Chapter 707

Put It Out

Cameron peeked out from the restroom. What she saw was extensive. So far no one seemed aware of her arrival. She went back to the bathroom window and made sure the patrol she just avoided wasn't alerted to her presence. She saw they were further down the side of the building. They continue to move at the same speed. She was sure she wasn't detected. She moved back through the restroom and looked around the short wall which blocked the entrance to the restroom. There was a lot of HK equipment staged there. There was a row of HK Tracks and a row of HK drones. It looked like all of them were ready to go active in a moment's notice.

It didn't appear as if any of them were missing from either row. It indicated the HK Track she spotted earlier, and reprogrammed, didn't come from inside the building she was in. It made her wonder if it was in one of the smaller wooden buildings across the way in front of the building she was in. She didn't think it was something they would leave out in the daytime. Now it made her wonder if there were more of them elsewhere they hadn't discovered.

Cameron checked the time. The HK Track she reprogrammed would go on the offensive in a short while. It meant the 'fireworks' would start soon. She needed to get moving.

She missed a transmission directed at her earlier when she shut her com off. She didn't want it to be heard by any Terminators. She knew there needed to be some there somewhere.

She looked at the row of HK drones and the row of HK Tracks. The HK drones were going to be harder to get to unobserved. She would need to cross the central aisle in order to reach them.

There were a few people, but none of them appeared to be a Terminator. Not all Terminators were readily apparent at first glance. Sometimes their behavior needed to be observed to confirm what they were. It seemed to depend upon their length of exposure to humans. The longer they were exposed to humans, the better they could emulate their behavior in every way.

They seemed to be in a mild state of panic. They hurriedly made phone calls and used their computers. Things seemed to not function for them properly. It was going to cause some type of alert at some point soon. It was going to be seen as more than a glitch or some type of anomaly.

Cameron knew she needed to start moving to get some of the equipment disabled. It was all going to go ballistic very soon. She was going to have to start on the HK Tracks first. She would rather have started on the HK drones. There was no easy way to get to them without being totally exposed for a short period of time. She decided to get to what she could get to with the least amount of difficulty.

She moved down the row of HK Tracks and reprogrammed the furthest one away from the people. She checked her time again, it was running out. She started to disable the remaining HK Tracks. It was all she could do now since the time was all but gone. She was two thirds of the way through the row when she was spotted. There was a shout. She hoped to be further along before it happened. She thought she remained unobserved because it was her intent to do so, maybe not. It wasn't what she wanted to happen. Now everyone was in danger. She ducked behind the closest HK Track for cover.

Minutes ago:

Savannah was worried about Cameron. It was time to take some action. She didn't want to wait for the shooting to start. Once it started, Cameron and Anna could be severely damaged. It was clear she was going to need to use some more of the resources available to her.

"Hank, I want you to follow the path Cameron and Anna used and enter the compound." Savannah said. "You may need to create a distraction when the shooting starts."

Hank went to exit the vehicle.

Cammy looked at Savannah. She thought Savannah put her in charge. She actually knew what Savannah was going to do, and try to act on her own. She felt she needed to say something..

"Cameron hasn't requested assistance." Cammy said.

Savannah didn't want to create a problem.

"Hold on a second, Hank." Savannah said. "I want to check something real quick."

Savannah didn't have access to any satellite maps or detailed photos, but CamNet did. She quietly asked for her assistance and where the closest structure which could be set on fire near the front gate was at. She was given specific instructions. She asked they be forwarded to Hank as well. She wanted to inform him it was his new objective, instead of following Cameron's path. She knew she was going to need some Terminator assistance. She didn't want to use Cammy yet.

"I'm taking preemptive action." Savannah said. "The HK Track Cameron reprogrammed will go active soon. We should be inside the compound before it does. I need to change Hank's mission. I want Hank to start a fire in the outbuilding near the 'guard shack' in a small structure."

Cammy checked the image of her satellite photo on file. She saw there were three outbuildings located near there. Each one was bigger than the next as they moved away from where the gate was.

Sarah paid attention to what was happening around her. She understood what Savannah was after. It was what they needed to be able to drive right up to the gate unopposed. Hopefully the guards wouldn't even realize what they looked at was a 'Trojan Horse' and let them in with open arms.

"Savannah's right." Sarah said. "We need to do something. We have these people contained. The fire will draw them out into the open to investigate it or try to fight it. It will increase our kill ratio."

Cammy tilted her head slightly. She could see it was an effective strategy. If any of the Grays were already behind cover, they would be exposed if they were out in the open. It would make their termination easier and quicker.

Savannah checked the time. She was updated by CamNet as to where their additional forces were at. The fire would serve to do three different things.

"It will also draw the attention of the two observation posts. The MIKE Force can slip in and finish them off even easier." Savannah said. "They should be into position in minutes."

Cammy checked her time. She could see Savannah came up with a good plan and it was time to enact it immediately.

"Go now and do it. We'll pick you up on the way in." Cammy said to Hank. "Make your way back to the road away from the gate.

"Affirmative…." Hank said and took off running.

Cammy looked at Savannah and smiled. She kept a close eye on her to make sure she didn't slip away on her own. She wasn't going to allow it. She would make sure someone went with her.

"It was good thinking." Cammy said.

Savannah hoped so, she knew they might be going from the frying pan into the fire too. It was a risk she was willing to take. She thought about the statement which just ran through her mind and smiled to herself. They actually were about to go from the frying pan into the fire. She hoped it was the Grays who would be the ones who took the heat though.

A couple of minutes later, Hank reported he would have the fire started in fifty three seconds.

Cammy sent out a warning to Cameron and Anna. She hoped they would hear it, even if they were unable to respond. She knew they were certain there were Terminators inside the buildings. As of the last report from either of them, they hadn't been located yet.

"Cameron, Anna, we'll arrive with a distraction in four minutes." Cammy said. "The HK Track will go hunting in six minutes. The plan is to draw as many of the enemy out into the open as possible. Hopefully it will draw them away from you as well."

There was no response from either of them. It wasn't a good sign.

Cammy looked at Savannah but didn't say anything.

It bothered Savannah even more.

"The MIKE Force is ready to move down the hillside." John Henry reported. "They will almost be to the observation posts when the fire starts, and down to the target area when the two trucks arrive."

Hank moved into position by an old wooden building. He was on the other side of the fence outside of the compound. There were three wooden structures. He decided to torch the smallest one first. He removed the explosive charge from a Thermite grenade. When it ignited, the Thermite would start a fire. It would consume the wood rapidly. There wouldn't be a loud explosion without the explosive charge.

"The fire's been started." Hank said. "The wood is very old and dry. The fire will expand rapidly. It will spread to a second structure soon. I'm moving back to the road."

Cammy felt they were close enough to the time. She wanted the trucks to get closer.

"Let's roll." Cammy said.

The two trucks lumbered off toward the old steel mill. They would arrive in two minutes, in spectacular fashion.

If everything worked as planned, the Grays would actually open the gate for them and welcome them in.

Cameron ducked back as a group of Grays moved towards her. She expected to be confronted, but they didn't even look at her, or even in her direction. They were headed outside. She looked in the direction they were headed and saw flames outside when the door was opened.

"Fire!" The first Gray screamed. "Grab some fire extinguishers."

She knew it was the distraction Savannah and Cammy orchestrated. She smiled to herself. It was the perfect opening to get the rest of the team into the compound unopposed.

She quickly made it the rest of the way down the row of HK Tracks and disabled all of them. She worked on reprogramming the one on the end closest to where everyone exited. She needed to wait for the right time to cross over the aisle to the other side where the HK drones were parked. It was a few seconds after she finished when she heard the sound of sirens. There were fire trucks on their way towards the old steel mill. She could see the red lights as they flashed through the transom windows high up in the walls.

It was sure to draw everyone's attention. It would be directed outside and away from where she was at. She finished up the programming on the HK Track. The distraction allowed her to move from the row of HK Tracks to the other side of the building where there was a row of HK drones. She viewed the HK drones as the biggest threat, but she hadn't been able to get over to where they were at previously because of all the Grays. Everything was different now.

Cameron quickly crossed the room to the HK drones and started on the first one. She just finished it when there was a sound from behind her. She was sure it was a sign of bad news. She was right.

She turned to face the threat. It was a Terminator….

It wasn't what she hoped for. She thought maybe she should have been a little more attentive. She knew there needed to be Terminators there somewhere and there were.

All bets were off now.

Earlier:

The guard at the gate tried to fight from falling asleep. They took his phone away from him previously because they caught him using it twice. Now he was just bored and kept nodding off. He hoped they didn't catch him doing it. They would really be angry then. The Terminators could be real jerks sometimes. He saw more than one of his fellow compatriots slapped around pretty good by a Terminator.

Now his head snapped up and he saw one of the outbuildings close by was on fire. What the Hell? It was growing bigger by the second. He was sure he must have been asleep when it started because it was big right now. He wondered how he was going to be able to explain it.

He picked up his radio.

"Alpha One, this is Bravo Two, we have a fire burning near the gate." Bravo Two said.

Alpha One didn't see what the big deal was.

"Put it out." Alpha One said. "It must have just started."

Bravo Two could see it was more than he could control.

"I need help." Bravo Two said. "It is getting bigger and bigger."

Bravo Two really wondered how long it was burning before he noticed it. He wondered how it started, and why it was getting so big, so fast.

One entire side of the wooden structure was a flaming mass. It was clear the entire building was going to burn down. There was a good chance it would spread to the building next to it.

Bravo Two was about to head toward the fire when he saw Grays from inside the first structure come out. A few of them carried fire extinguishers. He also heard the sound of fire trucks. It was a fast response, he thought. He looked over at the outbuilding on fire. It now spread to a second outbuilding. Now he really wondered how long it was burning before he noticed it. He must have really dozed off. There would be hell to pay for it. Those Terminator bullies didn't like publicity.

The two fire trucks were almost there. He could see all the firefighters in full gear in them and on them. He thought about calling Alpha One and ask if he should open the gate or not. He looked over at the fire. The two buildings burnt ferociously. It was clear to him they were going to need a lot of water to put the fire out. He was sure the third building would catch on fire any second. He decided to act on his own. He opened the gate and both fire trucks rolled in. It was loud and looked impressive with their lights and sirens on.

He saw one fire fighter on the rear, step off the back of the truck. It was a woman. He could see she looked HOT, even with all the firefighting gear on. It was clear she packed a set of knockers which just wouldn't quit. With all the gear she wore, he couldn't get a good look at them at all. He was highly disappointed. If they wouldn't have taken his phone earlier, it's what he would have been looking at anyway, along with the close-ups.

Gail moved closer to him.

"How did the fire start?" Gail asked him. "When did it start?"

Bravo Two really didn't have any idea whatsoever. He only noticed it just a few minutes ago. No, it wasn't even a few minutes. Based on the size of the fire, he was sure it must have been burning for some time.

"I don't know." Bravo Two said. "I only noticed it a short time ago."

Gail looked at him with disbelief on her face.

"We got the call ten minutes ago." Gail said. "Were you asleep or something? What's inside of those structures?"

Now the guard was really worried.

"I don't know." Bravo Two said.

He was sure one of the Terminators would kill him.

He was right, but not how he thought it would be.

Gail was close enough now to grab him. There was a brief moment of surprise on his face when he realized what was actually happening. It didn't last long. She snapped his neck and tossed his rag doll body back into the guard shack. She saw the two fire trucks blocked the Grays between them and the fire. They were corralled in an 'L' shape 'kill zone' now.

She saw Savannah and Sarah were still in the driver's seats of the two fire trucks. The other Terminators asked them to drive. They thought it would give them the best protection. They now covered the entrance from the building. She moved to join the other 'firefighters' on the ground. Each Terminator moved into a position so there was a Gray in front of them.

Cammy saw everyone was in position.

"Now…." They all heard Cammy say.

The six Terminators all grabbed the unsuspecting Gray in front of them and terminated them. Everything was done silently. No shots were fired. It all happened very quickly.

Savannah looked around from her position in the driver's seat of the first fire truck. She watched everything go down even better than they planned on. She was sure the things were going to heat up and it wasn't from the fire burning on the other side of her.

Seconds ago:

The MIKE Force moved down the hill and was behind the observation posts. The two Grays edged forward to look at the fire burning down below them near the main gate of the large complex. They watched as the two fire trucks arrived. They never saw what was about to come from behind them.

They were both grabbed and terminated. They sent out the message they were in control of the two observation posts.

Tom took up a sniping position on the area below, while Dan got a Stinger ready. Frank set another Stinger on the rocks between Tom and Dan. He and the other Terminators went down the hill and converged on the back of the first building. They were almost there when they saw Anna wave to them and enter. They would be there in seconds to back her up.

The roving patrol was at the furthest point from the fire when it started. They hurried to see what happened. They wondered what idiot was responsible for the fire. It was probably one of the new guys going outside for a smoke and threw the smoldering butt away carelessly. Most of the new recruits used various types of narcotics. They knew there's going to be Hell to pay for it.

The three guards ran past the HK Track when they heard it start to move behind them. Good, they thought. They would have backup if things went hot and this was really some kind of an attack. Since there were fire trucks at the scene, it appeared whatever it was, would be very complicated and result in some type of investigation later on.

They didn't think the Terminators there were going to be able to kill two truckloads of firemen and pretend like nothing happened. It was something they tended to do in any situation they didn't care for. There was bound to be some record as to where the fire trucks were dispatched to. Someone needed to make a report. They didn't know who it was. It was obviously going to get very complicated for somebody. They were glad they were on patrol at the time it happened, it wouldn't be them. They moved forward with the reassuring sound of the HK Track close behind them.

They didn't know the HK Track now worked for the Resistance, thanks to Cameron's reprogramming. They would become its first targets.

Cameron knew she was about to be in a confrontation with a Terminator. They were all life and death situations. She tried to pull her Taser as she turned, but something slammed into her and sent her sprawling. Whatever it was, arrived unexpected and caught her off guard, even more so than the Terminator who came up behind her. She wasn't sure what happened, or what she was hit with. She was a little stunned. When she looked up from her new position sprawled on the floor, there was more bad news.

There were three Terminators there now who faced her. One of them was a 'Metal Bitch'.

The Terminator who knocked her to the ground spoke.

"She's Metal." One of the Terminators said. "She would be terminated if she wasn't."

The 'Metal Bitch' looked at Cameron with disgust. She spoke to the two male Terminators.

"Grab her and we'll reprogram her." The 'Metal Bitch' said. "She'll be the new 'Metal Whore'. She looks like a cheap slut anyway. Make sure you use some acid on her face to disfigure it. I don't want any of the Grays to be captivated by her appearance. Make sure you use a lot of it too."

"Affirmative…." The two male Terminators said in unison.

The first male Terminator wanted to know how extensive of an 'acid job' the 'Metal Bitch' wanted done.

"What about her female attributes?"

The 'Metal Bitch' thought about it for a second.

"Leave them undamaged for now." The 'Metal Bitch' said. "I want to make sure they get well used in every way possible."

Cameron was a little disorientated after the initial attack. She heard what the 'Metal Bitch' said about her and what was to be done to her. She needed to break free before they could deactivate her. She would never want to be reactivated again if they turned her into what they said they were going to do. It was one of her worries anyway. To know it for certain, she could never face John again.

Her sub routines all began to kick back in as the two male Terminators grabbed her. She heard something outside besides the sirens. She knew help was near. She didn't think it was going to do her much good right now.

One of the Terminators looked up.

"I hear drones." The other Terminator said. "All of ours are all still parked."

The smile evaporated from the face of the 'Metal Bitch'. She realized what everything really was. They didn't have time to deal with the new 'Metal Whore'. They needed to act now.

"Tear her head off." The 'Metal Bitch' said. "This is an attack. She's the one responsible."

The 'Metal Bitch' figured the Grays could still use her inanimate headless figure for their pleasure. She headed for the end of the building where the fire was burning. It put her closest to the HK Track Cameron reprogrammed last inside the building. It would become active in seconds. She attempted to activate something she held as she ran, but it didn't work.

John Henry already activated the jamming field as soon as the fire trucks passed through the front gate. It was now in full effect.

Earlier:

Anna was in the second building. She was very displeased Cameron went off on her own. She needed to take care of the Grays who were in the building with her. So far she was able to terminate six of them. The seventh one moved from their previous location. She wasn't sure where they went, or if they knew anything was wrong. She tried to keep the other bodies out of plain sight when she terminated them earlier.

She knew it was possible they may have exited the building. She didn't think so. She heard some noise by one of the trucks. It worried her a little since she already passed by them twice in search of the individual. She briefly wondered if it was a Terminator.

Anna made her way to the back side of the big trucks. She still hadn't been able to open any of them to see what was in them. She didn't think it really mattered at this juncture since it was only a short time until the HK Track would go active.

There was the sound of a door opening. She realized it was one of the truck drivers. More than likely all of those she terminated so far were truck drivers. It didn't really matter. They wouldn't be leaving in their trucks anyway. She wondered if they were 'contract employees'. If they were, they became de facto Grays anyway. If they worked for the enemy, they were the enemy. They were collaborators if nothing else.

She looked around the rear end of one of the trucks. On the next truck over she could see the door was open on the cab. She moved back along the side of the truck she was behind and went down the side of it. She went underneath the trailer so she was very near the tractor of the other truck when she came out. She didn't want the truck driver to spot her and take a shot at her. All of the other men she terminated carried firearms. They were all of various types and different calibers. It was another reason why she thought they were 'contractors'.

The door was open on the tractor. She thought the truck driver went up inside of it. She lost track of him when she moved along the far side of the trailer parked next to his truck. She moved forward with the silence pistol in front of her. She was ready to take the shot. She moved quickly and took a stance and aimed up into the cab. Much to her dismay, it was empty.

Before she could turn around, the door slammed into her. The driver must have been at the front of the big rig. She didn't think he saw her as a female, but saw someone was there with a pistol. Maybe he saw she was a female. It could be why he didn't take a shot at her. He probably made other plans with what he would do with her once he was able to take her into custody. It was his mistake.

When the door impacted into her, it knocked her off balance.

"I've got you now, Bitch." The man said. "Don't make me bust you up."

Anna could see the man start to come around the front of the door. Her hand with the silence pistol in it, was behind the door. She saw he carried a Model 29 Smith and Wesson revolver. She knew it was a .44 Magnum. She wondered if he was going to say he could 'blow her head clean off', but he didn't. She didn't think there would be anything 'clean' about blowing anyone's head off.

"Wrong…." Anna said as she slammed the door open with her hand with the pistol in it still.

There was a loud 'crunch' sound as the door impacted the man. It sent him sprawling across the floor into the area in front of the trucks. She was on him in a second. His revolver was lying on the ground next to him. He was too dazed to do anything. She reached down and snapped his neck.

Anna looked around to make sure there was no one else. She picked his revolver up off the ground and stuck it in her vest. She then grabbed him to drag away, she still held her silence pistol in front of her. She drug him over to the open door of his tractor. She could see what looked like a 'face print' in the door where it was caved in. She wondered if it would be considered a 'modern work of art'. She closed the door of the tractor.

She took a moment to listen to hear if there were any other sounds. There weren't. She quickly moved the man away and added him to the other two men she shot earlier. They would deal with them later. She pushed up on the side of each of the trailers earlier to see if they were loaded or unloaded. They were all loaded. She received a communication things were about to go down. She was informed there would be a diversion out in the front. She decided to go to the rear of the building Cameron already entered. She knew the team would be in the front.

She could hear the sirens as she exited. She received word the MIKE Force already took control of the two observation posts. She ran across the rear of the building to the other one. She waved for them to come down is she entered the rear door

Anna entered the back of the first building and saw a female running towards the front. There was a commotion going on by a row of HK drones. There were two Terminators. It appeared they overpowered Cameron. One seemed to have her pinned, while the other was about to rip her head off. She could see Cameron was seconds away from termination.

Cameron thrashed violently and broke the hold. She lunged into both of them. She was able to knock them off balance. She came up with her Taser but one of them tackled her and the Taser skidded away. It was followed by a Terminator flying into the side of an HK drone. She just kicked him off of her with her legs.

Anna knew she needed to try and draw at least one of the Terminators off of Cameron. She switched the silenced pistol she held in her hand for her Glock. She fired at the closest Terminator to Cameron. She knew the Coltan rounds would be much more effective against a Terminator. She hoped to draw his attention and make it known there was a new threat which faced him. She held her Taser in her other hand. She hoped to get closer to the Terminator who'd ended up being slammed into the side of an HK drone.

Now it looked like the disturbance, or the gunfire from her, caused the HK drone to become active. It now started to power up.

Cameron was still in a death struggle with the Terminator she was fighting.

It looked like it was about to go from bad to worse.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Put Everything You Find

We all seem to wait
For the stars to be aligned
All it ever produces
It to keep our heart and soul confined

It is really happening in our head
Deep within our claustrophobic mind
Waiting endlessly for loves letter
Special delivered, sealed and signed

We wait with our head in the sand
From life we have resigned
Our own perceived shortcoming
Is how ourselves we have defined

Is not the sum of two greater
Than the sum of one when combined
Everyone already knows this
Yet we need ourselves remind

Look into life's smorgasbord
Your heart no longer need remain blind
On the table
Put everything you find

Nobody