Chapter 975

I Almost Forgot

Derek wanted to help Riley more. He offered to help Riley with dinner. He hoped any show of support would be appreciated and she would know he was thinking of her.

Riley smiled at him. That was a welcome sight. She hadn't done too much of that the last few months. Since Samantha was there, he'd seen her old smile a few times. He thought that was a good thing.

"Thank you. I have it under control." Riley said. "Samantha is going to help me."

Derek noticed that Riley seemed to have Samantha help her with everything. It appeared she'd resented Samantha at first. Now they were always together. They looked very comfortable together.

It looked like it helped too. Riley seemed less high-strung now. She was always up and looking after Precious. The joy seemed to be back in her life again.

Derek was really worried about Riley for a while but she seemed to get it together now. Samantha only advised her. She didn't do it for her. That was a good training exercise too.

He figured with Samantha there he could start doing recon again with Kyle. He'd slacked off and Kyle needed to pick up the slack. Riley leaned on Sarah a lot too at first. Cameron made more help available.

Vanna and Jesse were there to assist Riley also. He knew the girls were all going to take care of each other. That was how it was in the future. That's what they needed to do to survive.

Derek knew Vanna would be able to help Allison out too. He knew she was going to need it. Claire and Jesse would help her too. Some of the girls in the future needed more help than others. There was always someone willing to step up and help.

Cameron was ready to meet any challenge. She'd already heard enough to know how this encounter was going to end. She was actually looking forward to it. She was ready to dish out some justice. The Ogre was obviously someone who needed to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

She understood that the best way to deal with a bully was to stand up to them. For her it wasn't a problem. Without any knowledge about the future, street punks didn't stand a chance against her. She'd dealt with plenty of them in the current time period. She'd dealt with even more of them in the future. She'd dealt with them in every future that she'd gone to except River's future. There they had their own problem. It was actually worse than Scavengers. Right now she wanted to deal with the current problem.

Cameron walked boldly down the dingy alley. She passed two figures that were concealed, neither scanned back as a threat. That didn't mean that they wouldn't attempt to try something later on.

A large figure moved out and blocked her path.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." The Ogre said as he eyeballed her from top to bottom. "You'll do just fine."

Cameron walked up and faced him. Her face was blank and she showed no fear. She was willing to toy with him a little.

"I'll do just fine for what?" Cameron asked. "Do you need some assistance?"

The Ogre laughed. He was amused.

"You don't know who I am." The Ogre said. "You must be one of those 'do-gooders' who come around here to try to help the homeless people. They would all be better off dead. Right now you're going to 'do me some good', when I take you. I'll make it so you remember who I am."

Cameron decided to push his 'buttons' some and throw him off guard. A 'smart remark' would start things off fine. She decided to let him know what his future was.

"Are you a walking dead man?" Cameron asked. "Let me rephrase that. I should have said, 'Are you a walking dead boy'?"

The smile instantly faded from The Ogre face.

"Shut up, Bitch." The Ogre said. "I'm going to teach you some manners."

Cameron knew she was under his skin. He would start to make mistakes and not think things through now. She decided to push it a little more.

"You and what army is going to do that?" Cameron asked.

Cameron casually looked around.

The Ogre really disliked the mouthy Bitch. He wasn't so sure at this point that she was a 'do-gooder'. The blank look on her face irritated him. He began to wonder if she was recently let out of an mental institution. He wondered if she suffered from mental illness like a lot of the people around him did. He was pleased to see his two associates move up behind her.

"It would be that army for starters." The Ogre said.

The two men moved out of the shadows from behind one of the buildings.

Cameron previously spotted them as she passed them earlier. They scanned back as 'no threat'.

One of the men held a length of pipe as a weapon. The other brandished a rusted knife with the point broken off. They looked like they might be drug users.

The Ogre looked at the man with the pipe.

"When we're done with her, I want you to knock all her teeth out." The Ogre said. "I want her to remember us."

The man with the pipe seemed to get aroused thinking how he was going to smash all of Cameron's teeth out when they were 'done' with her.

"Sure, Boss." The man with the pipe said.

Cameron continued to look at the Ogre. She didn't say or do anything. The same blank look was on her face.

The Ogre didn't like the fact that Cameron showed no fear. The expressionless look on her face unnerved him. He looked at the man with the rusty knife.

"Give her a 'Glasgow Smile' too." The Ogre said. "I don't like her blank look. We can cheer her up."

The man with the knife looked aroused now as well. He wanted to make sure they saw some action this time with the female. He was tired of only getting the males once the Ogre was done with them.

"OK, Ogre." The man with the rusted knife said. "We get a turn this time right? She's real pretty. Can I blind her too?"

The Ogre looked nervously at his two men and at Cameron. The fact that she hadn't done anything really seemed to bother him. Anyone else would have screamed or tried to run by now. The nutty Bitch did nothing other than stand there and look at him. He wondered if she was on drugs.

"She won't be pretty for long." The Ogre said. "You both can take her as many times as you want, wherever you want. Don't blind both eyes. I want her to be able to see herself in the mirror. I want to make sure she remembers us. Smash and carve everything up."

The man with the knife looked Cameron over from head to toe and back again.

"I can hardly wait." The man with the rusted knife said. "I'll make sure more than a few things are marked on her."

The man with the pipe looked nervous. The fact Cameron didn't look afraid or try to run unnerved him. She clearly heard what was going to happen to her. It didn't seem to bother her one bit. The expressionless look on her face never changed. Every other female that they'd encountered tried to run as soon as they indicated they were going to assault them. They'd already indicated they were going to do a whole lot more.

"Why isn't she scared or trying to run?" The man with the pipe asked. "They always try to run. Look at her."

The man with the rusted knife moved towards Cameron.

"I want to hear her scream." The man with the rusted knife said. "Maybe she's too sacred."

The man with the pipe wondered if she was mentally retarded or stoned. It must be one of the two for her not to do anything. Maybe it was both. She didn't look scared at all. She didn't look like anything at all. Wait, she did look like something. She looked like death.

Cameron heard running footsteps from the direction she'd come from slow to a walk.

"Did I miss anything?" Cammy asked as she came up behind the two thugs.

The Ogre couldn't believe his good fortune. It looked like her twin sister just walked into the trap. He looked at the new arrival and back at Cameron. He was sure today was his lucky day. He would have both of them first.

"This looks like double the fun." The Ogre said. "She has a twin sister."

There was some movement in back of the Ogre.

"Well, now there is one for each of you." Ally said.

Ally came into view behind the Ogre. He spun around to see who sneaked up behind him. His eyes widened as he took in the view.

"What the Hell?" The Ogre asked. "There are three of you?"

The Ogre didn't know what was going on. He began to realize that something wasn't right. He was the one who felt nervous at this point.

There was some additional movement behind the latest arrival of the triplets.

"Plus there's now a spare." Sheila said. "I'm different. I didn't miss the party did I? It sounded like we were going to have an orgy. I wanted to make sure I got my turn too."

Cammy faced off with the two armed men.

Gail and Savannah arrived a few seconds later, they backed Cammy up.

Savannah indicated for Gail to move up next to Cammy. There would be one street punk for each of them.

The Ogre was a little scared now. This must be some vigilante force sent to intimidate him. He backed up against a wall as Cameron, Ally and Sheila faced him.

He didn't think they would be a serious threat to him. He didn't see any of them with weapons.

"What the Hell is this?" The Ogre asked.

Ally couldn't help but giggle a little bit when she spoke.

"We're your worst nightmare." Ally said. "It's also the last moments of your pathetic life."

Savannah heard enough of the conversation to know that the only cure for the three street punks was death. They were pure future Scavenger material all the way. She knew that their time was limited. She didn't want a big production made out of it. They were there to specifically deal with the Grays and whatever Skynet activity they were involved with. This was a sideshow and a distraction to their true purpose.

"Make it quick." Savannah said. "That's except for him, the ugly one."

Savannah indicated the Ogre.

The Ogre saw Savannah, he wondered if she was the one in charge. When he looked at her face, he saw death look back at him.

Cammy and Gail moved forward and snapped the necks of the two armed thugs before they could even move. They both died where they stood clutching their weapons. Their lifeless 'rag doll' bodies dropped to the ground.

The Ogre couldn't believe what just happened. He made his move and swung at Cameron. She grabbed his fist and stopped it in mid swing and crushed it.

The Ogre let out a scream.

He spun around and grabbed for Sheila.

Ally grabbed and held him as Sheila pulled on the arm that swung at her. There was a tearing and crunching noise as she broke and dislocated it. She broke it in two more places after that.

There was an even louder scream. There was a mass of pulped flesh at the end of the Ogre's right arm. His left arm was broken with several compound fractures.

Cameron felt this was personal at this point. She wanted to make sure that justice was properly administered. She didn't want Savannah to watch the brutality that was going to be involved.

"Cammy, I want you to take Savannah away." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't like the Ogre before she met him based upon Susan's account of how she was treated by him and his crew. After she'd heard what he said he was going to do to Cameron, she wanted justice herself.

"No." Savannah said. "Do to him what he wanted to do to you. I heard what he said. It's payback time. I want all of it done to him now."

Sheila bent down and picked up the pipe.

Ally still held the Ogre. He was on his knees at this point.

Sheila moved up and delivered a half a dozen blows to his face and mouth.

Ally gagged the Ogre at this point to stifle the screams. It was now more of a constant wail.

Savannah picked up the rusted knife. She moved towards the struggling and restrained figure of the Ogre.

Cameron could see the anger and hate in Savannah's eyes. She was pretty sure that she wanted some vengeance for what was done to Vanna in the future.

"Savannah - NO." Cameron said.

Sheila dropped the pipe and took the knife from Savannah.

"I got this, love." Sheila said. "You don't need to do that."

The Ogre was about to pass out from the abuse and shock.

"Let's go." Cameron said.

Gail thought there should be some resolution to everything.

"Are you going to leave him like that?" Gail asked.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to see anymore.

"Yes." Cameron said.

Gail wanted to take any evil incentive away from Savannah. The best way to do that was to finish it.

"I'm going to terminate him." Gail said.

Savannah wanted to make sure that the Ogre knew what his sins were before he died. She wanted to make sure that he knew what he died for.

"This is for what he's done to the females." Savannah said. "I wonder if it was all worth it to him at this point."

A smile blossomed on Sheila's face. She took that as her cue to do what she normally did.

"Thanks." Sheila said. "I almost forgot."

Sheila went back and kicked the Ogre hard between the legs.

The Ogre was almost passed out but screamed in agony one last time.

"Susan sends her regards." Savannah said.

Sheila looked at the Ogre.

"The females are safe." Sheila said.

Sheila tossed something into the bushes.

The Ogre fell to the ground unmoving.

"He didn't make it." Ally said.

Cameron felt they were finished. The threat was eliminated.

"Let's go." Cameron said.

Savannah thought that they should try to conceal what was done. They still needed to surveil the Grays inside the old supermarket. They didn't need the authorities looking around the area. She was worried it might put them in danger if they approached the old supermarket. They Grays might take that as a threat.

"Drag them into that building." Savannah said. "We don't want the police snooping around here if someone finds them."

They hid the three bodies.

Savannah quickly looked the five Metal girls over.

"Sheila, you have a lot of blood on your shirt." Savannah said. "Let me give you mine."

Cammy quickly stripped her top off.

"She can have mine." Cammy said. "My pink bra looks like a bikini top."

Sheila pulled off her bloody shirt and tossed it in the corner. She was topless.

"I'm fine like this." Sheila said.

Cameron gave Sheila a dirty look.

Sheila took the top from Cammy. She made sure Savannah saw her topless figure as she centered her nipple rings before she put Cammy's top on.

"Cammy, you and Gail go back to your SUV." Cameron said. "Ally and Sheila are going back to theirs."

Gail didn't want Savannah in the danger zone any longer.

"What about Savannah?" Gail asked.

Savannah already knew where she was going to go. She wanted to check up on Susan.

"We're going to meet Cam and see what she found out from Susan about the supermarket and what has been going on around here." Savannah said. "Let's go."

Cameron didn't like Savannah to be around the current activity. It worried her that it no longer seemed to bother Savannah. She seemed to encourage the violent behavior.

She decided to make sure Young Allison was more insulated from some of the violence. Cameron was afraid she'd 'hardened' Savannah too much. No, the future was an ugly place. Savannah was ready for it. Young Allison would need to be ready for it as well.

She was aware that survival in the Wastelands often meant which person killed the other one first. She wanted to make sure that her girls killed first.

Earlier:

John watched the altercation as it went down from the drone footage. He was worried for Cameron. He saw the other girls move in to assist her.

"Good." John said. "The girls have all responded."

John Henry already knew the way things were headed. Now that all the Metal girls were there to back Cameron up, they would start to happen.

"I think we are about to lose the drone coverage." John Henry said.

John looked at his monitors, he didn't see any problem.

"Why?" John asked.

John Henry figured he needed to spell it out for him.

"It's going to turn violent, real soon." John Henry said.

John saw the last two girls arrive at the location.

"I see Savannah and Gail are there now as well now." John said.

They watched as the Metal girls faced off with the thugs.

John saw Savannah watch it all. He was a little worried she wasn't bothered by what was about to happen. She made no attempt to intervene or stop anything.

The feed went blank.

"I want to see what happens." John said.

John Henry figured he needed to make it clear for John.

"What you would see will be death." John Henry said. "It will be violent death."

John had trouble understanding why there needed to be brutality involved.

"Why do they need to be so violent?" John asked.

John Henry had some trouble with the concept originally as well. He thought it was very inefficient for a Terminator not to terminate the individual quicker. Cameron clued him in.

"They all do it for a reason." John Henry said. "I asked Cameron about it. Sheila does most of the 'dirty work'."

John wasn't sure that there was an explanation for violence.

"What's the reason?" John asked.

John Henry knew that it was payback. Perhaps in these matters it could be seen as paying it forward.

"The reason is Allison, Jesse and Vanna, mostly for Vanna and Jesse." John Henry said. "Cameron hopes to thin the Scavenger herd ahead of Judgment Day. She wants payback for what Vanna suffered. Sheila knows what Jesse went through. It is proactive retribution."

John understood the reasoning but he thought things could be done a little more efficiently.

"I can understand that." John said. "There are cleaner and easier ways to do that."

John Henry knew that it was personal to Cameron. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't change what already happened to Vanna and the other girls.

"Cameron hopes that they will find the ones who hurt Vanna." John Henry said.

John needed to think about what John Henry said for a few seconds. He didn't see how that was possible. How would they ever identify the individuals?

"How will she know?" John asked.

It previously took John Henry a while to come up with that answer on his own.

"She won't." John Henry said. "That's why they never stop. They may have already terminated some."

It was clear to John at that point that Cameron would never stop cleaning up the 'trash'.

The feed resumed as the Metal girls headed away from the area.

Since John couldn't keep track of who was Cameron, Cam or Cammy he tried to pay attention to the clothes that they wore so he wouldn't miss identify them again. He saw something right away that caught his attention.

"Where's Cammy's top?" John asked.

John Henry noticed that as well. He also noted that Sheila now wore it.

"Sheila is wearing it." John Henry said. "Hers was probably blood soaked."

John sat up a little bit and looked at the monitor in detail.

"Was she damaged?" John asked.

John Henry was pretty sure it would have been blood from one of the perpetrators. Some of her actions produced a lot of blood.

"It wouldn't have been her blood." John Henry said.

John wanted to move things along. He hoped they were able to gather some information from a homeless woman.

"Oh." John said. "What did Cam find out?"

John Henry could see that they were trying to use some finesse as they interrogated the homeless female. It was done in a non aggressive manner.

"She's getting the homeless woman some food now and asking her about what the woman has seen coming and going at the old supermarket." John Henry said. "You can hear her now."

John began to receive the audio transmission.

"Thanks." John said as they listened.

After what he'd heard from her, he was glad Cameron took care of the Ogre and his associates. Scavengers were a problem in every timeline. He understood now why Savannah did nothing to dissuade what happened earlier. He doubted he would have either at this point.

Earlier:

Anna saw what was about to transpire in the alley. She didn't think it was appropriate viewing for Young Allison.

"You will not watch this." Anna said.

Young Allison didn't see any reason she shouldn't be able to observe what happened.

"I want to see justice." Young Allison said.

Anna thought it was a bad idea and had previous instructions.

"Savannah has forbidden this." Anna said.

They still watched the feed as the Metal girls faced down the thugs.

"I heard what the thugs did to the homeless lady before." Young Allison said. "I heard what they wanted to do to Cameron."

Cammy and Gail started to move. The feed went blank.

Young Allison really wanted to see what happened. That wasn't going to be the case.

"It was just about to get to the retribution part." Young Allison said. "I wanted to see. I could always look away or close my eyes. I need to be ready for everything the future can throw at me."

Anna wanted to make the set policy clear. It wasn't her doing but she agreed with it.

"Savannah has asked you not see that." Anna said. "You don't need those images in your mind."

Young Allison didn't see how that was fair.

"They're in Savannah's mind." Young Allison said.

Anna shared the 'Neural Interface' with Savannah. She was aware that was exactly why Young Allison wasn't to view them.

"That's why she doesn't want them in your mind." Anna said.

Young Alison frowned a little. She didn't agree with it personally but she needed to respect what Savannah wanted for her and why.

"OK." Young Allison said. "I trust her judgment."

Anna didn't want to make a big deal about it nor dwell on the subject.

"Savannah, knows best." Anna said. "She wants to protect you."

Young Allison knew they may have possibly obtained a valuable asset earlier.

"Let's stick with Cam for now and see what the homeless lady has to say." Young Allison said. "I think she may know something."

Young Allison didn't know what the homeless female would tell them. She did listen and hear what happened to her by the three men who were apparently just terminated. She cringed a little with each of the stories. She knew those were the things that happened to her and Savannah in the future as Allison and Vanna. It was a sobering thought.

It was more than clear that a Skynet future was nothing to look forward to.

I Almost Forgot

Few people actually listen
Even when they hear
They more than likely
Want the other to disappear

People want to believe
Only want they want
They'd rather walk away
Than the truth confront

To push away reality
Is the easier approach
They soon rely on others
For any new ideas to poach

Those aren't the kind of people
With which to associate
It makes those who are true
Much easier to appreciate

To any of those
Waiting to be bought
If they're still here
I almost forgot

Nobody