Chapter 771

Flaming Trail

It was an easy take down for the team. There'd been no effective resistance. The Grays were questioned and terminated.

They needed to get moving. This location was known to the Grays and not all of them were in when the building was taken down. They needed to act and act soon.

It was decided the best thing to do was drive the truck full of drones out of there. They could get it to a secure location and hide it for now. When it was dark, they could launch the drones or try and move the truck to one of their remote locations for processing.

Bob headed out with the big rig, full of drones.

"I'm taking the big truck to the quarry." Bob said. "It's isolated and if we need to fight, no one will hear us."

John Henry knew that Bob would have additional assistance in short order.

"Cammy and Sheila will be there soon." John Henry said. "They're going to torch the building and then follow you."

John pointed out that additional resources were nearby as well.

"Our drones are currently parked not far from there." John said. "They are ready to go in a moment's notice."

Bob was aware of that.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

John wanted to make sure the girls didn't dally or do something else. He wanted them to ride shotgun on Bob

"Cammy, what's your status?" John asked. "I don't want to leave Bob high and dry for too long.

Cammy didn't see what the rush was about. They'd catch up to Bob in no time.

"I'm back at the SUV now." Cammy said. "I'll pick Sheila up in two minutes."

John Henry wanted to make sure that they remained alert and kept an eye out for the rest of the Grays or any Terminators that weren't in the building with the five men that they'd just terminated.

"Keep aware of your surroundings." John Henry said. "Those Grays indicated they were expecting more. You don't want to get tagged or an HK drone strike called in on you."

John wanted them to get out of there as fast as possible.

"There may be Terminators involved as well." John said. "Those other men Cammy first encountered indicated there were people that Bob reminded them of."

Cammy felt she was aware of all of the threats. So far it looked like they got the drop on the Grays. That was a good thing.

"We're all aware and on the lookout. I'm rolling now." Cammy said. "I have my eyes 'peeled'."

Cammy waited to make sure Bob was clear and there was no one following him. Once she was sure he was safely away. She then went to pick up Sheila. She was delayed a little longer than she'd anticipated.

Young Allison looked around and saw the others all soon returned. Vanna and Allison were there as was Holly and Hanna. Gail and Cam entered from the bunker area as well. Young Allison figured they'd been at the Detail house next door. Jesse soon emerged but her mother hadn't. Hanna went to check on Claire and soon returned with her. Her mother looked a little worse for the wear. That was usually the case after she shared with Jesse and especially with Sheila.

She figured Jesse gave her mother a real workout again. At least in the past that was always the case. Her mother always seemed to be a little more incapacitated than Allison was after Jesse visited her. She didn't think that it was so much that Allison was in 'better condition' as she thought that her mother was able to experience a much higher or deeper level of pleasure. That thought didn't bode well with her. She should be no different than Allison in that regard. Actually if she thought about it, it was the same with Vanna and Allison. Vanna always seemed to enjoy everything more than Allison did.

Her limited encounter with Future Allison seemed to indicate she was more like her mother. She wasn't sure what the difference was between Allison and Future Allison. It must have been something in the upbringing. Maybe it was Future Allison's exposure to Future John. Maybe that relationship sparked something different. Maybe it had something to do with Future Savannah. Maybe in that regard she hoped to be more like Future Allison than Allison. Perhaps that was something she could ask Savannah about since she'd been with all three of them.

Everyone was there now. Young Allison carefully moved away from the piano and left Summer to play on her own intuition. She joined Anna and they watched and listened too.

Claire was moved to tears as she watched and listened to Summer play. It was a very moving and powerful experience to all of those who watched and listened to it.

There was the sound of two car doors closing.

Summer looked over at the window and ended her performance.

Everyone clapped.

Cameron and Savannah walked into the house seconds later. They looked around at the assembled crowd and weren't really sure why everyone was gathered there.

"What did we miss?" Savannah asked.

Cameron saw Claire with tears in her eyes and immediately went to scan her.

Allison could see the unnecessary concern Cameron displayed towards her mother. She figured it was because her mother had tears in her eyes. She didn't know it was because her mother carried her growing embryo inside of her that Cameron wanted to scan her.

"Allison and Summer both played together and Summer finished up on her own." Allison said. "It was truly moving and beautiful."

Claire brushed off Cameron's concerns. Her tears weren't because of anything physical. They were emotional tears. Now that Savannah was here she would like to hear her play.

"Will you play, Savannah?" Claire asked.

Savannah was a little surprised at the request. She hadn't got much keyboard time in recently. She wasn't sure how she was going to do. She was willing to give it a try because Claire asked her. She could also see Young Allison wanted her to play as well.

"Sure." Savannah said as she said 'hello' to everyone.

Summer went over and took Young Allison's hand and led her over next to Savannah. Summer then glanced at Vanna and Allison sitting side by side holding hands.

Cameron saw it all.

'She knows.' Cameron thought.

It was clear to Cameron that Summer understood the nature of the relationships and what they meant. She also received some reports Summer did her share of spying as well on the various match ups that occurred in Allison's bedroom and Claire's bedroom.

Savannah and Young Allison played together for a while. They finished up and everyone clapped again.

There were a few other things that Savannah wanted to work with Young Allison on.

"I need to work on some items with Allison." Savannah said. "Everyone please excuse us for a while."

Savannah took Young Allison's hand and led her to her room.

Sheila used the hose to wash all the blood off of herself. She wanted to make sure she didn't spoil her clothes. She'd just turned the hose off when she heard the SUV drive up. Cammy was here a lot faster than she'd expected. She didn't even have time to dress yet. In fact, she was still dripping wet.

'That was fast.' She thought.

She heard two car doors open and slam shut. Right away she knew that was wrong.

Sheila knew that 'trouble' just found her.

She could hear several people moving around just out of her view.

"What's all this water?" A male voice asked. "These damn homeless people keep coming around. Even when we beat them, they still come back."

Sheila was dripping wet. Her clothes were off to the side along with the shop rags. The lighter was still sitting on top of them.

There was nowhere to completely conceal herself. She tried to move out of obvious sight but must not have made it.

"Hey." Someone called. "They're still here. I want to teach this one a real lesson. I'm going to blind them. They won't be able to come around here again if they can't see."

The other Gray thought that was a better idea than killing them. They'd already done that with more than a few of the homeless people. They didn't want the police sniffing around their area any more than necessary.

"Hey you, come out." A voice said. "We know you're hiding there."

There were two new Grays there now, neither was a Terminator.

Sheila didn't think that two Gray's would pose much of a problem. She walked out dripping wet. She figured the worst she was going to get out of it might be a few bullet wounds.

The two men seemed stunned as they watched her walk out. It wasn't what they'd expected. They were used to encountering the homeless, not someone young and beautiful. Not someone who looked 'that'.

Sheila adjusted her nipple rings to make sure they were straight as the men watched. Since she was completely naked she thought she would try a little diplomacy first. She knew the trick was to draw the 'marks' in to make their termination easier.

"I'm sorry. I used a little bit of water. I can pay for it. I was dirty." Sheila said. "I needed to clean up. I'm looking for 'work'. I'm not homeless either."

Sheila saw the men were armed but they hadn't pulled their weapons when they saw she was naked and unarmed.

Sheila went to reach for her clothes.

One man produced a gun.

"We like how you're 'dressed' now. We'd like you to stay that way." One man said.

Sheila didn't want to get too specific as to what happened to the men inside. She did want it to sound like she provided them with a different 'service' than the one she actually provided them with. That service was death.

"Look I don't want any trouble." Sheila said. "I just finished 'taking care' of your friends. I needed to clean up. I was pretty messy. I'm clean and fresh now. I needed to make some spending money."

The two men looked at each other as they realized what she indicated her 'profession' was.

"You're a 'working girl'?" The other asked. "How much does it cost for a good time?"

Sheila didn't want to make the price sound too cheap. She wanted to make it sound like she had some 'class'. She hoped her performance so far indicated that as well.

"It's a hundred each." Sheila said.

One of the men lightly moistened his lips before he spoke. It was clear where his mind was already headed.

"What do we get for our hard earned money?" One asked.

Sheila figured she might as well make it sound good. Nothing was actually going to happen anyway except two more terminations.

"Everything…." Sheila said.

The two men quickly exchanged glances. It seemed to indicate that they would be quite demanding.

"Everything?" The other asked.

Sheila took the opportunity to move closer to the men as she showed them both sides of her body at a forty five degree angle as if she was auditioning.

"Everything you want." Sheila said.

Sheila now stood naked near them.

It was the same drill. Offer the targets what they want to get close and then move in for the kill.

It was time to act….

"I'll give you a sample first." Sheila said as she moved closer.

Moments ago:

Cammy made sure that Bob was safely away without incident and was now headed back to pick up Sheila.

She was pleased that they'd been able to pull the operation off without any damage to any of them. There was a SUV coming down the street towards her. She saw the turn signaler go on. The vehicle was going to turn in at the location where they'd just taken the truck from.

It was clearly bad news.

She saw the Gray's SUV pull into the driveway and head around to the back. That can't be good. Cammy knew Sheila was back there and probably still unarmed.

Cammy pulled up along the side of the building and quietly got out. She decided to leave the door ajar so she didn't give away her presence. She peeked around the corner and saw the two men accosting Sheila. One of them pulled a gun on Sheila.

Sheila stood there alone, naked. She slowly made her way closer to the two men.

She saw Sheila smile at the two men.

Sheila saw Cammy peek around the corner.

She smiled at the two men.

Sheila moved closer to the two men. She made sure their eyes were glued to her. With each step she made her breasts bounce so the nipple rings bounced too. That's where the men's attention was.

"Let me give you a sample." Sheila said. "You don't need a gun for me. I'm naked."

The Gray lowered the gun.

"This is business, not a hold up." Sheila said.

The Gray put the gun away.

"I'm naked except for these." Sheila said.

She gently pulled on her nipple rings.

She could see the men's eyes were transfixed.

The men were spellbound.

The smile grew on Sheila's face. She felt she was in total control right now.

"Did I tell you what this would cost?" Sheila asked as she indicated her figure.

The two men quickly looked at each other.

"What?" One man asked. "What will it cost us?"

The men were so distracted watching Sheila perform in front of them. Cammy was able to soundlessly approached from behind them. She now stood in back of both men.

"It will cost you your lives." Sheila said as she grabbed one man.

Cammy grabbed the other man.

"Don't kill them yet." Cammy said.

Cammy and Sheila choked the men out and took them inside. The fumes from the flammable liquid Cammy dumped earlier were very strong. The fumes set off multiple warnings in their systems. The vapor spread throughout the building. They didn't expect to go back into the building. They needed to be careful they didn't trigger an explosion while they were still inside.

Sheila looked down at her naked figure. She hoped to have a little more 'fun' before they departed.

"I'm glad I don't have my clothes on yet…." Sheila said.

Both men were tied up.

John and John Henry received the report from Cammy on what was going down and that she was going to help Sheila. They didn't like to hear that the Grays returned so soon. They informed Bob and told him to keep a lookout. It seemed that everything was still in jeopardy until they were well clear of the area.

"That was unexpected this early." John said.

John Henry did hear one of the five Gray's that was terminated earlier say that there were more people that would join them later on. It appeared that 'later on' was actually not that much later at all.

"They did say they were expecting more to return." John Henry said.

Cammy wanted the Command Center to know that everything was under control.

"John, the men have been taken down." Cammy said. "Sheila's questioning them now."

John wanted them to get out of there as soon as possible. If they could get any intel on the third truck he would take it.

"Keep us posted and don't linger there." John said. "Reinforce Bob as soon as possible."

Cammy decided to urge Sheila along. She wanted her to take care of business and then get out of there.

"I'll be in touch." Cammy said.

They could hear a muted scream in the background of her com.

John Henry and John quickly glanced at each other.

"This is very barbaric." John Henry said.

John didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The missing trucks was something that didn't sit well with him

"We need answers." John said. "I want the last truck."

John Henry wanted to remind John about the Resistance priorities. It seemed that John was willing to shortcut in order to follow Cameron's priorities.

"So it's like Cameron said." John Henry said. "It is ONLY about 'winning'."

John heard it enough times from Cameron that the words just slipped right out of his mouth.

"She's right." John said. "If we're not 'winning', then we're losing."

John was tired of getting played and the danger his team members kept facing. He wanted this over. Maybe he needed to cut Cameron some slack. He saw how personal involvement seemed to make other priorities less important and the current objective the sole purpose of everything. Maybe it was 'tunnel vision' or 'target fixation'. It really didn't matter. There was a goal to be reached and so far it hadn't been attained.

Cammy heard another muted scream. She peeked inside.

Sheila had some blood again.

Cammy knew they needed to get rolling.

"I'd say you look good in red but you don't." Cammy said. "At least not like that."

Sheila didn't care how she looked right now. She believed she'd just obtained some solid intel.

"I have a location." Sheila said. "I know where to look for the last truck."

Cammy wanted to get out of there.

"We can't leave them like this." Cammy said.

Sheila didn't intend for them to bleed to death. She knew there was a much faster method available.

"We won't." Sheila said as she hosed off again.

Cammy drove the Gray's vehicle inside.

Sheila quickly finished washing all of the blood off of herself.

Cammy watched as Sheila dressed after she helped her dry off with the clean shop rags.

Sheila looked around at some containers in a yellow cabinet marked 'Flammable' in red and took out a two gallon can of solvent.

"Let's go." Sheila said.

Cammy took one last look at the two struggling men as they bled out. It was time to go.

Sheila left a liquid trail of the flammable fluid behind her as she got into the SUV.

"Drive slowly until we get to the end of the building." Sheila said.

Sheila held the can out the window and left a trail of flammable fluid as Cammy drove. Cammy stopped at the corner of the building.

Sheila took out the lighter. She ignited it and touched it to the liquid. The flammable fluid caught fire with a 'whoosh' sound. The flaming trail streaked back toward the open door and the two withering men inside.

She was glad they were both still alive and knew they were going to burn to death before they bled to death. She figured the more they suffered the better because they wanted to blind her when they thought she was a homeless person.

"Punch it." Sheila said.

Cammy floored it and was half way down the block when the building erupted into a giant fireball. They could feel the concussion of the blast as they sped down the street.

Sheila took one look back at the flaming inferno.

"There, they aren't suffering any more." Sheila said. "That's what they get for calling me a 'Metal Whore'."

Cammy thought back on a few of the spats Sheila and her went through in the past during their eight year visit there.

"I've called you a 'Bitch' before." Cammy said. "Are you going to do that to me?"

Sheila was in a festive mood with all of her recent terminations. She decided to mess with Cammy a little bit.

"Maybe I will." Sheila said. "I've also called you a 'Bitch' too."

Cammy decided to play it right back to her.

"I guess we're lucky we don't sleep." Cammy said. "We won't end up with a knife in our back."

They made one last check of the target area. There was no one else around. It was time to catch up with Bob and help protect the cargo of captured HK drones.

"Bob, we are on our way." Sheila said.

"Affirmative…." Bob replied.

This looked like a win, so far.

John and John Henry awaited the new information that Sheila just obtained as to the possible location of the third big rig.

John really wanted that big truck bad. He wasn't going to be satisfied until all three of the big trucks had been apprehended and their cargo either confiscated or destroyed. Right now it was two down and one to go. They still needed to get Bob's truck to a secure location.

They still needed to worry about the Grays being able to track them and call in a drone strike.

It Doesn't Make Sense To Me

I'm very confused
As to why you chose another
I've waited for you
With my love to smother

Can you not see
That you belong to me
You've heard my loves decree
I know that you agree

You've been blinded by choice
You feel what is meant to be
You're taking two hearts
Turning them into debris

What you're seeking is
Unwise momentary satisfaction
Leading down the wrong path to doom
A very misguided reckless distraction

I really don't understand
There's nothing about me
That anyone wouldn't want
It doesn't make sense to me

Nobody