Chapter 597

There Are Terminators

Earlier:

Bob and his team were still at the building they'd taken down. They loaded the box truck with anything they thought might be useful. There was no apparent Skynet technology present. It was really unclear as to exactly what went on inside that building. They may have assembled something there before it was packed in crates and loaded into the truck.

Derek only saw the forklift load crates into the truck. Everything was crated up before he'd arrived. He was unable to give them any further insight.

Bob didn't want to get caught flat footed.

"Is there any activity headed our way?" Bob asked.

John Henry was on the lookout for anything either on the ground or in the sky. He wanted them to know the threat from the SUV and van that left from there was neutralized.

"There's none so far." John Henry said. "The girls have taken down the SUV that tried to return along with the van that was with the truck."

Bob thought the truck was the key to everything related to that location.

"What about the big rig?" Bob asked.

John Henry was in contact with Cameron. So far everything was under control.

"We have control of it. Cameron's driving it now. They're about to see what's inside of it." John Henry said. "I've found a secure location for them that's secluded."

Bob made a grim discovery previously. He wasn't sure how to bring it up due to the nature of his observation. He felt he needed to relay the news to John.

"There may have been a Terminator here in this location at one point recently." Bob said. "We haven't encountered any here currently."

That news was bad news to John.

"What makes you say that?" John asked.

Bob wasn't really sure how to describe what he'd discovered.

"One of the bodies we loaded in the van was already dead when we arrived." Bob said. "It looked like the work of a Terminator."

John hoped they'd enough Terminators everywhere to handle any Skynet Terminator threat.

"I'll make sure Cameron's team gets the alert." John said.

Bob wanted to make sure that the nature of the new threat was known to the girls.

"The girls should be warned." Bob said. "I'm worried about them."

John noted some apprehension in Bob's voice. He understood right away this was something different.

"Is there a problem?" John asked. "It sounds like something specific."

Bob didn't like what he found and what was done.

"It was a female that we found deceased…." Bob said.

John could feel Bob's hesitation grow. He motioned for John Henry to make the call private.

"Is there something else?" John asked. "You're on a secure channel. Only John Henry and I can hear you."

Bob thought about Sheila but this was something different.

"She was brutalized…." Bob said. "It appeared she was abused."

There was a long pause.

John was aware that Grays would often pick up females off of the street and keep them around for pleasure. It was a hold over from what they did to Resistance females that were taken prisoner before they were 'used up' and dumped into a work camp. Bob indicated something different by his tone and description. He thought there was a little more to it.

"Do you mean by a Terminator?" John asked.

Bob thought about the girls in the Resistance. It bothered him more.

"It appears that way." Bob said. "I didn't like what I saw."

Bob described in detail what he observed.

John wasn't sure what to make of that. He'd heard stories about Sheila with sex and drug traffickers, especially the females, but this was different.

"That's bad news." John said.

John Henry caught the full implication of it as well.

"That's very disturbing news." John Henry said.

Bob didn't want the other Terminators to see what he'd found. He took care of it discreetly.

"No one else saw it except me." Bob said. "I covered her back up before I took her out to join the others for disposal. It reminded me of of Scavengers…."

John Henry encountered the Scavenger problem in the future. He knew that Cameron and Mrs. Weaver focused a lot of attention and retribution on it. He was aware what Vanna and Jesse suffered at the hands of Scavengers.

"It was my belief that Skynet gave Scavengers a 'pass' at times, for the damage they would do the Resistance. They didn't work for Skynet but were seen as a form of psychological warfare by Skynet to use against the Resistance." John Henry said. "That's another reason Mrs. Weaver wanted them exterminated."

John felt they'd just about used up all their luck so far. He was sure there were more Grays and evidently one or more Terminators out there still. It was time to move on.

"Bob, finish up there and get out." John said. "We will run you through two ambushes on the way to the 'safe site'."

Bob could see the crew was about ready to leave anyway. Other than the hard drives out of the computers and the phones of the Grays, they didn't get much.

"Affirmative…." Bob said. "We'll roll in two minutes."

John was troubled by this new development. He knew Sheila possessed a 'mean streak' when dealing with human enemies. Perhaps some Skynet Metal did too. This was different though. He would need to ask John Henry when they were alone if any of the male Terminators was sexually active. He didn't think any of theirs were. Cameron didn't want any of them to be.

The question was, who was the female and why was she abused? Was there a new breed of Skynet Terminators?

John Henry needed to notify Cameron on a secure channel. He was worried about Savannah and the Metal girls.

Moments ago:

Savannah was very apprehensive about the cargo in the back of the big rig.

Cammy came over and stood in front of Savannah as Cameron opened the rear door.

As the door started to open Savannah pulled her Taser.

Cammy saw Savannah do that and did the same thing. She also held a pistol in her other hand now too.

Savannah got a bad feeling about this whole deal. Now Cammy was in her way as she tried to shield her.

As the door started up, Savannah went to move around from in back of Cammy.

They could both see Cameron start to move back and off to the side. She tried to draw her Taser or pistol….

What Cameron spotted when she opened the rear door of the truck were two Terminators waiting in the back of it.

Cameron tried to dodge out of the way as one of the Terminators fired a Taser at her. She reached for her Taser but never made it. The first Terminator hit her with the electric charge. She went down like a rock.

Cammy saw Savannah try to move around her but she was able to move in front of Savannah again to shield her. Cammy fired both her pistol and Taser. She was glad that she'd held both of them already because she'd watched Savannah do that.

Savannah didn't like being blocked. She kept moving for a shot.

Cammy scored a Taser hit on the Terminator who took down Cameron. He landed with a loud thud on the floor of the truck, his head hung at a crazy angle over the back of the truck. She scored bullet strikes on the other Terminator at the same time.

Before Cammy could hit the Second Terminator with her Taser, she was hit by his Taser. She went down.

The second Terminator only saw the two female cyborgs at first. He spotted Savannah when Cammy fell. He identified her as a human female. That pleased him.

Savannah held her ground. Her Taser was ready and so was she. She needed to warn the others in case she didn't make it.

"Cam, Gail, I need you." Savannah said. "Cameron and Cammy are down. There are Terminators here. I'm engaging…."

Savannah fired her Taser.

The Terminator moved to jump out of the back of the truck. He didn't see a human female as a threat. He was able to dodge the barbs of her Taser shot. He already planned what he was going to do to her once her got a hold of her. He didn't realize the Resistance carried multi-shot Tasers unlike the standard ones they carried.

Savannah fired her Taser at him three times. She struck him twice as he tried to dodge the barbs. His forward momentum carried him out of the back of the truck.

Savannah tried to move away at the same time since he lunged for her. His body landed with a thud. He sprawled on the ground between Cameron and Cammy. He knocked Savannah down and her com was lost when he impacted the concrete.

Savannah rolled and came up with her Glock in one hand and her Taser in the other. She wanted to get a better look in the back of the truck to see what other threats were still in there. She wasn't sure if there were more Terminators or Grays in the back. She was ready to engage them.

In the Command Center they all heard it. They heard the Tasers being fired and gunfire too.

The transmission got worse for all of them when they heard Savannah start to issue a warning and it abruptly ended.

"Cam, Gail, we need you." Savannah said. "Cameron and Cammy are down. There are Terminators here. I'm engaging…."

Then there was silence.

John Henry couldn't reach Cameron, Cammy or Savannah.

Sarah gripped Kyle as they waited.

Vanna and Jesse were speechless. They clung tightly to each other.

It sounded like Savannah needed to face several Terminators alone again. The way her transmission ended seemed to indicate her fate. With Cameron and Cammy down, Savannah would be on her own.

John and John Henry exchanged grim looks. The new report from Bob was fresh in their minds. It appeared all three of girls may have been captured or worse. It was most likely at least one of the Terminators that they just encountered did some brutal things to another female, a human one. Savannah was the human female that was there now. She was alone there and needed to face more than one Terminator.

Cam was still on patrol around the industrial area. She responded immediately.

"I'm one minute out." Cam said.

She tried to reach Savannah herself. There was no response.

Gail was on her way as well. This was what she feared for Savannah.

"I'm one minute and seventeen seconds away." Gail said.

Gail failed to reach Savannah either.

John looked at everyone in the Command Center.

"Hurry…." John said.

It was all he could say.

They were powerless to do anything else at that moment. The silence seemed to make everything worse as they waited.

They could only hear Gail and Cam try to contact Savannah. There was no response.

The report from Savannah shocked the Young bunker.

"Savannah!" Young Allison said.

There was only silence after the report.

They could hear Claire sobbing.

Anna wanted to put a positive spin on the unknown. That was what it was right now. It was unknown.

"Many things can happen or be happening right now." Anna said. "Savannah was still in the fight."

Young Allison could only think the worst. It was the way Savannah's call just stopped. Then there was only silence. It wasn't a Skynet jamming field because they could hear Gail and Cam try to contact Savannah to no avail.

"We don't even know how many Terminators she's facing alone. We know it's more than one." Young Allison said. "She isn't reporting any more information either now. Her transmission ended in mid-sentence."

Anna didn't want them to get ahead of themselves. She too was worried about what may have happened. The silence was what made it worse.

"That's all we know." Anna said. "Go comfort your mother. She needs your strength right now."

Young Allison looked at Anna and her mother. Her mother did need her but she knew Anna wanted to shield her from what could have happen to Cameron, Cammy and Savannah.

Anna hoped to sanitize the report to Young Allison once Cam and Gail arrived and reported on their condition. It did seem rather bleak at this point.

"Please." Anna said.

Young Allison took a deep breath and got up. She calmed her mother some and then returned to Anna. It was Summer that went over and touched her mother that seemed to calm her the most.

Anna didn't want Young Allison to return this quickly. She hadn't heard from Cam or Gail yet.

"This isn't what you need to hear or see." Anna said.

Young Allison resumed her station. It didn't get any more real than this.

"It is, Anna." Young Allison said. "This is the 'future'. This will be my life. This is what Cameron and the others have prepared me for since I can first remember. This is my destiny."

Anna knew it was true. Maybe she was wrong to send Young Allison away. She was back now and that was what mattered. She knew Young Allison well enough to know she was full of vengeance right now.

"This is where we are now…." Anna said as she filled Young Allison in as the events unfolded.

Young Allison knew it was never over until it was over.

Savannah rolled away from the falling Terminator. She came up with her Glock in one hand and her Taser in the other.

There were no other targets apparent but more could be on the way. Savannah retrieved both Cameron's and Cammy's Tasers. Savannah quickly searched Cameron for the 'shocker' she used sometimes. She didn't find it.

Cameron started to reboot.

The Terminator Cammy Tasered started to reboot as well.

Savannah fired the last shot of her Taser at him and pulled her knife. She started to remove his chip as she covered the second Terminator she hit with Cammy's Taser. He might reboot before Cameron was fully operational. She kept one eye on the back of the truck as well. She'd lost her com so she didn't know that Cam and Gail were both on their way.

Cameron sat up and looked around. She took in the scene. There were two enemy Terminators that were down as well as Cammy.

Savannah was glad to see Cameron was back in the game.

"You and Cammy were both Tasered." Savannah said. "Cammy brought down this one before she took a Taser hit for me. I Tasered the other one, he's going to reboot any second."

Savannah handed Cameron the knife to finish removing the chip from the first Terminator. She moved Cammy away from the second Terminator. Cammy started to reboot which meant the Terminator would any second as well.

Cammy started to come back on line when Savannah fired Cammy's Taser at the second Terminator. He stayed down.

Cameron came over to him and removed his chip as well.

Savannah got Cammy up to speed. There were deeper fears that she possessed.

"They may have called reinforcements." Savannah said.

Cammy saw Savannah's com on the ground and handed it to her.

"Were you injured?" Cammy asked. "You must have taken a hard hit."

Savannah indicated the split open cheek the second Terminator received from his impact with the ground.

"His was a lot harder." Savannah said.

Cammy was up and reported to John Henry as she checked the inside of the building again.

Cameron looked at the two deactivated Terminators, Savannah and the inside of the truck.

"Thank you, Savannah." Cameron said as she checked in with John.

There was a loud screech of breaks and Cam lifted the door and entered. She held her M4 ready along with her Taser.

There was a second loud screech and Gail appeared. She carried her pistol in one hand and her Taser in the other. Her eyes glowed red. She was a 'pure Terminator' at this moment. She was a Terminator looking for blood. It didn't matter if it was Terminator blood.

"We're all OK." Savannah said. "Thanks for coming. I didn't know what we faced when I called. My com was disabled."

Cameron hopped into the back of the truck to see what the Terminators were guarding. She gave John Henry a running report.

John felt the same worry that Savannah expressed. The enemy may have gotten a call out for help. He needed to think about his troops. It was time to clear out. They could always return later.

"They may have reinforcements or drones on the way." John said. "I want everybody out of there."

Cameron looked back at Savannah. Gail was next to her.

"Gail, you and Cammy take Savannah away from here, now." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't want to leave Cameron and Cam alone. They were stronger as a team, together.

"No, we shouldn't split our force." Savannah said. "We stay together and fight."

Cameron looked at Savannah and nodded. She knew that Savannah saved them again.

"We'll fight together." Cameron said.

Savannah wanted to make sure they were secure for now while Cameron determined what the high value cargo was.

She looked at Gail.

"I need you and Cam to take up defensive positions for now." Savannah said.

Savannah gave Gail a smile and a gentle squeeze to her arm. Savannah moved up close to Gail's ear.

"I did the same thing for them." Savannah whispered. "Thank you for being here for me."

Gail knew Savannah made a point to tell her that so she would feel better about what happened to her before. She did feel better now. Savannah was so magnificent. She was truly the 'Chosen One'….

Now it was time to make sure she stayed secure until they could pull out.

Grim Reaper

Stop
Look around
There is nothing else
To be found

This is the best life has to offer
The crossroads of Nowhere and Deadend
To think it gets better
Is only make believe or pretend

What can be different
It's just more of the same
Life has you beaten
If you play its game

The deck is stacked
The fix is in
Try all you want
You can never win

Is being alive
Really only living dead
If there is nothing left to enjoy
Except a few moments in bed

When you never wake up
You may see a new keeper
Then you know it's time
To follow the Grim Reaper

Nobody