Chapter 573

Evacuate

Savannah and Team One headed down toward the lower level. She asked Cammy to use extreme caution. She was sure someone must still be alive, or a Terminator was still active.

Cammy reached the lower level. She paused and listened. She looked around the corner both ways before she stepped out.

The lower level was dimly lit. There was only some type of emergency lighting which still functioned. It seemed somewhat intermittent at times.

There was a body lying on the floor. It was another Terminator. He was shot up badly. His head was blown open. There were also half a dozen lifeless Grays scattered about. There were weapons lying next to all of them. It was obvious there was a big fight down there. It appeared everyone down there was terminated.

Savannah motioned for Cammy to go one way and Steve to go the other way.

Gail stayed with Savannah. She checked each of the fallen who were in front of them. She wanted to make sure they were terminated. She collected their weapons as Savannah watched their six.

Cammy wasn't too concerned about the fallen. They were the enemy. She was more concerned about how they ended up terminated. She didn't find anything else of significance on her side of the aisle she went down. She soon returned.

"There are only more dead Grays the other way and nothing else." Cammy said. "There was a major battle fought around this area."

Steve went the other way. There were only a few terminated Grays in his direction. He could see the path going forward was severely damaged. He began to hear an electrical hum and crackling noise as he reached the end. He went back to join the others. He found something of significance.

"I think there's a 'Clean Room' my way. The wall has been blown apart and has blocked the path." Steve said. "I can hear electricity arcing inside."

The mention of a 'Clean Room' sparked a new quest. If there was some version of Skynet down there, Cameron would have gone after it.

Savannah knew what they needed to do.

"We need to check it out." Savannah said. "If there's any version of Skynet here, it must be destroyed."

Savannah was sure if Cameron was anywhere there, it was inside the 'Clean Room'. It would have been her goal anyway. She wanted to make sure the way out remained open and no surprise visitors descended to their level. She looked at Steve.

"I need you to remain here." Savannah said. "Watch our backs, Steve. We don't want to get trapped down here either."

Steve would rather have gone with them, but he knew Savannah entrusted him with their protection, or escape, if it was necessary. He wasn't sure if there were any of the enemy left or not. There was a good chance there was someone hidden somewhere. From the reports, it seemed there was still one hostile Terminator missing.

"Affirmative…." Steve said.

Savannah looked in the direction of the collapsed wall. They needed to find out what was on the other side. She was worried what they would find. They needed to find what it was anyway.

"Follow me." Savannah said to Cammy and Gail.

They knew if Cameron was there she was on the other side of the blockage. If she was active, she would know they were there now. There hadn't been any indication or any attempt to communicate with them. It could only mean Cameron was deactivated or terminated. It's if she was even there. So far there was no indication she was, except for all the dead.

It appeared those who survived the carnage above sought shelter there. Other than the blood trails spotted on the way down, it was hard to tell where the wounds of the fallen were inflicted. It was clear where they all died.

No HK Track could have made it down to the lower level. Cameron's Terminator was on the upper level. They didn't know if he was down there or not earlier. If he didn't make it to the lower level, it meant Cameron did. Where was she? She still must be there. There was no other place she could have gone. Was there?

Sheila was in the manned drone. She was high over the target area but off to the side. She tried to watch the areas where the two drones on long range patrol weren't on their wide orbits. They left a gap which wasn't covered for a time. The drone which was twelve miles out was at its furthest point away from the main road. She zoomed in with her vision. It was what they expected. It was bad news. It looked like the action was about to pick up.

"I see a convoy of vehicles and small trucks headed toward the junction from the highway." Sheila reported. "I'm moving to engage them."

John didn't have any contact with Savannah, only the troops outside. He didn't think a vehicular convoy would be the biggest threat. He believed it would be from the sky. The convoy would still take time to get closer to the building once they made the turnoff. He didn't think it was a good idea to engage them on the main highway either.

"Sheila, hold your position." John said. "Watch for HK drones. They'll be the bigger threat. It will make everything much harder on the ground for us to deal with."

John Henry was notified of the very threat three seconds later.

"Our drone which is seven miles has picked up a force of HK drones moving in at low altitude." John Henry said. "They tried to stay off the radar, but our drone detected them down on the deck.

Sheila knew the convoy would need to wait. She picked up another group of HK drones. It was different from the first group of drones reported. It was the second group.

"I've spotted a force of HK drones as well." Sheila said. "They're all climbing for altitude. I'm engaging."

Their drones sprang into action using the programming from Cameron and John Henry. They would be a match for the larger force of HK drones which was about to attack.

The enemy convoy drew closer to the junction. Cameron's Terminator took them under direct observation.

"I make eight vehicles approaching the junction." Cameron's Terminator reported.

He was aware his fellow Terminator fell in combat. It could have been him. It still might be. Cameron was missing. He was ready to fight. He wanted some payback.

John looked over the images from Sheila with John Henry in the Command Center. It showed them what was on the road approaching the target location. He didn't want their force to act too early. He hoped to draw the enemy in to contain the size of the battlefield.

"I want to wait until they're off the main highway if we can." John said. "It will be a lot easier for us to cover up whatever happens with the fewer questions we need to answer to anyone."

John Henry looked at the satellite images. The convoy Sheila located was now marked on their 'Big Board'. The two groups of drones were also plotted and their course marked as well. Everything moved in real time.

"The HK drones don't seem to be in as big of a hurry as they could be." John Henry said. "I think they're waiting for the group to make the turn onto the road towards the target location. They may want to identify our positions before they act. It's not something I want to happen."

John thought about the best course of action.

"After the vehicles turn onto the road, take the last three vehicles with your LAW rockets. Finish any survivors with the Barrett Light Fifty." John said. "I hope it keeps any of them from retreating. We want them to get closer to the target zone."

Cameron's Terminator already laid out his weapons. He was ready for action.

"Affirmative…." Cameron's Terminator said.

John Henry wanted to cut the odds down for their troops at the building. They would be overrun in short order. He wanted to see if he could tie up the ground force in the middle of nowhere between the main highway and the target location. It should leave them open and exposed.

"Sheila, if you are able to break free, you need to make a strafing pass on the remaining vehicles." John Henry said.

The two drones with Sheila moved in for the attack. It was long odds to start out. They were outnumbered three to one. They needed to attack the enemy force while it was still concentrated. They would be able to inflict the most amount of damage, in the shortest amount of time.

"I have ten bogies." Sheila said. "Even with two of our drones assisting, me I'm going to be busy for a few minutes. Things are about to turn into a 'fur ball'."

John understood the reference. It would be like two cats fighting each other. It would make distinguishing friend from foe a little more complicated. The drones would be all over each other in a matter of seconds.

Earlier:

Ed's team looked around the destruction of the interior of the building. They checked on the status of the dead and the condition of the machines. Savannah wanted to get a couple of HK Tracks ready to take with them. There were several they could get back into operational order by removing a few parts from other damaged HK Tracks. They quickly got to work.

It wasn't too long before they were able to get two HK Tracks operational. They already loaded one into the truck. They were able to communicate with the Command Center when they were in the back of the truck. They received the warning of the approaching force.

John Henry conferred with John.

"If they have two HK Tracks operational and under our control, they may be able to assist with the defense of the location depending upon how many intruders get through." John Henry said. "I don't know if they were able to re-arm them or not. If they can get them outside, they should be able to help with the enemy HK drones. They need to make sure they respond only to our transponder code."

John asked Ed about the status of Team One. He indicated they were still on the lower level. He wanted to buy them as much time as possible. He didn't want any of them to be trapped in the building if it came under attack. He gave the order to use the two HK Tracks to help defend the building.

They quickly removed the HK Track from the truck and directed both of them to head down a ramp near the dock. One stayed there on one side of the dock, while the other crossed the length of the building and took up station on the other side. They were to engage and disable the vehicles. The goal was to contain everyone in a concentrated area. They were then to focus on any hostile Terminators which emerged from the wreckage. It was their primary function. If no Terminators were spotted, they were free to attack Grays and HK drones. Their main goal was to keep any of the intruders from reaching the building.

Team Two moved in to reinforce Team Three and get away from the direct view of the enemy HK drones about to arrive. Ed ran and shouted down to the lower level they were about to be under attack. He indicated it was a joint air and ground assault.

Savannah directed Steve to take charge of the operation and to join Ed and his team. They were to try to keep their level secure while Team One searched for Cameron. Steve took the deactivated Terminator with him.

So far the action hadn't started yet. Once it did she would need to find out exactly what was happening and where. They might need to give up their search for Cameron and defend themselves. They would need to see how events played out. They attempted to move as much debris as possible to find the Clean Room and hopefully Cameron.

Savannah wondered what would happen if they moved the debris and Cameron wasn't there. She needed to push the thought from her mind. They were on a time clock. They needed to hurry. She wondered what an attack would do to the area they were in. It was already unstable.

"Let's do what we can before we need to join the fight." Savannah said.

Sheila led her two drones towards the force of HK drones. They currently held an altitude advantage. They each selected targets and fired their air to air missiles as they closed up the distance.

The Resistance drones scored first blood. They each carried two air to air missiles and two air to ground missiles. It gave them an advantage over the HK drones. Each drone brought down two HK drones before they switched to the 'gun'. Sheila already dropped four.

In just a short time, there were only a few of the attacking HK drones left. They took evasive action, but still continued toward the building the Resistance group was in. It was their target. They didn't attempt to engage the aerial targets.

The HK drones they encountered so far in the few engagements they were in, were always configured the same way. None were armed for aerial combat. It might change at some point. So far it hadn't. It was probably because Skynet ruled the sky in the future and didn't make the change for the past. The Resistance did and it always made a difference.

Their drones moved in for 'gun' kills.

Sheila needed to break away from the aerial attack. She needed to make an attack on the convoy once their aerial targets were down.

Cameron's Terminator watched the enemy convoy turn onto the road towards the target area. It wasn't long before the battle broke out in the sky. It was time for him to act. He engaged the last three vehicles. The others continued on as they expected. None of them stopped to assist the stricken vehicles. After he fired his three LAW rockets, he picked up the M82A1 and selected individual targets. Some were on fire as he dropped them. He'd saved them for last. He knew they weren't going anywhere. He would to make sure they didn't either.

A short time ago:

Cammy and Gail started moving debris. More soon collapsed in their place. Savannah came over to help them.

Cammy spotted something which disturbed her.

"There's a Terminator under the debris." Cammy said.

Savannah felt fear grip her.

"Is it Cameron?" Savannah asked.

Gail was able to tell it was a male Terminator.

"No." Gail said.

Savannah did the math. It might be the third 'specialist'. It didn't mean there weren't more enemy Terminators. She knew they still needed to locate Cameron.

"Do you detect any movement or sound?" Savannah asked.

Cammy looked at the mess of debris they tried to move. Since there was no contact from Cameron it didn't look promising. She wanted Savannah to be prepared for the truth.

"There's electricity crackling and sparking in back of all of this." Cammy said. "It's all I can detect. Savannah, if Cameron is in there, she may be terminated…."

It wasn't what Savannah wanted to hear, but they needed to find out one way or another.

"Keep digging." Savannah said. "She's going back with us no matter what."

Gail and Cammy could see Savannah's resolve. They worked faster and harder.

Savannah needed to check on what was happening up top. She left Cammy and Gail to keep moving debris.

"I'll be back." Savannah said.

Savannah quickly went up to the ground level. There was the sound of fighting outside. It seemed to be in the distance. Steve indicated to her everything was good for now. She went back down and joined Cammy and Gail.

Cameron's Terminator terminated all the targets from the three vehicles he destroyed. He was about to disengage when he spotted four HK drones coming in low. He notified everyone. They flew past him. He hit one of them and brought it down with his M82A1. It was now a smoking hole in the ground. He damaged two more but they continued on towards their objective, the building.

Seconds ago:

Sheila disengaged from the remaining attacking HK drones. She fired her air to ground missiles on the convoy. Only two vehicles were still able to advance. She detected three more HK drones on their way after the warning from Cameron's Terminator. One of them smoked profusely but still continued on. She needed to break off to engage them. She was aware their teams on the ground were able to get two HK Tracks to back them up. The Resistance team made sure they all squawked the same transponder code.

She went after the lead HK drone which was undamaged. She hit it from the side with the minigun. It was hit in the power plants and fell to the ground in an instant. The other two continued on as if nothing happened. One still smoked profusely.

Sheila fell in behind the two remaining HK drones. She fired on the one which wasn't smoking and it went down. She slid in back of the smoker and fired a short burst from her minigun. The smoker went down as well.

She was low on ammunition and out of missiles. The battle wasn't over.

Cammy and Gail moved enough debris to look further inside the collapsed rubble. They pulled out the male Terminator. Gail quickly carried it up to the upper level and turned it over to Steve.

Savannah took one more look around at ground level before she started back down the stairs with Gail.

Cammy pushed up on the side as more debris started to fall. She spotted a figure down on the floor.

"I see Cameron. She's down and not moving." Cammy said.

Gail shoved hard on the other side. There was a small opening.

Savannah returned from upstairs and saw where they were at.

"I think I can get through there." Savannah said.

Savannah took off her vest and left her gear. She thought she could make it if they could just hold it a few more seconds. She just needed a little more room.

"Hold the metal sections up and I can pass through." Savannah said. "I think I can."

Cammy was upset because Savannah removed her protective vest. She didn't think they could hold the small opening much longer. It was very unstable.

"What if it collapses back down again?" Cammy asked. "Everything in this area appears to be completely unstable. The next event could be a complete cave in. This whole area may collapse. You'll be trapped or worse."

Savannah needed to get to Cameron. It was the only thing which mattered to her right now.

"Just do it, Cammy." Savannah said. "Please."

Cammy and Gail struggled to hold the collapsed section to make a path for Savannah. They both thought it was a mistake. They did what she asked.

Savannah squirmed through in a second.

As soon as Savannah was through, more debris fell into the area. It forced Cammy and Gail back. The opening closed.

Savannah was trapped on the other side of the blockage. It didn't matter. She was where Cameron was at.

Cammy was unsure if any of the debris landed on Savannah. She didn't make a sound if they did.

The remaining two vehicles from the convoy pulled up off to the side away from the big rig. The two reprogrammed HK Tracks rolled out to engage them. Both vehicles soon exploded. Several Grays and a Terminator scrambled from the wreckage.

Team Two moved out to finish them off. It was over in seconds. Frank retrieved a deactivated Terminator from the group they just took down. It would go back with the others.

They could hear the manned drone as it engaged several HK drones. They grew closer by the second. From somewhere off to the side, one of their drones shot down an HK drone. It was almost to the target area. It fired a missile as it spun around in a circle. The missile was a 'moon shot'. It went off to parts unknown.

The HK drone which was shot down slammed into the side of the building. There was a crashing and tearing of metal sound as it came through the side wall. It tumbled once and slammed into a destroyed HK Track. It came to an abrupt halt. It didn't blow up or explode. It began to smoke. It started a fire. The fire spread and got larger. The automatic fire suppression system was already expended from the original battle which took place earlier. The fire seemed to grow and expand every second. It was still on the far side of the building

Team Three recalled the two HK Tracks and loaded them into the big rig. The damaged Terminators were loaded on as well. They wanted to be ready to roll as soon as they could. Some ammunition began to 'cook off' where the HK drone and HK Track were smashed together in the flames.

Steve was able to get the fire suppression system to come on again in the one section. It only lasted about ten seconds, but it stopped the fire on the two HK units. The fire which spread to the building in the section still burnt. At least the ammunition still wasn't 'cooking off'. As the fire on the building itself expanded, it probably would again.

Moments ago:

John watched the battle unfold from the various body cams and drone footage.

John Henry was able to feed the highlights to John so he could have some order to what he viewed. The newest development was a problem, a big one.

He was very concerned to see one of the HK drones crash through the side of the building. It was soon followed by smoke coming out of the opening. He didn't want any of their troops to be trapped inside of the burning building.

"Great, now the building's on fire." John said. "I want our teams out."

John Henry hadn't received any information on Cameron. There was no communication from Team One. The decision seemed somewhat premature to him. He wanted to make sure what John wanted to do next.

"What about Cameron?" John Henry asked.

John didn't want to lose any troops for nothing. They hadn't spotted Cameron. It was the last report he received.

"How many of our group do you want to lose?" John asked. "If they don't have a goal, they need to retreat."

John told Steve to have someone drive the big rig out with the four deactivated Terminators and the two HK Tracks. Two other damaged HK Tracks were also loaded into it. They would serve as a parts source. All the power cells and chips were collected and taken with the load.

They were to make sure any Terminators at the other vehicles they destroyed were collected as well when they passed them. Steve sent two team members. He sent two more to retrieve the two SUVs Cameron and Savannah's teams arrived in.

It left Ed and Steve at the burning facility with Team One below. The fire would reach their location soon enough, but they still had some time.

John wanted Team One out. It was over.

"Tell them to withdraw if they don't have Cameron now." John said.

Steve listened to the order.

"Affirmative…." Steve said.

Steve took a quick look around and saw they might have ten minutes before the flames reached the access to the lower level. It would prevent anyone from exiting without damage to them. He checked with Sheila to see if there were any other immediate threats. Nothing more indicated. He planned to give Team One as much time as possible.

"Ed, come with me." Steve said.

They headed below.

Cameron's Terminator heard the order to evacuate the facility. He returned to his SUV and headed for the burning building. He passed by the damaged and destroyed vehicles along the way. He saw one wounded Gray crawl from under an overturned truck. He aimed his SUV at them and felt a bounce as he ran over them. He looked back and they lay unmoving in the dirt.

He wasn't ready to abandon Cameron. He knew it was his duty to protect Cameron and Savannah Weaver. No matter what the cost was.

The cost might be his existence. Everything with a beginning, will also have an end. So be it.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Fix Bayonets

We are tired cold and hungry
The supply lines are cut
We are surrounded by the enemy
Ragged as a stray mutt

We can see them massing
There are many more than us
It has grown quiet
There is no more fuss

We divide the remaining ammunition
There's not very much
We will soon be overrun
Our battered weapons we clutch

The order is given
Fix Bayonets - fast
A dull metallic clicking sound
Death does not recognize caste

Shots ring out, explosions blast
Shouts cries and screams fill the air
Blood and pain everywhere
May in death we all share

Nobody