Chapter 667

Two Minutes Out

Cameron was in the dry river bed when she first heard it. It was a drone. She looked around for cover. There was no place to go.

Wait.

The sound was different. She was able to relax a little. She could tell by the sound it was a smaller drone. She looked over the top of the crumbling dirt bank or side wall of the dry wash. There was a man with a young boy there. They didn't appear to be a threat. They weren't there earlier when she first observed the van. They must have arrived after she moved her vehicle several miles from the location and started back on foot through the dry river bed.

She observed them for a short time and determined they weren't involved, but actually in danger themselves. She wanted to try and get them away from there. With the van close by, they were all in danger. There was a good chance the van might be booby trapped. She was worried for the small child. It might go over to where it was located to look at it.

Cameron decided to approach them. She wanted to look non-threatening. She made sure her hair was arranged and her clothes were straight. She approached with a smile on her face. She spoke soft and sweetly.

"Hello." Cameron said.

Cameron saw the father give her a 'once over', twice. Maybe she looked a little too non-threatening. She didn't want things to turn weird. She didn't think they would with the young boy there. It wasn't quite what she expected.

"Hell - low…." The father said as he leered at her.

Cameron didn't like the way the father said 'hello'. She could almost feel his eyes 'strip' her as he looked at her. It was evident what was on his mind. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. She determined the man was lucky there was a small child with him. She believed what he thought about as he looked at her, was enough to justify his termination. If he actually tried anything, she still might.

There was one friendly face which looked at her.

"Hi." The young boy said with a smile.

Cameron explained she was out for a hike. The father said he bought the drone for his son. She knew it was really for himself. He was probably going to spy on his neighbors sunbathing nude once he learned how to operate it properly.

She suggested there was a better spot a few miles down the dry wash, and off to the other side away from it. Her main goal was to get them away from the danger area in case the van exploded. She didn't want the small child to be struck with any type of shrapnel. She didn't care so much if the father was hit with any. She pointed out a lot of low flying helicopters used the area as a corridor.

Cameron knew the information would be relayed to Cam.

Cam was able to hear Cameron's conversation, and the clandestine message for her through her com. She knew her initial response needed to be limited in its scope.

"I'm two minutes out." Cam said. "I'll pass by you low but not too low. Hanna will check out the van. We'll make one pass only at this time. If we loiter or circle we may draw more attention or provoke a response."

Cameron again warned of the danger to the father and son. She explained the drone could be sucked into the engine, strike the cockpit glass, or foul either of the rotors. If the tail rotor were damaged, the helicopter would start to spin out of control. She said they might be hurt, or they could be responsible for an accident. She explained the liability for the accident could be quite substantial. It most likely would result in the loss of life.

The steady 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', of the Huey could be heard. It grew louder by the second.

Cam was given the coordinates of where Cameron was at, along with the van and the couple with the drone. She dropped down in altitude and lined up with everything. She made her pass only one hundred feet above them and slightly off to the side so she would be closer to the van. The sound was extremely loud. She adjusted the pitch to increase the effect. The air and the ground reverberated in response.

'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP','CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP', 'CHOP'….

"Wow!" The young boy exclaimed excitedly.

The small boy was thrilled. He jumped up and down several times as he pointed. He said he wanted to be a pilot.

The father collected the drone and they drove off. He thanked Cameron for the heads up. Before he left he once again gave her a 'visual assault'. She was left with the feeling the man groped all of her private parts, even though nothing actually happened. It might as well have been for the way she felt now.

She understood why Vanna and Jesse almost terminated males before when they looked at Savannah when she was younger. A person could be removed from the future, but the future couldn't be removed from the person. Luckily there were Terminators present which prevented the girls from taking things too far in public.

More than one individual who looked a little too long at Savannah, or Young Allison, especially at the park, or anywhere else where there were repeat offenders, usually 'disappeared'. Cameron or one of the female Terminators, took care of business and helped protect the future by eliminating another potential Scavenger.

Cameron was very uncomfortable after the encounter with the man. It served to reiterate her first thoughts about the visual 'assault'. If the man hadn't been with the boy, she knew she would have terminated him. She needed to refocus and get back to business.

"What did you see?" Cameron asked.

Hanna was able to get a good look at the van as Cam flew by.

"I spotted a body." Hanna said.

Cameron quickly looked around her. She had noticed one. Maybe she was too distracted by the rude man. She was irritated again as she thought of him.

"Where is it?" Cameron asked.

Hanna was a little surprised at where it actually was.

"It was inside the van." Hanna said. "It was slumped over from the driver's seat. It appears as if the driver terminated in his seat."

It seemed highly unusual to Cameron. It only further added to the mystery of whatever was going on there. She did receive some good news however. Her two Terminators were about to arrive on the scene.

She directed the Terminators to approach the van in their SUV as she hurried to it on foot. She reached the van. She moved up cautiously and looked inside of it. There was a man slumped over the seat. He was shot once in the head. She removed the tracker from the van and searched for any others. There were none. Her two Terminators arrived a short time later. They pulled up to a stop near the van since she didn't find any explosives.

Cameron directed one of them to drive the van away and stash it for now. They might need to use it later on for an infiltration mission. It was always good to have a 'Trojan Horse' available. A search of the dead man and van turned up nothing.

She was left with more questions than answers with the latest encounter. She went over what just happened. One of the Grays was driving the van just a few minutes ago and someone shot him. Whoever shot him couldn't be too far from where they were in the semi remote location. Her first thought was the man with the boy and the drone. The man didn't seem the type. It appeared his interests and desires were directed elsewhere. It was most likely his crimes would be committed against females.

"Cam, I want you to come back and fly the length of the dry wash. I want you to look for anyone who's around." Cameron said as she headed back to her SUV. "There may still be someone nearby. Look for any vehicles. I heard dirt bikes in the distance when I first arrived. It may be unrelated."

Cameron also knew it may be related. There was a lot of 'off road' activity in various parts of the surrounding desert area. Not all of it was legal in certain areas. She couldn't help but think about the tortoise they found in Mexico which was upside down near their rear tire. It was put back up on its feet so it could continue on. She did the same thing to Mr. Ellison after she tossed him around. It would be easier for him to get up with his back side up, just like the tortoise. It bothered her a little to think about the incident now. She explained to him later on if he would have been truthful, there wouldn't have been an incident to begin with. She apologized again anyway.

It was doubtful the Gray was terminated in a random road rage incident. More than likely he was targeted by another group from the future. It may have been a chance encounter, or they may have waited where they knew someone would show up. Whatever they would uncover was unknown. It appeared the Gray was targeted for being in the white van if nothing else. Somebody knew who he was, even if they didn't know what he was up to. Maybe they did know what he was up to. Maybe it's why he was dead. Either way it still indicated the group who killed him was willing to kill in broad daylight. She wasn't too far away when the incident occurred either. She could have been targeted just as easily. She sent out a warning for all of the Resistance forces in the area to be aware of vehicles around them at any point in time.

Cameron was soon alerted to the new discovery up on the mountain side. Cammy reported she just came across another dead individual. They were killed with a knife. It appeared whoever the second group was, attempted to tie up some loose ends. It was possible it could be the precursor to an all out assault as well. It appeared they were going to end up in the middle of it. They certainly weren't going to take the side of the Grays who possessed the captured female. She could only imagine what was being done to the female right now. She knew how I was going to end for her. She questioned Cammy's decision not to take down the group and free the female earlier. It's what she would have done.

There was a new coldness on the mountain. It had nothing to do with the current weather condition either. It was from the new discovery. There was someone up there with them who was willing to kill in broad daylight. What they discovered on the individual who was killed, was all the proof they needed about what was going on.

They all saw the image on the man's forearm.

Savannah knew what it was as well.

"It's a Skynet work camp tattoo." Savannah said.

Jesse was well aware of everything it represented.

"It's the mark of the beast." Jesse repeated.

Cammy picked up the dead man and moved him deeper into the trees for now. If he was discovered by one of the hikers or backpackers, it would most likely be reported and authorities would be notified. They didn't need any First Responders in the area for what was sure to follow.

Savannah took another long look at the terminated man's face.

"So what do we have?" Savannah asked. "Was this someone tracking the Grays who got careless? I don't remember seeing this man."

Cammy checked her files and hadn't seen him earlier either. She thought of the other two individuals who attempted to film her in the shop area of the upper station. This individual wasn't one of them. It didn't mean they weren't associated. There seemed to be quite a few unknowns in play and everything else happening up there. She took a photo of him and sent it to Steve and Bob. Neither one of them viewed him previously either.

"I don't know anything about him." Cammy said. "None of us spotted him before."

The girls got Cameron's report about the dead Gray in the van. Cammy gave her findings to Cameron.

Cammy was very dissatisfied by what the implications were. The brief conference with Cameron pointed to another potential danger. It was the anti-Metal faction. The Resistance was as big of a target to the anti-Metal faction, as it would be to any version of Skynet.

"It looks like we have a faction of the anti-Metal group which may have infiltrated the Grays, or was hunting them." Cammy said. "We'll stay away from the trail. I'll lead. Gail will bring up the rear."

From her past experience in two different futures, Savannah knew there could be a few other options which were just as distasteful as the current one. It usually involved turncoats from the Resistance who now worked with the Grays. She knew they were especially despised by both Derek and Kyle because they turned traitor against their brethren in the Resistance. Those individuals were usually responsible for a bunker or tunnel system being attacked and cleaned out by the Skynet forces. The survivors were taken prisoner and sent to work camps. All of the females were abused at some point along the way. She knew some of the females never made it out of the Gray's sleeping quarters.

"This could also be more than one faction of Grays who are working against each other." Savannah said. "We don't have enough information to base anything on yet."

The girls knew everything just turned even more dangerous. They all put their light gray sweatpants on over their other pants. Savannah put the two halves of her M4 together. It would give them better cover in the scattered snow and rocks. She inserted the magazine and charged the weapon.

Jesse looked over at Gail and then handed her M4 to Cammy.

"Here, love." Jesse said. "You can do more damage with this than I can."

Cammy took it from her.

"Thanks." Cammy said as she put the two halves together and charged the M4.

Cammy slung it under her coat as Gail and Savannah previously did. They could all bring them into use instantly, but not alarm anyone who might happen to see them. It would also produce a moment's hesitation if they stumbled across any Grays. They would look like hikers at first glance. Being all 'female' would seem to make them less of a threat. The Grays may also try to capture them so they could sexually abuse them as well, if they thought they were only female hikers.

Gail handed out the extra magazines she was carrying in her backpack.

Cammy checked their current position and her image of the satellite map she had on file.

"This divergent trail doesn't follow a route to the summit." Cammy said. "The three men Bob was after must have taken it. It's why we couldn't locate them along the main trail. This guy may have been their contact, or maybe just careless. Either way, his cover was blown. He clearly paid the price for whatever his infraction was."

Jesse wondered what the price was for those who opposed Skynet and all the death and oppression it represented.

Savannah wondered about the trail. If it didn't go to the mountain top, where did it lead to? Why were the Grays interested in it? Where did this trail lead to? Right now it appeared to be the trail of death. She hoped none of them needed to take the same journey.

"Where does this trail go?" Savannah asked. "There must be something on it."

Cammy zoomed in on the satellite image in her file to see exactly what was along the route, or at the end of the trail.

"There were some old cabins located there once. It appears a fire destroyed most of them." Cammy said. "There are still a few left. They appear to be in dilapidated condition. We will need to take a closer look."

Jesse hoped they could corner the Grays somewhere along the way. They might even be able to trap them there.

"I have a feeling a fire is going to destroy the rest of them." Jesse said.

Savannah was worried they were about to be sidetracked.

"We might need to back up Bob and Steve." Savannah said. "They have at least one Terminator to deal with. We know there are a number of Grays where they're currently located."

Cammy knew they wanted to wait until dark before they made their move against the Grays.

"We still have light for a few more hours." Cammy said. "If Bob and Steve run into trouble before then, Gail and I will go to assist them. You and Jesse will withdraw."

Savannah wasn't about to withdraw as long as they were Resistance members up on the mountain side, especially if a firefight broke out. There was no point in creating an argument now. She wanted to let her discord be known.

"We'll see." Savannah said. "Let's check out the cabins first."

Jesse doubted Savannah would withdraw. She was with Savannah when they took down the old helicopter base. She would stick with Savannah, whatever Savannah's decision was. She didn't plan to withdraw either as long as the enemy lived. The fact they took a female hostage to abuse only furthered her resolve for justice. She knew exactly what the female captive currently experienced. She went through the same thing many times.

The four girls headed off. They stayed well away from the trail. Cammy and Gail were on the highest alert for threats. They knew the threats were there, they just didn't know where. They all hoped to find the threats before the threats found them.

John Henry and John received the latest reports from both Cameron and Cammy in the Command Center. It wasn't a pleasant development. There were clearly at least two different groups they would need to combat.

"I hoped it wasn't the anti-Metal faction again." John said. "It looks like they took out the van driver and took off."

John Henry could only apply the latest information to what they already knew.

"Apparently…." John Henry said.

John was somewhat relieved it hadn't been an ambush set up to draw one of them in.

"At least it wasn't a trap for Cameron." John said. "It's the only not so bad news."

John Henry thought he should float another theory. They might only be at the tip of the iceberg.

"It still could be a trap. It just might be more elaborate than we thought." John Henry said.

John didn't even want to comment on the new bit of information.

"I want Sheila and Ally to get half the Metal Strike Team up on the opposite ridge from Bob and Steve so they can move in without being spotted." John said. "They can also prevent the enemy from escaping. It's possible they might have alternate plans if they flee the area."

John Henry was aware where the first Iroquois was at.

"She's on it." John Henry said. "Cam will be available as soon as she is done spotting for Cameron. She needs to fly the length of the wash on the way back."

John wanted to have all the equipment available if it was possible.

"What about the repairs to the Blackhawk?" John asked.

John Henry was aware with the second UH-1 helicopter on site, everything was covered now, even if the Blackhawk remained un-flyable. He thought it was good planning on CamNet's part. He didn't know Young Allison pushed the issue.

"It should be flyable by nightfall." John Henry said. "Cam will be able to fly the rest of the Strike Force in directly if the Blackhawk isn't ready."

John contemplated the additional flexibility they now possessed with two working helicopters and possibly a third helicopter.

"I want Sheila to hold at the position she sets down at." John said. "We may need her later on for a quick extraction. She will also be able to pick up the Strike Team if they haven't reached their objective yet when fighting breaks out. She would be able to get them there much quicker. Once the gunfire starts, stealth won't matter quite as much."

John Henry could see how it would be a big help in an emergency.

"It would definitely speed the response time." John Henry said.

Earlier:

Sheila saw the Blackhawk parked on the ground up ahead as she approached the landing zone.

She made a quick approach and set down away from the Blackhawk. She didn't want any more debris than necessary interfering with the work in progress on it. She left the UH-1 running.

Sheila watched as a team of four Terminators arrived with all their gear. Tom was the team leader. They tossed out the looms of wiring for the remaining team members to use on the Blackhawk.

Tom checked over his Strike Team. Once everyone was secure, he gave Sheila a 'thumbs up'.

She cranked up the power and the UH-1 lifted off. She could feel the extra weight. She knew the higher elevation would rob her of additional lift as well. The extra power with the governor adjustment would come in handy.

Sheila flew back the way she came before she crossed over the freeway and headed up the back canyon. She was at the LZ in less than nine minutes. She set the Iroquois down and shut it off. The giant rotor slowly spun to a stop. Tom's team was already out and away before it did.

Tom and his troopers headed for the mountain top a few ridges over. Sheila and Ally saw them disappear over the first ridge. They took the opportunity to go over the helicopter's equipment. Everything was sound and in order. Now they waited.

Cam flew for five miles along the dry wash. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Cameron, I have nothing." Cam reported.

Cameron checked around the van before one of her Terminators drove it away.

"Thanks for checking." Cameron said. "I spotted some dirt bike tracks near the van. I heard some earlier as well."

No sooner than Cam spoke, when she spotted an irregularity. It fit in with what Cameron just said.

"I see two dirt bikes further up. They've turned off and are headed up a canyon." Cam said. "I don't know if it's because they can hear the helicopter or not. It could be their destination as well."

Cameron hoped it was the break they needed. She didn't want to inadvertently alert anyone. It would be best if Cam didn't act like she was interested in them.

"Keep flying and head for the desert base." Cameron said. "I don't want to spook them. You can even pick up your speed if you want to make it look like you're going somewhere else, which you actually are."

Cam gave Cameron the coordinates where the two dirt bikes went. She picked up some altitude and headed for where the two drones and the Blackhawk were staged. She landed in the same spot Sheila and Ally used once she arrived. She cut the power. The massive blade slowly spun to a stop.

Al came over and filled them in on everything. Cam and Hanna took the down time to check everything on their helicopter out. It all checked out. Cam checked and readjusted the governor on her chopper a little further. A little additional 'redlining' couldn't hurt….

Cam went over and checked the progress on the Blackhawk herself. It should be ready for testing in thirty more minutes. If not, her copter was good to go on short notice.

Cameron received the location from Cam. She made her way back to where her SUV was parked. She took a moment to look at the ground around it. She only spotted her footprints on the driver's side. She made her way around the back of it and checked the passenger side. There were no footprints there or in front of it. She briefly checked underneath it anyway. Nothing was spotted. Based upon the nature of the current operation, and the direction things turned, she wasn't about to take any chances. She got into her SUV and headed out.

She directed her Terminators to return to the packing house once they stashed the captured van. She would investigate and deal with the anti-Metal group herself. It was the same people who destroyed her life with Future John and forced him to send her away. They also took HER John away from her…. It was Future Jesse and Future Riley who were responsible for what transpired. Future Riley only figured out she was the sacrificial lamb right before it was too late. She still ended up terminated.

It still bothered her when John questioned her about Future Riley's termination. She told him she didn't do it. He believed she was responsible. She was sure it was because it was what Sarah believed. She gave him the ability to terminate her if he chose to do so. There were often times she really wished he would have pushed the button and done it.

She noticed her hand started to glitch. The pain of the loss never went away, either of them. She wanted to be with Savannah up on the mountain right now. it was obviously not going to happen for a little while longer.

"Tell Savannah I'll be delayed in reaching her." Cameron said.

John Henry knew what Cameron was after right now and how she would respond.

"'I'll relay the message." John Henry reported.

John Henry went over everything as it developed on the mountain. There were five separate operations currently in progress plus the locations of the three helicopters.

"I'm aware of everything." Cameron said. "Get a Stinger team to back up my Terminators at the old packing house, just in case. We know they have several HK drones there."

None of the operation appeared to be winding down, but rather ramping up.

The worst part of it all was, the night was still yet to come.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Miss

I miss their touch
I miss their kiss
I miss their love
I MISS ALL THIS

Where did it go
How was it lost
Passion and feeling
Melt into frost

I won't let go
I want it back
I try to ignore
Every mean attack

I never take
I try not to stray
Is nothing I say
More than a bray

I hope pray and try
Get slaughtered sad and cry
I will give up on NONE
Until they MAKE me die

Nobody