Everything looked like early Skynet designs she viewed so far. They were all primitive designs to her. It wasn't a good sign for getting back, but a good sign for survival…. It may be the best they could hope for.

One of the Resistance fighters watched what she did and removed. They never saw it done before.

"What are you doing?" One man asked.

Cameron saw no need to lie, yet.

"I'm trying to gather information." Cameron said. "It will also prevent anyone from seeing what happened to them when they investigate. They were close to pinpointing your complex. In case you don't know, you two were both zeroed."

The two Resistance fighters knew they were 'done'.

"We know now." One man said. "Thank you, for saving our lives."

Cameron hoped to make some 'friends'. She was going to need them to get into the base.

"One hand washes the other." Cameron said. "Let's go."

Cameron didn't want to be spotted as a Terminator by the Resistance or by Skynet. What she wanted to do was going to be 'chancy' anyway. She would run in full infiltration mode. She realized she may have to fight her way out. To protect the girls she would do whatever it took.

They were about to start for the alternate entrance when Cameron spotted something.

"I saw some movement by those destroyed buildings over there." Cameron said. "Would it be someone from your group or unit?"

The two Resistance fighters seemed confused.

"I don't know." The one man said. "They could be. There was a real pretty female who went missing during the fight today. I know some of the men tried to find her."

Cameron knew what her fate was. She didn't think it was a good idea to elaborate. Perhaps it was best left as a mystery for now. They would figure it out soon enough when they couldn't find her.

"She was worried about being captured by Scavengers or even by Grays." The other man said. "She knew what would happen to her if they got a hold of her. You must have the same fear. You're really pretty too."

Cameron wanted to keep it real.

"Thanks. I'm just average." Cameron said. "Everyone needs to fear Scavengers. It doesn't matter if someone thinks they're pretty or not. Where I come from, the Scavengers attack men the same way. The younger ones are preferred over females actually. They're often neutered to become sex slaves for the Scavengers."

The two Resistance fighters were young men. They were visibly shaken.

"I don't think it's the same way here." The one man said.

Both men were clearly nervous.

"I hope not." The other man said.

Cameron could see she scared them a lot. They wouldn't follow her for what was next.

"Not yet." Cameron said. "Wait here."

Cameron carefully moved around two destroyed buildings and spotted a man with fresh plasma burns. She moved up behind him and held him down by his neck. She identified him as one of the Scavengers she spotted earlier. She wanted to find out how many more of them she needed to terminate.

"How many survived?" Cameron asked.

The man said nothing.

She stepped on the plasma burns on his leg. He tried to scream in pain but couldn't. She choked him at the same time and blocked his airway.

Cameron asked the question again. She eased up on her grip around his neck.

"How many survived?" Cameron asked.

The man shook with shock and fear.

"I need medical attention." The man gasped. "It was only me."

Cameron smiled.

"Wrong." Cameron said. "There were no survivors."

Cameron snapped his neck.

She returned to the two Resistance fighters.

"What was it?" The one man asked.

"It was a piece of trash." Cameron said. "It was nothing more."

"Oh." The other man said. "Follow us. We will take you to the other entrance."

Cameron was anxious to get there. She wanted to be able to go through the chips and find the closest Skynet installation.

"Thank you." Cameron said.

Earlier:

The three girls watched Cameron leave. They were hunkered down. Cameron gave them some food, water and weapons while she went out to gather intel. Hopefully the new location was more secure than the last one. Cameron made sure it was.

Allison was still disturbed by the man who abused her. She thought such behavior was behind her in her future. Now the threat was back in some future which was unknown. There was no fear of it happening in the past.

"Cameron is right, this was a mistake." Allison said.

Jesse checked over her weapons. It was the real deal.

"Maybe so, but we're here now." Jesse said.

Vanna didn't see a whole lot of options available to them.

"We'll have to get along until Cameron can get us back." Vanna said.

There was a fear inside Allison which wouldn't go away.

"What if she can't?" Allison asked. "What if we're marooned here?"

Jesse didn't want Allison to dwell where she was at mentally.

"We all knew the risks." Jesse said. "Maybe we're lucky to even be alive. Maybe we're unlucky we're alive. Anything can happen. We all know it already."

Vanna checked her weapons too. Prospects going forward looked rather grim.

"It looks like a one way ticket at this point." Vanna said.

'It comes with a very short ride.' Jesse wanted to add but said nothing.

Allison hoped for something more positive.

"Is there good news about any of this?" Allison asked.

Vanna thought there was. One thing may prove to be great news amongst the bad news.

"If this is a different future, and not Cameron's future, then Cameron shouldn't be able to prevent Her Allison from being captured." Vanna said. "It means she won't try to self terminate or be deactivated. Isn't it why we're here in the first place? We all came along to protect Cameron. I came to save Cameron. I'll trade my life for her life."

Allison felt the same way. She could see how much Vanna loved Cameron.

"Yes." Allison said.

Jesse loved Cameron too. They all came to save her.

"We all did." Jesse said. "We love her more than anything."

Vanna wanted to make her convictions clear, especially to Allison.

"I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure Cameron isn't terminated." Vanna said. "I don't want anyone to stop me if I need to act."

Allison knew it was their fate. They all came by choice. She understood the 'Natural Order' Cameron spoke of. It wasn't them. It wasn't Vanna or her or even Jesse. It was Savannah and Young Allison in their future.

"It's why we're all here." Allison said. "We're all back where we belong, in the future. We don't belong in the past."

Jesse brandished her weapons to indicate her intent.

"I'll trade my life for hers. We'll all trade our own life for hers." Jesse said. "I swear it."

Vanna felt they were too noisy right now and they weren't being attentive either. They needed to get it together. They knew better.

"Let's be quiet and keep a lookout." Vanna said.

Vanna was worried and she was afraid it would come to trading lives. She shuddered at the thought of Scavengers getting a hold of her, again.

Jesse checked her weapons. She felt the same thing as Vanna. She didn't plan on falling into the hands of Scavengers, again….

Jesse and Vanna exchanged glum and knowing looks….

They both absentmindedly touched their scars. They knew the physical wounds healed with a scar. The mental wounds never seemed to heal. They only festered and bled. Animals weren't even subjected to such cruel treatment.

The girls knew they may be taken down one way or another. They didn't intend to go down without a fight. All of the girls felt if they were still in their future they would be dead now. Maybe they currently lived on borrowed time. They weren't in the past any longer, they went back to the future. It was a different future, but it was the same environment they lived in before. Maybe they couldn't escape their destiny.

Cameron told them before she believed there were 'tides in time'. She told them no matter how events were changed they somehow attempted to realign themselves back to the way they were before anything happened. Look where they were now. They were back to where they started, even if it was a different future. In reality they hadn't gone very far. What's worse was, they may have gone from the frying pan into the fire.

At least one of them always needed to be on watch. They all needed to remain alert to a certain extent. The girls all had time to think as they waited. It wasn't always a good idea to think about the past. Unfortunately the past for them was once again the present. They may have escaped their future once. It no longer was the case. They all went back to the future.

Vanna was the one on watch. It allowed both Allison and Jesse to drift back to events in their future.

Allison was still upset about what transpired earlier. She didn't like being manhandled. It was actually a quite literal interpretation of what happened. The only men who ever touched her in such a way all abused her. At least with the breeding sex, nothing else was touched on her body other than what was necessary. It never took very long either. She didn't like being threatened with death so someone else could abuse her. What gave anyone the right to do such things to another person? She always felt the men who abused her seemed to think it wasn't a big deal. Maybe for them it wasn't. If it wasn't a big deal, why did they need to hold a knife to her throat, or a gun to the side of her head?

There was the sound of an explosion.

Allison jumped about a foot when she heard it. She was just reminiscing about having a gun held to the side of her head as someone used her body for their own personal pleasure. She almost felt as if they pulled the trigger.

"What was that?" Allison asked.

Vanna and Jesse both peered outside of the rocks.

"I don't know." Vanna said.

Jesse concentrated to see if she could hear more.

"Listen, I hear screaming." Jesse said.

The girls all listened they could hear it too. It didn't last very long,

Allison thought about it.

"We know it wasn't Cameron." Allison said. "Even as shrill as the screams were, we know it wasn't her."

Jesse didn't think so either.

"I bet she's the one who did it." Jesse said. "She probably killed some Grays or Scavengers."

Vanna actually had a preference.

"I hope it was Scavengers." Vanna said. "I know one's as bad as the other. I just hate Scavengers more."

Jesse did too.

"They'll all get what they deserve." Jesse said. "It will happen even if I need to do it myself. I thought I was done with them. I won't hesitate to start back up."

Vanna and Allison weren't in the bunker when Cameron and Jesse questioned the men. They both knew what Jesse was ready to do. They thought the 'old Jesse' was buried in the past, the future. Evidently the 'old Jesse' was resurrected when they returned to a future. Neither one of them thought it was a bad thing. Survival in the future wasn't easy. It was especially difficult for females.

"We all need to do, whatever we need to do, to protect Cameron and ourselves." Vanna said. "We need to remember where we're at. We need to remember what it was like. We need to defend ourselves and each other in any way possible. I don't care what lines I need to cross to do it."

Allison was a little shocked to hear Vanna's outlook. She did like her resolve though. It was time to give anyone back the same medicine they dealt out to others. There was no reason they couldn't do the same things themselves, to protect themselves.

"I have a feeling, we're in for a much rougher go than in our future". Allison said.

Jesse took out her knife and looked at it.

"So be it." Jesse said. "I'm not the one who created the monster inside of me. It was done to me by others. I don't mind letting anyone see it going forward if they get in our way."

The three girls all waited to hear if anything else developed after the explosion and screams. So far the only battles raged in their own minds as they thought about the past and the future.

Cameron and the two inexperienced Resistance fighters moved toward the alternate entrance. She gave them tips on moving and observing as they went along. They seemed impressed with her knowledge and skill. She explained to them she did the same thing for many years in another area. They wanted to know why she was there now. She told them she needed to try to reunite with some family members in the Los Angeles area. They told her it was unsafe for a female to travel alone. Skynet Terminators were everywhere. There were Scavengers all around the area too. Many of the females disappeared, one by one. The ones whose bodies they found were horribly brutalized and mutilated.

They reached the emergency exit. They were challenged by two guards and finally let in after the two Resistance fighters Cameron rescued convinced the others she helped them. The two guards only relented because they saw the two HK drones go down. They were even more surprised a female did it alone.

Cameron sensed an unfriendly welcome already. If she wasn't with the two Resistance fighters who were known there, they might have terminated her. Well, they might have tried to terminate her. They wouldn't know she was a Terminator until the first attempts failed. By then she would have shown them what a Terminator was constructed for. The knowledge would have been short lived to them.

Right now she needed access to some type of computer equipment to process the information on the chips. There was nothing like it where she was at now.

"Do you have any equipment I can use to look at the chips from the HK drones?" Cameron asked.

Her request was met with a little more resistance and negativity than she wanted to deal with.

"We may or may not. Who are you? We don't know anything about you." A gruff man told her. "We don't know you or even where you came from."

Cameron thought her actions should have given her some credit. It didn't look like it so far.

"There's nothing to know other than we're on the same side." Cameron said. "Ask these two people. I saved them and disabled two HK drones in the process. Your people saw it."

Cameron made up a story based on her past future experiences and they bought it. She finally got some computer access and tried to find out what she could. She looked for the closest Skynet facility so she could infiltrate it. She hoped there was a TDE. If not, they would have to make their way to the Los Angeles area. The prospects of success on the journey didn't sound promising at all.

It wasn't her intent to actually enter the Resistance base previously. It was only because she brought down the two HK drones and found the two inexperienced Resistance fighters. She was glad she was able to obtain the two chips from the HK drones. She needed some type of computer access to view them. She wouldn't even be there otherwise. She didn't know at what point a roving patrol would go through the base with a set of dogs. If one of those showed up, there was going to be a problem.

Cameron heard some more figures approaching. It sounded like an argument occurred on the way there. No doubt there was more trouble on the way. It seemed to be something she couldn't get past. She was glad she kept her plasma rifle close.

"That's the Bitch…."

Cameron didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She glanced at her plasma rifle. It was where she could grab it. It was charged.

"Well, she saved our bacon." One of the two men she just helped said to 'Joe'.

She was pleased to hear one of the Resistance fighters she assisted speak up for her. It wasn't too often when someone spoke up in her defense. Well, other than the girls.

"She threatened me." Joe said. "There was another crazy Bitch with her. I know she was really crazy too. There were a couple of others."

She wasn't pleased to hear 'Joe' misrepresent what actually occurred earlier. She wanted to set the record straight in front of the others.

Cameron turned around and faced him. Her hand touched her plasma rifle.

"Look, you acted like a Scavenger the way you 'touched' my sister." Cameron said. "You didn't have to touch her private parts the way you did. You didn't even find the weapons they carried because you only wanted to touch their private areas. You acted in a sick and perverse manner. It's not the way females are to be treated by the Resistance under any circumstances."

'Joe' was on the defensive now. He was known for using such crude behavior before. He previously always got away with it. This was the first time he was held accountable. He wasn't used to some Bitch challenging him. How dare her. Now she was doing it again in front of his friends.

"I was just searching them." Joe said.

Cameron spelled it out for all to hear. She could see the others knew he did it before and bragged about it. It made her wonder how many victims there actually were.

"Squeezing and fondling a female's breasts is not a 'search'." Cameron said. "It's sexual abuse. It's still a crime where I come from. To do it under the cover of authority, while weapons are trained on a female with the threat of death, is the lowest form of sexual abuse anyone in the Resistance can do."

Cameron saw the men try to straighten up some and stand almost at attention but not quite. Someone important was about to arrive.

"Is that true?" A voice of authority asked.

'Joe' tried to come up with some poor excuse. No one bought it. They asked to hear Cameron's side of the story

Cameron explained what happened and mentioned they also gave the two men some of their limited supplies and weapons as a good will gesture. She then recounted her actions in downing the two HK drones and saving two other people.

She didn't care for the people, or them for her. She found what she was looking for. It was the location of a Skynet facility. She obtained the coordinates. She looked at a map and knew where to go. It was where the two HK drones were based. It was a start….

"I need to go back for my sister and friends." Cameron said.

Cameron wanted to get out of the Resistance base as soon as possible. It looked like she just encountered another obstacle.

"You're not going anywhere…."

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Is That True

Through the days of our lives
There are many things we accrue
What does one keep and cherish
To what does one soon bid adieu

Much the same happens with people
Some we desire and pursue
Others we are done with
Their presence we ensue

Perhaps that is because
Many things in life are askew
It's easy to receive a miscue
Everything plays out as déjà vu

Not everything we can redo
What we seek is often taboo
The pain that follows is often due
Seldom can the damage we undo

Does anyone really ever have a clue
Think of anyone that you ever knew
They claimed that together you grew
When you look back now is that true

Nobody