Chapter 696

Make It Happen

The rumbling and vibrating of the forklift ended after a short while. Cam experienced enough wasted time clinging to the underside of the boxcar. She was ready for a change. She decided to chance it and try to get a better look at things. She was aware there was a Terminator present and in the area. She would have to be very careful. It was time to move.

Cam looked around. She needed to look around the wheels and axles of the trucks on the boxcar and the one that was to the north of it. She didn't see anyone to the north or south of where she was at. She dropped down from the bottom of the boxcar. She was on the railroad tracks themselves on her hands and knees. The wooden ties were old and dry. She quickly got to her feet in a crouched position. She moved toward where the opening into the building was. She hoped she could glance up to see if she could spot anything inside the building. The low angle only allowed her to see up but not back into the interior. A forklift could be heard moving around inside. She didn't want to chance poking her head up above the level of the floor of the building.

She moved to the other side of the boxcar to see if it remained clear along the east side. She was still underneath the boxcar for whatever cover it would yield. The east side consisted of a fence covered with various types of vegetation growth. The fence ran the length of the property. It started from the street to the north and extended to the flood control channel in the south. That side was shielded from observation.

Cam moved back to the other side of the boxcar directly under the ramp. She looked to see if the second boxcar was open or the other door into the building was open. Both were still closed for that boxcar.

The forklift returned and rumbled over the ramp into the boxcar. It clacked loudly over her head on the ramp.

She knew there was a roving patrol but it hadn't come around again. It should have. They must be slacking off somewhere she figured. She decided to go to the east side of the first boxcar and open the door to see what was inside. It seemed somewhat of a risky move because the patrol could come around the corner at any moment and see her attempting to open the door of the boxcar.

There was a loud clang as the forklift bumped the side of the boxcar getting its next load. It shook with a sharp jolt.

Cam decided to contact the rest of the team when the forklift moved away back inside of the building. She was pretty sure that the noise of the forklift running would mask her communications from the Terminator if he was anywhere close.

"Where is the patrol?" Cam whispered.

Steve currently had eyes on the roving patrol that appear to take an unauthorized break.

"They're on the west side of the building by the truck loading dock. They're currently talking and taking a smoke break." Steve said quietly.

Cam quickly calculated the distance away they were from where she was at and how long it would take them to get there once they started out. They would have to finish traversing the west side of the building and the entire north side before they'd turn the corner to come around on the east side.

"Let me know when they move." Cam whispered.

Cam touched her cheek and the small burn there. She briefly thought of taking down the patrol when they came by this side again. That may have to wait. That was a personal score to settle. She still intended to personally terminate any Gray that had a package of cigarettes. Upon further reflection, she should have examined the cigarette butt to determine what brand it was so she could know when she'd terminated the Gray that was responsible.

"Affirmative…." Steve said quietly.

Cam quickly scrambled from underneath the open boxcar to the next one. It was still unopened.

She looked in both directions and lifted the latch. She slid the door quietly open a foot and a half. She looked around and climbed inside. She left the door open so she could get out and over the wall to the east side if she needed to escape quickly. She hoped that the heavy vegetation growth would help hide her fleeing figure and make her less of a target for the bullets that were sure to follow her.

She looked around the interior of the boxcar. It was packed. There were large crates on giant pallets from the front to the back and from the top to the bottom inside the boxcar. She opened the first crate and it was filled with packaged children's toys. She knew this was a diversion of some kind in case anyone inspected the boxcars. There was always the threat of theft too. The hobo railroad gangs usually looked for electronics. The hobo gangs were always a threat around the railroad tracks. They were always in a 'war' with the hobo gangs that crossed the border illegally. Their squabbles often left one or more dead along the tracks. It was seldom reported in the news. No one cared about the transients or homeless that died, let alone a hobo.

Steve kept his eye on the two men that were still taking a smoke break. He looked off to the north side and spotted a new problem. It looked like it was going to be a big problem.

"Cam, a second patrol has left the office area and is headed around to the east side." Steve said. "They just appeared from inside and seem to be in a hurry. They'll come around the corner in seconds."

Cam made for the door and peaked out. The men already started around the corner. It was too late for her to get out without being seen. Cam knew she was stuck and would be spotted whatever she did if she tried to get out to hide or to run. As soon as she was spotted the operation was blown and the surprise was lost. The main facility as well as all the satellite facilities we're sure to go on lock down and heightened alert. They would probably all become armed camps within minutes.

Cameron knew where she wanted to go based on her file of the most current satellite map of the area she was at. She told Gail where to drive. They were on a service road for the giant power transmission lines. There is no shortage of the large power lines around the Southland. She quickly devised a plan she thought might work based upon the satellite imagery.

"This road will bring us along the side of the old steel mill and we can hike in from there. It will be a three mile hike." Cameron said. "I'll scout ahead and you two will follow me later on."

Savannah knew Cameron was really going to take all the risk and use herself as a target if things went bad. She looked around the landscape where they were at.

"The terrain seems open." Savannah said. "There don't seem to be a lot of places to hide."

Cameron felt her interpretation of the satellite imagery was correct. Where she was headed, there should be cover.

"Once we get around the side there are a lot of rocks on the hills." Cameron said. "I'll work my way up and make sure it's clear for you and Gail."

Savannah was worried about the resources that the location was sure to have. It was their belief that the big rig was loaded with HK drones. There was more than likely other HK equipment there as well. She didn't think that a few large rocks or even boulders were going to offer much protection if an HK drone came looking for them. If several were sent out, it would pretty much spell 'game over'.

"Don't forget they have HK drones in that truck." Savannah said. "That means they most likely have more here. It doesn't take long for them to get airborne and active."

Gail checked over the weapons in the back of the SUV.

"We don't have any Stingers." Gail said.

Cameron wanted them to think more of her appearance as a lost teenager instead of a Terminator on a search and destroy mission.

"I'll look like a lost hiker if I'm spotted or stopped." Cameron said.

Cameron took off her vest and only carried her Glock and Taser.

"You two can follow me." Cameron said. "Let me have a five minute head start."

Savannah liked this idea even less now.

Cam decided to slide the boxcar door closed. She was sure if the men saw that the door was open that they would look inside and probably raised some type of an alarm. There was nowhere for her to hide except on top of the crates. They would spot her in no time. The two men that were at the gate would have reported an open door when the boxcars were spotted by the locomotive earlier. It would indicate someone infiltrated their operation and looked in one of the boxcars. She knew she couldn't latch it but maybe the men wouldn't notice it wasn't properly secured. This was a fresh patrol and the boxcars only arrived there a short time ago. They hadn't seen these two boxcars yet.

The crates were all stacked and there was not much room to move around. Cam climbed up on top of one row and moved to the back. She could hear the men talking. They didn't seem happy. The patrol was already there at the boxcar.

"I would rather be on patrol than around that stiff." A voice said.

"I hear you, bro." A second voice said.

"Hey, look." A voice said. "The door isn't latched."

"It's not open." A second voice said. "Should we look inside?"

There was some grunting noise and a scuffing sound.

"Here, help me." A voice said. "I can't even move it."

"That is really tight. It won't even budge." A second voice said. "It must be jammed."

"If two of us can't open it, it's jammed." A voice said. "That's probably why they didn't bother with the latch."

"Let's just throw the latch and move on." A second voice said.

Cam released her grip on the door when she heard the latch thrown. She'd been holding the door closed to keep it from moving.

The only trouble now was, unless she broke the latch off, she was trapped. Now that the men already checked the latch, when they came around again they would see it was broken and alert the Terminator inside. The operation would be blown.

Cam decided to wait. She was trapped inside the closed boxcar for now.

There was nowhere for her to hide once they started to unload it and there was nowhere to go. She needed to think of some way to conceal herself or find another way out. It seemed that she was in a bind for sure right now.

Savannah wasn't happy about Cameron's plan. She didn't want Cameron to go off on her own.

"No." Savannah said as she slipped off her vest.

Cameron appeared surprised with what Savannah had just done.

"What?" Cameron asked.

Savannah didn't want Cameron to go off on her own.

"I'm going with you." Savannah said.

Savannah reached in the back and picked up her underwear and bra.

Gail tilted her head slightly to the side as she saw what Savannah held in her hand. She recognized those as Savannah's undergarments. She quickly scanned Savannah and saw she wasn't wearing any right now. She wondered what it all meant.

Savannah saw Gail look at her and her underwear in her hand.

"It's a long story." Savannah said. "I don't want to talk about it, at least not for a while."

Gail nodded. She knew that all girls needed to have a few secrets. It seemed that she'd heard that same statement from all of the human girls at one time or another. It made her wonder what the secrets were because things never seem to be too secret around the Resistance base. It seemed that everyone knew what everyone else was doing because everyone was doing everyone else.

Savannah carried her Taser and Glock as well.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to take this big of a risk with her. She was worried about HK drones coming out to look for them if they were spotted among the boulders.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked.

Savannah knew that there was no good plan but she devised a workable plan.

"Gail can drive in after us if we get in a jam." Savannah said. "If we're stopped, I will drop these in front of whoever stops us. I don't think women's underwear will seem like a threat to them but it will distract them. They're going to look at it even if they don't want to."

Cameron knew that would throw off anyone who stopped them. It would make them wonder why they weren't being worn or what happened and followed their removal. The fact that they were both female would cause all types of wild speculation in the Gray's mind if they were stopped. It was doubtful that a Gray would see them as a threat at that point but more likely as two females they could 'put the grab' on and tie down to a couple of beds in their bunk area. She needed to clear her mind and not think about anything like that.

"You'll be unprotected." Cameron said.

Savannah wanted to joke she was already pregnant so she must've been 'unprotected' before but she didn't want to upset Cameron. She didn't think Cameron would see it as a joke or amusing. She doubted Gail would either.

"Then we better be real careful." Savannah said. "I have a date with the past…."

Cameron knew she needed to use even more caution. It would better protect Savannah and her now. She was aware that Savannah risked herself so she'd use more caution. She knew Savannah wanted to protect her as much as she wanted to protect Savannah.

John listened to the developing situations. He knew Cam already took a big risk and Cameron tried to risk it. Savannah's actions checked Cameron's carelessness.

"I don't like what Cameron's doing." John said.

John Henry doubted that John ever liked what Cameron did. He understood the implications of Savannah's presence with Cameron.

"She will be more cautious if Savannah is with her." John Henry said.

John still saw it as an unnecessary risk to both of them, especially Savannah.

"They should wait until it is dark." John said.

John Henry was aware there were hours of daylight left.

"That doesn't seem likely." John Henry said.

John was already worried about Cam's situation. She was basically trapped inside of the boxcar. She would either need to break her way out and leave evidence behind that was what happened or wait for the Grays to open the boxcar and fight her way out at that point. Either way it was going to blow the operation and everything was going to go hot.

"Cam is trapped in a boxcar." John said. "I already have enough to worry about."

Cam's situation was a 'non issue' to John Henry.

"She's only 'trapped' so as to not blow the operation." John Henry said. "She can exit at any time. She can fight her way out if necessary."

John would rather have Cam break the latch off and exit over the east wall instead of fighting her way out once they opened the boxcar to unload it.

"And when they open that boxcar up and start unloading it?" John asked. "Then what's going to happen?"

John Henry figured that Cam would be able to tell them what was really inside the boxcar.

"Then I guess we find out what the real cargo is." John Henry said. "We both know it's not children's toys."

Steve spotted the first patrol on the move again. They came around the north side of the building.

"The first patrol has entered the office area." Steve reported.

Bob had the second patrol in sight. He was ready to use the Barrett on them if necessary.

"I have eyes on the new patrol." Bob said. "They're checking the gate the rail cars used to enter."

John wondered if the train would come back. Maybe they actually delivered a wrong car that had the toys in it where Cam was at.

"Where's the train?" John asked.

Bob could see down the tracks in both directions from his current position.

"It's moved down the mainline." Bob said. "They're stopped at a food factory about a mile further down and are about to leave a tank car of corn syrup off."

John wondered what someone did with a tank car full of corn syrup. He didn't want the two box cars that were pulled away from the building earlier to get away from them before they could be tagged.

"Al, I want you to move on foot to a position where you can see down the east side of the building and the two boxcars." John said. "I want to be able to warn Cam of any impending danger. I want Steve to drive down and tag those two boxcars that just left."

Steve didn't know if the train would still be there when he arrived at that location.

"What happens if I miss them?" Steve asked.

John wanted Steve to follow them as long as it took. He could follow them back to the rail yard if necessary.

"Follow them." John said. "They don't have anywhere to turn off."

Bob noted some of the other cars that were in the train and the positions that they were located in.

"There are three bulkhead flatcars full of lumber for next drop off." Bob said. "Steve can intercept them at the lumber yard. They will probably have empties to pull out first. The train should be on the mainline unattended at that point."

John wanted to know where those two boxcars went.

"Make it happen." John said.

Steve drove off after Al moved to his new position and headed for the lumber yard. It was a few miles from where he was at. He parked the SUV on the street and moved back a half mile and calculated where the train would stop. There were two empties inside the lumber yard. There was a 'run around' track next to the lumber yard spur. Steve waited near a pile of junk. It was one of many that littered the right of way along the tracks.

He looked around to make sure there were no hobo's around. He didn't want to have to terminate them if they tried to rob him. He doubted many of the hobos would survive long enough to become Scavengers when Skynet took over, if that event actually happened.

Make It Happen

How do things happen
Do they happen on their own
Maybe the answers
Are best left unknown

Why do things happen
Is there an unseen force
Maybe the path forward
Is littered with remorse

When do things happen
Is it from hard work
Or the results of an escapade
From some imbecilic jerk

What makes things happen
Is it just random luck
Maybe that's the reason
Everything seems to suck

Who makes things happen
Isn't it every person who does
Don't say that the reason
Is just because

Things happen
Because they happen
If things are slow to happen
Then one needs to make it happen

Nobody