Chapter 696

Make It Happen

The rumbling and vibrating of the forklift ended after a short while. Cam experienced enough wasted time clinging to the underside of the boxcar. She was ready for a change. She decided to chance it and try to get a better look at things. She was aware there was a Terminator present in the area. She would have to be very careful. It was time to move.

Cam looked around. She needed to look around the wheels and axles of the trucks on the boxcar and the one to the north of it. She didn't see anyone to the north or south of where she was at. She didn't think anyone but a Terminator would be able to spot her from a distance with three sets of the railroad trucks and wheel between her and the north side.

She dropped down from the bottom of the boxcar. She was on the railroad tracks themselves on her hands and knees. The wooden ties were old and dry. She quickly got to her feet in a crouched position. She moved toward where the opening into the building was. She hoped she could glance up to see if she could spot anything inside the building. The low angle only allowed her to see up, but not back into the interior. A forklift could be heard moving around inside. She didn't want to chance poking her head up above the level of the floor of the building.

She knew she wasn't careful when she looked into the building, her head might be met by the boot of a Terminator, or the bullet of a Gray. She couldn't get overzealous in her desire to see what was inside of the building. So far she was unable to hear as much as she would have liked to.

She moved to the other side of the boxcar to see if it remained clear along the east side. She was still underneath the boxcar for whatever cover it would yield. The east side consisted of a fence covered with various types of vegetation growth. The fence ran the length of the property. It started from the street to the north and extended to the flood control channel in the south. The east side was shielded from observation.

She also saw it as a weak link. It seemed as if anyone could hide on the other side of the fence. It wouldn't take too much effort to come over it, or go through it. It made her wonder if there was some type of surveillance on the other side they hadn't discovered yet. It might even be booby trapped in some fashion. She figured a few Claymore mines would really give someone a bad day if they triggered it accidentally.

Cam moved back to the other side of the boxcar directly under the ramp. She looked to see if the second boxcar was open, or the other door into the building was open. Both were still closed for the other boxcar. She wondered why they didn't open both of them at the same time. Maybe there was only one ramp. Maybe there was some order to what they were doing. It was all a mystery to her so far.

The forklift returned and rumbled over the ramp into the boxcar. It 'clacked' loudly over her head on the ramp. With all of the noise and sounds coming from the ramp above her, it almost seemed as if it was going to collapse on top of her. It obviously wasn't or it would have done it long ago. She already heard the forklift make several trips prior to her arrival under the ramp. It was still somewhat unsettling.

She knew there was a roving patrol, but it hadn't come around again. It should have. They must be slacking off somewhere she figured. Without thinking she reached up and touched her cheek where the cigarette butt landed on it earlier. She wondered if it was the same individuals and they stopped at the same location to have another smoke. She resisted the urge to wait underneath one of the boxcars for them to come around. She could terminate the individual who offended her with his careless action earlier. No. She was in the middle of an operation. She decided to go to the east side of the first boxcar and open the door to see what was inside. It seemed somewhat of a risky move because the patrol could come around the corner at any moment and see her attempting to open the door of the boxcar.

There was a loud 'clang' as the forklift bumped the side of the boxcar getting its next load. It shook with a sharp jolt. She didn't hear any reprimand from the Terminator. She thought it might be time to chance some communication with the Command Center. There was currently a lot of background noise.

Cam decided to contact the rest of the team when the forklift moved away back inside of the building. She was pretty sure the noise of the forklift running would mask her communications from the Terminator if he was anywhere close.

"Where is the patrol?" Cam whispered.

Steve currently had eyes on the roving patrol which appeared to take an unauthorized break. They didn't even check around them very often where they were at to see if there was anything happening. He could tell the operation was routine to them and they didn't take it seriously. He hoped to be the one to terminate them later on and advise them of their infractions as he did so.

"They're on the west side of the building by the truck loading dock. They're currently talking and taking a smoke break." Steve said quietly.

Cam quickly calculated the distance away they were from where she was at, and how long it would take them to get there once they started out. They would have to finish traversing the west side of the building, and the entire north side before they would turn the corner to come around on the east side.

"Let me know when they move." Cam whispered.

Cam touched her cheek again and the small burn there. She still wanted to take some personal retribution. She again thought of taking down the patrol when they came by the side. It may have to wait. It was a personal score to settle. She still intended to personally terminate any Gray who possessed a package of cigarettes. Upon further reflection, she should have examined the cigarette butt to determine what brand it was so she could know when she terminated the Gray who was responsible. She didn't know Steve wanted to terminate them as well for their unprofessional behavior and sloppy demeanor.

It didn't look to Steve as if the men were about to move anytime soon. He hoped it would give Cam time to do whatever she needed to do.

"Affirmative…." Steve said quietly.

Cam quickly scrambled from underneath the open boxcar to the next one. It was still unopened.

She looked in both directions and lifted the latch. She slid the door quietly open a foot and a half. She looked around and climbed inside. She left the door open so she could get out and over the wall to the east side if she needed to escape quickly. She hoped the heavy vegetation growth would help hide her fleeing figure and make her less of a target for the bullets which were sure to follow her. She knew Bob was in a position to give her covering fire from the M82A1. She was sure she would be able to get away without too much damage.

She looked around the interior of the boxcar. It was packed. There were large crates on giant pallets from the front to the back, and from the top to the bottom inside the boxcar. She opened the first crate and it was filled with packaged children's toys. She knew it was a diversion of some kind in case anyone inspected the boxcars. There was always the threat of theft too. The hobo railroad gangs usually looked for electronics. The hobo gangs were always a threat around the railroad tracks. They were always in a 'war' with the hobo gangs which crossed the border illegally. Their squabbles often left one or more dead along the tracks. It was seldom reported in the news. No one cared about the transients or homeless who died, let alone a hobo. She doubted most people even knew they still existed, and the threat they posed.

Steve kept his eye on the two men who were still taking a smoke break. He looked off to the north side and spotted a new problem. It looked like it was going to be a big problem.

"Cam, a second patrol has left the office area and is headed around to the east side." Steve said. "They just appeared from inside and seem to be in a hurry. They'll come around the corner in seconds."

Cam made for the door of the boxcar and peaked out. The men already started around the corner. It was too late for her to get out without being seen. She knew she was stuck and would be spotted whatever she did if she tried to get out to hide or to run. As soon as she was spotted the operation was blown and the surprise was lost. The main facility as well as all the satellite facilities were sure to go on lock down and heightened alert. They would probably all become armed camps within minutes.

She didn't spot any long guns on the new patrol when she looked. It didn't mean they weren't heavily armed otherwise. She knew she was in a tight spot right now with no easy way out.

What was she going to do?

What should she do?

Cameron knew where she wanted to go based on her file of the most current satellite map of the area she was at. She told Gail where to drive. They were on a service road for the giant power transmission lines. There is no shortage of the large power lines around the Southland.

She briefly wondered if all the individuals who drove electric cars realized the energy to charge them came from coal fired power plants from across the nation. She figured a coal fired power plant would actually produce more pollution than a gasoline powered automobile would create. She wondered what anyone who was concerned about the environment was going to think when Skynet made its move. Everything they knew was going to be wrecked. They would be lucky to survive the initial attacks. Maybe they would be lucky if they didn't. She quickly devised a plan she thought might work based upon the satellite imagery.

"The road will bring us along the side of the old steel mill and we can hike in from there. It will be a three mile hike." Cameron said. "I'll scout ahead and you two will follow me later on."

Savannah knew Cameron was really going to take all the risk and use herself as a target if things went bad. She looked around the landscape where they were at.

"The terrain seems open." Savannah said. "There don't seem to be a lot of places to hide."

Cameron felt her interpretation of the satellite imagery was correct. Where she was headed, there should be cover.

"Once we get around the side, there are a lot of rocks on the hills." Cameron said. "I'll work my way up and make sure it's clear for you and Gail."

Savannah was worried about the resources the location was sure to have. It was their belief the big rig was loaded with HK drones. There was more than likely other HK equipment there as well. She didn't think a few large rocks, or even boulders, were going to offer much protection if an HK drone came looking for them. If several were sent out, it would pretty much spell 'game over'.

"Don't forget they have HK drones in the truck." Savannah said. "It means they most likely have more there. It doesn't take long for them to get airborne and active. Everything we do needs to be done with extreme caution."

Gail checked over the weapons in the back of the SUV. She believed they would need to use some type of an armed response. She was a little dissatisfied with the weapons available.

"We don't have a lot of heavy firepower." Gail said.

Cameron believed she would be able to use her female attributes, and what she was constructed for. She was supposed to be an infiltrator. The goal was to blend in to get inside of one of the Resistance camps. She didn't think the goal was too much different for what she wanted to accomplish there to get inside of the enemy camp. She wanted them to think more of her appearance as a lost teenager, instead of a Terminator on a search and destroy mission.

"I'll look like a lost hiker if I'm spotted or stopped." Cameron said. "They won't take me for a threat at first."

Cameron took off her vest and only carried her Glock and Taser.

"You two can follow me." Cameron said. "Let me have a five minute head start."

Savannah liked the idea even less now.

Cam decided to slide the boxcar door closed. She was sure if the men saw the door was open, they would look inside and probably raise some type of an alarm. There was nowhere for her to hide except on top of the crates. If someone entered the boxcar to look, they would spot her in no time. The two men who were at the gate would have reported an 'open door' when the boxcars were spotted by the locomotive earlier. It would indicate someone infiltrated their operation and looked in one of the boxcars. She knew she couldn't latch it, but maybe the men wouldn't notice it wasn't properly secured. The new group was a fresh patrol and the boxcars only arrived there a short time ago. They hadn't seen these two boxcars yet. She was going to need to rely on their unprofessionalism to not take things as seriously as they should. She doubted the new patrol would be too much different from the previous one.

The crates were all stacked and there was not much room to move around. Cam climbed up on top of one row and was ready to move to the back. She could hear the men talking. They didn't seem happy. The patrol was already there at the boxcar. She was out of time.

"I would rather be on patrol than around that stiff." The first voice said.

"I hear you, bro." The second voice said.

"That guy just gives me the creeps when he looks at me." The first voice said.

"You need to always remember, it's not a guy." The second voice said.

"Hey, look." The first voice said. "The door isn't latched."

"It's not open." The second voice said. "Do you think anyone messed with it? Should we look inside? I don't see anyone around. The other guys never reported anything suspicious."

There was some grunting noise and a scuffing sound.

"Here, help me." The first voice said. "I can't even move it."

There was more noise and additional grunting.

"It is really tight. It won't even budge with two of us." The second voice said. "It must be jammed."

"If two of us can't open it, it's jammed." The first voice said. "It's probably why they didn't bother with the latch."

"Let's just throw the latch and move on." The second voice said. "Someone probably damaged it on the inside when they were loading it with a forklift. Those things do a lot of damage when people aren't careful with them."

Cam released her grip on the door when she heard the latch thrown. She was holding the door closed to keep it from moving. It actually didn't require too much strength to keep them from opening it.

The only trouble now was, unless she broke the latch off, she was trapped. Since the men already checked the latch, when they came around again they would see it was broken and alert the Terminator inside. Since the metal on the latch would be broken from her forcing it open, it would indicate the intruder was a Terminator. They were sure to go on their highest level of alert. They would probably start activating HK equipment as well. The operation would be blown.

Cam decided to wait. She was trapped inside the closed boxcar for now. It was still going to present more than a few problems going forward. There was nowhere for her to hide once they started to unload it, and there was nowhere to go. She needed to think of some way to conceal herself or find another way out. It seemed she was in a bind for sure right now.

Savannah wasn't happy about Cameron's plan. She didn't want Cameron to go off on her own.

"No." Savannah said as she slipped off her vest.

Cameron appeared surprised with what Savannah just did.

"What?" Cameron asked.

Savannah didn't want Cameron to go off on her own. It was too risky. An idea popped into her head.

"I'm going with you." Savannah said.

Savannah reached in the back of the SUV and picked up her underwear and bra.

Gail tilted her head slightly to the side as she saw what Savannah held in her hand. She recognized them as Savannah's undergarments. She spotted them in her drawer before when she dressed her once. It was actually only a few days ago. She quickly scanned Savannah and saw she wasn't wearing any right now. She wondered what it all meant.

Savannah saw Gail look at her, and her underwear in her hand. She didn't want to get into a big explanation about what happened and why she was no longer wearing them. She still preferred to keep what happened at the pier between Cameron and her. The small child needed help. If she wouldn't have acted when she did, the child would have died.

"It's a long story." Savannah said. "I don't want to talk about it, at least not for a while."

Gail nodded. She knew all girls needed to have a few secrets. It seemed she heard the same statement from all of the human girls at one time or another. It made her wonder what the secrets were, because things never seem to be too secret around the Resistance base. It seemed everyone knew what everyone else was doing because everyone was doing everyone else.

Savannah carried her Taser and Glock as well.

Cameron didn't want Savannah to take this big of a risk with her. She was worried about HK drones coming out to look for them if they were spotted among the boulders.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked.

Savannah knew there was no good plan, but she devised a workable plan.

"Gail can drive in after us if we get in a jam." Savannah said. "If we're stopped, I will drop these in front of whoever stops us. I don't think women's underwear will seem like a threat to them, but it will distract them. They're going to look at it even if they don't want to. They're going to imagine where they've been, and think they were very recently removed. Their mind will work in the wrong direction, at least for the first few seconds. It will be more than enough time for us to act."

Cameron knew it would throw off anyone who stopped them. It would make them wonder why they weren't being worn, or what happened and followed their removal. The fact they were both female would cause all types of wild speculation in the Gray's mind if they were stopped. It was doubtful a Gray would see them as a threat at that point, but more likely as two females they could 'put the grab' on and tie down to a couple of beds in their bunk area. Why would they need to settle for one 'comfort bunk' occupied when they could create two 'comfort bunks'. She needed to clear her mind and not think about anything along those lines. She wanted to give Savannah a little reassurance.

"You must get behind me if a problem develops." Cameron said. "You'll be unprotected."

Savannah wanted to joke she was already pregnant, so she must have been 'unprotected' before, but she didn't want to upset Cameron. She didn't think Cameron would see it as a joke or amusing. She doubted Gail would either. It would be for different reasons. She wanted to give Cameron a reminder she was sure would make her use a little more caution than normal.

"Then we better be real careful." Savannah said. "I have a date with the past…."

Cameron knew she needed to use even more caution. It would better protect Savannah and her now. She was aware Savannah risked herself so she would use more caution. She knew Savannah wanted to protect her as much as she wanted to protect Savannah. She also needed to make sure Vanna's baby was protected inside Savannah.

John listened to the developing situations. He knew Cam already took a big risk and Cameron tried to risk it. Savannah's actions checked Cameron's carelessness. Maybe it wasn't actually carelessness but, it was certainly over aggressiveness with her original plan. It still put Savannah at risk.

"I don't like what Cameron's doing." John said.

John Henry doubted John ever liked what Cameron did. It was one of the reasons why Cameron never let them know what she was doing most of the time. It would be unnecessary flak she would need to deal with. She would still do what she wanted to do anyway. He understood the implications of Savannah's presence with Cameron.

"Cameron will be more cautious if Savannah is with her." John Henry said.

John still saw it as an unnecessary risk to both of them, especially Savannah.

"They should wait until it is dark." John said.

John Henry was aware there were hours of daylight left.

"It doesn't seem likely." John Henry said.

John was already worried about Cam's situation. She was basically trapped inside of the boxcar. She would either need to break her way out and leave evidence behind of what happened, or wait for the Grays to open the boxcar and fight her way out when they did. Either way, it was going to blow the operation and everything was going to go hot.

"Cam is trapped in a boxcar." John said. "I already have enough to worry about."

Cam's situation was a 'non issue' to John Henry.

"She's only 'trapped' so as to not blow the operation." John Henry said. "She can exit at any time. She can fight her way out if necessary."

John would rather have Cam break the latch off and exit over the east wall instead of fighting her way out once they opened the boxcar to unload it.

"what about when they open the boxcar up and start unloading it?" John asked. "Then what's going to happen? The Terminator was at the other boxcar when they went to open it and unload it earlier. More than likely they'll be at the boxcar Cam is in as well. They might be able to spot something is off right away."

John Henry figured Cam would be able to tell them what was really inside the boxcar. He knew she would make productive use of her time.

"Then I guess we'll find out what the real cargo is." John Henry said. "We both know it's not children's toys."

Steve spotted the first patrol on the move again. They came around the north side of the building. It appeared their shift was over. No doubt their laziness and slowness is what forced the other patrol to come out and hurry to try to make up time from when they should have started when the other patrol returned.

"The first patrol has entered the office area." Steve reported.

Bob had the second patrol in sight. He was ready to use the Barrett on them if necessary. He was able to get them 'zeroed' when they were fooling with the door on the side of the boxcar. He would have been able to take both of them with one shot if he needed to. Since they couldn't move the door on the boxcar, he knew neither of them was a Terminator.

"I have eyes on the new patrol." Bob said. "They're checking the gate the rail cars used to enter."

John wondered if the train would come back. Maybe they actually delivered a wrong car with the toys in it where Cam was at. He wasn't sure exactly what procedure they used to determine what rail cars went where.

"Where's the train?" John asked.

Bob could see down the tracks in both directions from his current position.

"It's moved down the mainline." Bob said. "They're stopped at a food factory about a mile further down and are about to leave a tank car of corn syrup off."

John wondered what someone did with a tank car full of corn syrup. He didn't want the two boxcars which were pulled away from the building earlier to get away from them before they could be tagged. He wanted to know what was inside of them for sure. It either needed to be captured or destroyed. He knew Cameron would want to capture it. He knew she would take it off to some unknown location, never to be seen again by anyone but her Terminators. He would prefer it if it was destroyed.

"Al, I want you to move on foot to a position where you can see down the east side of the building and the two boxcars." John said. "I want to be able to warn Cam of any impending danger. I want Steve to drive down and tag the two boxcars which just left."

Steve didn't know if the train would still be there when he arrived at the location.

"What happens if I miss them?" Steve asked.

John wanted Steve to follow them as long as it took. He could follow them back to the rail yard if necessary. It seems right now they were still headed away from it. There were more deliveries they probably needed to do yet.

"Follow them." John said. "They don't have anywhere to turn off."

Bob noted some of the other cars which were in the train and the positions they were located in.

"There are three bulkhead flatcars full of lumber for the next drop off." Bob said. "Steve can intercept them at the lumber yard. They will probably have empties to pull out first. The train should be on the mainline unattended at that point."

John wanted to know where those two boxcars went.

"Make it happen." John said. "I don't want to lose those two box cars no matter what we need to do."

John Henry knew he could always give the train a 'red light'. He could give it a red light in both directions so it couldn't proceed, nor go back to the yard. It would probably raise a lot of eyebrows if he did. He wasn't going to suggest it to John unless it became necessary. He needed to consider the possibility Skynet may be tapped into the railroad system itself and detect the incursion.

Steve drove off after Al moved to his new position. He headed for the lumber yard. It was a few miles from where he was at. He parked the SUV on the street and moved back a half mile and calculated where the train would stop. There were two empties inside the lumber yard. There was a 'run around' track next to the lumber yard spur. Steve waited near a pile of junk. It was one of many which littered the right of way along the tracks. It seemed as if random individuals would illegally dump things on the railroad right of way to get rid of them, and not need to pay a fee to take them to a proper disposal site. Very few of the piles of debris he looked at contained anything railroad related.

He looked around to make sure there were no hobos around. He didn't want to have to terminate them if they tried to rob him. He doubted many of the hobos would survive long enough to become Scavengers when Skynet took over, if the event actually happened.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Make It Happen

How do things happen
Do they happen on their own
Maybe the answers
Are best left unknown

Why do things happen
Is there an unseen force
Maybe the path forward
Is littered with remorse

When do things happen
Is it from hard work
Or the results of an escapade
From some imbecilic jerk

What makes things happen
Is it just random luck
Maybe it's the reason
Everything seems to suck

Who makes things happen
Isn't it every person who does
Don't say that the reason
Is just because

Things happen
Because they happen
If things are slow to happen
Then one needs to make it happen

Nobody