Chapter 771

Flaming Trail

The events inside the Gray's building went much smoother than anticipated. It was an easy take down for the team. The Grays were highly distracted by Sheila's antics and nude figure. Her jewelry only further distracted them. There was no effective resistance. The Grays were questioned and terminated. They found what they were looking for. It was a big rig full of HK drones.

They needed to get moving. The location was known to the Grays and not all of them were in when the building was taken down. The Grays who were terminated indicated there should be additional ones arriving. They didn't know if there would be a Terminator with them or not. They needed to act and act soon.

It was decided the best thing to do was drive the truck full of HK drones out of there. They could get it to a more secure location and hide it for now. When it was dark, they could launch the HK drones, or try to move the truck to one of their remote locations for processing. The main problem was the Grays knew what the truck looked like.

They did a quick check for any type of trackers or GPS devices. They didn't find anything more than they found on the other big rig. They decided to leave it in the building. If someone was monitoring the devices, their movement was bound to spark some type of an alarm, or an alert.

Sheila opened the big roll up door.

Bob drove out with the big rig, full of HK drones.

"I'm taking the big truck to the quarry." Bob said. "It's isolated and if we need to fight, no one will hear us."

John Henry knew Bob would have additional assistance in short order.

"Cammy and Sheila will be there soon." John Henry said. "They're going to torch the building and then follow you."

John pointed out additional resources were nearby as well. They already staged several drones in a remote location in case they needed to scramble them during the daylight. There shouldn't be anyone around to spot them. If there were and they made any type of report, it would be intercepted.

"Our drones are currently parked not far from there." John said. "They are ready to go at a moment's notice."

Bob was aware of it.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

John wanted to make sure the girls didn't dally or do something else. He wanted them to ride shotgun on Bob. He was glad they were able to put the grab on the second truck. He didn't want anything to happen until they could recover the cargo. If they ran into some type of confrontation with Skynet forces, they would need to destroy the truck to prevent them from reacquiring it. Either way they would know the disposition of the contents of the big rig. It still left one out there somewhere. Hopefully from the intel gleaned from the Grays just questioned and terminated, they would be able to track it down. It seemed promising.

"Cammy, what's your status?" John asked. "I don't want to leave Bob high and dry for too long. I need you two to get moving."

Cammy didn't see what the rush was about. They'd catch up to Bob in no time.

"I'm back at the SUV now." Cammy said. "I'll pick Sheila up in two minutes."

John Henry wanted to make sure they remained alert and kept an eye out for the rest of the Grays or any Terminators who weren't in the building with the five men they just terminated. He didn't want what seemed like an easy victory, turned into a disaster due to inattentiveness. He didn't think it would actually be a problem. He wanted to make sure it wouldn't be.

"Keep aware of your surroundings." John Henry said. "Those Grays indicated they were expecting more. You don't want to get tagged, or an HK drone strike called in on you. The two homeless men indicated there was at least one, if not two, Skynet Terminators associated with the group as well. I'm actually surprised one of them wasn't in the building. Even if they were in standby, they most likely would have reactivated with all of the commotion and the departure of the big rig."

John wanted them to get out of there as fast as possible. He didn't want any trouble either. He wanted to make sure no one followed any of them. The sooner they were away from there the less likely it would be.

"Watch out for any other Terminators involved." John said. "The other men Cammy first encountered indicated there were people Bob reminded them of."

Cammy felt she was aware of all of the threats. John Henry already reminded them of the same thing just a few seconds ago. So far it looked like they got the drop on the Grays. It was a good thing.

"We're all tuned in and on the lookout. I'm rolling now." Cammy said. "I have my eyes 'peeled'. I should pick Sheila up in just over a minute."

Cammy waited to make sure Bob was clear and there was no one following him. Once she was sure he was safely away. She then went to pick up Sheila. She was delayed a little longer than she anticipated.

Earlier:

Cameron was still a little worried about the way Savannah took everything. She still couldn't help but feel responsible. Who else would be responsible but her?

Savannah didn't want Cameron to worry about things too much.

"Do we need to go anywhere else?" Savannah asked. "Are there other things you need to do?"

Cameron tilted her head slightly. They were always things which needed to be done. There didn't seem to be a shortage of them. Right now none of them were important. Savannah was important. Young Allison was important. Everything else could wait.

"No." Cameron said. "We can do whatever you want."

Savannah looked around as they headed for the carpool.

"Is Ally going to go with us?" Savannah asked. "I made her drive me over here."

Cameron frowned slightly. She was tied up with John at the time when Savannah left previously. She would have liked a little better control over what actually happened with CamNet and Savannah. She was sure it was exactly the reason why Savannah went with Ally instead of her.

"Ally can continue with her other duties." Cameron said. "She was waiting outside the door to the room you were in when I arrived. She said she wanted to remain until you came out. I sent her away. She was very reluctant to go. She was very concerned about you. She asked me to tell you she was waiting for you. I just told you."

Savannah would have liked to have seen her before they left.

"I need to thank her for everything she did for me." Savannah said. "I know you don't agree with everything I'm doing. I can't say I agree with all of it either. I still feel what I'm doing is the right thing, even if I don't know exactly what it is I'm doing."

Cameron didn't agree with everything Savannah was doing.

"I'm going to trust your judgment." Cameron said. "I think my vision is too short sighted right now to see too far along down the road. I know you want to do the 'right thing' for everyone. I also want to remind you to do the 'right things' for yourself. You matter too."

Savannah really didn't know what the 'right thing' would be for anything. Maybe there were only things which seemed they were 'right' at the time. Maybe nothing was 'right'.

"I need to think about others, other than myself." Savannah said.

Cameron handed the keys to Savannah when they reached the SUV.

"Would you like to drive?" Savannah asked.

Savannah was a little surprised. Normally Cameron always drove. She wondered if it was because Ally let her drive to Cameron's base from the Resistance base. She didn't want to feel like she was encroaching on the things Cameron normally did. She didn't want Cameron to feel like she was trying to take 'control' from her.

"You can drive if you want." Savannah said.

Cameron gave Savannah the keys anyway.

"It's fine." Cameron said.

Savannah took a moment to check over the SUV. It was stocked with a full complement of weapons as it would normally be. She got in and made sure both Cameron and her were buckled up before she started the SUV and drove away.

She couldn't help but think about what Cameron said earlier about her taking control of CamNet from her. She didn't think Cameron controlled CamNet. She didn't think anyone did. The words still bothered her though. She knew Cameron was troubled by her past experiences where she felt everyone controlled her. She wasn't so much sure if 'controlled' was the right word. She believed in Cameron's case it was everyone 'ignored' her.

They shared small talk along the way.

Young Allison looked around and saw the others all soon returned. Vanna and Allison were there as was Holly and Hanna. Gail and Cam entered from the bunker area as well. Young Allison figured they were at the Detail house next door. Jesse soon emerged but her mother hadn't. Hanna went to check on her mother and soon returned with her. Her mother looked a little worse for the wear. It was usually the case after she shared with Jesse and especially with Sheila. They seemed to push her a little further than the others did. She really wondered what it was like.

She figured Jesse gave her mother a real workout again. At least in the past it was always the case. Her mother always seemed to be a little more incapacitated than Allison was after Jesse visited her. She didn't think it was so much Allison was in 'better condition', as she thought her mother was able to experience a much higher or deeper and more intense level of pleasure. The thought didn't bode well with her. She should be no different than Allison in the same regard. Actually if she thought about it, it was the same with Vanna and Allison. Vanna always seemed to enjoy everything more than Allison did.

Her limited encounter with Future Allison seemed to indicate she was more like her mother. She wasn't sure what the difference was between Allison and Future Allison. It must have been something in the upbringing. Maybe it was Future Allison's exposure to Future John. Maybe the relationship sparked something different. Maybe it was something to do with Future Savannah. Maybe in the same regard she hoped to be more like Future Allison than Allison. Perhaps it was something she could ask Savannah about since she was with all three of them. Somehow it seemed like an inappropriate question to ask out of the blue. Hopefully something would occur and she could work it in there as a personal observation. Hopefully it would be a hint for Savannah to make a move as well.

Everyone was there now. Young Allison carefully moved away from the piano and left Summer to play on her own intuition. She joined Anna and they watched and listened too.

Claire was moved to tears as she watched and listened to Summer play. It was a very moving and powerful experience to all of those who watched and listened to it.

There was the sound of two car doors closing.

Summer looked over at the window and ended her performance.

Everyone clapped.

Cameron and Savannah walked into the house seconds later. They looked around at the assembled crowd and weren't really sure why everyone was gathered there.

"What did we miss?" Savannah asked.

Cameron saw Claire with tears in her eyes and immediately went to scan her.

Allison could see the unnecessary concern Cameron displayed towards her mother. She figured it was because her mother had tears in her eyes. She didn't know it was because her mother carried her growing embryo inside of her why Cameron wanted to scan her.

"Allison and Summer both played together, and Summer finished up on her own." Allison said. "It was truly moving and beautiful."

Claire brushed off Cameron's concerns. Her tears weren't because of anything physical. They were emotional tears. Since Savannah was there, she would like to hear her play. She felt moved enough about it to ask her. She didn't think Savannah would volunteer on her own, especially with such a large audience.

"Will you play, Savannah?" Claire asked. "I would like to listen to you. If you don't mind."

Savannah was a little surprised at the request. She hadn't got much keyboard time in recently. She wasn't sure how she was going to do. She was willing to give it a try because Claire asked her. She could also see Young Allison wanted her to play as well. If nothing else, it would be a test of her ability. It was something she didn't plan on doing but was going to do it now anyway. She wondered if Cameron may have been behind it in some way. No. Cameron was still worried about her menagerie.

"Sure." Savannah said as she said 'Hello' to everyone.

Summer went over and took Young Allison's hand and led her over next to Savannah. Summer then glanced at Vanna and Allison sitting side by side holding hands.

Cameron saw it all.

'She knows.' Cameron thought.

It was clear to Cameron how Summer understood the nature of the relationships and what they meant. She also received some reports Summer did her share of spying as well on the various match ups which occurred in Allison's bedroom and Claire's bedroom. It seemed Summer was rather elusive on being tracked and it only happened if she allowed it to happen. It was a further sign of Summer's emerging abilities.

Savannah and Young Allison played on piano together for a while. It was a moving performance, but not quite like the one Summer put on with Young Allison earlier. They finished up and everyone clapped again.

There were a few other things Savannah wanted to work with Young Allison on. She didn't want to appear rude in front of the others.

"I need to work on some items with Allison." Savannah said. "Everyone please excuse us for a while."

Savannah took Young Allison's hand and led her to her room.

Sheila used the hose to wash all the blood off of herself. She wanted to make sure she didn't spoil her clothes. She just turned the hose off when she heard the SUV drive up. Cammy was there a lot faster than she expected. She didn't even have time to dress yet. In fact, she was still dripping wet.

'That was fast.' She thought.

She heard two car doors open and slam shut. Right away she knew it was wrong. Cammy was by herself. There shouldn't be anyone with her. If there was, there was a problem.

Sheila knew 'trouble' just found her.

She could hear several people moving around just out of her view.

"What's all this water?" The first Gray asked. "These damn homeless people keep coming around. Even when we beat them, they still come back. I don't know how we can get rid of them. We can only kill so many."

Sheila was dripping wet. Her clothes were off to the side along with the shop rags. The lighter was still sitting on top of them. Her knife was under them.

There was nowhere to completely conceal herself. She tried to move out of obvious sight. She must not have made it.

"Hey." The second Gray called. "They're still here. I want to teach this one a real lesson. I'm going to blind them. They won't be able to come around here again if they can't see."

The first Gray thought it was a better idea than killing them. They already did it with more than a few of the homeless people. They didn't want the police sniffing around their area any more than necessary.

"Hey you, come out." The first Gray said. "We know you're hiding there. We just want to talk. We're not going to hurt you."

Sheila could hear the sound of suppressed laughter. It was clear they still intended to blind her once they got a hold of her.

There were two Grays there now, neither was a Terminator.

Sheila didn't think two Gray's would pose much of a problem. She walked out dripping wet. She figured the worst she was going to get out of it might be a few bullet wounds. If they started to shoot at her, she would be on them in a flash.

The two men seemed stunned as they watched her walk out. It wasn't what they expected. They were used to encountering the homeless, not someone young and beautiful. Not someone who looked 'that'.

Sheila adjusted her nipple rings to make sure they were straight as the men watched. Since she was completely naked she thought she would try a little diplomacy first. She knew the trick was to draw the 'marks' in to make their termination easier.

"I'm sorry. I used a little bit of water. I can pay for it. I was dirty." Sheila said. "I needed to clean up. I'm looking for 'work'. I'm not homeless either."

Sheila saw the men were armed but they hadn't pulled their weapons when they saw she was naked and unarmed.

Sheila went to reach for her clothes.

One man produced a gun. He saw what she reached for.

"We like how you're 'dressed' now. We'd like you to stay the same way." The second Gray said. "It will save us some time."

Both of the Grays laughed.

Sheila didn't want to get too specific as to what happened to the men inside. She did want it to sound like she provided them with a different 'service' than the one she actually provided them with. The service was death. She actually terminated all of the Grays so Bob didn't need to. She knew he wouldn't mind doing his job, she just wanted to do it instead. It looked like two more Grays were about to be added to the pile.

"Look, I don't want any trouble." Sheila said. "I just finished 'taking care' of your friends. I needed to clean up. It was pretty messy. I'm clean and fresh now. I needed to make some spending money. They said I could use the hose in the back, so I did."

The two men looked at each other as they realized what she indicated her 'profession' was. They could see she wasn't the normal street trash they dealt with for their sexual exploits.

"You're a 'working girl'?" The first Gray asked. "How much does it cost for a good time?"

Sheila didn't want to make the price sound too cheap. She wanted to make it sound like she had some 'class'. She hoped her performance so far indicated it as well. She thought her jewelry and accent would help sell what she wanted sold.

"It's a hundred each." Sheila said.

One of the men lightly moistened his lips before he spoke. It was clear where his mind was already headed.

"What do we get for our hard earned money?" The second Gray asked.

Sheila figured she might as well make it sound good. Nothing was actually going to happen anyway, except two more terminations. Somehow it would be a little more exciting to her to see the looks on their faces when they realized what they thought was going to happen wasn't. Instead, it would be their terminations. If things worked out right, it wouldn't be slow either.

"Everything…." Sheila said.

The two men quickly exchanged glances. It seemed to indicate they would be quite demanding.

"Everything?" The first Gray asked.

Sheila took the opportunity to move closer to the men as she showed them both sides of her body at a forty five degree angle as if she was auditioning.

"Everything you want." Sheila said.

Sheila now stood naked near them.

"It can even be both at once if it's what you want." Sheila said. "I just handled five at one time a while ago. It was why I needed to use the hose."

It was the same drill. Offer the targets what they want to get close, and then move in for the kill.

It was time to act….

"I'll give you a sample first." Sheila said as she moved closer.

Moments ago:

Cammy made sure Bob was safely away without incident. She now headed back to pick up Sheila.

She was pleased they were able to pull the operation off without any damage to any of them. There was a SUV coming down the street towards her. She saw the turn signaler go on. The vehicle was going to turn in at the location where they just took the truck from. She paused for a moment so they didn't spot her SUV moving.

It was clearly bad news.

She saw the Gray's SUV pull into the driveway and head around to the back. It couldn't be good. Cammy knew Sheila was back there and probably still unarmed. The only weapon she would have was her knife, well, her knife and her Terminator abilities. Her Taser and pistol were both inside of the SUV with her.

Cammy pulled up along the side of the building and quietly got out. She decided to leave the door ajar so she didn't give away her presence. She peeked around the corner and saw the two men accosting Sheila. One of them pulled a gun on Sheila.

Sheila stood there alone, naked. She slowly made her way closer to the two men.

She saw Sheila smile at the two men.

It was clear Sheila was going to distract them so she could move up behind them.

Sheila saw Cammy peek around the corner.

She smiled at the two men.

Sheila moved closer to the two men. She made sure their eyes were glued to her. With each step she made her breasts bounce so the nipple rings bounced too. It's where the men's attention was.

"Let me give you a sample." Sheila said. "You don't need a weapon for me. I'm naked. I'd rather see your 'gun' than your pistol."

The Gray lowered the weapon.

"This is business, not a hold up." Sheila said.

The Gray put the pistol away.

"I'm naked except for these." Sheila said.

She gently pulled on her rings, all of them.

She could see the men's eyes were transfixed.

The men were spellbound.

The smile grew on Sheila's face. She felt she was in total control right now.

"Did I tell you what this would cost?" Sheila asked as she indicated her figure.

The two men quickly looked at each other.

"What?" One man asked. "What will it cost us?"

The men were so distracted watching Sheila perform in front of them. Cammy was able to soundlessly approach from behind them. She now stood in back of both men.

"It will cost you your lives." Sheila said as she grabbed one man.

Cammy grabbed the other man.

"Don't kill them yet." Cammy said.

The two Grays didn't even have time to be surprised about what just happened before they were unconscious.

Cammy and Sheila choked the men out and took them inside. The fumes from the flammable liquid Cammy dumped earlier were very strong. The fumes set off multiple warnings in their HUD system. The vapor spread throughout the building. They didn't expect to go back into the building. They needed to be careful they didn't trigger an explosion while they were still inside.

Sheila looked down at her naked figure. She hoped to have a little more 'fun' before they departed.

"I'm glad I don't have my clothes on yet…." Sheila said.

Both men were tied up.

When one man regained consciousness, she started in on him.

John and John Henry received the report from Cammy on what was going down while she went to help Sheila. They didn't like to hear the Grays returned so soon. They informed Bob and told him to keep a lookout. It seemed everything was still in jeopardy until they were well clear of the area.

"It was unexpected this early." John said.

John Henry did hear one of the five Grays who was terminated earlier say there were more people who would join them later on. It appeared 'later on' was actually not much later at all.

"They did say they were expecting more to return." John Henry said.

Cammy wanted the Command Center to know everything was under control.

"John, the men have been taken down." Cammy said. "Sheila's questioning them now."

John wanted them to get out of there as soon as possible. If they could get any intel on the third truck he would take it. There were other priorities they needed to deal with. One was the big rig with the HK drones in it.

"Keep us posted and don't linger there." John said. "Reinforce Bob as soon as possible."

Cammy decided to urge Sheila along. She wanted her to take care of business and then get out of there.

"I'll be in touch." Cammy said.

They could hear a muted scream in the background of her com.

John Henry and John quickly glanced at each other.

"This is very barbaric." John Henry said.

John didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The missing truck was something which didn't sit well with him.

"We need answers." John said. "I want the last truck."

John Henry wanted to remind John about the Resistance priorities. It seemed John was willing to shortcut in order to follow Cameron's priorities. It didn't matter how the 'game' was played, as long as the end goal was 'winning'.

"So it's like Cameron said." John Henry said. "It is ONLY about 'winning'."

John heard it enough times from Cameron. The words just slipped right out of his mouth.

"She's right." John said. "If we're not 'winning', then we're losing."

John was tired of getting played, and the danger his team members kept facing. He wanted the ordeal over. Maybe he needed to cut Cameron some slack. He saw how personal involvement seemed to make other priorities less important, and the current objective the sole purpose of everything. Maybe it was 'tunnel vision' or 'target fixation'. It really didn't matter. There was a goal to be reached and so far it hadn't been attained.

Cammy heard another muted scream. She peeked inside.

Sheila was covered with some blood again.

Cammy knew they needed to get rolling.

"I'd say you look good in red, but you don't." Cammy said. "At least not when you're covered in blood."

Sheila didn't care how she looked right now. She believed she just obtained some solid intel.

"I have a location." Sheila said. "I know where to look for the last truck."

Cammy wanted to get out of there. She could see the two Grays were in bad condition. They were both still alive, even if barely.

"We can't leave them like this." Cammy said.

Sheila didn't intend for them to bleed to death. She knew there was a much faster method available.

"We won't." Sheila said as she hosed off again. " I didn't care for the names they called me. I promised both of them a gruesome termination. I want to give them what they deserve."

Cammy pushed the Gray's vehicle inside. She didn't want to drive it in, in case it would spark the volatile fumes of the solvent. She wanted to put some space between them and the vapor field building.

Sheila quickly finished washing all of the blood off of herself.

Cammy watched as Sheila dressed after she helped her dry off with the clean shop rags.

Sheila looked around at some containers in a yellow cabinet marked 'Flammable' in red. She took out a two gallon can of solvent.

"Let's go." Sheila said.

Cammy took one last look at the two struggling men as they bled out. It was time to go.

Sheila left a liquid trail of the flammable fluid behind her as she got into the SUV.

"Drive slowly until we get to the end of the building." Sheila said.

Sheila held the can out the window and left a trail of flammable fluid as Cammy drove. Cammy stopped at the corner of the building.

Sheila took out the lighter. She ignited it and touched it to the liquid. The flammable fluid caught fire with a 'whoosh' sound. The flaming trail streaked back toward the open door and the two withering men inside.

She was glad they were both still alive and knew they were going to burn to death before they bled to death. She figured the more they suffered, the better it would be. It was because they wanted to blind her when they thought she was a homeless person. They also indicated they killed several other homeless individuals. She believed the punishment was just based upon the circumstances.

"Punch it." Sheila said.

Cammy floored it. She was half way down the block when the building erupted into a giant fireball. They could feel the concussion of the blast as they sped down the street.

Sheila took one look back at the flaming inferno.

"There, they aren't suffering any more." Sheila said. "It's what they get for calling me a 'Metal Whore'."

Cammy thought back on a few of the spats Sheila and her went through in the past during their eight year visit there.

"I've called you a 'Bitch' before." Cammy said. "Are you going to do the same thing to me?"

Sheila was in a festive mood with all of her recent terminations. She decided to mess with Cammy a little bit.

"Maybe I will." Sheila said. "I've also called you a 'Bitch' too."

Cammy decided to play it right back to her.

"I guess we're lucky we don't sleep." Cammy said. "We won't end up with a knife in our back."

They made one last check of the target area. There was no one else around. It was time to catch up with Bob and help protect the cargo of captured HK drones.

"Bob, we are on our way." Sheila said.

Bob was in contact with the Command Center. He knew exactly what was going on and where his backup was at. He was satisfied it was on the way.

"Affirmative…." Bob replied.

Things looked like a win, so far.

John and John Henry awaited the new information Sheila just obtained as to the possible location of the third big rig.

John really wanted the last big truck badly. He wasn't going to be satisfied until all three of the big trucks were apprehended, and their cargo was either confiscated or destroyed. Right now it was two down and one to go. They still needed to get Bob's truck to a secure location. They needed to get the drones out of the rear of it the same way they did on the other big rig.

They still needed to worry about the Grays being able to track them and call in a drone strike. They still needed to wonder where the Terminator, or Terminators, were at the two homeless men indicated when they spotted Bob.

There were still a number of variables in play.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

It Doesn't Make Sense To Me

I'm very confused
As to why you chose another
I've waited for you
With my love to smother

Can you not see
You belong to me
You've heard my loves decree
I know you agree

You've been blinded by choice
You feel what is meant to be
You're taking two hearts
Turning them into debris

What you're seeking is
Unwise momentary satisfaction
Leading down the wrong path to doom
A very misguided reckless distraction

I really don't understand
There's nothing about me
That anyone wouldn't want
It doesn't make sense to me

Nobody