Chapter 668

Three Cabins

Cammy led her team towards the location where the old cabins were. There were patches of snow in many places. She tried to avoid them so they didn't leave obvious footprints. Sometimes they needed to take an indirect route to do it. It still seemed like the prudent thing to do. They didn't want the enemy to know they were being watched or stalked. They didn't want anyone to be able to easily follow them either. The team reached a clearing in the tree line. She slowed the team as they approached. She stopped them behind some cover.

The team paused for a short while to take in everything before them and around them. They wanted a general look around at the layout of the area and how things currently were.

Cammy pointed at the dilapidated structures which still existed.

"There are the remains of the three cabins still standing." Cammy said. "They appear to be in extremely poor condition."

There were also what looked like seven crumbling foundations. They were most likely from the other cabins which burnt down long ago. Based on the lack of any type of firefighting apparatus where they were at, it was a wonder all of them didn't burn down. It was possible the fire actually started in one of the cabins with the wind blowing away from the three which survived. They were all located on one side of where the cabins once stood. There was no way to know at this point in time.

Savannah couldn't see anything which looked remotely useful around where they were at. If there was something there it would need to be hidden. She wasn't even sure it was safe to approach the dilapidated cabins.

"I don't see anyone." Savannah said. "This location seems to have no value or purpose. The cabins are collapsing. They look unsafe to inhabit. I'm actually surprised the wind hasn't knocked them down by now."

From experience in her future, Jesse knew not everything was located above ground which was of value. In fact, things hidden under rubble and debris were where the real locations often were. The best place to hide something was out in the open where it looked like it was completely useless for anything.

"Maybe they hide an underground entrance to something." Jesse said. "It was a common practice in the future. The more unlikely a location seemed, the better hiding place it actually was."

Gail continued to scan the area non stop. Her diligence paid off.

"I've detected movement." Gail said. "It's at the three o'clock position from the closest cabin on our right."

Cammy looked and spotted some type of feline.

"I see it." Cammy said. "It is much larger than a domestic cat. It is smaller than a mountain lion."

Jesse saw it a second later.

"It's a big pussycat with a very short tail." Jesse said. "It's a big cat anyway."

Savannah was familiar with the wildlife of the area. She checked it on her phone on the drive there with Bob during the long period of silence. It helped keep her mind off of other things.

"It's a 'bobcat'." Savannah said. "It's stalking something. It will be more afraid of us than we will of it."

Gail wanted to tell Savannah she wasn't afraid of it at all. Somehow it seemed like the wrong thing to say in front of her. She didn't think the animal would last very long if they were to become involved in combat.

Cammy picked up a stone and threw it. It landed in back of the bobcat. It paused and looked back. It then ran off when the second stone landed near it.

Gail would've preferred if Cammy terminated it. Wild animals were a threat to the girls. She wanted to offer the girls some type of explanation. She was aware of humans' infatuation with most feline species.

"It could injure one of you if we get too close to it." Gail said. "It could have rabies or some other disorder. It's better it decided to retreat."

Savannah was fairly certain it was just looking for something to eat. It was the way it worked for the different types of animals. Some types of animals ate the plants. Other animals ate the plant eaters. Usually the bigger an animal was, the more successful it would be at either eating plants, or eating other animals.

Jesse thought dealing with Grays would be risky enough. Now she wondered what other threats there would be from the wildlife native to the area. She was a little concerned for everyone's safety at this point. Gail's warning did have merit.

"Are there any bears up here?" Jesse asked.

Cammy knew there was a bigger threat to them than a bear would be around the area they were located. It wasn't just the Grays either.

"Bears have seldom been seen in more modern times. It would be most unlikely." Cammy said. " There are mountain lions. They are often referred to by a number of different names."

Jesse knew mountain lions were big. An amusing thought crossed her mind. She thought she'd like to lighten the atmosphere some by sharing her vision with the others.

"It's just what I need, a two hundred pound pussy that can eat me." Jesse said.

Savannah tried not to laugh, but she almost did anyway. She did find Jesse's statement somewhat amusing, especially considering the source. There was no need to point out it wouldn't have been quite the experience Jesse indicated.

Cammy and Gail looked at each other. They weren't sure if Jesse made a joke or was serious. The smile which soon cracked across Jesse's face and broad lips gave it away. It was a joke. Cammy and Savannah both smiled but made no comment. Gail's face remained unchanged.

Gail moved up and touched Jesse and Savannah to reassure them. She planned to protect both of her lovers no matter what the threat was.

"No harm will come to either of you." Gail said.

Jesse was sure Gail didn't get her joke. She would explain it to her later. A little visual reinforcement would help…. She already anticipated the event.

Savannah knew there could be a few coyotes as well. They usually tended to stay away from humans.

Cammy wanted to do a close in recon of the three remaining cabins. She thought it would be better if she went in alone. It could be an ambush. There could be booby traps.

"Gail, you stay here with the girls." Cammy said. "I'm going in for a closer look."

Savannah looked at the lay of the land. It was wide open for anyone to approach the remaining cabins. There was no cover at all.

"No." Savannah said. "It's too open. You'll be totally exposed."

Cammy didn't believe she would appear to be a threat on her own. It was if whoever was there, if they were even there, posted a look out.

"I think it will be only if they're looking." Cammy said. "I don't think I'll appear as a threat to them."

Cammy figured if anything, they would see her as a 'target of opportunity' to put the grab on. They wouldn't want to injure her first if they could avoid it. It would be something which would happen soon enough once the abuse started.

Jesse was pretty sure if the Grays expected things to go hot, they would post some type of sentry.

"If they already killed someone, they'll be looking." Jesse said. "They'll have to assume the man they killed may also have some accomplices. Maybe they're waiting to see if they show up."

Savannah wasn't even sure where they were at now was the intended destination of the Grays. It was probably something to throw off anyone following them. She took in the scene. There was a lot of snow on the ground around the cabins. She only saw the footprints of the bobcat. She thought it looked like the perfect location to ambush somebody when they moved out into the open area.

"Look at the snow. Do you see their tracks anywhere?" Savannah asked. "I can't. Would the bobcat have been so close if there were people in there? This may be an ambush for us."

Cammy brought up her M4 from inside of her coat. Savannah's observation sounded like a workable plan for the Grays. She wasn't about to take any chances.

"Both of you get down, now." Cammy said. "Gail, check our six."

Gail was gone in an instant, her M4 was out as well. Gail searched for any targets which might try to come in from behind them.

They all knew things were going from bad to worse.

Maybe they weren't stalking anyone but being stalked themselves. They didn't leave a clear cut trail as to exactly where they were at. They were very careful to make sure they didn't leave footprints in the snow. The best anyone could do would be to search in the general area they thought they may have gone.

The whole operation was in constant flux.

Jesse and Savannah were both down on the ground. They each watched the area off to the side of them.

Cammy knew there was only one prudent thing to do if shooting broke out.

"If there's any gunfire, I'm going to move away from this location towards the cabins to draw the fire towards me." Cammy said. "You should be able to spot whoever is shooting at me as I run. I don't think I'll take too many hits."

Savannah thought any was too many.

"Get to some cover fast." Savannah said.

Cameron drove to near where Cam reported seeing the dirt bikes go. There were several large cone shaped mounds of eroded earth against the rocks in several spots in the canyon. They were tailings. There must have been some mining there at some point years ago. A glitch impulse shot through Cameron's left hand at the thought of another mine. It wasn't a location she preferred to operate in.

"John Henry, what do you have at these coordinates?" Cameron asked as she gave him the numbers.

John Henry's search turned up nothing of any current relevance.

"Nothing…." John Henry said. "It's public land."

It wasn't the answer Cameron expected or wanted to hear. Perhaps he needed to look back further in time. They were often a multitude of changes over the years, especially the early years.

"Check back further, maybe historically." Cameron said. "I can clearly see something happened here at some point in time. It doesn't appear anytime recently either."

There was a long pause. She figured there was a discussion going on right now in the Command Center. Cameron knew John was now involved. She was correct.

"Cameron, you're NOT to go near there." John said.

Cameron knew they discovered it was a mine of some type, or at least used to be. She couldn't let past fears get in the way of the current mission. She needed to go to where the enemy was located. It was just how it worked. She would have more control if she was the one who stalked the enemy, rather than waiting for them to attack her. She zoomed in for a closer look at what she could see from her current location.

"I'll go where the mission leads me." Cameron said. "We all know it's necessary. Based upon the looks of the tailings, the mine is more than likely a century old."

John wanted to convey his belief if they were dealing with the anti-Metal group currently, it wasn't a Skynet faction. There wouldn't be anything further for Cameron to search for within the mine itself.

"If it's an anti-Metal hide away, it won't be 'Skynet's' hiding place." John said. "You're to disengage for now. The mine isn't going anywhere. We have more immediate threats to deal with. Savannah will need your assistance on the mountain. We can deal with this new development later."

Cameron thought about what John said. If she went up to the mountain now, she would probably return with Savannah later on. She didn't want Savannah to go into a mine again. If it was the anti-Metal faction, she wouldn't need to hunt down Skynet within its confines.

"As soon as it is dark, if the mission goes hot, I want a drone to hit any openings." Cameron said. "It's after we've concluded our other operations. We don't want to tip our hand too soon for anything."

John Henry was made aware by CamNet there were some additional Terminators dispatched to the area. He thought it was good foresight and he could use their assistants for the new developments in the current operation. At John's urging, he wanted to keep Cameron's focus away from the mine and back to where the Grays currently were at. It was also where Savannah and Jesse were at.

"I've dispatched a team of Terminators to cover the area where you currently are." John Henry said. "We need to concentrate on the Grays first. It's the immediate threat to our personnel. We know they have a hostage. We still might be able to free her."

John asked John Henry to mention the last part. He figured it would resonate with Cameron. He wasn't really sure if the hostage would be able to be rescued any longer. It was doubtful.

Cameron wanted to back Savannah up. She would deal with the area there later on. She could see it was a box canyon. She wanted to make it a 'dead end' canyon. She wanted to make sure her guidelines were followed.

"I want anyone who leaves this area terminated." Cameron said. "If they go in there, I don't care. They won't come out alive. They will be in their tomb."

Cameron was in no hurry to enter another mine at this point. She noted her hand started to glitch as she thought about the danger Savannah was put in at the last mine and the one before it. She knew she wanted to be where Savannah was at. She was sure it's why John mentioned it. It was to prompt her to leave there. She would have done it on her own anyway.

John Henry wanted to reassure Cameron the situation would soon be covered.

"I've diverted a team of Terminators to the location, you may go." John Henry said. "The area will be covered."

Cameron wanted to link up with Savannah. She would lead the team forward to eradicate the Grays from the face of the earth. She didn't like the danger they put everyone in. She needed to worry about the old packing house as well. There were a lot of things to worry about.

"I'm headed for the mountain…." Cameron said. "I'll reinforce the teams there and prepare to lead an assault as soon as it's dark."

John wanted all of the Terminators in place before Cameron acted. He hoped to follow some type of a plan instead of reacting to whatever Cameron did on her own.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." John said. "We have a Metal Strike Team approaching the mountain top from the rear. They need some additional time to reach the objective."

Cameron was already at a run to get to her SUV and head for the cable car.

The prospect of the anti-Metal faction always angered her. She was going to come back there and personally kill every one of them herself. Someone needed to pay for what was done to her - twice.

Minutes Earlier:

John and John Henry received Cameron's report.

John Henry showed John the satellite imagery from both straight down and the ones at an angle where more detail could be seen. It was clear the location was once a mine.

John understood the significance of what John Henry showed him. It wasn't the type of location he wanted Cameron involved with.

"There's no way I'll let Cameron go in there." John said.

John Henry was aware CamNet sent additional personnel to assist with the operation. He didn't know Young Allison was the one who asked for additional help.

"I'll try to talk her down and divert additional Terminators to cover the operation." John Henry said.

John was glad Cameron was able to have been 'talked' out of pursuing her latest find.

John Henry received the report from Cammy about the situation by the three cabins.

"It appears Cammy's team may be in danger." John Henry reported.

John went over the information John Henry gave him.

"How soon will it be until the Metal Strike Team reaches the area?" John asked.

John Henry double checked the timeline based upon the team's current position.

"They're still more than an hour out, even if they hurry. They need to use stealth as much as possible as they near the target." John Henry said. "I can have Sheila back in the air in minutes and retrieve them to bring them in now. I can do the same with Cam. She can have the rest of the Metal Strike Team there at about the same time."

John thought their operation hadn't been discovered by the Grays yet.

"Then everyone will know we're there and on to them." John said. "We need to wait and see how things play out. There will probably be some type of reaction from the old packing plant with the HK drones there."

John Henry reminded John about the additional firepower at the temporary desert base.

"Our two drones can be there in minutes if we need to use them." John Henry said.

John thought carefully about the use of the drones. There was one situation where he would use them in daylight. He felt the ends justify the means. It was something he would have been more reluctant to use in the past. It wasn't the past any longer.

"I don't want to use them, unless we really need to use them, during daylight." John said. "If Jesse and Savannah come under attack, we will. I don't want any hesitation. We will spin something later about it to cover it up. It's still a fairly isolated location."

John Henry made sure both helicopters and the drones were on the highest alert. He was worried about everyone as well.

"Both drones are ready to go." John Henry said. "Cam and Sheila only need to flip a few switches to fire their turbines…."

John still felt they were in the dark as to what was actually going on up on the mountain.

"We still don't even know what this is yet." John said.

John Henry saw it the same way Cameron did.

"It's Skynet in some form." John Henry said. "It's all we need to know."

They all knew anything Skynet related was bad news. Destruction and death followed it around. There always seemed to be plenty of it.

Savannah dropped down to the ground as she brought her M4 out. She rolled to move in front of Jesse. She wanted to cover Cammy and shield Jesse.

Jesse held both her silenced pistol and Taser at the ready behind Savannah. She kept a watch behind them and to each side. She was aware Savannah used her body to shield her. It bothered her somewhat. No. It bothered her a lot. She felt she was expendable and Savannah wasn't.

Cammy advanced toward the structures. There was no indication she was being watched. She didn't think anyone was there. She moved behind a snowy rock for cover and concealment.

From the direction Gail went there were some thrashing sounds and a few muted screams. The disturbance was followed by silence.

Gail returned from between the trees but off to one side from the route they made their approach on. She held up three fingers as she approached.

"Scratch three…." Gail said. "They'd doubled back and were looking for our trail. They couldn't find it. I found them instead. They probably went back to better conceal the dead man and saw he was gone. They probably figured someone from the same group he was with moved it. They knew he didn't walk away from where they left him. I collected their weapons."

Gail handed Jesse a silenced MP5 and two extra magazines.

Jesse looked over the new weapon. She thought it would work well in the current situation.

"This is a cute little sucker." Jesse said. " It's a little front heavy, but I'll get used to it."

Gail knew the MP5 only fired a pistol round. It would work better against some targets more than others.

"It will be effective against Grays." Gail said. "It won't work as well against Terminators. It will definitely keep the sound level down as opposed to our M4 carbines."

Jesse kept her Taser handy. She flashed it at Gail.

"Noted…." Jesse said. "I have something for everyone."

Gail covered their rear while Jesse and Savannah covered Cammy. She went down to check out the cabins.

Cammy returned several minutes later.

"There's nothing there but rodents and rot." Cammy said. "I disturbed the bobcat's meal for nothing."

Cammy was pleased she didn't terminate it earlier. The thought did cross her mind.

Savannah wanted to inspect the Grays that Gail terminated. They might have some additional intelligence on them. It might give them a better idea of what was going on. Were the men headed to the same destination Steve and Bob currently surveilled? Where did the other man come from who was terminated with the knife earlier?

"Let's go back and check on the three Grays and see what else they have." Savannah said. "We need to make sure there's no one else looking for any of the four men who were recently terminated. It appears we're dealing with two groups for sure."

The four girls went to the site of the fallen Grays.

They collected their phones and some more weapons.

The men were now laid out in a row. They looked like they were sleeping. Based upon the way some of their necks were angled, it didn't look like it would be a comfortable sleep.

Cammy was worried about tipping their hand if any Grays, or someone from the anti-Metal faction, found them.

"If anyone comes looking for them, they'll know a Terminator did this." Cammy said.

Jesse pulled out her knife and moved towards the men.

"I can take carte of it." Jesse said.

Savannah reached out and stopped her. She wasn't sure what Jesse was about to do. She didn't want Jesse to do whatever it was she planned.

"It's not necessary." Savannah said.

Jesse was no stranger to using her knife against humans. This was different. She wanted to give their group cover.

"They are already dead, love." Jesse said. "We need to make it look like a human killed them, not a Terminator. It will look like they died the same way as the man they killed."

Gail wanted to protect Jesse as well. She looked at Savannah and Savannah nodded.

"Gail will take care of this." Savannah said.

Gail felt Jesse dirtied her hands enough when they went out. She didn't need to do it now. She didn't want Savannah to watch Jesse do it. She knew all the different things Jesse would do to a future Scavenger, especially if she caught them abusing a female.

"You three move out. I'll finish up here." Gail said. "I'll cover your six as we move up to join Bob and Steve. We need to be worried about any associates of the first man who we found terminated."

Cammy and Jesse moved out.

Savannah hung back and kissed Gail's cheek. She wanted to give her some reassurance and show her she had total confidence in her. She was sure Gail still questioned herself at times about what happened previously.

"You did excellent." Savannah said. "You're back at one hundred percent."

Gail was touched by Savannah's words. She believed she owed her existence to Savannah. She would never forget it.

"Thanks to you, Savannah." Gail said.

Savannah wanted to take things a little further with Gail when she thought she was ready. It seemed the time was closer. She looked forward to it. She wanted to give Gail some positive thoughts to think about.

"We still have much to share." Savannah said.

Savannah's hand lingered on Gail's cheek. She didn't want Gail to develop what Sheila seemed to develop by using a knife against humans. She didn't want Gail to keep a record of what she did there either.

"Erase your files of whatever you do here as soon as it's done. You must never take pleasure from this." Savannah said. "Promise me."

Gail understood Savannah's concern. She saw what the 'darkness' could do to Jesse at times. It was never anything good. Sheila was consumed by it at times.

"I promise, Savannah." Gail said.

Savannah's hand slowly moved along Gail's cheek and she disappeared after Jesse and Cammy. She didn't want Cammy to move too fast towards the Gray's bunker.

"Cammy, go slow." Savannah said. "I want Gail to be able to catch up easier. I want us to stay together as much as possible."

Gail saw, heard, and felt Savannah's concern for her. Everything Savannah did seemed to make her think about her more.

"Savannah is truly the 'Chosen One'." Gail said softly as she staged the scene.

Gail was even more in love with Savannah now than ever. She made the three Gray's deaths look like they'd been killed in a knife attack. She didn't take things too far. She cleaned off her knife and put it away. She did as Savannah asked and erased the files of what she just did. As she hurried to catch up with the rest of the team, she wondered why she lagged behind. She took another look behind her to make sure they weren't being followed. Nobody was there.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Out Of Our Lives

Out of our lives
One can cast another
Do they secretly laugh
As a life they wantonly smother

What we once had
Soon becomes meaningless
Making me feel hopeless
Leaving me with nothingness

I understand how it works
People don't think before they act
Can you feel the painful impact
As my love you uncaringly extract

It's not about right now
You need think of tomorrow
When the future collapses
Whose strength can we borrow

That's the way life works
Our back collects the knives
We flush what we no longer want
Out of our lives

Nobody