Chapter 586

Boxed In

Cameron, Savannah, and Cammy made it inside the building. It was after about thirty seconds when there was a vibration felt. Something was coming for them. It meant the girls must have been detected.

Savannah wasn't sure what it was. There were several choices.

"What is it?" Savannah asked.

Cameron knew it was one or more of the tracked HK vehicles.

"It's an HK Track, a big one, or more than one." Cameron said. "It may be an HK Tread, but I don't think so. It could be. I should be able to tell more soon."

Savannah knew how she decimated the Grays with an HK Tread in combat recently. She single handedly took on the entire column of the enemy.

"Do you think it's like the one we have? It is probably like the one I used on the last operation." Savannah said. "It can do a lot of damage."

Cameron was missing part of the operation, even though she was given some files about it. She didn't want to bring it up right now. She knew Savannah was almost terminated. An HK drone crashed through the roof and smashed into the area where she was at only seconds before. The rest of the team didn't know she entered the HK Tread to attempt to activate it at the time of the crash. All the teams saw were flames and no movement. She gave Savannah several opportunities to discuss what almost happened to her. Savannah never mentioned it. She would have used a 'temporal extraction' to prevent Savannah from being terminated.

It was the same thing Savannah did for her. She wasn't terminated because she saw herself in the drone footage outside of the building. She knew she was only damaged. The damage she saw from the drone footage didn't look very severe. She still wanted to know what happened to her. She was glad no one needed to use a temporal extraction for Savannah. She watched the drone footage when Savannah took the fight to the enemy with the HK Tread. It was an effective strategy.

"Yes." Cameron said. "I have the files on it. It was good thinking on your part."

Savannah thought it was more a matter of necessity to survive to get inside of it. She knew she would have died that day if she hadn't been able to seek refuge inside the HK Tread parked there. It was too hot outside of it to get out. She was able to use it to bring the fight to the enemy at the time. It proved to be the deciding factor against a superior force.

"I didn't have a choice." Savannah said. "If the HK Tread hadn't been there, you would've needed to send the 'energy bubble' for me. It could have ended a lot worse for me. It didn't. It didn't end badly for you either."

Cameron knew Savannah sent the 'energy bubble' for her on the operation. It still bothered her. She knew she was damaged but not the full extent of the damage. She possessed about fifty percent of what happened to her on the mission. Savannah erased the rest which contained her actual damage. With the temporal loop Savannah created, the damage actually never happened to her. It was exactly the same thing she did for Holly in her future. She would never tell anybody what she saw. Any other Terminators who saw Holly were asked to delete and erase the files. She needed to suppress a glitch impulse as she thought about it. It was an effective strategy. She knew what happened to Holly, well 'temporal Holly'. What happened to her? It would be 'temporal Cameron'. What was her damage?

Cammy thought Savannah was killed at first on the last operation. It was very traumatic. She would have preferred if the subject hadn't come up. Now it was fresh in her mind. It bothered her greatly to think about it. Since it was mentioned, she couldn't help but think about it. The male Terminators needed to physically hold them and prevent them from trying to search through the flaming wreckage for Savannah.

"The HK drone which crashed through the roof was a surprise to all of us." Cammy said.

Cameron led them around the structure. She was more than a little concerned.

"We need to keep moving." Cameron said. "I hope we can get behind it so it won't look for us anymore."

Cameron hoped to avoid the threat. She wanted to stay ahead of it as they looked around. She wanted to see what was in the building before it took up some position which prevented them from looking further.

Savannah didn't want to think about what could have happened on the last operation. Things could have ended quite differently, especially without the temporal extraction. It didn't seem safe for them to remain inside of the building.

"I was lucky on the last operation." Savannah said. "Where is the tracked HK stalking us now? Do we need to exit the building? We don't want to get trapped in a room we can't get out of."

There were more than vibrations now. They could all hear it clanking.

"It's coming to investigate us I think." Cameron said. "We need to move again."

Cameron took off with Savannah behind her. Cammy brought up the rear. It was a problem they could do without. Even if they left the structure at this point, the tracked HK stalking them would follow. Their best hope was to avoid it. If it didn't spot them soon, it should stop looking. It was what they hoped anyway.

Derek moved into the building. He stayed close to the outside walls. He tried to remain out of the way. He didn't want to make contact with anyone if possible. All the activity seemed to be centered around where the truck was at. He wanted to get a look inside the newly arrived truck as well. He wanted to see what was being loaded or unloaded, especially anything which needed to be done so quickly.

The truck was backed up and the rear doors were opened. The truck appeared empty. A forklift moved around to the rear of it now. It started to load crates into the back of the truck.

Derek looked around to make sure no one was near him or watching him. He hadn't heard anything on his com since he entered the building. There was probably a damping field in the building. It seemed to be something the current group they dealt with used at all of their facilities. He needed to make his report. He figured there should be some type of record in case anything happened to him.

"They're loading crates into the back of the truck. I can't tell what they are, or what's in them." Derek said. "I don't think I can get close enough to look at one."

No response.

Derek decided to try it again.

"It looks like it will take a few minutes to get the truck loaded." Derek said. "They are loading crates into the back of it. They're using a forklift to do so."

No response.

'Great.' Derek thought.

It appeared he was on his own. He was comforted to know Bob was only a short distance away. His main goal was to remain undetected, but he wanted to get a look inside one of the crates if he could. If Skynet was up to something, it was something which would be detrimental.

John hadn't heard anything from Derek since he entered the building. There was most likely a jamming field in place. The lack of communications caused him a lot of worry. He decided to look into it a little further. Maybe someone closer could detect some type of transmission.

"Bob, can you pick anything up from Derek?" John asked.

Bob didn't have much of anything positive to add. He didn't care for where he was at. He knew he could be inside of the building in a matter of seconds if necessary.

"Negative." Bob said. "I haven't heard anything from Derek since he went inside the building. I can tell the truck is being loaded. They're using a forklift. I heard it enter the truck and then the sound of something being set down. It's been repeated several times already. There's been no shooting. Not yet anyway."

John hoped it was a good thing. He knew the weapons Derek took with him. It should allow him to operate somewhat clandestinely if things went hot. A few extra seconds could make a difference on the battlefield.

"Derek took a silenced pistol with him and a Taser." John said.

Bob thought he might be able to get 'one up' on the Grays. He could just take the truck and drive away with it once it was loaded. He didn't think any of them would expect it. It would probably take them more than a few seconds to figure out what happened. If the enemy went in pursuit of the truck, the rest of the team could intercept them, or hold them inside the compound. Either way, he would have what was inside the trailer.

"Do you want me to take the truck?" Bob asked. "I can commandeer it when I hear them close the rear doors. I can pull the driver out, or terminate them, and drive away. It will take them a little time to figure out what actually happened before they begin their pursuit."

John didn't want to jump the gun. To make sure Derek got out was more important. Besides, they could shadow the truck and see where it ended up at. There was bound to be more Skynet related material there.

"No. I want to follow the truck." John said. "You need to make sure Derek gets out."

Bob felt some movement. The custodian started to come around. He made sure he continued his slumber. He was ready to enter the building.

"I'll go look for him if we don't hear from him when the truck leaves." Bob said.

John Henry was able to get a few more teams into play. One of the reports was quite disturbing. It was the area Cammy reported on. The information didn't add up to what she provided.

"I have two teams of Terminators ready to move in if we need them." John Henry said. "One team has reported there are no open windows on the side Cammy spotted the man leaving."

John didn't like the report. It seemed someone was on to whoever left. It might heighten their security.

"Nice, it means someone found the open window." John said "They may be alerted to an intruder. Derek may be in greater danger than we anticipated."

John Henry didn't think the problem would be with Derek. Not yet anyway.

"No. The team reported back there aren't any windows on the side of the building." John Henry said. "Cammy was mistaken, or…."

John sat up in his chair. He knew what it really meant.

"She didn't tell the truth." John said. "She lied."

John knew Cammy was 'Cameron', a clone anyway. Lying was something Cameron was known for. Cammy would be no different. It must mean they were onto something or wanted to do something different related to the operation. They were probably in the process of running their own operation now. He remembered John Henry said they all went silent. They didn't want him to know where they were at. He needed to know more.

"Where's Cameron?" John asked.

John Henry only knew what Young Allison told him. He didn't want to say more without knowing for sure.

"It's unknown." John Henry said. "They've severed all contact."

John shook his head in disgust.

"This just gets better and better." John said.

Now John needed to worry about Savannah. He knew Cameron and Cammy could take care of themselves. They would drag Savannah through whatever danger they stirred up. He hoped Cameron remembered what she looked like after the last few missions. He didn't want Savannah to end up the same way.

Young Allison and Anna monitored everything from the Young bunker.

Anna picked up the conversations with Savannah and Cameron about the HK Tread or multiple HK Tracks from the CamNet feed. She told Young Allison.

"The girls are about to be in a tight situation." Anna said.

Claire's right hand rose to her cheek. It sounded dangerous to her.

"Cameron will get them out safe, right?" Claire asked. "They can retreat."

Hanna was on enough operations with Cameron to know how she would respond. It wasn't the way Claire wanted.

"Cameron will most likely engage the enemy." Hanna said. "She does not run from danger."

Young Allison felt they were sitting on necessary information. She didn't like keeping the General in the dark in the Command Center.

"We need to notify, John." Young Allison said.

Anna knew Cameron wouldn't like it.

"John's busy now with Derek and Bob." Anna said.

Young Allison wanted more done. She didn't want the situation to worsen for the team inside of the building.

"Then we need to notify John Henry." Young Allison said.

Anna still didn't want to go there.

"CamNet will do it if it's necessary." Anna said.

Claire looked very worried.

Young Allison was sure her mother was about to cause a problem of some kind. She needed to prevent it.

"Mom, you need to take Summer away from here." Young Allison said. "She's ready for her nap."

Claire looked at Young Allison. She just TOLD her to leave in so many words. She somehow felt it was for her own 'protection'.

Hanna could see the potential for a 'one on one' incident to develop at this point. None of them were going to be positive.

"Come on, Claire, I'll go with you. We can both take Summer away." Hanna said. "We don't need to be here."

The three of them left. Anna and Young Allison remained.

Young Allison was worried about her mother seeing too much of what went on. She wanted to be a part of it herself, to help the Resistance, Savannah and Cameron. Her mother wouldn't want her to go to the past to 'get older' and return to the present if she saw how dangerous it could get.

She wanted John Henry to know everything related to Cameron's team. She was concerned most about Savannah. Cameron and Cammy were much more durable than Savannah was in a combat situation.

Derek was unsure what happened in the building. It didn't look like any manufacturing went on. If there was any assembly, it wasn't for anything big. Maybe it dealt with some of the chemical tanks they'd spotted. No one was wearing any kind of protective gear. If it involved the chemicals it was happening in a different part of the building.

He decided to look for something else. There may be a lower level. He wanted to see if he could detect some type of clean room. He moved further away from his escape route.

Cameron paused and listened further.

"I don't think it's a big HK Tread." Cameron said. "I think it is two or three of the smaller ones, the standard HK Tracks. They won't be as hard to disable as the HK Tread would be."

Savannah wondered why they hadn't spotted one of them yet. The HK Tracks might be 'herding' them. She thought a few LAW rockets would be good to have at this point.

"I don't know if it's better or worse." Savannah said. "If there are three of them, I think it will be even harder for us to evade them."

Savannah was concerned now they could be boxed in or worse. They could be caught up in some type of crossfire. Maybe one of the HK Tracks would drive them into an ambush.

Cammy knew Cameron wasn't going to leave. She didn't plan to either. The enemy wasn't defeated by running from them. The thing to do was to confront the threat.

"Then we won't evade…." Cammy said.

Savannah knew it left only one choice. If they were to make the first move, it would give them the advantage.

"We attack." Savannah said.

Cameron was ready for some action.

"It's just what I thought." Cameron said.

Savannah wasn't sure the HK Tracks would be the only thing they faced. They hadn't been able to explore much of the building so far. They didn't know what other surprises it may contain.

"If we encounter Grays or a Terminator, what do we do then?" Savannah asked.

Cameron checked her weapons. It was a scenario she hoped to avoid.

"We have a bigger party." Cameron said. "We fight harder."

Savannah didn't like the delay. Somehow the HK Tracks were alerted to their presence. It seemed likely their cover was blown as well.

"If the HK Tracks know we're here, someone else must know also by now." Savannah said. "Maybe they're here to keep us occupied and then they'll send some HK drones to attack us IN here. Maybe they will try to ambush us when we leave. Terminators could be on the way, or even already here. We don't know very much about what's going on, or what will happen."

Cameron thought it all sounded terminal. It shouldn't happen, but now it was in her mind. CamNet should have everything blocked.

"CamNet's blocked all communications but ours." Cameron said.

Cameron made sure CamNet tracked them and searched for any communications in or out. The surveillance cameras showed nothing different happening outside. CamNet hadn't detected any hostile HK drones approaching.

Savannah looked at the construction of the building. It didn't have cement walls in the interior. She didn't like the way events were playing out. She felt they needed to take some type of preemptive action one way or the other. It definitely wouldn't be good for her if the enemy made the first move.

"The walls won't stop bullets." Savannah said. "If they have thermal or infrared capability, they will pinpoint our location. It's just a matter of time. We need to move to where they probably won't look."

Cameron and Cammy looked at each other. Savannah seemed to have a plan. They wondered where they could go.

"Where is it?" Cammy asked.

Savannah went over the reports about River and the Duplicate girls in the desert many times. She was aware of where everyone was at. Some hiding spots proved to be better than others.

"We need to move where Duplicate Jesse was during the 'Biker Event' in the desert." Savannah said as she pointed upward. "The rafters are above everything. I've gone over the incident report dozens of times. River told me she hid from people searching for her before by hiding above a doorway and holding on to a fire sprinkler with her feet firmly against each wall. The point is, she was above where those searching for her looked."

Savannah was intrigued with what happened in the desert on the night the Duplicate set of girls returned. She was especially intrigued with River's response. It was the most astounding thing she ever read. River killed over twenty bikers in a very short span of time. It apparently wasn't the first time a similar event occurred. Somehow the one event she faced previously was an even more intense and deadly situation, based upon the attackers. They sounded like some type of 'Super Scavengers' to her.

The clanking was closer. It was from two different directions now.

Savannah remembered her fears about being herded.

Cammy figured it out too.

"They're trying to box us in." Cammy said.

Cameron knew they got played. There were only seconds to act.

"Let's move now." Cameron said.

She didn't want to get caught in the open between two HK Tracks. It would block their advance as well as their retreat. The cross fire would rip them to shreds.

Once Summer was in her bed for a nap, Claire wanted to ask Hanna something.

"Hanna, I know you and the others have given me some training. I can tell I'm going to need more, a lot more." Claire said. "Allison was doing better down there than I was. She can deal with pressure very well. She's more proficient in all of the training as well. It's not how I grew up. My life was sheltered from most hardships."

Claire wished it would have been sheltered from some of the parties she went to in high school. She was abused at almost every one of them. She needed to stop going to them. There were a dozen males with her she knew of. It was probably double the number. She was drugged or drunk for all of them. She didn't know any of the males she actually was cognizant enough to look at. She was unable to resist as they used her. She didn't like the way males started to look at her in the halls at school either. She knew she was targeted to be used for their sexual pleasure. Luckily she was 'rescued' by one of the females and shown a new path. It was the path she desired.

Hanna was on Holly's chip when Claire was in the future. She thought the future was self evident. She witnessed the same things Claire did.

"Young Allison will be a leader in the Resistance one day." Hanna said. "You've seen the future, you know this. Cameron's made sure she's trained and ready for everything. She doesn't want the same things to happen to Young Allison, which happened to Allison."

Claire still saw her as her 'little girl'. It wasn't the reality.

"She's just a girl." Claire said. "Well, you know what I mean. She's still young anyway."

Hanna thought she needed to spell it out for Claire.

"No, she stopped being a girl when Cameron took over her education and training." Hanna said. "She's a future soldier now, a Resistance fighter, like all the 'Allisons'. She will do her duty to protect the future."

Claire didn't want to lose her daughter. She could see Young Allison was ready for more and wanted it.

"She is still young. Cameron's gone out of her way to protect all the 'Allisons', Future Allison, and our Allison here." Claire said. "Why's Cameron pushing MY Allison so hard?"

Hanna was very proud of Young Allison. She'd contributed to her training and education. She knew she would be the human version of Cameron before they were done with her.

"It's to protect her." Hanna said. "She'll be able to protect herself and protect the future better now. Young Allison will be the best 'Allison' of them all. She'll be superior in every way."

Claire worried what would happen when Cameron was alone with Young Allison in the past. She wouldn't be there to see everything as it happened.

"If Cameron takes her away from me for a few years, what will she be when she comes back?" Claire asked.

Hanna knew exactly what Young Allison would be upon her return to the present.

"She'll be a weapon." Hanna said. "She'll be Skynet's worst nightmare."

Claire thought it sounded more like her worst nightmare.

Sheila and Ally followed the man from the sports car into the building. He looked around for everyone. He soon found them in the room where the girls would be detained. They were all dead. He knew 'bad news' when he saw it.

He turned to leave. He knew he needed to get out of there. He almost bumped into someone.

"Hello, love." Sheila said.

The man looked Sheila over and Ally behind her. He noticed the Asian chick carried a knife. The one with the pretty face carried a pistol. He started to reach inside his blazer.

Sheila moved forward, right up to the man.

"I'll break your arm in four places if you don't stop now." Sheila said.

The man disregarded her. No broad told him what to do, especially one from a foreign country. He made a grab for his gun. In just a second, the Asian girl was on him. There was some 'snapping' sounds. It was followed by a lot of pain in his arm. He let out a cry of pain and collapsed to his knees. His right arm now hung useless along his side. He realized he couldn't breathe either.

Sheila grabbed him by his throat and squeezed. He soon blacked out. She wanted to 'work' on him once the area was secure.

Ally checked around them to make sure no one showed up behind them. She looked at the man on the floor. She could see his arm was bent in several different directions, in different places.

"They all seem to be slow learners." Ally said.

Sheila used the shackles which were in the room with the dead men to secure him.

"I hope this bloke wakes up soon so I can get started." Sheila said. "He's going to tell me what I want to know."

They wanted to know where the girls were taken and where they came from. The building they were in was only a holding center.

Ally heard another vehicle arrive out in the front. They thought some thugs would arrive soon and maybe they just did. They were only in the building for less than thirty seconds.

"I think the muscle just got here." Ally said.

Ally moved towards the front.

Sheila smiled.

"I'm going to get a lot of action today." Sheila said. "These whackers, well, I guess the term won't apply much longer, don't have any idea of what's coming. I guess it won't be happening anymore either."

Sheila choked the man some more and followed Ally out. She planned to use her knife on every one of the thugs before they were terminated. They might think females were easy marks, and just things they could slap around and use. It was time they met the 'new boss'. It was her.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Boxed In

How close is too close
Some don't seem to know
They hang on too tightly
They hurt the other so

Maybe they can't see what they do
The other one can sure feel it
It seems to be possessiveness
That one would like to quit

When it does fall apart
One can't seem to let go
They can't accept reality
And the relationship forgo

They hang on to nothing
It only makes it worse
The end result of it
Will be one in a hearse

When one can't untangle
And pull out if a tailspin
They take the other with them
They both get boxed in

Nobody