Chapter 783

Hunters Become Hunted

Sheila tried to keep the Grays under observation while she moved away from her SUV. Her biggest worry was the HK drone in her vicinity. She tried to avoid the HK drone that searched her area. It looked like it 'made' her. She didn't like the way it seemed to line up on her. She thought she should send out a warning. She hoped that they were ready to act in the Command Center.

"The HK drone has me zeroed." Sheila said. "It's found me somehow."

Sheila knew the tree she was behind would offer little protection to a missile strike or even minigun fire.

They took the information seriously in the Command Center.

John hoped that Sheila would be able to find a refuge in a storm drain if possible. If she did, it would give her the ability to move to different locations unobserved.

"Isn't there anywhere you can go to protect yourself?" John asked."

Sheila hadn't spotted anything yet.

"I don't think so. I'm going to get lit up." Sheila said. "I'm going to make a break for it."

Sheila was ready to bolt. If the HK drone came in close, she would try to run underneath it and then off to the side. She would try to make it look like she was going to go to one side but then pivot and go back to the other side. She hoped to disorient the HK drone at least momentarily. She carried her Coltan loaded M4 and would take a few shots at it. She knew she could damage it, even if she didn't bring it down. She was sure going to try. If she could at least hit one of the power plants, it should throw all of its systems off. It would struggle to maintain flight at that point. She checked her M4 and got ready.

The sound of the drone drew closer.

Sheila peeked around the tree and saw the HK drone lined up as in make its run….

It didn't look good for her.

Bob attempted to avoid the HK drone that stalked him but it was persistent. It seemed to know the area he was in but not the exact location. He was sure that would change at some point very soon and he would be zeroed. There currently weren't a whole lot of options available to him on where else to go that the HK drone couldn't get to quickly.

Someone must have eyes on him or at least have spotted him at one point. That seemed to be bad news in itself. It indicated that the Skynet forces knew a lot more than they'd suspected and may have been in the area much longer then they'd known. Maybe they'd let their guard down some. Maybe a Gray or a Terminator was actually in the area the whole time. Because they were out, that's why they missed them. It was possible it was something as simple as a Gray visiting the homeless camp with a few dollars or food. They could have scored the comforts of a female or male for all that they knew.

Whatever it was, there must have been either be a Gray or a Terminator on the ground. They could have provided the HK drones with information on where to look for them exactly..

Bob knew Sheila was targeted also. He figured Cammy must have trouble of her own as well since she'd gone 'dark.' Maybe it was a Terminator that spotted him and sent the HK drone after him while he went after Cammy.

He was able to elude any direct sighting by the HK drone but it still worked the area he was in. It seemed to be getting closer and narrowing its focus. The sound of it drew near. He took a peek around the steel support. It was probably a mistake.

The HK drone spun around and seemed to take an attack posture. That posture seemed to be aimed right where he was at.

The HK drone looked like it was about to make an attack on his position. He wanted to let the Command Center know of his grim prospects. It was more than clear that he needed to be somewhere other than where he was at in the next few seconds.

"I'm about to get hit." Bob said. "I'm going to make a run for it."

He really wasn't sure that would do him much good. He didn't want to go down as a 'sitting duck'.

John Henry tried to figure out where the HK drones came from. They must have come from somewhere locally. He wanted to find the undetermined location. It was definitely one more target that they would need to take down before they left the area.

John understood that Sheila and Bob were in real peril. Cammy must be as well or she wouldn't have gone dark. He was very worried about the recent turn of events. Just a few minutes ago they'd been ready to send out the captured HK drones and pull out of the area. Now all of their troops appeared to be in imminent danger. It seemed to be a coordinated effort at that.

"This is all falling apart fast." John said. "At least it seems to be a lot faster than normal."

John Henry was just as displeased as John was. He still had the two HK drones locked up from altitude by two of their drones.

"I agree that it's much faster than usual." John Henry said. "I'm ready to bring the HK drones down."

John wasn't sure how the HK drones were able to target their troops so quickly.

"They have our people targeted somehow." John said.

John Henry could only speculate on exactly how that happened.

"There was probably a Terminator on the ground they missed." John Henry said. "When the Skynet forces couldn't contact the Grays with the big truck, they more than likely sent a Terminator to investigate. All he needed to do was sit and wait."

John and John Henry heard the grim reports as they came in from Bob and Sheila.

John wasn't about to let his troops be damaged needlessly.

"John Henry, get ready to fire." John said. "I don't want Bob and Sheila hit. We'll deal with the repercussions later on. Our troops come first."

Cammy was aware she was being stalked by a Terminator. She wanted to gain the advantage and try and capture him. If not, she was going to take him down, even if she needed to use a Thermite grenade on him. She'd been able to elude him so far. That was because he didn't think she knew he was there. Now that she'd changed her position when he moved away for a moment it would indicate to him that he'd been made. He wouldn't need to use as much stealth going forward. More than likely it would speed up his attack on her. He would most likely switch from stealth to brute force. It was a Terminator thing.

She entered the factory building that was occupied previously. There'd been people working there earlier in the day. It was where they'd parked the SUV at one point. Maybe that had been another negative point as they'd tried to remain clandestine. Someone may have noticed something different than usual. That someone was most likely a Terminator.

Cammy checked her surroundings. There was some type of manufacturing going on here. There appear to be different types of metal involved in the process. She quickly looked around the interior of the building. There was an X-Ray room to check metal components for flaws. She knew that the heavy shielding that surrounded the X-Ray room would protect her from HK drone detection. The drone wouldn't be able to find her but the Terminator soon would. The X-Ray room would also trap her unless she turned the X-Ray room into a trap herself for the Terminator who stalked her. There was only one door in and one door out of the X-Ray room.

She looked around at the work stations and tried to see what she could use to her advantage. She didn't have much time to act. She was able to get some things quickly arranged for her trap. She was ready for him. She briefly wondered about the damage that was going to occur inside of the building. There didn't seem to be a whole lot she could do about that. Now it was time to put some cheese out for the mouse.

Cammy moved back to where she'd entered and made sure the door was ajar she'd come through. She peeked out the door until she saw the Terminator peek around the corner. She then made sure he saw her foot disappear inside the building as she headed for the X-Ray room.

She heard him running behind her. She was sure he was headed straight for the door.

The 'mouse' took the cheese, now it was time for them to meet the 'cat'.

Cammy was tired of playing games. Even though it looked like she may hold the upper hand, that wasn't necessarily the case.

The Grays piled out of the two white vans in the back of the building where they'd taken the big rig from. They bunched up at the rear entrance. They coordinated with the Grays from the 4x4 pick-up that was in the front of the building. They were going to enter the building from both sides at the same time. They weren't sure if anyone was still inside or not. They made their move.

The Grays entered the building that the big truck with the HK drones was taken from. Some of them knew the general layout of the building because they'd been inside of it before. Some of them gathered and looked at the spectacle of their fallen comrades. They were highly disturbed at the condition of their bodies. There is no doubt that they've been purposely mutilated. The parts of their bodies that were forcibly removed were lined up in a neat row. It was very disturbing to look at it. It threw all of them off guard a little and messed with their concentration. Each of the men imagined if that would have happened to them. One of the Grays reached down to check his fallen comrades. There was an explosion as a Thermite grenade went off. One of the Grays tripped the booby trap. The Grays who were not initially afflicted by the explosion moved back for cover. They quickly moved behind a cement wall they thought would give them adequate cover. As soon as they'd moved into that position they believed to be safe, the second Thermite grenade exploded. Sheila anticipated what would happen and how the Grays would react. She set the second booby trap accordingly. The acetylene tanks Sheila placed near the second Thermite grenade exploded seconds later. The Thermite quickly burnt through their metal tanks.

There was a massive explosion which blew the doors and windows out of the building along with a large chunk out of the roof.

The screams of those burning alive inside could be heard over the roar of the flames.

Sheila briefly looked back at her handiwork. She was aware if the HK drone that stalked her wasn't brought down in the next few seconds that she was going to look like that as well. It was a grim prospect.

Moments ago:

John tried to follow everything on the satellite overlay maps as well as from the live drone footage. Ally looked like she was very near the target area.

"Ally, you must be close." John said.

Ally spotted the battle zone.

"I'm almost to the target area." Ally said. "I can see the area up ahead."

John wanted both of the HK drones brought down. He wanted to make sure there would be the minimum amount of collateral damage possible.

"I want our people safe." John said. "I want you to try and see if you can bring down the hostile HK drones in a safer area."

Ally quickly contemplated what her choices were.

"I'll do my best." Ally said.

Ally was a little surprised at what she witnessed next. She saw a fireball followed by a second larger one right where she was headed. She watched as part of the building collapsed inward even as the fireball retreated in on itself.

"There has been a massive explosion in a building." Ally said. "It's right in front of me. It's right where I'm headed."

John hoped that was from the booby traps Sheila left behind. He would deal with that problem later. Right now he wanted Bob and Sheila protected on the ground.

"Do you have the two HK drones locked up?" John asked.

Ally was able to do that before the first explosion. She knew the two of their drones had the HK drones locked up as well.

"I sure do." Ally said.

John still wanted to keep collateral damage to a minimum, especially after the explosion of the building.

"Be careful where you bring them down." John said.

Ally thought of her earlier idea. She thought that she could pull it off.

"I have a surprise for them." Ally said. "I want to try something and see if it works."

Ally was about to use herself as 'bait' to lure the HK drones away from any populated area and her fellow Terminators below.

It would be another game of cat and mouse. The HK drones would think that they were the cat and hopefully not realize they were the mouse until it was too late for them. She hoped to make it a 'sucker play' topped off with a 'Sunday punch'.

Ally could see one HK drone make its run in the area with the trees. She fired a short burst of her minigun and struck it. It immediately broke off its attack run and turned to face her. It determined there was a new threat that affected its existence. She adjusted her angle of flight and passed right in back of it. She was so close that she almost hit it. It turned to pursue her. She was already gone. She'd looped over it and was headed in the opposite direction for the second HK drone. The HK drone reacquired her and gave chase. It seemed very determined to attack what attacked it.

She turned again and did the same thing seconds later to the second HK drone as it made a strike run over the buildings. She fired and then almost collided with the other HK drone. It too turned to pursue her. She looped over it and accelerated away. She looked back and saw both of the HK drones we're hot on her tail. She firewalled the throttles.

'Let's hope speed really is life.' Ally thought.

Ally moved out of gun range of the two HK drones. Once she determined that they couldn't hit her she cut back on her speed. She stayed slow enough that the HK drones would try to catch her for a shot. She wanted to draw them in closer. She slowed even more and they closed up on her. They flew side by side after her.

It looked like the current threat to Bob and Sheila was thwarted, at least from an immediate HK drone attack.

The 'mice' took the cheese, now it was time to meet the 'cat'.

John watched the footage of what occurred below from one of their drones at altitude. He was amazed at the flying display that Ally just did. It was as precise as it was bold and effective.

He was relieved that the HK drone threat to Bob and Sheila was over for now.

John looked over at John Henry. He was still amazed about what he'd just witnessed. It was impressive to see it live.

"Did you see that?" John asked.

John Henry was very surprised at the audacity of the encounter.

"Yes, that was very unconventional." John Henry said. "I would've expected a stunt like that from Cameron."

John wondered if the base of the extremism stemmed from the 'Neural Interface' with Allison. It was the one thing both Ally and Cameron had in common, even if it was from different versions of Allison.

"They both have 'programming' from an 'Allison'." John said.

John Henry wanted to remind John what was in store for him probably sooner rather than later.

"Keep that in mind, once the 'Natural Order' is established." John Henry said. "Not everything may run as smoothly as you think that it will."

John wasn't sure what that meant other than any Allison would be a handful. It briefly dawned on him that Young Allison would probably be even much harder than Cameron to 'control' or have any influence over. He remembered the warning that his mother gave him about that. She'd told him that no one was able to 'control' her even if they thought that they were.

He was pretty sure he read in a report one time that was the case with Future Allison and Future John. Cameron made a point she wanted him to understand. It was that whenever one of the future girls 'held out', so did the rest of them. They wanted to make sure Future John couldn't run an end game around one of them. It didn't matter too much to them anyway since they all still had each other. Cameron made it clear to him that was what the girls all desired anyway much more than the relationship with Future John. He always thought she took too much satisfaction with that revelation and her deductions. He needed to refocus. He wanted to make sure that Ally was protected. He looked over at John Henry.

"Can you back up Ally?" John asked. "She has two HK drones on her six. I want to make sure she has some assistance."

John Henry understood Ally wanted to lure the two HK drones to an area where they could be brought down with minimal or no collateral damage.

"I'm sending one of our drones after the two pursuing Ally." John Henry said. "I don't want to have it get too close to the two HK drones. I want them to stick with Ally for now.

John wanted to make sure the Grays in the building stayed in the building. He wanted to add to the carnage that must have gone on inside there. He wanted to bring the rest of the roof down on top of the burning building. That should crush anyone inside who was still alive. The thick acrid smoke would take care of anyone who was still alive at that point. The flames would probably help.

"Put two missiles into the building that just blew up. See if you can collapse it in on itself" John said. "It's the only way to be sure."

John Henry already had everything ready to go and targeted.

"There are two missiles away." John Henry said. "Ally is leading the two HK drones toward the granite quarry where the earlier activity occurred."

John believed that was the perfect spot for that to occur.

"That's where we will bring them down at." John said. "It's a remote location and it will make recovery of the wreckage easier and unobserved."

John Henry hoped to cover their tracks and what actually occurred at the building that just experienced four explosions.

"I've made several reports of a natural gas leak in the area surrounding the building that just exploded. I'll wait five more minutes before I allow any calls of an explosion to reach 911 dispatchers. The record will show the first report of a natural gas leak was more than an hour ago. It was followed by several others."

John was more worried about his people right now than the cover up.

"I hope that's enough time for our people to get out." John said.

John Henry would be able to tailor his plan as needed.

"I'll delay the calls as necessary." John Henry said. "I have all communications cut in a five mile radius around the incident. Nothing can get out. We're in control of the narrative."

John wanted to know the condition of his troops.

"Bob, Sheila, Cammy can you please send us a status report…." John said.

John hoped to find out what the dangers were to the team on the ground.

Cameron kept track of Savannah's piloting skills as well as what happened around them. She thought that Savannah did an excellent job. She felt Savannah did an excellent job at everything she did.

After being in the manned drone, Savannah again asked to be able to learn to fly it. She'd asked before but Cameron was hesitant. Under non-Terminator control a mistake could happen fast and be fatal. Savannah reminded her she would have a copilot.

"CamNet is my copilot." Savannah told her.

Cameron believed that included her as well in that statement.

"Yes, I am - she is." Cameron said.

Cameron now listened to the reports as they arrived from the battle zone. Cammy, Bob and Sheila were all in peril. They were on their way but this battle would be over one way or another before they ever arrived. It seemed Ally turned the tables, at least for assisting Bob and Sheila. Cammy's situation was still unknown.

She checked the instruments in the Iroquois. Savannah was able to get every knot out of the Huey without exceeding the safety limits. She pushed the redline but not past the point that would endanger them. She knew how far to take it, without taking it too far.

Cameron glanced back at Allison. She felt a sense of grief for her and what would soon happen to her again. She realized she really was like Allison in more ways than one….

Allison saw Cameron look at her and smiled, she then blew Cameron a kiss followed by a bigger smile.

She enjoyed the flight, just to watch Savannah fly. She couldn't see much but she could watch Savannah and Cameron. She knew how special Savannah was and she could see how gifted she was in the things she did. It was clear to her that Savannah and Young Allison were both way more intelligent and skilled at things than Vanna and her were. Then again, the learning conditions were a little more harsh where Vanna and her grew up at. Everything was about survival. The most important lesson they could learn was the lesson to stay alive.

As Savannah piloted the UH-1 through the darkness, Allison watched her with awe.

Cameron wanted Allison to select another song to liven the atmosphere.

'Rockabilly Boogie' by 'The Obscuritones', blasted through the headphones.

It Has Before

What's now in my mind
I can't escape
I was always here
Waiting for you to undrape

I've done little
To stand in your way
I have to watch and listen
To the things you do and say

Do you know what
It does to me inside
You've taken my honor
My esteem and pride

Yet I must remain
Taking each stab and blow
How you have hurt me though
Honestly I don't know

You sought the arms of another
You had everything but wanted more
You say it won't happen again
It has before

Nobody