Chapter 318
Bonus
Cameron was with a group of Terminators. The battle was over and the area was secure. She looked over her troops. She stopped at Gail. It wasn't what she wanted to see.
Gail and Cameron looked each other over. It wasn't pretty.
"You're damaged." Gail said to Cameron.
Cameron was aware she was damaged. She wasn't the only one.
"I've suffered worse." Cameron replied. "You're damaged as well."
Gail touched her damage. She wasn't usually shot up. She was sure it was going to create some type of issue once she returned to the Resistance base.
"I won't be able to hide this from Jesse. She's going to be upset." Gail said. "At least we have two female Terminators for Resequencing and reprogramming. I'm worried about you."
Cameron already figured it was going to be a problem. It just seemed like another one which could be added to the pile.
"John isn't going to be happy." Cameron said. "He never is."
It didn't seem John and Cameron ever found very much to be happy about together anymore.
Cameron looked at each one of her troops and addressed the gathered Terminators. There were a few things she wanted to keep under wraps, even if the extent of the main operation was known. There needed to be a way to explain the damage.
"Everything which occurred here tonight, happened." Cameron said. "No one needs to mention the two Terminators that Gail and I will 'dispose of'. Is it understood?"
"Affirmative…." Rang out among the Terminators.
Everyone was loyal to Cameron.
They collected any of the components which were waiting to be assembled by hand. The assembly line wasn't set up yet. As soon as they loaded the captured Terminators in the other SUVs, Cameron called in the drone strike. Both drones hit the building with all their ordnance. It was soon a flaming pile of rubble.
The partially built drone they found was of the same construction as the one they encountered before. What was unclear was if they were building it, or trying to reverse engineer it. The area it was in suffered a lot of damage from an HE round from the M79. There were some bloody human body parts covering much of it. The deceased Grays were left where they fell. The fire would take care of them.
A 'natural gas leak' was retroactively entered into the system. All four vehicles were clear of the area before the first siren could be heard.
Cameron asked her two Terminators to take the two female Terminators back to her facility. They were to begin repairs on them as soon as they patched themselves up. She wanted to make sure they were taken care of first.
The operation was viewed as a success on several levels. The only issue would be the damage the Terminators received.
Cameron and Gail would return to the lab for repairs. She wanted to check on Vanna and Allison as well. She was deeply worried about Vanna. She was afraid of the direction she may turn. She was aware of what the type of feelings did to someone inside, and how the darkness could cloud one's judgment.
She was afraid it would stew inside Vanna and end up exploding in the wrong direction. It could lead her down a path she didn't need to follow. She knew how these things happened and took on a life of their own.
Al and Ed conducted a recon in search of some Coltan they hoped to locate. They visited several buildings in the location where a box truck was observed before. The last building they visited was staffed with Skynet operatives. They needed to know more about what was involved with the operation.
They placed two surveillance cameras in the building they just inspected and quietly pulled out. They went out the front door. They made sure the door wasn't wired before they opened it.
They were surprised to see the junk collector in the old pickup truck moving in their direction on the main street. It looked like something was off. They moved rapidly to the next property and took cover.
The old pickup passed slowly down the street.
"It looks like trouble." Ed said.
Al did think there was a lot of repeat activity, especially after the occupants of the truck were told to leave earlier.
"It's hard to say what it is." Al said.
They decided to pull out and head back to their SUV. They needed a little more information before they could act. They moved down the street in the front of the buildings. They passed into the back through the first vacant building they encountered.
They went through the back of another property and across a small street. They went over a fence and were almost back to their SUV.
John Henry's server contacted them. It previously was assigned the task to watch over their vehicle from a nearby security camera.
"There's movement near your SUV." John Henry said.
Al and Ed picked up the pace. It was sure to lead to a confrontation of some type.
"We need to play this cool and avoid any gunfire." Ed said.
They didn't want the Grays to hear the gunfire. It might cause them to curtail their operations or move on.
There were two men alongside their SUV when they jumped the fence. The two men didn't notice them. They were too busy looking in the windows of the SUV. One of them used a small flashlight.
"I can see stuff inside." The first punk said. "I can't tell what it is. If we can't get a door open, I'll break the glass."
The second punk looked around.
"We need to keep it quiet. Someone must be around here." The second punk said. "It wasn't parked here earlier."
The first punk didn't seem deterred. He would rather make a score on not only on what was in the SUV, but the SUV itself.
"It's finders keepers. Let's just take the vehicle." The first punk said. "We can go through it later. We're bound to score something."
The first punk worked on opening the driver's door.
The two Terminators didn't want the two punks to progress very far in their current endeavor. It was time to make their presence known.
"Nice night for a walk." Al said.
The two punks jumped. They were a little more terrified as they took in the size of Al and Ed.
The first punk was a fast thinker. It kept him alive on more than one occasion.
"We were just making sure your SUV was OK." The first punk said. "This can be a troublesome neighborhood at times."
Al and Ed moved closer.
"I can see it is." Ed said.
The two punks wanted to be away from there. So far they hadn't actually broken into the vehicle. They didn't want to get tagged as if they already did.
"Everything's cool." The second punk said. "Your vehicle is secure."
The two punks went to leave. Al and Ed blocked their path.
"Open your coats." Al said.
The first punk felt emboldened.
"You can't tell us what to do." The first punk said.
Al reached over and grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. The punk struggled to get free.
"Wrong…." Al said. "You'll do as instructed."
Ed looked over at the second punk.
"Do you want to do it the hard way or the easy way?" Ed asked.
The second punk opened his coat as Ed approached him. He didn't want to be choked like his associate currently was.
There were several screwdrivers and a small pry bar inside his coast.
The first punk still struggled in Al's grasp. The second punk was fearful.
"I just found this coat." The second punk said.
Al and Ed didn't like liars. They wanted to make sure the punk understood what the punishment was for non-compliance, either physically or verbally.
"If you lie again, you'll be terminated." Ed said.
Al set the first punk down on his feet but he collapsed into a heap on the ground as he gasped for breath.
"You can't do this, man." The first punk gasped.
Ed looked over at Al.
"He appears to be a slow learner." Ed said.
Al reached for the first punk again.
"Let me give him a refresher." Al said.
The first punk came up with a knife and tried to stab Al.
Al sidestepped and tripped the first punk. He 'rabbit punched' him as he fell. His neck snapped. He continued to the ground at an accelerated speed from the punch. His face impacted the pavement hard. There was a loud 'dull crack'. He was obviously dead.
"He's terminated." Al said.
The second punk tried to run but Ed grabbed him. There was a liquid sound as Ed restrained him. It was clear he urinated on himself in fear.
"You guys are going to jail, man." The second punk said as he struggled.
The second punk managed to pull out an ice pick and attempted to jab Ed with it.
Ed snapped his neck.
"Dead men tell no tales." Ed said.
Al felt both the men brought it upon themselves.
"Affirmative…." Al said.
They threw both bodies in a dumpster and covered them over with some cardboard boxes.
They checked over their SUV and made sure it wasn't tampered with.
They drove out onto the small street. They drove it past several buildings and turned onto another street. The current street would take them past the alley and then the street they last saw the old pickup truck on. It wasn't there.
They drove over one more street and spotted the old pick up truck. It was in the alley of the building across the street from where they checked the row of buildings.
It was parked and they could see at least one of the men was out of it. They were in the back of the building across the street from the building where the Grays were located. The men's behavior, as well as the suspicious behavior of the truck driving around, raised more than a few alarms.
"Something's up." Al said.
Ed agreed. There was more than met the eye currently.
"They're watching the building the Grays were in." Ed said. "It's a probe of some type."
The question now was, who really were these people?
"It's possible they are the anti-Metal faction." Al said.
They knew it wasn't going to go over well at the base. It was going to cause Cameron great distress.
"They could be another group of Grays too." Ed said. "We've encountered more than one group of Grays before."
It sounded even worse than a group of the anti-Metal faction.
They continued on to the next street and drove to the front of the building the old pickup truck was in the rear at.
They parked and exited the SUV. They went over a fence and hurried to the rear of the building.
They listened to two men converse.
"I think we should go." The first man said.
"I want to know what they're doing." The second man said.
"We don't need any more trouble." The first man said. "We already had enough tonight."
"Those other guys were just street punks." The second man said.
"Whatever." The first man said. "I still didn't like having a knife and an ice pick pulled on me. We could have got hurt."
"We probably won't ever see them again." The second man said. "They were nothing but trash anyway."
Al and Ed looked at each other. It was evident the two men described the other two men they dealt with earlier who pulled weapons on them. They knew unless the men with the old pickup truck looked inside of the dumpster, they wouldn't see them again.
"I hope not." The first man said.
"It's unsafe anywhere we go anymore." The second man said.
The two men continue to observe the location where the Grays were at.
"I'd really like to know what those morons are up to." The first man said.
"Maybe it's better if we don't know." The second man said.
After a few minutes the men returned to the truck and got back inside.
The two Terminators hadn't heard anything incriminating from the two men. Things seemed fairly simple on the surface.
"Do you think it's all there is to it?" Al asked.
It seemed to be what it looked like.
"I think so." Ed said.
The old truck drove off.
"We need to move." Al said. "They'll probably come back on the street we're parked on."
Al and Ed hurried back to their SUV. It appeared untouched from when they just left.
John Henry contacted them about having drone support. There were two drones which were used in the other raid. They were only armed with the minigun at this point. The missiles were expended. They could perform recon duty as well.
Ed didn't think they were through for the night.
"It wouldn't hurt to have one scout around us for anyone else here." Ed said.
They filled John Henry in with further detail as to what they discovered.
Al and Ed headed off to one of the other locations they were given. They inquired about the team and found out there was some damage to all involved.
"I don't think Jim and Bob will be back on this for a few more hours." Ed said.
It seemed like a long shot for anything else of value.
"Let's see what else we can turn up." Al said.
They moved down to the next street. They watched the old pickup pass by where they were at just a few minutes ago.
Maybe they would have one of the drones keep an eye on it. They didn't want to tip their hand to the machine shop they found. They didn't want the junk collectors to blow it for them either.
Vanna and Allison held each other's naked body closely.
Just being in the company of each other was reassuring to them. It gave both of them great comfort. They didn't need to do anything else other than just hold each other.
They heard some commotion in the hallway.
Allison lifted up on one elbow and looked towards the door.
"What the Hell?" Allison asked.
Allison got up to look. She was naked. She looked out into the hall and then stepped out. She was still naked.
Sheila hurried away.
Allison rushed back into the room. She needed to let Vanna know something was up. Her impression was it was serious.
"Something's wrong." Allison said.
Vanna immediately stopped feeling sorry for herself. She put her clothes back on. Allison did the same thing. They grabbed each other's clothes in the rush to get dressed. It didn't matter. Something was wrong.
There was no alarm sounded, or gunfire anywhere. They didn't open an arms locker to retrieve weapons. The commotion seemed to be centered around the lab.
Vanna and Allison headed for the lab.
Allison reached down and stretched her pants open a little bit as she looked inside.
"I think I grabbed your underwear." Allison said.
Vanna reached inside her pants.
"I think I forgot mine anyway." Vanna said.
The girls were in a big hurry to get some clothes on and find out what the problem was. Sometimes a few articles of clothing didn't make it.
"I don't know what's going on." Allison said.
Vanna felt she did. It reminded her of days gone by.
"I have a feeling I do." Vanna said.
Allison could see how worried Vanna looked.
The two girls entered the lab.
There were six Terminators there. All of them were damaged.
Vanna gasped as she saw Cameron, she was damaged as well. Much to her surprise, so was Gail. It was unusual. Gail was supposed to be out of combat.
Cam, Holly, and Sheila all helped their brethren.
Cameron personally tended to Gail.
She noticed Vanna and Allison were there. She didn't want to cause any further problems for them. She went to Vanna and Allison as soon as she saw they were there to help.
"I don't want you getting upset with this or stressed out. I need you to keep Jesse away from here. Tell Ally to stay with her. Holly, go with Allison and stay with her, keep her calm." Cameron said. "Vanna, you don't need to be here. Cam, please take Vanna away to rest."
Vanna wanted to assist. She could see she was needed. She felt it was her duty. It redirected her mind away from herself to what really mattered. It was the others. It didn't matter if they were Terminators or people. Everyone mattered. It was time to make herself useful for a change.
"No, I'll stay and do my job. I'm needed here now." Vanna said. "What's done is done."
John burst into the room.
"Cameron!" John said.
John rushed past everyone else.
Cameron wanted John to act like a leader. She also wanted to thank Vanna. She appreciated the way Vanna was able to compose herself and dig right in when it was needed. She felt it was needed.
"I'm fine, John. Check on your troops first and then come back to me. I'll still be here." Cameron said. "Thank you, Vanna. You and Cam are both needed here."
There was some arguing at the lab door. There was a male and a female voice.
"I'm going in there." Savannah said. "MOVE…."
John Henry unsuccessfully prevented Savannah from entering the lab.
"I must advise against this." John Henry said.
Everyone stopped and looked at the two of them. They were now both inside the lab.
Savannah noticed everyone looked at her and John Henry. She felt it was time to set them straight. There were actually a lot of things she wanted to set them straight about. She didn't think it was the proper setting to voice all of them. She was going to make it clear later on when it was more appropriate. She decided to give them a precursor of what was to come.
"Everyone, all of you. I'm old enough for this, and EVERYTHING else too." Savannah said. "EVERYTHING…. I'm a big girl now. ALL THIS is what my whole life has been patterned around. This is what you've all trained me for. I'm here to do my job. I'm here to help."
Nobody said anything. It didn't appear John wanted to weigh in either. There was work to be done. Everyone returned to what they were doing.
Savannah went to Cameron and Gail. She started to follow the instructions Cameron gave her. It wasn't the first time she helped. However it was the most damaged Terminators she assisted with at one time.
Vanna looked at Savannah. She was proud of her and 'herself'. She knew she made the right decision by staying to do her job. She didn't need Savannah to do it for her, but she would appreciate the assistance.
Cameron noted the attire Savannah currently wore. She smiled to herself. Savannah was a big girl now, and a lot of it was 'showing'. She was proud of Savannah as well. She looked Hot and was Tight…. She needed to look again. Everybody did, it was impossible not to. She really believed what Savannah said about being ready for everything. Maybe she should have listened a little more carefully sooner.
Everyone got to work and the repairs were soon finished.
John checked on his troops once everything was under control, and then went to Cameron.
Cameron could see John was on his way. She frowned slightly. He began to assist Savannah.
It wasn't long before everything was patched up as well as it could be.
"I think you're in good shape." Savannah said.
Cameron was worried Savannah was going to leave. She didn't want to be alone with John right now. She knew how the events normally played out. She decided to get out in front of things.
"Save it, John." Cameron said when John and Savannah finished up with her. "I'm fine."
John knew to push it now would only make Cameron disappear for a few days. Cameron usually didn't show up damaged like this. Gail was damaged as well. She was supposed to be off combat duty. He knew Cameron must have done something 'off the books' again.
Cameron wanted to put John at ease a little. She wanted to use Bob to deflect some of the 'third degree'.
"Bob will report to you about what went down." Cameron said. "We destroyed the facility, and blew up a partially completed drone. We wrecked an assembly line of some kind and captured several Terminators. Two of which should be easily repairable, the others will be used for parts."
John wanted to be with Cameron when she fought. He didn't like Cameron to go into battle alone without him.
"I should've been there." John said.
Cameron didn't want to have the same conversation again, especially in front of others. She indicated the battle damaged Terminators.
"So you could look like us, or be dead?" Cameron asked. "LOOK at us! You were right where you were supposed to be."
John glanced at Savannah who casually bent down to pick something up. She turned her head, pulled her hair to one side of her face and smiled at him. Her loose top hung down in front of her. She stood and smoothed her outfit. He just saw 'everything'.
Cameron noted Savannah's actions and tried not to smile.
John looked away from Savannah and back to Cameron. He was aware Savannah tried to deflect his attention away from Cameron. He felt he needed to address the situation. He went right to the source.
"This is a new low, even for you, Cameron." John said.
Cameron noticed what Savannah did and why. It was part of her 'training'. She wanted to give John a few things to think about.
"You don't know how low I can go." Cameron said. "You don't want to find out. You WILL embrace the future. YOU can't stop the 'Natural Order'."
John looked at Cameron and went to check on his troops again before he left. He still couldn't help but do another 'once over' of Savannah as he left.
'Damn, she looks good….' John thought.
Savannah noticed and winked at John. It seemed to hasten his departure.
"I'll win no matter how long it takes." Cameron said softly. "It's NEVER over until I win."
Savannah walked up behind Cameron. She heard her speak.
"Yes you will, WE both will." Savannah said just as softly.
She took Cameron's left hand and the glitch stopped immediately.
Cameron looked at Savannah.
"It's inevitable." Savannah said.
Cameron smiled and lifted her left hand. It brought Savannah's with it. She kissed the back of Savannah's hand gently.
"I know I can count on you. The future depends on you." Cameron said.
Savannah wanted Cameron to look at her too.
"Like you, I'll keep my promises." Savannah said. "Like you, I won't fail either."
Cameron drew Savannah close to her.
"Thank you." Cameron said as she pulled Savannah into her arms and hugged her. "John MUST be protected. I'm counting on you. You MUST protect John."
Savannah smiled at Cameron.
"I promise." Savannah said.
Savannah wished the moment could last forever…. She knew at that moment, if Cameron ever asked her what she 'wanted', she was going to tell her. It was what she held this very moment….
'Can't Help Falling In Love With You' by 'Elvis Presley', was the song that filled Savannah's mind, as love filled her heart.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
Bonus
When does one win
When do they lose
It all comes down to
What decisions they choose
What once seemed right
May soon seem wrong
Will they be weak
Or will they be strong
It's easier to go with the flow
Than it is to change course
Since there are no rules
There's nothing to enforce
No one wants to make waves
Or to get pushed out
To have it happen
Fills one with doubt
To get what one wants
May be seen as a bonus
The reality of the situation is
It's another way for someone to own us
Nobody