Chapter 875

What Is My Function

John and John Henry tried to communicate with Cameron's teams. They could see them from the drone footage but not communicate with them. They withdrew from the target area with some computer equipment and one prisoner. Gail and Savannah were both carried away.

The fact that they were carried away seemed to indicate they were injured in some fashion. It appeared Savannah was initially able to walk on her own but soon fell behind. It might be an issue related to when she was knocked down by the blast and Gail ended up on top of her.

John Henry was irritated that he wasn't able to establish communications. It must be the fault of the group that they'd just taken down. Everything was fine before that.

"The regular infrastructure is jammed." John Henry said. "The Fanatics must have done something with their computer meltdowns."

They watched the drone footage of both Ally and Cameron's teams.

John was still fascinated by what he'd witnessed take place in the desert.

"Ally's adventure seemed to have turned out OK." John said. "It's the fire at the old 'day care' center that worries me right now. There are other buildings and even houses in close proximity to that location."

It was clear from the drone footage that the fire that started with the tree raged out of control and spread rapidly. It now endangered other structures in the area.

John Henry could see there was soon going to be a lot of collateral damage but nothing was done to combat the fire.

"Cameron's teams are all clear of the target area." John Henry said. "We need to get some first responders to the scene to stop that fire."

John wanted that done as soon as possible. He didn't want innocent people to be burnt out of their homes. That would happen soon enough if Skynet ever took over.

"There has to be some irony in that." John said. "Normally we suppress all 911 calls, now we're trying to make one."

John Henry received some updated information. It was good news.

"CamNet just informed me she made the 911 calls as soon as our teams departed the immediate area." John Henry said. "It was reported there was a strong smell of natural gas prior to the incident. That should cover our tracks some."

John saw both Gail and Savannah were able to move before Cammy and Cameron started to carry them. He wasn't sure what actually was wrong. It looked like it was to get them out of the target area quicker and get away from anyone who might observe them if they ventured out to see what the explosion was or that noticed the burning tree when they did look.

It seemed like a good idea to be away from there as fast as possible on several levels. They certainly didn't want any descriptions of their operatives being relayed to anyone from local law enforcement or the media. John Henry and CamNet would need to keep a careful watch over what anyone attempted to communicate or report.

Cameron looked back at the raging inferno where the 'day care' center used to stand. She wanted to get out of that immediate area. They needed to move fast.

"We need to get out of here." Cameron said.

Cammy looked back at the out of control fire and couldn't agree with Cameron's assessment more. She also looked at Savannah in Cameron's arms. If they weren't almost to her vehicle, she would offer to switch with Cameron. She felt that Savannah belonged in her arms, not Cameron's arms.

"My SUV is up ahead." Cammy said.

Cameron carried Savannah. She followed Cammy who carried Gail. She just wanted to hurry.

Savannah didn't want to be a bother. She felt like she was a burden to Cameron.

"I'm good, Cameron." Savannah said. "I can hack it."

Cameron saw that even though Savannah was still mobile earlier, she was probably hurt somewhere and not quite at one hundred percent. She used the excuse to get out of the target area quicker to continue to carry Savannah. She didn't want Savannah to strain herself.

"This is faster this way. As soon as we get to the SUV, I'll set you down." Cameron said. "We need to roll. The tree fire has spread to other trees. It's out of control."

Savannah was very worried about collateral damage to the surrounding homes and buildings.

"Can any of you reach John Henry or CamNet to call for assistance?" Savannah asked.

Cameron and Cammy both tried earlier to no avail.

"The Fanatics must have done something to the local communication system." Cameron said. "It's different from a Skynet jamming field but nothing works. Since there are drones overhead I have to assume either John Henry or CamNet have taken corrective measures. I can't imagine John wouldn't be all over them to do something about the spreading fire. Young Allison will make sure that it happens as well."

They reached the SUV. Cameron carried Savannah's M4 and Gail's M4, along with her own. They'd found them in the debris when they searched for Gail and Savannah earlier.

Gail heard what Savannah said to Cameron. She felt Cammy could put her down as well.

"I'm good, Cammy." Gail said.

Cammy thought Gail looked very unstable when she'd picked her up from the debris field.

"Are you sure?" Cammy asked.

Cammy set Gail down. She appeared to be a little better.

Gail ran several internal diagnostics as Cammy carried her. She didn't believe that any damage that was done to her mattered. What mattered was that Savannah was safe. It did bother her that Cameron needed to carry Savannah.

"I'm almost one hundred percent." Gail said.

Cameron set Savannah down.

Savannah assisted Gail as Cameron took the driver's seat of the SUV.

"We need to roll." Cameron said.

Savannah helped Gail get in the back seat and they drove off. Cameron and Cammy both attempted to use their phones since their coms weren't able to contact John and John Henry. Savannah and Gail tried theirs. They didn't get through either.

"I don't get it; this isn't the damping field that blocks all of our communications. It's something different." Cameron said. "This must be something related to SkyMaster or something related or associated with it."

Cammy watched how all the Fanatics behaved as they moved in on them. Their primary concern was to conceal and erase whatever it was that they'd been working on. They did that before they reached for their weapons. Whatever they were doing was more important to them than their own lives. Then again, the lives of the Fanatics seemed to belong to SkyMaster anyway. They were all willing to die before they would turn on their god or be forced to turn on their god, SkyMaster. They seemed to take the whole concept of 'death before dishonor' to a new level.

"The Fanatics did something with their computers." Cammy said. "Whatever their computers were doing, they did this. I gave Dan two of their computers. I was able to stop them before they finished erasing."

Cameron saw the two towers that were handed out of the building before Sheila jumped out of the window. She looked over in the direction of the burning trees as she drove.

"Sheila gave two to Frank." Cameron said. "I'm driving over to see if they've left yet. We can't allow any 911 calls to remain suppressed with that fire raging out of control. It is going to start destroying other people's property."

Savannah started to look Gail over in the back seat. She took off her damaged vest. She lifted her bloody shirt up to try and check the wounds.

"I want you to take your top all the way off so I can check you better." Savannah said. "Take your bra off as well."

Gail took her top off and Savannah started to check Gail over. She wanted to see the extent of the damage and make sure Gail didn't under report it. She knew from dealing with Cameron that a lot of damage wasn't reported or concealed. That was why she wanted a first hand look herself.

Cammy and Cameron both looked back once Gail was topless. It was always a very impressive sight to see her massive breasts. They both wondered what it would be like to be that large all of the time. Luckily for Gail the damage was all on her back and her breasts hadn't been damaged.

Cameron was very pleased to see Gail's breasts weren't damaged. She knew what it was like to have damaged breasts. The thought of the rumpled nub where her right breast used to be for months still bothered her. She absent mindedly reached up and touched her right breast. It was full size and undamaged now. It felt soft but firm.

Savannah's exam of Gail wasn't sexual in any way. It was purely professional. It was one individual who was worried about the damage to another.

"You have some shrapnel in your back still." Savannah said. "There was a large metal piece I pulled out of your back earlier. It left quite a wound in your back. I'm going to need to stitch it up. Thank you for saving me. That would have been me instead of you if you weren't behind me. I want you to know that you saved my life."

Savannah looked directly into Gail's eyes when she made that statement. She wanted Gail to know that they were even as far as saving each other from termination. There was a silent communication between them that no one else would understand. She'd previously prevented Gail from termination when two hostile Terminators had her cornered and were about to finish her off. No one knew the true story but the two of them.

Gail kept eye contact with Savannah for a few seconds longer.

"We all help each other." Gail said.

Savannah was glad Gail understood what she'd meant.

"I'll personally remove any shrapnel and fix you up." Savannah said.

Gail felt much less bothered about the damage to her sheath when Savannah said that.

"Thanks." Gail said. "I appreciate your assistance and concern."

Savannah took off her vest and handed it to Gail.

Gail watched as Savannah picked up her damage vest that was burnt on the back with several jagged holes in it

"What are you doing?" Gail asked.

Savannah smiled at Gail.

"I'm giving you a much less damaged vest." Savannah said.

Gail looked at the nearly undamaged vest.

"But this is yours." Gail said.

Savannah spoke to Gail with all honesty.

"Yours is damaged and you're damaged." Savannah said. "I want you to have the better vest."

Gail looked into Savannah's beautiful face. She knew that Savannah was beyond special. She was very unlike any other individual. She was clearly the 'Chosen One' by any definition or standard. She needed to think of Savannah safety as well. She could always get a new chassis. Savannah couldn't.

"I can't take your vest." Gail said.

Savannah took Gail's vest and put it on.

"I want to wear yours. I feel honored that you allow me to wear it." Savannah said. "Please, wear mine."

Savannah saw the tears in Gail's eyes.

Gail was overcome with emotion and feeling. Savannah wanted to protect her even if she put herself at greater risk to do it.

"Thank you." Gail said.

Gail loved Savannah even more.

Cameron and Cammy both looked at each other but didn't comment. It was clear to both of them that the 'Chosen One' was truly the 'Chosen One'.

Sheila, Frank and Dan were all unable to communicate with anyone. They weren't really sure why not. If there was some jamming device inside the structure they'd assaulted, it should be blown to smithereens. The only thing left of the structure was two walls. Both of which were now on fire.

Frank drove. Sheila was in the back of the SUV with the fanatical Gray. Dan was in the back with Sheila. He was to help subdue the Fanatic when he 'came to'.

"We need to find Cameron." Sheila said. "I want to get this bloke somewhere where I can question him."

Frank looked around as he drove. Dan and Sheila did as well. They were sure Cameron would attempt to contact them visually since none of their communication devices worked.

"As soon as we find Cameron we'll discuss it." Frank said.

Sheila's biggest concern was Ally. She cared very much about her. Maybe it seemed like they hated each other at times but they didn't. They were both hopelessly in love with each other.

"We still need to back up Ally." Sheila said.

Dan turned around and looked behind them. He was pleased with what he saw.

"There's Cammy's SUV. It looks like Cameron is driving." Dan said.

With the communications down, they didn't know what the fate of Ally was. That bothered Sheila greatly. She looked at the fanatical Gray next to her. She wanted someone to suffer. It looked like the Fanatic just drew the short straw.

Earlier:

Claire wanted to see the operations that were going on. Hanna didn't think it was a good idea and tried to dissuade Claire from watching. She knew it was bound to cause her much grief and worry. There wasn't really anything they could do about it one way or the other than just observe the body cams and drone footage all the different locations.

Claire was very insistent.

Hanna put Claire in John's station and she took up John Henry's station. She sat down and plugged in and showed Claire everything John would see.

She quickly received all the details and gave Claire a running narration at the two event sites as things unfolded.

Claire sat ashen faced as she watched the monitors in the Command Center. She was especially distressed to see Savannah was almost shot in the face and then she killed the person who shot at her. The fact that the team needed to flee the building before it exploded only made things worse for her to watch. It was a little hard for her to process all of the things that she'd witnessed. She found it hard to believe that her daughter wanted to do this. It was almost a little harder to believe that the older version of her daughter already did things like that. It was a way of life in the future for Allison. There was no choice. There was a choice however in the present. Her gut feeling was that Young Allison and Summer needed to be isolated from any of this type of activity.

"Savannah was almost killed and Gail was damaged." Claire said. "I can't allow Allison – MY Allison to do this. I know that Savannah needs help sometimes and MY Allison wants to help her. I can't allow it. I won't allow It. I need to protect my daughters."

Claire saw first hand how deadly and dangerous this type of activity really was.

Hanna didn't want to get into the 'Natural Order' with Claire right now. It was an unstoppable event that was going to occur at some point. Nobody could stop it. It was clear Young Allison wanted to do this and understood her place in the future. She knew that if Claire wanted Young Allison to choose between her and Savannah that Claire better prepare herself for the inevitable. Young Allison was clearly going to choose Savannah and the future over her own mother if she was forced to make a choice. She didn't know any other way to say it other than to just go ahead and say it.

"You won't be able to stop her." Hanna said. "You'll lose her if you stand in her way. You know this."

Claire did know it. That left her with few alternatives to try and stop it. It all came down to one choice. She would step up instead. She needed to protect her daughters. There was no reason that she couldn't be trained and take over the job herself. She could go with Savannah. She could do the fighting and she could warm John's bed as easily as her daughter could.

"I want full training myself." Claire said. "I'll take My Allison's place to do all of this. I'll do whatever Cameron wants. I'll have as many children as she wants. In a day's time here, I can deliver and return to the past and return here again right after I go back. I will do it as many times as Cameron wants but I want to take my place here now with Savannah. I want to share the burden. I don't want my daughter to have to do it."

Claire was afraid both of her daughters would end up doing it, Young Allison and Summer.

Hanna was as surprised as she was appalled at Claire's proclamation.

"That's not your function." Hanna said. "You're not part of the 'Natural Order'.

That wasn't a good enough answer for Claire. There was no reason she couldn't assume those duties herself. It shouldn't matter if it was Allison Young or Claire Young that did those things. What was the difference? What was the real difference?

"What is my function?" Claire asked. "No really. What's MY function?"

Hanna wasn't sure what the answer to that question was. How can you tell someone what they are supposed to do when in the future they were in previously they were dead?

"I don't know." Hanna said. "You were dead before at this time. You died soon after Judgment Day. I don't know. Summer never existed either. I don't know what to tell you."

Claire needed to wonder about that. Was she now some aberration to time? What about Summer? Did she die inside of her after Judgment Day?

If she was alive now and Summer was too, what was their function? What was their future? Did they even have a future? Maybe two thirds of the people on the planet we're supposed to be dead right now. They were all still alive. More people were born everyday. The future didn't matter. There was a new future created every day that time went on. The future wasn't written in stone. It didn't matter that it already happened. The future was changed daily.

Ally watched two drones return and take Steve and Al away. They would get back to their location much quicker that way. They were isolated and could get away with it at night.

She saw there were still two drones with her. She could tell someone was looking out for her. They were there to help her and to protect her. She thought it might be fun to just go ahead and take a 'joyride' on one of the drones that was there with her. Maybe if Sheila was there with her they could both do that together. They would be able to have some fun and maybe share a little bit with each other. They would at least be able to kiss and fondle each other as the drone flew high over the landscape. She needed to refocus. There was more than likely a battle to be fought before the night was done.

Ally looked around one last time and climbed back into her SUV. She thought of the needless loss of life that occurred there. None of those individuals needed to die. All they needed to do was reform their lifestyle. There was still a warehouse to deal with. They would either assault it or take it down with a drone strike. She needed to remember that everybody in the warehouse was also there by choice. That was their chosen lifestyle as well. She really wondered what was wrong with people sometimes.

She headed back down the dirt road toward the back of the old building again. She drove without her lights on. She didn't need them to see everything. She turned them back on before she pulled onto the main road. There is no need to upset the other driver's by driving with them off.

"What's the update on the warehouse?" Ally asked as she drove. "What about Cameron's teams?"

John Henry filled her in on everything and the temporary communications shutdown around Cameron's area of operation.

Ally was aware of the ploy that was suggested to draw off some of the occupants from the warehouse. The goal was to have them head to the location that Gail and Cammy took down earlier. The idea was to thin the herd.

"Have you stirred the hornet's nest yet at the warehouse?" Ally asked.

John Henry still wasn't sold on that idea himself. He knew that there were others that could 'outrank' him that did like the idea. He hoped to get all the players on the field first before the 'game' was started.

"Not yet." John Henry said. "I wanted to get Cameron's team into the vicinity first."

Young Allison watched the drone footage and body cams of both operations. She reviewed the drone footage of when Savannah almost got shot in the face. At the time that it happened, it happened very quickly. Savannah immediately engaged the target that shot at her. Based upon the other body cam footage, she saw that Savannah killed the individual who took that shot at her.

"The bullet missed Savannah's face by about six inches." Young Allison said.

Anna made a quick calculation based on the known dimensions of Savannah's facial features. They were identical to hers.

"It was five point eight seven inches." Anna said.

Young Allison watched as Savannah fired into the tree. She tried to see what Savannah's target was from Savannah's point of view.

"I think that Savannah fired blind." Young Allison said.

Anna was able to pick up the momentary pinpoint of light from the muzzle flash of the firearm that was directed at Savannah. She wanted to point that out to Young Allison.

"No. Look. You can see the muzzle flash." Anna said. "She knew the approximate location and fired a 'figure eight' pattern around the flash. She knew that she was bound to hit something even if she couldn't clearly see the target. She scored."

Young Allison watched the body cam footage from Gail as she leaped off the roof and landed behind Savannah. That happened two seconds right before the explosion.

"Gail could have gone the other way and been closer to cover. She would have been able to land on the side where Cameron was at along with Frank and Sheila. She chose to protect Savannah instead." Young Allison said.

Young Allison watched it all again to the part where Savannah moved in front of Gail as she lay prone on the ground. It was the spot that Savannah pulled her to after she pulled the metal object from Gail's back. She was pretty sure that that metal object would have gone into Savannah's back if Gail hadn't been directly in back of her. It was clear that Gail saved Savannah's life. Savannah drew her pistol to engage the new targets who turned out to be Cameron and Cammy. It amazed her how they all worked in concert with each other without any real planning or spoken commands. Everyone acted to do what they thought was the right thing. Clearly, they all were willing to protect each other, even at their own expense.

Young Allison questioned if she could do all this. Could she stand firm and return fire in the face of danger and still be ready to fight and defend a downed team member later on? Would she buckle and fail or would her training keep her in the fight and allow her to do her job? It was very clear Savannah was able to do all those things. She honestly didn't know if she would be able to measure up. She didn't know if she was 'good enough'.

"I don't know if I will be able to measure up to Savannah." Young Allison said. "She's very brave. I don't know if I can be that brave."

Anna didn't believe Young Allison needed to worry about these things. She'd been trained since she was a small girl on what her future would require her to do. She was actually tested already.

"When you faced a Terminator, did you falter, buckle under or run?" Anna asked.

Anna wanted to show Young Allison that when it 'hit the fan'. She held her ground and fought.

Young Allison recollected the event. She didn't really need to think about what needed to be done. All of her training kicked in and it all sort of happened automatically. She was in control and she knew what to do.

"No, I did what I needed to do, when I needed to do it." Young Allison said.

At the time of that event, Young Allison didn't even realize much of what she'd done that day was to follow her training and her instincts.

"Savannah will tell you that's all she's ever done as well." Anna said.

Young Allison saw the files where Savannah faced certain death and didn't falter or flinch. She'd acted to save others at her own peril and even stayed with Cameron to - die. That was going to be a hard act to follow.

CamNet and John Henry's server restored all communications within minutes.

The two teams linked up. They drove over and collected the other SUV. It was decided to keep the Escalade Sheila acquired earlier.

John directed them to head north and back up the operation they were going to launch at the warehouse. It was where the Grays drove the box truck. It was clearly a base of operations for them. Especially with the railroad siding.

John Henry wanted to make sure that everything was ready on his end. He wasn't there on the ground, the other Terminators were. He wanted to make sure that they would have proper support.

"Nothing has moved in or out of that location since the box truck arrived." John Henry said. "I've lowered the drone's altitude. I'm still keeping them out of Terminator hearing range, just in case."

John Henry didn't want to tip their hand too early.

John grew a little anxious as he waited for the next phase to unfold.

"How long will it be until our teams are in position?" John asked.

John Henry went over everything that was there and available. It appeared that the Resistance team would be in good shape. They still didn't know what was inside of the building.

"Al and Steve are already there. They just returned a short time ago. Ally is ten minutes out and Cameron's three teams are enroute. They're still forty minutes away." John Henry said. "We have twelve drones in the theater of operations."

That was a much larger force of drones than they normally had on any operation. He was aware that most of those drones were sent there by CamNet. That fact in itself most likely indicated there was a little involvement from the Young bunker.

"That's a lot of drones." John said. "Maybe we should just obliterate it with a massive drone strike. I don't want anyone else hurt tonight."

John Henry thought about what Ally said previously when they needed to dig through the rubble for Skynet related technology after a strike or fire.

"Ally was right." John Henry said. "It will be a bigger hassle to go in and remove the Skynet technology from the rubble if we do that."

John understood that and her complaints about it previously. It would actually be easier to miss a few pieces of technology to recover something after it was destroyed. There was one other thing, or in this case, person that he wondered about.

"What happened to the fanatical Gray – the Fanatic that they look into custody?" John asked.

John Henry wasn't sure how much detail he should share with John as to the ongoing interrogation as they drove towards the desert warehouse.

"Sheila's removed all his teeth so he can't bite his tongue off." John Henry said. "She said she wanted to make sure there wasn't a second poisoned tooth as she did it."

John wondered how the missing teeth would affect the Fanatic as he was questioned. He'd read the report when another Fanatic bit off his tongue and blinded himself rather than talk. He pictured Sheila grasping and pulling each tooth out one by one. He imagined she taunted him as she did it. Then again, maybe she didn't.

He thought of the bullet that just barely missed Savannah's face. It was another close one for her. She didn't cower or duck. She returned fire instead and scored a kill. She killed her attacker.

They didn't know how the Grays and Fanatics were related to each other or what they'd planned for each other. They only knew those two different groups of Grays always seemed to fight each other.

"Will they have the information before they reach the new target area?" John asked.

John Henry wasn't really sure exactly what information they would have before anything happened at the warehouse.

"That's unknown." John Henry said.

I Feel Much Better

It's only you
For which I long
It makes me wonder
Why things go wrong

I can't understand
Why you keep me distant
Then again as you always see
I can be very persistent

You're here but do not hear
Where is the communication
Sometimes it almost seems
It's on a permanent vacation

I always reach out
In the only ways I know how
I seek admittance into your heart
It's something I ask you to allow

I have made a poem for you
My thoughts in a letter
Sent you a song
I feel much better

Nobody