Chapter 783

Hunters Become Hunted

Sheila tried to keep the Grays under observation while she moved away from her SUV. Her biggest worry was the HK drone in her vicinity. She tried to avoid the HK drone which searched her area. It looked like it 'made' her. She didn't like the way it seemed to line up on her. She thought she should send out a warning. She hoped they were ready to act in the Command Center.

"The HK drone has me zeroed." Sheila said. "It's found me somehow."

Sheila knew the tree she was behind would offer little protection to a missile strike or even minigun fire.

They took the information seriously in the Command Center.

John hoped Sheila would be able to find a refuge in a storm drain if possible. If she did, it would give her the ability to move to different locations unobserved.

"Isn't there anywhere you can go to protect yourself better?" John asked.

Sheila hadn't spotted anything yet. She didn't like the area she was currently in for any type of protection.

"I don't think so. I'm going to get lit up." Sheila said. "I'm going to make a break for it."

Sheila was ready to bolt. If the HK drone came in close, she would run underneath it and then off to the side. She would try to make it look like she was going to go to one side but then pivot and go back to the other side. She hoped to disorient the HK drone at least momentarily. She carried her Coltan loaded M4. She would take a few shots at it. She knew she could damage it, even if she didn't bring it down. She was sure going to try. If she could at least hit one of the power plants, it should throw all of its systems off. It would struggle to maintain controlled flight. She checked her M4 and got ready.

The sound of the drone drew closer.

Sheila peeked around the tree and saw the HK drone lined up as it was about to make its run….

It didn't look good for her.

Bob attempted to avoid the HK drone which stalked him. It was persistent. It seemed to know the area he was in, but not the exact location. He was sure it would change at some point very soon and he would be zeroed. There currently weren't a whole lot of options available to him on where else to go where the HK drone couldn't target very quickly.

Someone must have eyes on him, or at least have spotted him at one point. It seemed to be bad news in itself. It indicated the Skynet forces knew a lot more than they suspected. The Skynet forces may have been in the area much longer than they knew. Maybe they let their guard down some. Maybe a Gray or a Terminator was actually in the area the whole time. They could have been elsewhere at the time of the building take down. If they were away, it's why they missed them.

It was possible it was something as simple as a Gray 'visiting' the homeless camp with a few dollars, or food. They could have scored the comforts of a female, or male, for all they knew. Such visits would allow the Grays to identify a potential target to 'put the grab on'. Even if it was a pleasure visit, it could turn into a scouting mission. Someone taken off the street and regulated to the 'comfort bunk', would usually produce a very bad ending for the individual.

Whatever it was, there must have been either a Gray or a Terminator on the ground. They could have provided the HK drones with information on where to look for them exactly.

Bob knew Sheila was targeted also. He figured Cammy must have trouble of her own as well since she went 'dark.' Maybe it was a Terminator who spotted him and sent the HK drones after Sheila and him, while he went after Cammy. There seemed to be someone, or some thing, after all of them.

He was able to elude any direct sighting by the HK drone but it still worked the area he was in. It seemed to be getting closer and narrowing its focus. The sound of it drew near. He took a peek around the steel support. It was probably a mistake.

The HK drone spun around and seemed to take an attack posture. The posture seemed to be aimed right where he was at.

The HK drone looked like it was about to make an attack on his position. He wanted to let the Command Center know of his grim prospects. It was more than clear he needed to be somewhere other than where he was at in the next few seconds.

"I'm about to get hit." Bob said. "I'm going to make a run for it."

He really wasn't sure it would do him much good. He didn't want to go down as a 'sitting duck'.

John Henry tried to figure out where the HK drones came from. They must have come from somewhere locally. He wanted to find the undetermined location. It was definitely one more target they would need to take down before they left the area.

John understood Sheila and Bob were in real peril. Cammy must be as well or she wouldn't have gone dark. He was very worried about the recent turn of events. Just a few minutes ago they were ready to send out the captured HK drones and pull out of the area. Now all of their troops appeared to be in imminent danger. It seemed to be a coordinated effort.

"This is all falling apart fast." John said. "At least it seems to be a lot faster than normal."

John Henry was just as displeased as John was. He still had the two HK drones locked up from altitude by two of their drones.

"I agree it's much faster than usual." John Henry said. "I'm ready to bring the HK drones down."

John wasn't sure how the HK drones were able to target their troops so quickly.

"They have our people targeted somehow." John said.

John Henry could only speculate on exactly how it happened.

"There was probably a Terminator on the ground they missed." John Henry said. "When the Skynet forces couldn't contact the Grays with the big truck, they more than likely sent a Terminator to investigate. It's possible they hoped for more of our group to show up so they could attack more of us at the same time. They probably figured there were more than three individuals involved in the loss of two trucks, the helicopter, and all the support vehicles. All he needed to do was sit and wait. It looks like they got tired of waiting."

John and John Henry heard the grim reports as they came in from Bob and Sheila.

If they didn't take pre-emptive action immediately, there was going to be a problem.

John wasn't about to let his troops be damaged needlessly.

"John Henry, get ready to fire." John said. "I don't want Bob and Sheila hit. We'll deal with the repercussions later on. Our troops come first."

There was bound to be some collateral damage somewhere associated with their drone strike against the HK drones. Depending upon where the HK drones ended up at, would determine what type of a story they would need to spin. If they ended up in an industrial building, they would label it as some type of explosion related to whatever the industrial building was associated with in what It produced. If it ended up in someone's living room, it was going to be a lot harder to spin exactly what it was.

Labeling it as any type of UFO wouldn't work. It would only draw more attention. It might be identified as part of a satellite. It would probably draw as much attention. They could spin it as the landing gear off of an aircraft or something along those lines. It actually happened a few times. There were instances around the world where parts fell off of an aircraft, usually after takeoff, or before landing.

Cammy was aware she was being stalked by a Terminator. She wanted to gain the advantage and try to capture him. If not, she was going to take him down, even if she needed to use a Thermite grenade on him. She was able to elude him so far. It was because he didn't think she knew he was there. Since she changed her position when he moved away for a moment, it would indicate to him he was 'made'. He wouldn't need to use as much stealth going forward. More than likely it would speed up his attack on her. He would switch from stealth to brute force. It was a Terminator thing.

She entered the factory building which was occupied previously. There were people working there earlier in the day. It was where they parked the SUV at one point. Maybe it was another negative point as they tried to remain clandestine. Someone may have noticed something different than usual. The 'someone' was most likely a Terminator. We didn't know what the enemy strength actually was in the area. Their original presumption was the one building they took down with the big rig full of HK drones. With the arrival of several vehicles and two HK drones from somewhere nearby, it was clear there was much more in play than they originally anticipated. The Terminator stalking her was another indication.

Cammy checked her surroundings. There was some type of manufacturing going on there. There appear to be different types of metal involved in the process. She quickly looked around the interior of the building. There was an X-Ray room to check metal components for flaws. She knew the heavy shielding which surrounded the X-Ray room would protect her from HK drone detection. It probably wouldn't do much to protect her if the HK drone decided to attack the building. The drone wouldn't be able to find her, but the Terminator soon would.

The X-Ray room would also trap her unless she turned the X-Ray room into a trap for the Terminator who stalked her. There was only one door in and out of the X-Ray room.

She looked around at the work stations and tried to see what she could use to her advantage. She didn't have much time to act. She was able to get some things quickly arranged for her trap. She was ready for him. She briefly wondered about the damage about to occur inside of the building. There didn't seem to be a whole lot she could do about it. She would use the Thermite grenade whenever she needed to. She would prefer to use it inside the X-Ray room if it was necessary.

She knew CamNet would cover the damage to the building. It wasn't going to do much for the jobs of the workers who would be instantly unemployed. They should be able to collect some type of compensation from the state unemployment office, but it wouldn't be whatever their salaries were previously. People with mortgages and credit card bills to pay were going to be negatively impacted.

It was time to put some 'cheese' out for the 'mouse'.

Cammy moved back to where she entered. She made sure the door was ajar she came through. She peeked out the door until she saw the Terminator peek around the corner. She then made sure he saw her foot disappear inside the building as she headed for the X-Ray room.

She heard him running behind her. She was sure he was headed straight for the door.

The 'mouse' took the 'cheese', now it was time for them to meet the 'cat'.

Cammy was tired of playing games. Even though it looked like she may hold the upper hand, it wasn't necessarily the case. She didn't know the skill level or training of her current opponent. Depending upon the amount of time he was activated and what type of action he was previously involved in, would determine his effectiveness. She could only hope she would be more effective than he was.

The Grays piled out of the two white vans in the back of the building where they took the big rig from. They bunched up at the rear entrance. They coordinated with the Grays from the 4x4 pick-up which was in the front of the building. They were going to enter the building from both sides at the same time. They weren't sure if anyone was still inside or not. There hadn't been any response from those who were previously in there. They made their move.

The Grays entered the building the big truck with the HK drones was taken from. Some of them knew the general layout of the building because they were inside of it before. Some of them gathered and looked at the spectacle of their fallen comrades. They were highly disturbed at the condition of their bodies. There is no doubt they were purposely mutilated. The parts of their bodies which were forcibly removed were lined up in a neat row. It was very disturbing to look at it. It threw all of them off guard a little and messed with their concentration.

Each of the men imagined if it would have happened to them. One of the Grays reached down to check his fallen comrades. There was an explosion as a Thermite grenade went off. One of the Grays tripped the booby trap. The Grays who were not initially afflicted by the explosion moved back for cover. They quickly moved behind a cement wall they thought would give them adequate cover. As soon as they moved into the position they believed to be safe, the second Thermite grenade exploded. Sheila anticipated what would happen and how the Grays would react. She set the second booby trap accordingly. The acetylene tanks Sheila placed near the second Thermite grenade exploded seconds later. The Thermite quickly burnt through their metal tanks.

There was a massive explosion which blew the doors and windows out of the building, along with a large chunk out of the roof.

The screams of those burning alive inside could be heard over the roar of the flames.

Sheila briefly looked back at her handiwork. She was aware if the HK drone which stalked her wasn't brought down in the next few seconds, she was going to look about the same as well. It was a grim prospect.

Moments ago:

John tried to follow everything on the satellite overlay maps as well as from the live drone footage. Ally looked like she was very near the target area.

"Ally, you must be close." John said.

Ally spotted the battle zone.

"I'm almost to the target area." Ally said. "I can see the area up ahead."

John wanted both of the HK drones brought down. He wanted to make sure there would be the minimum amount of collateral damage possible.

"I want our people safe." John said. "I want you to try and see if you can bring down the hostile HK drones in a safer area."

Ally quickly contemplated what her choices were.

"I'll do my best." Ally said.

Ally was a little surprised at what she witnessed next. She saw a fireball followed by a second larger one right where she was headed. She watched part of the building collapsed inward as the fireball retreated in on itself.

"There's been a massive explosion in a building." Ally said. "It's right in front of me. It's right where I'm headed."

John hoped it was from the booby traps Sheila left behind. He would deal with the problem later. Right now he wanted Bob and Sheila protected on the ground.

"Do you have the two HK drones locked up?" John asked.

Ally was able to do it before the first explosion. She knew two of their drones had the HK drones locked up as well.

"I sure do." Ally said.

John still wanted to keep collateral damage to a minimum, especially after the explosion of the building.

"Be careful where you bring them down." John said.

Ally thought of her earlier idea. She thought she could pull it off.

"I have a surprise for them." Ally said. "I want to try something and see if it works."

Ally was about to use herself as 'bait' to lure the HK drones away from any populated area and her fellow Terminators below. She thought it was time to 'introduce herself' to the two HK drones.

It would be another game of cat and mouse. The HK drones would think they were the cat and hopefully not realize they were the mouse until it was too late for them. She hoped to make it a 'sucker play' topped off with a 'Sunday Punch'.

Ally could see one HK drone make its run in the area with the trees. She fired a short burst of her minigun and struck it. It immediately broke off its attack run and turned to face her. It determined there was a new threat which affected its existence. She adjusted her angle of flight and passed right in back of it. She was so close she almost hit it. It turned to pursue her. She was already gone. She looped over it and was headed in the opposite direction for the second HK drone. The HK drone reacquired her and gave chase. It seemed very determined to attack what attacked it.

She turned again and did the same thing seconds later to the second HK drone as it made a strike run over the buildings. She fired, and then almost collided with the other HK drone. It too turned to pursue her. She looped over it and accelerated away. She looked back and saw both of the HK drones were hot on her tail. She firewalled the throttles.

'Let's hope speed really is life.' Ally thought.

Ally moved out of gun range of the two HK drones. Once she determined they couldn't hit her she cut back on her speed. She stayed slow enough so the HK drones would try to catch her for a shot. She wanted to draw them in closer. She slowed even more and they closed up on her. They flew side by side after her.

It looked like the current threat to Bob and Sheila was thwarted, at least from an immediate HK drone attack.

The 'mice' took the 'cheese', now it was time to meet the 'cat'.

The hunters became the hunted.

John watched the footage of what occurred below from one of their drones at altitude. He was amazed at the flying display Ally just did. It was as precise as it was bold and effective. He wasn't sure if a drone on autonomous control would have been able to do the same thing. It was certainly a maneuver which would be outside of their normal operating parameters. The regular drones wouldn't possess the speed advantage either. They would have momentum on their side when they made their initial attack but once the HK drones started in pursuit, they would probably be equally matched in speed. Depending upon what the distance was, would determine how the attacking drone would fare. With two HK drones in pursuit, any additional maneuvering could be countered from one drone to the next. He didn't need to worry about it right now. He was concerned with his troops on the ground.

He was relieved the HK drone threat to Bob and Sheila was over for now. He didn't know what other threats they would face next. There could be additional troops on the ground already they didn't know about. He did understand their need to get away from their previous locations since both of them already appeared to be zeroed. There could be troops headed to both locations on the ground.

John looked over at John Henry. He was still amazed about what he just witnessed. It was impressive to see it live. It was like some creepy for real video game.

"Did you see that?" John asked.

John Henry was very surprised at the audacity of the encounter.

"Yes, it was very unconventional." John Henry said. "I would've expected a stunt like it from Cameron."

John wasn't sure if 'stunt' was the correct word. There was a certain amount of daring and audacity involved with the maneuver. He believed it also displayed bravery. Ally took the risk herself. He wondered if the base of the extremism stemmed from the 'Neural Interface' with Allison. It was the one thing both Ally and Cameron had in common, even if it was from different versions of Allison. Every version of Allison Young started from the same individual.

"They both have 'programming' from an 'Allison'." John said.

John Henry wanted to remind John what was in store for him probably sooner rather than later.

"Keep it in mind, once the 'Natural Order' is established." John Henry said. "Not everything may run as smoothly as you think it will. You'll be dealing with the root version of Allison Young. You've seen firsthand, as well as the reports of how every version of Allison Young acts and responds in the future."

John wasn't sure what it meant other than any Allison would be a handful. It briefly dawned on him Young Allison would probably be even much harder than Cameron to 'control', or have any influence over. He remembered the warning his mother gave him about it. She told him no one was able to 'control' her, even if they thought they were. He knew his mother needed to enter into more than a few questionable situations in order to further her training and protect him when he was younger. She thought the man who took her captive in the van, Winston, was the first person she killed. He was pretty sure he was the first person she knew she killed for certain. More than likely there were some others along the way.

He was pretty sure he read in a report one time how there were several incidents with Future Allison and Future John. Cameron made a point she wanted him to understand. It was whenever one of the future girls 'held out', so did the rest of them. They wanted to make sure Future John couldn't run an end game around one of them. It didn't matter too much to them anyway since they all still could share with each other. Cameron made it clear to him it was what the girls all desired anyway much more than the relationship with Future John. He always thought she took too much satisfaction with the revelation and her deductions. He needed to refocus. He wanted to make sure Ally was protected. He looked over at John Henry.

"Can you back up Ally?" John asked. "She has two HK drones on her six. I want to make sure she has some assistance."

John Henry understood Ally wanted to lure the two HK drones to an area where they could be brought down with minimal or no collateral damage.

"I'm sending one of our drones after the two pursuing Ally." John Henry said. "I don't want to have it get too close to the two HK drones. I want them to stick with Ally for now. She still has the ability to use air to air missiles while she is out of gun range of them. She can pivot and fire at any point."

John wanted to make sure the Grays in the building stayed in the building. He wanted to add to the carnage which must have gone on inside there. He wanted to bring the rest of the roof down on top of the burning building. It should crush anyone inside who was still alive. The thick acrid smoke would take care of anyone who was still alive. It was usually the smoke inhalation which incapacitated an individual in a structure fire. Without oxygen the individual would quickly die. Past events indicated the individual was normally dead before the flames reached them. The flames would help destroy any evidence.

"Put two missiles into the building which just blew up. See if you can collapse it in on itself" John said. "It's the only way to be sure."

John Henry already had everything ready to go and targeted.

"There are two missiles away." John Henry said. "Ally is leading the two HK drones toward the granite quarry where the earlier activity occurred."

John believed it was the perfect spot for it to occur. There wouldn't be any collateral damage to the granite rock. The wreckage of the helicopter was located there. Ally indicated everything was thoroughly burnt to a crisp when she overflew the location earlier. It wouldn't hurt to add a little wreckage of an HK drone, or two of them, to the pile. It would also make recovery of the destroyed HK drone chassis much easier to attend to. It would happen in a secure location which would be out of view of anyone.

"It's where we will bring them down at." John said. "It's a remote location and it will make recovery of the wreckage easier and unobserved."

John Henry hoped to cover their tracks and what actually occurred at the building which just experienced four explosions.

"I've made several reports of a natural gas leak in the area surrounding the building which just exploded. I'll wait five more minutes before I allow any calls of an explosion to reach 911 dispatchers. The record would show the first report of a natural gas leak was more than an hour ago. It was followed by several others. I can always tie the source of the report to someone from the homeless camp without being specific as to which individual it was."

John was more worried about his people right now than the cover up.

"I hope it's enough time for our people to get out." John said.

John Henry would be able to tailor his plan as needed.

"I'll delay the calls as necessary." John Henry said. "I have all communications cut in a five mile radius around the incident. Nothing can get out. We're in control of the narrative."

John was worried about more than the narrative. He wanted to know the condition of his troops. He expected to hear a little more from them than happened so far. It took him a moment to realize everything which just occurred, all happened seconds ago. Somehow it seemed like it was much longer. It wasn't.

"Bob, Sheila, and Cammy, please send us a status report…." John said.

John hoped to find out what the dangers were to the team on the ground. Since they suspected they were targeted by individuals on the ground, the threat would still remain, even as they moved away from their current positions. Wherever they went next could be identified and targeted again by the same individuals. If there was another Skynet base nearby there could be another set of HK drones, or even a larger fleet of them dispatched, especially after the explosion in the building.

Even with communications cut, it wasn't going to take too long for the Skynet forces to realize they just lost most of their team on the ground, and the disposition of their HK drones was currently unknown since they were both out of the area in pursuit of Ally in the manned drone.

Cameron kept track of Savannah's piloting skills in the UH-1, as well as what happened around them. She thought Savannah did an excellent job. She felt Savannah did an excellent job at everything she did.

After being in the manned drone, Savannah again asked to be able to learn to fly it. She asked before, but Cameron was hesitant. Under non-Terminator control, a mistake could happen fast and be fatal. Savannah reminded her she would have a copilot.

"CamNet is my copilot." Savannah told her.

Cameron believed it included her as well in her statement.

"Yes, I am - she is." Cameron said.

Cameron now listened to the reports as they arrived from the battle zone. Cammy, Bob, and Sheila, were all in peril. They were on their way, but the battle would be over, one way or another, before they ever arrived. It seemed Ally turned the tables, at least for assisting Bob and Sheila. Cammy's situation was still unknown.

She checked the instruments in the Iroquois. Savannah was able to get every knot out of the Huey without exceeding the safety limits. She pushed the redline but not past the point to endanger them. She knew how far to take it, without taking it too far.

Cameron glanced back at Allison. She felt a sense of grief for her and what would soon happen to her again. She realized she really was like Allison in more ways than one….

Allison saw Cameron look at her, and smiled. She then blew Cameron a kiss, followed by a bigger smile.

She enjoyed the flight, just to watch Savannah fly. She couldn't see much, but she could watch Savannah and Cameron. She knew how special Savannah was and she could see how gifted she was in the things she did. It was clear to her Savannah and Young Allison were both way more intelligent and skilled at things than Vanna and her were. Then again, the learning conditions were a little more harsh where Vanna and her grew up at. Everything was about survival. The most important lesson they could learn was the lesson to stay alive.

They needed to learn where to hide from multiple enemies. Not only was everything Skynet related a threat, so was the danger from nearly every male they encountered, especially in isolated conditions. It was something every female tried to avoid in the first place. There was no need to put the temptation right in front of someone. Even if it wasn't their goal in the first place to take a little more than they should, the isolated conditions could prompt the 'animal' in them to act.

As Savannah piloted the UH-1 through the darkness, Allison watched her with awe.

Cameron wanted Allison to select another song to liven the atmosphere. There were already several which played. She was ready for another one. She found the genre of 'Rockabilly' was somewhat captivating with the heavy use of drums and bass.

'Rockabilly Boogie' by 'The Obscuritones', blasted through the headphones.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

It Has Before

What's now in my mind
I can't escape
I was always here
Waiting for you to undrape

I've done little
To stand in your way
I have to watch and listen
To the things you do and say

Do you know what
It does to me inside
You've taken my honor
My esteem and pride

Yet I must remain
Taking each stab and blow
How you have hurt me though
Honestly I don't know

You sought the arms of another
You had everything but wanted more
You say it won't happen again
It has before

Nobody