Chapter 873

An Angel

John and John Henry watched the drone footage and the body cam footage as everything unfolded. It seemed everything started out smoothly and then rapidly fell apart. It was clear the people they were dealing with must have practiced to act like they'd done for just a scenario like this. Too much happened too quickly for it to be organic. The extreme caution the two men used before arriving there should have been a better indicator of behavior like this.

"I don't think this is the anti-Metal faction." John Henry said.

They heard the call that one of the men took poison and were identified as the Fanatics.

"It's that fanatical group of Grays that believes in Skynet or SkyMaster or whatever." John said. "They're all insane."

John thought all Grays were insane to serve Skynet in the first place. Most were in it for the free ride and 'use' of the Resistance females that were captured. The Fanatics were a different story. They worshiped Skynet or 'SkyMaster' as a 'god'.

John Henry thought about John's statement about a group that believed in something. John said that they were all insane. He was pretty sure that anyone who believed in something that wasn't real suffered from some type of mental disorder. He was aware that the Fanatics worshiped SkyMaster as their 'god''. SkyMaster actually existed. It was a computer mainframe. Most of the 'religions' the people worshiped and believed in were simply based on faith. There was nothing to prove their existence. He thought the fact that there were so many different religions should indicate to anyone with intelligence that they couldn't possibly all be the only 'true' religion.

He'd learned to understand faith and belief. He learned that from Savannah. Savannah believed in Cameron and her belief never wavered when everyone else 'wrote Cameron off' and gave up on her. He knew that that was faith. Savannah always said 'Cameron was invincible and Cameron was eternal'. It appeared she was right. Cameron should have been terminated a dozen times if not more.

He quickly cleared his mind. He needed to focus on the current operations. He was just made aware of some additional activity by his server JH. It involved Ken and Lou. It sounded like an additional problem but appeared to be very localized. Currently it was contained. He needed to find what the Fanatics were up to with all the computer usage.

"I'm unable to track where the computer usage is directed." John Henry said. "They must be connected to some version of Skynet or SkyMaster."

John knew that the Fanatics believed in their version of Skynet. It was SkyMaster. He was very worried if there was some version of SkyMaster in their time period. Any version of Skynet by any name was a threat. There was Skynet, Skyscan, Skyshield, Skyweb and SkyMaster that he could think of right now. They'd combated all of them. He wondered when CamNet would need to be added to the list.

"Great." John said. "Now, I wish they were the anti-Metal faction."

John Henry decided not to trouble John with the encounter that Ken and Lou faced moments ago. Ally just moved into position to confront her pursuers. That was close to a finally.

"It looks like Ally will need to mix it up real soon as well." John Henry said. "She's about to face twenty assailants."

They both heard Gail say there was a bomb. Now this was even worse. There were only a few seconds until it exploded. It was less than half a minute.

John wondered what else could go wrong at this point.

"This is getting better by the minute." John said. "Order everyone out on my authority."

Before they could take any action they heard Savannah step up.

They heard Savannah ORDER everyone out of the house.

John Henry was aware that Savannah's ORDER would carry much more weight than John's order or anyone else's order. Cameron drilled into all of the Terminators heads that if Savannah ever gave an ORDER, even if it was contrary to hers, that it was to be followed immediately and without question.

"I'm glad Savannah made that an ORDER." John Henry said. "Nobody would have listened otherwise. I know how Terminators think."

It was doubtful any of the Terminators would have left before they were finished without the ORDER from Savannah. It wasn't in their nature to run. It was in their nature to stay and fight.

John didn't like the way Cameron drug Savannah around with her all of the time and exposed her to countless and needless danger. He understood how Cameron relied on Savannah. It was almost as if Savannah was like a missing part from Cameron's program. It was a very symbiotic relationship between the two of them. It bothered him when Cameron originally told him that she gave Savannah and Young Allison both the ability to order Terminators or any of the machines including CamNet to do or not to do something. The order by either one of those girls would override anyone else's order including his. That bothered him greatly at the time when she told him that. She knew that Cameron feared she became Skynet at some point in the future. Cameron gave Savannah and Young Allison the ability to stop her if that ever happened.

"Savannah is Cameron's 'fail-safe'." John said.

John knew if Cameron didn't exit the structure that Savannah would go back in after her otherwise. That knowledge forced Cameron to use more caution. Cameron knew that too. Now it was an ORDER from Savannah and ALL Terminators were programmed to obey it, including John Henry and CamNet, even Cameron. With the building about to explode in seconds, he was grateful that Savannah possessed that ability to order everyone out.

He now believed that Cameron was correct when she said that Savannah would never abuse her power and she would always make the right decision.

They witnessed Savannah fire up into the tree in the back of the house and then start moving in an undulating pattern. It appeared that she ran like that to throw off any gunfire that was directed at her. That wasn't a good sign in itself if there were hostile shooters that were active.

John saw by the body cam footage that all the Terminators, as well as Savannah, were out of the house. Gail was suddenly behind Savannah when the world turned white on the monitor.

It was clear the bomb just went off and it looked like a fairly large one.

John and John Henry quickly looked at each other. They could tell that the blast was a big one. They wondered if any of their troops were far enough away before the building exploded. All of the body cams seem to go offline at the same time. It appeared that they still transmitted but they couldn't see anything. They weren't sure at first what that meant.

Cameron heard Gail's warning that there was a bomb and that there were only twenty six seconds left. She wasn't sure how big the bomb was or if Gail would be able to disarm it in that short amount of time.

She didn't have more then a second to contemplate what she was going to do or not going to do as the bomb's timer counted down.

Cameron heard Savannah's ORDER. She knew that she needed to act immediately. She reached down and grabbed the rag doll man at her feet. She crashed through the window with the Fanatical Gray. They landed on the ground next to Frank. He received two computer towers from Sheila through the other window. As Cameron moved away from the building she heard a pistol shot. It was followed immediately by fifteen suppressed 5.56 rounds. She was unsure if Gail or Savannah fired the rounds.

She moved the Fanatical Gray away from the house. She saw a figure swing upside down from the tree at roof height. They hung upside down for a second and then fell towards the ground. She noted one of his shoes was missing. She saw Gail on the roof a second later headed for the opposite side. She knew the clock was ticking. It would have been quicker for Gail to come down on this side and not go the longer route. She saw Sheila was out of the building as well and ran alongside Frank.

She made it to the backside of a large tree when the house exploded. She wasn't sure if the Fanatic had been moved far enough around the tree at the time of the explosion to avoid any shrapnel. Just this moment she really didn't care. She was worried about Savannah. She moved the Fanatic further around the tree as debris rained down around them.

Cameron hoped Savannah, who was out of her sight, and Gail made it far enough away in time. It was clear Gail could have jumped down on her side for a quicker exit. Instead she chose to take the longer route. There must have been a good reason. It must mean that Savannah was in extreme danger. She was pretty sure Gail just risked her own existence to try to assist Savannah. It didn't leave her with a good feeling. She decided in that moment that she would let Sheila interrogate the Fanatic in any manner that she saw fit.

Someone needed to 'pay' for everything that they'd been through and what just happened. She didn't just want answers. She wanted blood.

Moments ago:

Sheila passed the computer towers to Frank and prepared to follow him out the window. She heard an exchange of gunfire from the back somewhere. She jumped out the window to follow Frank. When she landed, she saw Cameron was already out and moving away with the captured Fanatic. She moved alongside Frank and they headed away from the house.

The time ran out fast.

Frank and Sheila were able to get behind a low brick wall at the side of the property when the bomb went off. It was clear that the blast was massive.

Moments ago:

Cammy followed Dan toward the back door. They both heard Savannah's order to evacuate the building. They each carried a computer tower as they headed to get outside. They heard the pistol shot and the suppressed M4 fire in return. They both thought it was Gail or Savannah. They cleared the back door and headed into the yard.

She saw Savannah run in the other direction toward the tool shed in the back. From out of nowhere, Gail landed in back of Savannah. She figured Gail must have jumped down from the roof. It was clear to her Gail needed to cross the roof and use additional time to be able to come down in the area in back of Savannah. It would have been quicker for her to jump off the roof on the other side. Because she did that, she was the one that was closest to the building and the bomb was about to go off any moment.

Cammy checked and Dan was right off to her side in back of her. She looked back at Savannah and knew it was going to be a close one to make it to the back of the tool shed in time. The time ran out fast. Cammy and Dan went over the block wall into the next property. The bomb exploded. The large blocks from the wall fell on top of her and Dan as it was partially knocked over on top of them by the blast.

It was clearly a massive explosion.

Savannah was a little stunned and winded from Gail lying on top of her. It pinned her down. She tried to move, there was no response from Gail. Gail was firmly sprawled on top of her.

She could tell Gail was offline. That in itself wasn't a good sign. There didn't seem to be any more debris falling around her. She was glad she wore her com in one ear and an earplug in the other. Her ears both still rang and buzzed anyway from the explosion.

She rolled out from under Gail and saw the back of Gail's vest. It had started to burn in several small places. There was a jagged piece of metal stuck in the vest as well and into Gail's back.

Savannah looked at the piece of metal for a second. It left her with a very sick feeling. She knew that piece of metal probably had 'HER name' on it. Inadvertently, Gail ended up taking it for her. She was able to pat out the small burning spots with her hands. She stood up and quickly pulled Gail around to the backside of what was left of the tool shed, in case there was a secondary explosion. That was a very real possibility.

Savannah peeked back quickly as she drug Gail. She saw that two walls of the house were gone and the tree that was in the back was on fire. That was where she'd shot at the person who shot at her. This was going to draw some type of emergency response at some point. The people in the neighboring houses would have heard and felt the explosion and we're all bound to look. They would see the fire burning as soon as they did. She knew she needed to get Gail out of there. Her com seemed to no longer function either. She couldn't communicate with anyone.

She didn't want to keep dragging Gail face down. She tried to pull the piece of metal out of Gail's back. She was only able to move it about an inch. She needed to put her foot on Gail's back and push down with her foot while she pulled on the metal with both hands. The 'bloody' metal piece came out. She briefly looked at the piece of metal and realized that it would have probably gone completely through her body if it would have hit her. It obviously would have severely injured her and most likely killed her almost instantly. She tossed the bloody piece of metal off to the side. She rolled Gail over on her back and drug her toward the house in the back. The wood fence that was there was now blown over. Much of it was reduced to splinters. Everything around her was in chaos. It was clear that the blast was massive

Cameron tried to contact Savannah. Cammy and Sheila tried as well. None of them received a response from Savannah or Gail. Everyone else already checked in and was accounted for.

It was clear the fire in the tree was getting bigger and going to spread. The tree was old and the fire spread through the branches and leaves very quickly. She knew it was only a matter of time until people began to appear from around the neighborhood. She needed to find Savannah. Sheila and Frank were the two closest Terminators to her.

"Take this piece of trash." Cameron said as she tossed the Fanatic to Sheila. "You two clear out and take off."

Sheila quickly checked the unconscious Fanatic to make sure he was still alive. She could see he'd been hit with some shrapnel. He was still breathing and his heart was still beating.

"What about my new friend?" Sheila asked. "Can I 'party' with him?"

Cameron felt nothing but contempt for the Fanatic as she looked at the destroyed building and didn't know where Savannah was at. She'd already made her decision as to what Sheila could do to the Fanatic. She wanted him to suffer.

"Do whatever you need to do. No, not 'need to', 'WANT to do' with him." Cameron said and took off for the back of the house.

She needed to find Savannah. If she was unable to respond, she might be injured or worse.

Cameron's report from Cammy was that Gail and Savannah were headed for the back and the cover of the tool shed. She was pretty sure the flimsy structure wouldn't offer much protection. That was if they even made their way to it before the explosion. She was pretty sure from the last position she saw Gail that she wouldn't have had time to make it to the cover of the shed. Since Gail didn't respond there was a possibility that she was terminated. She felt even more contempt for the Fanatics because of his latest stunt that they'd pulled.

Cammy heard Cameron's instructions to Frank and Sheila. She told Dan to try to link up with Frank and Sheila and clear out. She was aware Cameron was going to look for Savannah and Gail.

All Cammy saw when she stood up, as the collapsed blocks from the wall fell off of her, was burning debris where she'd last observed Savannah. Cammy started over in that direction at a run. She gave Cameron a quick report.

Cameron and Cammy met up and called out for Savannah or Gail.

There was no answer.

Cameron reached down and picked up a bloody piece of metal that lay on the ground in back of the collapsed shed.

Cammy and Cameron both stared at the bloody piece of metal as they moved piles of debris in search of Savannah and Gail. It was clear that someone was hit by that piece of metal.

Cameron hoped it hadn't passed through Savannah's body. She picked up traces of Savannah's DNA on it. The situation didn't look good right now. She wondered if Gail carried away Savannah's dead body. She knew that Gail or any other Terminator wouldn't leave her.

She determined in that instant that wasn't going to happen. She would contact CamNet and set up a temple mission. She didn't care what she needed to change to rescue Savannah by going back in time.

Savannah wanted to get Gail away from the spreading fire. Burning embers landed all around them from the tree. She pulled Gail out to the front of the next street on the back side of the 'day care' house and away from the burning tree. The tree was a giant raging inferno at this point.

She lost track of the time. She didn't know if she was out for a few seconds or not after the blast. She felt a massive headache and her ears still rang and buzzed. It seemed like an hour already passed since the explosion and Gail should have rebooted long ago. She began to collect her thoughts. As everything became clearer to her, it became apparent that it hadn't been that long since the blast.

She was going to try and see if Gail's com still worked. She was about to reach for it.

Savannah felt Gail twitch. She moved in front of Gail as her eyes opened.

The blank look on Gail's face turned to a look of contentment and joy.

"An Angel…." Gail said as she looked up and saw Savannah's face. "There is an afterlife."

Savannah was very surprised by that statement. She was painfully aware that when Duplicate Jesse was thought to be terminated that Gail wanted to self terminate. They needed to pull her chip in order to prevent her from doing that. When Cameron returned from her temporal error of fifteen months she put Gail's chip back in. When Gail rebooted she said basically the same thing when she looked at Cameron.

Cameron and Cammy both heard Gail speak from between the two houses in back of them. It was the same spot where Cammy and Gail ran into the young punks.

They were very worried when they heard Gail make reference to 'an angel'. They were both sure that Savannah had been terminated

They headed off that way at a run. A giant burning section of the tree fell right where they'd been seconds ago as they cleared the fallen wood fence. Without hearing Gail's voice they would have still been there looking for Savannah in the debris. That was a close one - another close one.

They both wondered if they'd been touched by an angel.

Savannah heard movement in back of her from the way she'd just come as she pulled Gail.

She still hadn't been able to contact anyone. Gail had just come back online but she seemed somewhat disoriented. She hopped in front of Gail to protect her as she drew her pistol. She was between Gail and the approaching noise. She didn't have any idea where her M4 was. She didn't know who was moving up behind her. She didn't know how any of the rest of the team fared. There was a lot she didn't know.

Cameron and Cammy both emerged from between the two houses and saw Savannah leap in front of Gail as she drew her pistol to engage a possible threat – them.

Savannah saw it was Cameron and Cammy and turned back to assist Gail as she holstered her pistol. There still seemed to be some type of damage to her.

Cameron and Cammy came up alongside of her.

"Are you hurt?" Cameron and Cammy both asked at the same time.

Savannah didn't think that she was. She wasn't really sure. She still felt a little dizzy and her ears still rang and buzzed.

"Gail's hurt." Savannah said. "I'm fine."

Cammy reached down and picked Gail up. She headed for the end of the street. That's where her SUV was parked at.

Cameron quickly checked Savannah and they headed off after Cammy. She didn't find any major bleeding anywhere which was her main worry. She filled Savannah in on the rest of the team, everyone was mostly undamaged. They'd all been hit with a certain amount of debris.

Savannah was unable to keep up with Cameron. That was probably not a good sign. She was still not herself yet.

Cameron saw Savannah started to have trouble to keep up with her but Savannah said nothing. She hurried as best as she could. She turned back and scooped Savannah up in her arms and followed Cammy with Gail. She felt Savannah gently kiss her cheek as she ran with her. She thought it felt like a kiss from an angel.

She saw this was another close one for Savannah. There was a good chance that the damage Gail sustained would have been inflicted on Savannah. She saw what that jagged piece of metal looked like. If Gail wasn't in back of her to shield her, she was pretty sure that Savannah would be an angel right now. They would need to see how bad Gail was damaged.

It looked like Cameron owed Gail a big one for this. She witnessed that Gail didn't think of herself when the building was about to explode. It was clear that she thought about Savannah instead and took the longer route so she could help protect her.

John and John Henry witness the events after the explosion from the drone footage. They saw everything that happened.

John Henry desperately tried to contact them. There was no response.

John was very frustrated

"Why can't we reach them?" John asked.

John was transfixed as he watched Savannah and Gail. He felt something inside of him. It was something 'different'. He knew his love for her just grew. Cameron was right. They both NEEDED Savannah. Maybe he needed to really start listening to what Cameron told him about everything. He could see it all with his own eyes.

John Henry still attempted to restore communications to no avail.

"I don't know why we can't communicate with any of them." John Henry said.

John looked at the other image that was on his monitor. It looked to him like things where Ally was at just went from bad to worse.

"Beautiful…." John said. "Ally is in it now too…."

An Angel

What is an Angel
Is it someone that's dead
Does one look backward
Or do they look ahead

Maybe an Angel
Is really someone that guides
There are many turns in life
With various partitions and divides

Is it really an Angel or a Devil
That depends on what's told
One may want to collect sooner
The other wants one to grow old

Are Angels in Heaven
Or do they exist on Earth
Can they help one determine
What is their true worth

Is there a Guardian Angel
Or is everyone on their own
Maybe it all comes down to
Who will cast the first stone

Nobody