Chapter 286

Stuck

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In Some Future:

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hello, Mother." Vanna said.

A slight smile appeared on the female's face.

"Hello, Savannah." The female said.

The female changed back into Mrs. Weaver wearing a General's uniform.

"I've been waiting for you…." Mrs. Weaver said.

Vanna could hardly believe it. It was her 'mother'. She moved up and hugged her. It wasn't really her 'mother', but Mrs. Weaver took care of her since she returned from the future and always helped her.

At the time she was sent to the past, Mrs. Weaver explained what she was and why she brought 'her Savannah' back, and why she would need to go by the name 'Vanna'. It was because of her younger self. She could see Mrs. Weaver tried to help and be the best 'mother' to her younger self as she could be. She understood the circumstances. She also understood Mrs. Weaver rescued her from the future because she did care about Savannah.

When she first returned to the past it was really mind blowing to see herself as a child, and exist at the same time with 'herself'. She could watch and help 'herself' grow up. Vanna swore the things which happened to her, were never going to happen to her younger self, Savannah. She would kill anyone she needed to, to prevent it from happening.

Mrs. Weaver wanted to know how Savannah was doing and how much she'd grown.

Cameron let Vanna fill Mrs. Weaver in on all the details about everyone, including John Henry, Mr. Ellison, and the rest of the team Mrs. Weaver assembled before she 'left'. She felt Mrs. Weaver would trust Vanna over her for the updates. She previously told Vanna to tell the truth as much as possible. She didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot. Some of the details about past events didn't need to be spoken about or fully explained. She was sure most of them were dealing with her.

Mrs. Weaver looked over the girls and their Terminator 'bodyguards'. She stopped in front of Cameron. She wondered what problems it was going to cause in her leadership. She worked with Cameron before. Cameron always worked with her. She knew Cameron played by her own set of rules. She could be as ruthless and deadly as her. She also knew Cameron was highly resourceful. Cameron could be a great asset to her. She saw how Cameron could unite Terminators and humans to follow her. It seemed to be a trait she lacked in both regards. She was never sure why she seemed to rub everyone the wrong way. The future she was in needed to be united. She knew if anyone could do it, it was Cameron. She wanted Cameron's assistance.

She thought back to the alternate future where she first saw Cameron and John interact with each other. Because of some of her exploits to 'get closer' to John, which were all done as 'Allison', she knew of John's deep commitment to Cameron. When Cameron arrived to collect John to bring him back to the time period he left from, she saw how Cameron responded to John. The logical assumption was things were taken to the next level.

"Hello, Cameron. It's, Mrs. Connor, by now I take it?" Mrs. Weaver asked.

Mrs. Weaver gave Cameron another once over. She remembered the times she assumed Allison's form herself. She repeated it many times since. She found the appearance as appealing as it was intriguing. She wasn't sure why.

Cameron didn't want to create any kind of problems right off the bat. There were things she was going to need assistance with. She hoped to receive it voluntarily.

"It is." Cameron said. "I'm very pleased to see you again, General Weaver."

Mrs. Weaver was surprised how cordial Cameron was. She especially appreciated it when she used her new title, without having to be prompted or be told to do so.

Cameron remembered the incident on the TDE pad where Mrs. Weaver deactivated one of her own Restorators when things got 'messy'. Mrs. Weaver hadn't been the problem. She returned them to where they wanted to go. She even made sure the Reese brothers were sent back as well. She knew Mrs. Weaver protected both John and Allison. She saved their lives several times. It all needed to be remembered, even if she 'disliked' her personally.

She decided to give Mrs. Weaver the 'respect' she craved and called her 'General'. It was clear they were going to need her help to get out of the current situation they were in. She knew where to place the blame. It was on her. It all stemmed from the mess she created and foolishly got them all into. She needed to get back to John and stop the 'Bitch Whore' Riley from taking him away from her, again. She noted her hand started to glitch when the thought went through her mind. She didn't think anyone noticed it.

Cameron specifically answered a few more questions for Mrs. Weaver where they were at. She was sure they passed every type of 'test' Mrs. Weaver wanted to run on them. She answered everything as truthfully as possible. She only withheld information as necessary.

Mrs. Weaver took them to her headquarters and explained everything that was happening. She wanted to know why, and how, they were there, and who the Terminator bodyguards were.

Cameron decided to choose her words carefully. She would only say one of the bodyguards was assigned to each girl to protect her at all times, and be with the girl twenty four hours a day. She didn't elaborate they were all 'her', as clones of her program. She felt her answer was truthful, even if it wasn't comprehensive. She wanted to make her position clear on the safety of the girls. It was paramount to her.

"I need to protect the girls until we can go back." Cameron told her.

Cameron bent the truth and said they attempted to go back to her future to prevent Future Allison from being killed and reunite her with Future John and Future Savannah. She left out the part about her trying to never be created, or the fact she already saved Future Allison. She didn't know at what point Mrs Weaver left her future. Since her explanation didn't appear to raise any eyebrows, she believed when she rescued Future Allison, it was after Mrs. Weaver went to the past. She didn't know for sure. If It produced any type of negative feedback, she would become a little more explicative and explain her reluctance to divulge everything and why.

When she talked about 'going back' she could see it was a 'sore' spot for Mrs. Weaver. She found out why soon enough. It was the problem she feared.

Mrs. Weaver informed her there was no TDE in the future, but she was constructing one. There were still some materials she needed to procure. Getting enough power was going to be a problem. It was a big problem.

Cameron understood the reason why Mrs. Weaver was still there, was because she was marooned just like they were. It was her belief Mrs. Weaver attempted to go back to the future she was created in. She didn't think now was the right time to inquire about it. She could see they were going to need to work closely together to try to turn things around in the future they were in. She wanted to know what type of enemy they currently faced and what she could expect to encounter as far as Terminators went.

Mrs. Weaver explained there were no other Liquid Metal Terminators. She attempted to create one. The Resistance under her leadership, along with the Restorators, captured a Skynet facility and she started to set up a process to create one. She ran into problems and stopped. The Liquid Metal Terminator under construction wouldn't accept programming of any kind. The Liquid Metal Terminator was unstable and uncontrollable. It was currently confined.

The concept was of great interest to Cameron. She planned to look into it personally. She wondered if it was a design flaw, or the independent will of the Liquid Metal Terminator.

Cameron still held a desire to become Liquid Metal. She believed she could please John better and become more lethal and an even better infiltrator. She would look into the aspect personally. She was ready for an 'upgrade'….

She understood her appearance was very important to John. She could assume the appearance of anyone for his pleasure. She would also be able to provide him with 'body parts' the size and shape he desired. She wasn't really sure how Liquid Metal would actually compare to her organic sheath covering as far as it came to love making. She hoped it didn't turn into a nightmare like everything else seemed to.

Cameron and the girls learned whatever future it was, none of them seemed to be in it. She found it quite disturbing. It made her think about how she was unable to locate the doppelgangers of Gail and Holly in the time period she left from. They didn't seem to exist there, just like everyone didn't seem to exist where she was now. There was no John Connor or Allison Young. There wasn't a Savannah Weaver or Jesse Flores either. So what future was it? There was 'Skynet', even if it was a different Skynet. The version of Skynet there all but defeated the Resistance until Mrs. Weaver and her Restorators arrived and turned the tables. It was only the intervention of the massive force of Restorators which stopped the final purge to wipe the humans out.

It made Cameron think about the 'tides in time'. Perhaps the Resistance wasn't supposed to be wiped out. Maybe humans weren't supposed to become extinct. She really didn't know what happened or why. It didn't really matter. Where they were now is what they would need to work with. The future where they were, would be what they made it.

The current Skynet wasn't as advanced as any of the others they encountered. It hadn't been very difficult for Mrs. Weaver to take control, and become the leading General of the Resistance with a force of Restorators. She was able to make 'problems' disappear. Everyone there thought she was human. She decided to keep it that way. Now with Vanna and her two lovers, Allison and Jesse, it would sell the deal even better. She envied Vanna with those two fine looking females she shared as lovers…. There was something about Jesse which intrigued her. Maybe it was the 'look', or maybe the attitude. Maybe she picked up on the 'old Jesse' and it reminded her of herself. She made a point of coming into 'contact' with Jesse.

Cameron saw Mrs. Weaver touched Jesse, but said nothing. She knew Mrs. Weaver could 'copy' all of them now…. It was something she would need to keep in mind. At any point in time, she could actually be dealing with Mrs. Weaver when she believed it was one of the girls. Mrs. Weaver could also pose as one of the girls if they needed to be protected. It may not be a bad asset to have available for the safety of the girls.

Mrs. Weaver was worried about Cameron and her three Terminator warriors. They could be a problem for her. The best thing was to try to return Cameron back to where she belonged. She could send a 'copy of herself' back for Savannah, or bring Savannah there. Her interaction with Savannah was the only thing she missed in any of the timelines she was in. Hopefully Vanna would be able to fill some of the void for her.

Either way, Mrs. Weaver knew a copy of herself, in the same timeline with herself, would be a problem. It would be best to see if they could make a programmable Liquid Metal Terminator. The goal then would be to send the copy of herself back, or even leave it there, and go back herself. She actually missed Savannah more than she thought possible. She wasn't sure why. She was indifferent at first, but soon became concerned about all aspects of Savannah's life, well being, and future. Even to the point of bringing the adult version of Savannah back from the future.

Mrs. Weaver wasn't sure why they didn't end up in Cameron's and her future instead of the future where they were now, when she did her time transfers. As soon as she fabricated a TDE, she would seek to return to the past she came from. Defeating the current version of Skynet was a challenge for her, but she would finish the job as well. Every version of Skynet offended her. The Scavenger problem Vanna reported to her would also get cleaned up. In fact, when Vanna told her about the abuse of the women they rescued along the girl, Mrs. Weaver dispatched fifty more of her Restorators to go after any survivors or associates of the group specifically. They would clean the entire area of all Scavengers for a hundred miles in all directions.

Now, what was she going to do about Cameron? Mrs. Weaver wondered….

Cameron asked for the girls to be allowed to rest a little before they continued with further deliberations and discussions. She explained they experienced quite a bit recently and needed to rest.

She left her clones with them once they were shown some quarters. She believed the girls were in good hands, since technically they were her hands, even if they belong to her clones. The safety of the girls was her number one priority until she could return them to the time period they left from.

Cameron wanted to slip out and take a look at things on her own. She didn't want to go behind Mrs. Weaver's back, but she did want to see how things worked without her direct influence. Everything always worked differently when the 'boss' was around.

She didn't have too much trouble to get away. She wasn't sure if it was by design. She wasn't out to cause any problems, but she did want to know where she stood on her own. She needed to find out the level of commitment of the human Resistance as well.

There was no doubt a power source needed to be procured or built, which could provide the energy necessary to run the TDE. It would be something else she would keep in mind.

Once she was away from the compound. She tried to conceal her identity as much as possible. It was windy with blowing dust. She took a piece of cloth and made a scarf. She covered her lower face and she pulled a cap low on her forehead. She took a coat with her. It helped hide she was a female. There were a set of goggles in the coat. She put those on too. She was currently unarmed.

The street life there was dirty and needed improvement. It would cut down on the spread of disease and illness if it were instituted. From what she gathered, the conditions she observed were much improved from before Mrs. Weaver first arrived. It didn't paint a pleasant picture of life there before the event.

There were Restorators who seemed to perform specific tasks. Everyone now and then, she would see people make rude comments, or insult them. They went about their jobs as if they didn't hear them. She knew otherwise. She needed to hear plenty of those insults in her own in her future. She felt a slight glitch impulse as she remembered she needed to hear them when she was sent to the past. She heard them from those who she was sent to protect. How could they be so cruel to her for no reason? She expected more from John even if she didn't from the others.

She stopped by a local group of barracks. There seemed to be several scattered around. She wondered if it was more to quell a local uprising as discontent grew.

There was an officer who tried to form a patrol. There was a Restorator who gave him an assignment. The troopers weren't disciplined and very much like the ones she dealt with already at the other location. Everything was very haphazard and unprofessional.

Cameron decided to tag along with them. She fell in at the rear. She was given a battered M16 rifle and half a dozen magazines for it. She looked the weapon over and straightened the barrel slightly when no one was looking. It wasn't quite straight. She wondered if someone tried to pry something open with it. It was possible someone could have fired it on full auto for too long of a period of time during a battle.

She was on battlefields where the weapons were fired to the point the barrels glowed a dull cherry red. Rounds would 'cook off' in the chamber of the barrels they were so hot. There were cases where some wood furniture even caught fire after smoldering. It would often require the shooter to dump precious drinking water on it to cool it, or simply urinate on it amid a cloud of hissing steam.

The springs were weak on two of her magazines and three of the magazines exhibited bent feed lips from years of improper handling and use. Everything seemed to be issued at random. She imagined the other soldier's weapons were in the same condition.

A sergeant led the eight of them out. They passed through the perimeter defenses and out into the Wastelands. She was 'tail end Charlie'. She would try to make her way up to the number two position and then take point. She believed the troopers would be better protected if she was on the point. They were less likely to walk into an ambush or trip a booby trap.

With the hat, goggles, and bandana on, her face was completely obscured. She spotted numerous changes which needed to be implemented. It was everything from equipment to training. They were all things which could save lives with very minimal effort.

Cameron used a mild male voice when she spoke.

"What's the objective of this patrol?" Cameron asked.

The sergeant seemed irritated he was even spoken to.

"We're to check for anything which looks out of the ordinary." The sergeant said.

It seemed as useless as it was inefficient to Cameron.

"If there isn't a set group of people for a given area, how do they know what's new or different?" Cameron asked. "They don't have anything to base their observations on."

The sergeant looked at her with some disgust. He noticed the uniform was new. He wanted to put the recruit in their place. Their place was the bottom rung on the ladder.

"I can see you're new, Boot." The sergeant said. "I'll let your ignorance slide. This is just the way we do things."

They wandered around the Wastelands for a few hours before they took a break. None of the soldiers was really on watch while they did. It looked like a recipe for disaster. If it was what was always done when they rested, it invited anyone who wanted to attack them with an opportunity to do so.

"Hey, New Guy, relax some." One trooper said.

Cameron didn't need to relax. She wanted to remain alert.

"I'm a little worried." Cameron said.

The trooper waved his hand in front of him to indicate the Wastelands.

"Don't be." One trooper said. "Nothing ever happens."

Cameron was aware with an attitude so nonchalant, was when things happened.

She moved up to the number two spot when the patrol started out again. She wanted to be closer to where any potential action might occur.

She really thought each one of the patrols should have a Restorator on them. Not necessarily as the person in charge, but at least as the person on point. It would afford better protection to the rest of the troopers in several different ways.

Cameron moved up and reached out to stop the man on point. He was very irritated.

"What is it, Boot?" The trooper asked.

Cameron pointed at the ground ahead of him.

"I saw you were headed for what looks like a 'trip wire'." Cameron said.

The trooper looked surprised and looked around.

"Where?" The trooper asked.

Cameron pointed and moved forward.

She saw the rest of the squad was bunched up. It seemed as if they all wanted to take a look too, or we're just careless. She figured it was probably the latter.

"Spread out a little." Cameron said.

The sergeant didn't like anyone giving orders except him.

"Easy, Boot." The sergeant said. "What do you have?"

Cameron began to scan the area around them in detail. She didn't like the way things were playing out for multiple reasons.

"There's a 'trip wire'." Cameron said. "We're probably being watched right now."

The sergeant spotted the trip wire and quickly spread everyone out and put them on alert.

Cameron moved forward and saw the wire was connected to a Claymore mine. It was set to hit the squad behind the point man.

"I bet this is the work of Scavengers." The Sergeant said.

Cameron figured it was one way for the Scavengers to resupply themselves. It was easier for them to attack the Resistance than it was to attack Grays.

"What's the engagement policy?" Cameron asked.

The sergeant thought it was fairly standard as far as the rules went.

"We normally give them the opportunity to surrender if there is no armed engagement." The sergeant said. "They never do."

Cameron was a little unsure if he understood the significance of the situation. Bullets didn't need to be the only way to engage someone.

"What about when they leave a booby trap?" Cameron asked. "It sounds like an armed engagement to me. They meant to kill us."

The sergeant reached up and touched his jaw. It seemed as if it was the first time he thought of it in such a manner.

"I see your point." The Sergeant said.

Cameron looked around. She approached one of the troopers and took a fragmentation grenade from his belt.

The trooper was as upset as he was surprised.

"Hey, New Guy, that's mine." The trooper said.

Cameron pushed him down when he tried to grab it back from her. She looked at the sergeant.

"We're about to get lit up." Cameron said. "There are targets by the bushes and behind the wall. Get your men ready."

The sergeant barked orders. He wasn't going to question the Boot again. It all started to add up. They were in a dangerous situation.

Cameron threw the grenade as soon as she pulled the pin. The other troopers thought the new Boot threw it two quick. She threw it high at a seventy three degree angle so it came down like a mortar round right in back of the wall and exploded in the air. There were screams as soon as the explosion went off. She fired her M16 at the bushes. There were more screams and two bodies fell out.

The other troopers all sought cover and fired wildly. Some of them were firing in the wrong direction. It seemed as if they were in total panic mode.

There were two spots where gunfire was returned. It was directed at where Cameron was a few seconds ago. She wasn't there any more. She already moved to a new position and she fired twice. Both weapons were silenced.

The sergeant was a little perplexed with everything. He was still trying to determine what the fields of fire were.

Cameron told the next most able trooper to follow her. She checked the area of the bushes, there were three dead. She moved to the collapsed wall and there were four more dead. They were all Scavengers.

The sergeant couldn't help but notice the new recruit was the one who killed all of the enemy single handedly. They were also the one who prevented them from tripping a booby trap which would have surely killed several of them before the ambush was sprung.

The patrol returned back to base. Cameron took up her place at the rear of the column. She wanted to make sure they weren't followed. They took the Scavengers weapons. One of them carried a plasma rifle. She gave it to the sergeant as a good will gesture. He was very pleased. It kept him from asking too many questions as he looked it over and admired it. As soon as they were back inside the perimeter she disappeared. She didn't want to answer the questions which were sure to follow.

Cameron sure hoped they weren't going to be stuck there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In Some Future: Duplicate Cameron

Events Continue in Chapter 306

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Stuck

To move life forward
Everything is done that's required
It seems not to matter
If in the past one remains mired

Surely it must be
A sign of the damned
All forward progress
Is slammed and jammed

Acquaintances thin out
Leaving one to feel abandoned
Once again like always
Feeling marooned and stranded

The tentacles of the past
Around one have again wrapped
There's no real escape
Leaving one to remain trapped

When there's no luck
One may run amuck
Feeling like a schmuck
Forever enslaved and stuck

Nobody