Chapter 674

Candy

Cammy received the warning from John in the Command Center. There was a possibility the 'Metal Bitch' tried to pull a fast one. She was to check it out further. She pulled her Taser and backed away from the female. She scanned her further. She was pretty sure no Terminator, especially a female one, would look like she currently did.

"She's not Metal." Cammy said.

The female appeared to be in better condition than they expected to find her in. She must have been very compliant with the Gray's demands.

The female looked at Cammy and wondered what she was talking about. She felt a little indignant at her appearance, for more than a few reasons.

"What's 'metal'?" The female asked. "I'm naked and as sore as Hell, both in front and in back…. Look at me. I feel dizzy too."

Cammy offered no further explanation.

Gail joined Cammy with Savannah and Jesse.

Jesse looked at the female and knew exactly how she felt and what she went through. It happened to her more than a few times. It was always worse in a Scavenger camp. If someone stopped, they were 'punished'. She watched other females lose body parts when they displeased their sadistic captors.

Savannah looked at the female, even though she tried not to. She couldn't imagine what she was just put through. She was aware it happened to 'her' in the future as Vanna. The part about it which troubled her the most was it started for Vanna at an early age. She felt the bile rise in her throat. She was able to contain it and not vomit. She needed to fight the impulse four different times before she was able to get it under control. She never even was with a male yet. She knew it was something she needed to take care of. To look at the female was no motivation at all to give it a try. She felt the bile start to rise again as she watched the female.

When Gail looked at the female, she needed to look away. She was afraid her eyes would start to glow red. She was aware it was what Jesse went through growing up from an early age, all through her teenage years. It angered her to no end. She knew she needed to keep it under control. She was able to do so with much difficulty.

Jesse and Savannah used the clothes Cammy found for the female and helped her. They tried to clean her off a little. She seemed to be covered with a sticky mass from head to toe, from front to back, especially her face and hair.

Savannah looked at the female again as she helped her dress. She imagined what was done to her. It appeared to be the same things she viewed in videos on the internet when there was a group of men around a female in a circle all doing the same thing. She only wondered what it must have been like. She hoped to never find out. It always looked to her like it was more of an 'attack' on the female body when a male and female were together. She really wondered why some of those things needed to be done. She honestly didn't see how they could benefit the female in any way. Some of them seemed as rude as they were disgusting.

Jesse looked with rage at what was obviously done to the female. She was in similar situations in the past, the future. She knew what it was like to be abused. Like Vanna, she felt it was more horrific when a group of men held her down and took turns one after another. Somehow it made it all worse as they would all comment and jeer as each man took his turn one after another. They would constantly grope her, insult her, laugh at her, and physically hurt her, just to make sure she screamed enough. It was like she wasn't even a person. She was something less than a human being. She was like some type of object. No one would treat an animal the same way. There were others who would stop them if they did. No one stopped them when it was her.

She talked to the female. She told her it would be OK. She wanted to tell her she went through the same thing, many times. She looked over at Savannah and said nothing. She still felt the shame and embarrassment for what was done to her. She knew she did it to others as well. She felt even more shame and embarrassment for those actions. She hurt both men and women who were still alive. She thought it would make the hole in her soul not hurt as much. It only seemed to make it hurt more. Derek made her stop any further 'activity' of the same nature. It was the 'price' for Derek to be with her. No more 'Scavenger like' activity. It was a good thing too. Derek was a good man.

Savannah kept watch as Cammy and Gail went through the computers. She glanced back at Jesse as she comforted the female. She knew Vanna and Jesse both suffered the same way. It was a thought which was very hard to get out of her mind to actually see the results close up as she just did. Somehow it made it even more real than it already was.

She thought the female was tough. She seemed to be in a lot better condition mentally then she thought she would be after going through such an ordeal. Maybe Cammy's speculation about her source of income was correct. It was still done under the threat of death, and most likely disfigurement before the death occurred. Whatever it was, she did what she needed to do to keep herself alive. She remembered it was what Vanna told her as well. You can't escape if you're busted up or dead. Vanna always managed to escape.

John wanted to get the operation concluded. They could collect some of their personnel from the top of the mountain as well as the captured HK drones from the old packing house.

"Cam, lift off and get the female." John said. "Then go down, let her off, and pick up one of the captured drones from the packing house. They've moved them outside. They're ready to lift."

Cam was ready to go. She sat at the temporary desert base with Hanna and two of Cameron's Terminators. The Iroquois was burning and turning and ready to go. She kicked up the power and took off. She knew she wouldn't have any trouble going to the top of the mountain without a load.

"We're off." Cam reported.

John Henry viewed the detainee as a liability. She pretty much saw everything which occurred and what the resolution of it was upon the mountain. He wanted to know what her final disposition should be. He wondered if it was a blessing or a curse she survived the ordeal at the hands of the Grays.

"What about the girl?" John Henry asked.

John looked at John Henry for a moment before he spoke. He wondered what he was getting at. He wanted to get some additional input. He believed the source was very important.

"I don't know." John said. "Let me ask Savannah or Jesse."

John spoke with Savannah and she came up with an option. Savannah didn't want her terminated. He wasn't so sure some of the Terminators might question her involvement in everything which happened so far. The fact she was still alive showed she 'cooperated' to some extent. What was her choice if she didn't? Cammy reported the female witnessed what happened to another female who responded too slowly to the demands of the Grays. They made it clear it would happen to her as they beat and punched her on the way up to the bunker at the mountain top.

What if it was one of the females in the Resistance? What if it was his mother? What if it was his sister? What if it was him? Vanna and Jesse both told him they needed to do, what they needed to do, to stay whole, and stay alive. If they were dead, they couldn't escape.

Savannah was a little worried about the future of the female. She thought she might have a better chance if she was far away from everything which occurred to her recently. She didn't want to give anyone an excuse to terminate her. She could issue an 'order' to prevent it from happening. She didn't think she should need to. She believed they should all see it for what it was and put themselves in her place before they made any type of judgment.

"Jesse, I need you and Gail to accompany the female." Savannah said. "You talk to her and give it to her straight. I want her to have a future of some kind after this ordeal, but away from this state. She needs to leave this area and never return. If she does, she puts her fate on the line. I'm going to give her one chance to save herself. If anyone can make her understand I believe it's you, Jesse."

The female hadn't spoken much, she seemed to be in a daze or drugged to some extent. It didn't seem like shock.

Jesse looked the female over one more time. They were able to reassure her some.

"OK, love." Jesse said. "Gail…."

Gail thought of Jesse as she looked at the female. She reached down and picked her up. She carried her away from the bunker. She wished she could have done the same thing for Jesse and the other girls in the future before they suffered the same things. It seemed like a horrible way to terminate to her. Termination in combat would be the only honorable way to go. She thought about a petty thief in a parking lot who looked at her one time in a suggestive manner. She busted him up for it. When Holly found out, she went to terminate him herself. Cameron needed to stop them.

A few minutes later, Cam's UH-1 came over the crest of the mountain and set down. Gail carried the female over and set her inside the helicopter. Jesse and Gail climbed in. They decided not to load the two deactivated Terminators onto it. There was no need to further traumatize the female. It took off. The UH-1 came and went in less than thirty seconds.

Savannah watched them fly away. It bothered her very much to know the same type of things happened to 'her'. Well, to Vanna anyway. A different future version of 'her', but it was still her. She knew they happened to Jesse too. Now she needed to wonder if they would ever happen to her. She was well aware something happened to all the females in the future regardless of age or what they looked like. All of them were abused. For most of them it was multiple times. In the different futures she visited, every female she talked with suffered from the same fate. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only virgin in either of those two futures she visited. It was a very unsettling thought.

Earlier:

Cameron moved through the passageway. She calculated she was headed directly towards the communications array, even though it was underground.

A burst of silenced rounds was fired down the passageway in their direction.

Cameron took some hits. It only furthered her resolve there needed to be some type of retribution.

It didn't look like the enemy was going to go down without a fight. So be it. They would give them one.

Cameron, Bob, and Steve all opened up in response. Their Coltan rounds silenced the hostile fire. There was a momentary lull in the shooting. It was time to act.

She crashed through the door at the end of the passageway. There was an extensive array of computer equipment and armed technicians. She and her team terminated everyone in seconds. The computer equipment began to smoke. Some of it started to burn. The area began to fill with acrid smoke. No human would be able to survive in a matter of minutes. It didn't look like it would be a problem. They were all terminated.

Cameron looked around at the dead. The only ones there were Grays. There was someone very important who was missing.

"Where's the 'Metal Bitch'?" Cameron asked.

They double checked the entire area and all of the terminated Grays. They couldn't find her.

Cameron was very upset the 'Metal Bitch' was nowhere around. She wanted the area they were in destroyed.

"Pull the hard drives and then use Thermite to destroy everything left." Cameron said. "Collapse this room and the passageway with some C-4 when you pull out. Make it fast."

Cameron headed back out the way she came, only two of the team stayed behind with Thermite grenades and some C-4. She returned to the bunker entrance.

Cammy already pulled the hard drives out of the equipment in the first room. She looked up as Cameron reentered the area.

"Did you find her?" Cammy asked. "Where's the 'Metal Bitch'?"

Cameron was extremely displeased. She didn't like it when anyone pulled a 'fast one' on her.

"No. She wasn't there." Cameron said. "I don't know where she's at, or how she escaped."

Cameron directed her team to collect the bodies on the mountain and bring them to the bunker. They would all be sealed in the passageway before the opening to the bunker was blown closed. It would be their tomb. The entrance would be obliterated. Nobody would know what was once there.

Cam's UH-1 landed at the old packing house.

Jesse and Gail took the female away when Cam set down. It was before Cam hooked up to the first drone. They took one of the white vans and drove off as Cam lifted off with the drone slung underneath the Iroquois.

The girl regained her composure. She was still a little distressed. She watched the helicopter leave with some strange looking object secured below it. She was going to ask about it.

Jesse interrupted her thoughts.

"Do you want medical attention?" Jesse asked.

The girl thought about her treatment by the abusive group. They slapped her around some and beat her. She didn't even know how many times she was abused. It was all she was 'given' for food and water. She almost gagged again and she thought about it. She already vomited twice.

"No." The girl said. "They didn't break anything on me yet. I did everything they asked. I saw them kill another girl before. It was at a different place. They laughed when they did it. They did terrible things to her while she was still alive before they killed her. I saw one of the men put some of them in his pocket."

Jesse swallowed hard as she tried to console the girl. She felt very guilty even as she did so. She abused a few females in the future. She allowed them to live afterwards. She wanted them to suffer forever. She tried to tell herself it didn't happen yet, even if somehow it already did. The past, the future, was a terrible place to visit in any form.

"I've seen it before." Jesse said.

She was certain it was a form of mental illness. She wanted to blame it on her captors, but how could she when she did the same things herself?

Gail was with Cameron, Sheila, and Ally a few times when they freed females from the sex trade. She observed the 'condition' they were in. There was one thing she noted about the female there. She didn't seem very fazed about anything done to her, or what happened to her. She scanned her several times and determined she wasn't in shock. She was sure there was a little more going on there than met the eye. She wanted to know more about her. There was no indication she was ever in the future. She thought she could have been part of the anti-Metal group and experienced similar things before.

"You seem to handle all of the abuse well." Gail said.

The female looked a little nervous at Gail's question. It was clearly uncomfortable territory for her to elaborate.

"I've been abused before." The female said. "Just not like this. It was never more than a few at a time before. It's always a hazard in my 'line of work'. It happens. Not everyone wants to pay the bill. I need to eat. I need somewhere to live. I need things."

Gail understood now her suspicions were correct about the female. She was some type of prostitute. She seemed to be a very 'low end' one. She figured she was picked up off of the street. Maybe it was better not to know.

Jesse was away from Savannah. She felt more comfortable telling the female about herself. There was some comfort in shared pain and to 'know' what it was like….

"It's happened to me before too, several times." Jesse said. "At least you survived intact. I saw others too who didn't. It was most of them."

Jesse looked at Gail, but Gail looked away.

The girl didn't feel threatened currently. She was clearly nervous about her current status and who exactly it was she was in the 'custody' of.

"Who are you people?" The girl asked.

Gail was afraid Jesse might be a little too talkative because she felt a 'kinship' to the experience the girl went through. She could actually understand it. To survive something terrible, and know someone else experience the same thing was a bonding factor.

"We're the people who saved you and gave you your life back." Gail said. "We ask you to leave it at that. We can't divulge any more."

The girl couldn't tell very much but she did want to tell them one thing she heard several times.

"Those people were some kind of terrorists or something similar." The girl said. "I heard them talking about 'taking over'."

Gail wanted to ease her mind and reassure her the situation was taken care of. There was also one other thing that she didn't want her to do.

"They are all terminated." Gail said. "You can't go to the police about it. Those involved are extremely dangerous."

The girl looked around nervously when Gail mentioned the police.

"I'm not about to go to the police. I have a record." The girl said. "I'm 'wanted' for more than a few things. I jumped bail. There are a few jurisdictions which would like to have a further 'conversation' with me about my 'employment' and some other things. I did what I did to make ends meet. I need to eat. I need somewhere to stay."

She didn't want to say she knew how to use her 'money maker'. She did know how. Her life may not be great, but 'Nature's Treasury' was able to provide her with the things she needed to get by and exist. There was nothing glamorous about it. It was filthy disgusting work. She still didn't know why some people needed to beat on her.

Jesse understood sometimes a girl needed to do what she needed to do to survive. She needed to trade sex for food on more than a few occasions. In reality it was the same thing, but the girl did for a living. She needed to do it to survive. She shook her head to clear her mind. She didn't want to dwell in the past. The future was an ugly place. The past, the present, wasn't a whole lot better in some regards.

"Do you have a name, love?" Jesse asked.

The girl managed a faint smile. It was clear she felt a little more comfortable right now.

"It's Candy." She said. "I'm a 'working girl'. I'm not proud of it and I certainly wouldn't want my parents to know about it, but I need to eat. I don't want to be homeless. I'd be doing the same things, and it would be a lot worse, well, under normal circumstances. It doesn't get much worse than what I just went through. I know they were going to kill me."

The girl's words touched Jesse deeply inside. Survival seemed to come in many forms. Most of them we're just that - survival.

"Well, Candy." Jesse said. "I recommend you get a safer 'profession' and never come back to this part of the country. You don't want those people to find you again. They don't like loose ends."

Candy looked a little confused.

"I thought you said they were all dead." Candy said.

Jesse wanted to clarify her statement some.

"The men are. They were the ones who abused you." Jesse said. "The female got away. She will have a record of everything. She knows what you look like. She probably even knows who you are."

Candy cringed a little when Jesse mentioned the aggressive and cold blooded female leader. She was very forceful and abusive to her. Somehow she was incredibly strong, even though she didn't look like it. It still creeped her out the way the female leader watched her. She looked at her with contempt, as much as she did about how she responded. It almost felt like she was being 'studied'.

"She's the one behind it all." Candy said. "She was the one who was going to bust me up when the men were done. She said she was going to show them how to make it last for hours. I tried to buy time. I did everything they asked for. I even volunteered to do things for them. I hoped somehow I would be able to escape."

Jesse wondered why the girl was restrained if she was compliant with the demands of the Grays.

"Why were you tied up?" Jesse asked. "One of our team freed you."

There was a look of contempt on Candy's face.

"The crazy Bitch was going to start on me when she came back." Candy said. "I knew she was going to do it too. There was nothing but the stone cold look of death in her eyes. It was like she wanted to punish me for something she did. Maybe it was done to her. "

Gail hoped Candy would reveal a little bit more. She knew the 'Metal Bitch' was able to escape somehow. They needed to find out how so they could track her.

"Where did she go?" Gail asked.

Candy didn't know. She'd already told them everything she knew when she was untied.

"I showed them where." Candy said. "I saw her go in there."

Gail scanned Candy as she spoke.

She nodded at Jesse to indicate everything Candy said was true.

Gail relayed the information to John Henry.

They were still left with a big mystery and no answers. Somehow the 'Metal Bitch' was able to elude them.

Cameron was very upset the 'Metal Bitch' slipped away. She hoped the 'Metal Bitch' was still inside hiding somewhere when they blew the place up. Somehow she doubted it. The 'Metal Bitch' was able to evade them and it didn't sit well with her. She wanted a better answer and to know for sure. It was a loose end she couldn't accept. Maybe it was time to try a new approach.

"John Henry, see if you can get a hit on any of the phones which showed up at this location before, anywhere." Cameron asked.

John Henry ended the communications block. He replied a few seconds later.

"I have one." John Henry said. "It's at the lodge."

Cameron put it all together. She understood what it meant and what was about to happen.

"Cut the power." Cameron said. "I don't want the 'Metal Bitch' to get away."

As soon as John Henry got the 'ping' from the phone, it was the first thing he did.

"I already have." John Henry said. "They have backup generators. They will be online soon. I can't get to it. It is an isolated and self-contained unit."

Cameron hoped that there would be some type of time lag before the emergency equipment was turned on.

"How long will it be?" Cameron asked.

"Ten minutes tops." John Henry said. "It will probably be sooner."

Cameron immediately took off running.

"I can't make it there that fast." Cameron said.

She increased her speed to her maximum Terminator ability.

John Henry did have some encouraging news to give her.

"The cable cars were at the mid section when I killed the juice. They'll have to finish their trip and dock to unload and load." John Henry said. "I can send Gail and Jesse back to the base station quicker. They're already headed in the same direction to get their SUV anyway."

Cameron didn't want anybody else up on the mountain top to get involved, especially Savannah.

"Do it." Cameron said. "I'll tell Cammy and Savannah what I'm doing later on."

Cameron didn't want Savannah to try to follow her. There was going to be a fight to termination for one of them when she caught the 'Metal Bitch'. She hoped she wasn't the one who was terminated. There is no way to be sure. The 'Metal Bitch' was very elusive. She probably knew all the ins and outs around both the base station and the header station. She might even attempt to flee down the mountain side. There were hiking trails but a lot of the area was covered with snow. One false step on the icy ground, and she could slip out of control down into a canyon. She didn't want her missing and buried under an avalanche. She wanted her terminated.

Savannah looked around. All the other Terminators returned from collecting the bodies scattered about the mountain side.

"Where's Cameron?" Savannah asked.

Cammy didn't want to get too descriptive.

"She went with the others." Cammy said as she looked over the hard drives.

Savannah tried to contact Cameron. She switched to the Command Center.

"She's not answering." Savannah said. "John Henry, where's Cameron at?"

John Henry felt justified to tell Savannah where Cameron was. He'd thought it was a bad move on Cameron's part anyway.

"She went after the 'Metal Bitch'." John Henry said.

Savannah felt an immediate sense of alarm.

"When?" Savannah asked. "Where?"

John Henry was only sure of the phone 'ping' and not necessarily who actually possessed the phone currently.

"It was eight minutes ago." John Henry said. "She went to the lodge. It may not be the 'Metal Bitch', but another Gray. I don't know for sure."

The last team returned with the bodies. They dumped them in the passageway.

It looked to Savannah as if all their Terminators were now concentrated around the bunker opening.

"Do we have any of our team near Cameron?" Savannah asked.

John Henry doubted Savannah was going to like the answer.

"No." John Henry said. "Gail and Jesse are headed back to the base station."

Savannah hoped not to put them in danger.

"Cammy, can you go after her?" Savannah asked.

Cammy made a quick distance and time calculation.

"Not before she leaves if she gets on a cable car." Cammy said.

Sheila was tired of sitting on the ground with the rotor turning on the UH-1. Ally and her missed the entire operation. She received a message from CamNet. It was all she needed to take action. She cranked up the power and lifted off with the Iroquois.

"We're airborne." Sheila reported. "Savannah, we're coming to get you and Cammy."

John was dissatisfied with the turn of events as well. He wasn't sure it was such a good idea to put Savannah in more danger.

"On whose orders?" John asked. "I didn't authorize it."

Sheila felt more than justified by her actions.

"I received the message from CamNet." Sheila said. "We're to take four of our Terminators with us. We're to transport Cammy and Savannah to the base of the mountain where Gail and Jesse will pick them up. The Blackhawk will pick up the remainder of the team. Both helicopters will each take a drone afterwards, like Cam did."

John couldn't help but wonder if 'someone' didn't give CamNet the 'suggestion' to use Sheila like she just did. Upon further reflection, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Didn't want any of the enemy to get away from the mountain.

They all knew it was going to get worse, before it got better.

What they didn't know was, is how much worse it would get.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Pretty Little Head

Inside a pretty little head
The mind is a maze
Once you look inside of it
It becomes a daze

There are many things
To ponder and think about
Some we can whisper
Others we may shout

If there's a beginning
There must be an end
Are we part of the equation
Or do we only pretend

Can anyone hear us
Do they even care
We try and reach out
Is it so wrong to share

When our time is up
We all end up dead
Maybe someone will remember
The voice from a pretty little head

Nobody