Chapter 785

Scratch Two

Cammy was being stalked by a Terminator. She set her trap into motion. She watched and waited. The Terminator moved toward the X-ray room. He slowed as he was about to enter the door. He thought his target was trapped inside the X-ray room.

It was what Cammy waited for. She sprang up and fired her Taser. She fired all four sets of barbs in a pattern. The Terminator was fast and took evasive action. He fired his pistol at her. He dodged as he shot at her. She felt two rounds strike her, but the Terminator went down. Only one of the four sets of barbs struck him. She learned the trick from Savannah when she took down a mouthy and disrespectful Summer, the Metal one. It was only later learned the 'mouthy routine' was all part of an 'act' orchestrated by Cameron to anger Savannah enough to make her kill a Gray captive in cold blood without hesitation later on. Cameron wanted to 'harden' Savannah at the time. She didn't think Savannah would kill the Gray in cold blood on her own. Her scheme worked. She needed to stay focused on the immediate threat and not worry about Cameron's manipulation of Savannah.

What counted now was she scored one solid Taser hit on the Terminator. The Terminator who stalked her was down. She needed to be wary of any other Grays with him, or even worse, another Terminator. She didn't know what else was out there. She didn't want to find out the hard way either.

There was movement at the door they both entered from. It looked like a new threat. There was someone else about to enter the building now.

Cammy pulled her Glock as a second Terminator entered the building. She took aim as she sought cover and prepared to fire. She would need to rely on the Coltan rounds to do their job.

She needed to act fast before the first Terminator rebooted. If it happened, she would need to face two threats and they were both right on top of her.

Bob moved toward the door of the building he was about to enter when he heard a Taser fire at the same time he heard more gunshots.

He quickly entered the building to see a Terminator go down as Cammy pulled her Glock and aimed it at him, even as she took evasive action. It appeared she was about to open fire on him.

"Aqua…." Bob said quickly.

Bob expected to be shot at. He didn't take any rounds.

Cammy was relieved to see who it actually was. She thought maybe she was a little overly jumpy. Based upon the current circumstances it seemed justified.

"Tiger…." Cammy answered back. "I'm sorry, Bob. I was unsure of the nature of the threat. I didn't know if there was a second enemy Terminator."

Bob wasn't sure who the victor of the confrontation was between Cammy and the Skynet Terminator when he entered the building. He needed to be cautious as well. He wasn't convinced the Terminator was the only threat on the ground they faced. They needed to take every precaution going forward. They also needed to get the captured HK drones in the air and away from the area.

"It's understandable. There very well could be more." Bob said. "There may be more Grays or Terminators here stalking us. I haven't spotted them yet, but it doesn't mean they're not there. We didn't spot anyone earlier either, if they were already here, or arrived after we did. Sheila appears to be engaged with a threat of some type now. She's gone dark as well."

Bob watched the way they came in to make sure no one else entered. He was just as worried as Cammy was.

They both turned their coms back on as Cammy removed the Terminator's chip.

They needed to get caught up on what everyone was doing and how things went. They hoped to find out more about the threat Sheila was involved with. They knew her assignment was to get the HK drones ready to fly. If she was being tracked, she wouldn't go to where the captured HK drones actually were. She would try to lead whoever tracked her away from where they were at. She would attempt to get the drop on them the same way Cammy did with the Terminator who stalked her.

John and John Henry were both in the dark right now as to what their three Terminators on the ground currently experience. It was obvious they were either stalking or being stalked.

John Henry received some good news.

"I have Cammy and Bob back." John Henry said. "Cammy was shot twice. She is still operating at one hundred percent. She was able to bring down and deactivate the hostile Terminator. Bob is with her now. He is undamaged."

John Henry filled them in as to what happened and was happening.

Cammy was very worried about Sheila. She just was able to bring down an enemy Terminator in the X-ray room. It was possible Sheila currently faced another one. She wanted to get out there and help her.

"I need to find Sheila." Cammy said. "I can't let anything happen to her."

John Henry reaffirmed what her assignment was. She was given the task to get the captured HK drones into the air. He told them their drones were currently tied up on other operations. He didn't get into the details of Ally's assignment.

Cammy knew the layout of the area. She explored it in the SUV with Sheila, as well as on foot. Bob was familiar with everything also. She told Bob which way she was going to go and which way he should go to find Sheila. They both knew to be on the lookout for Grays or Skynet Terminators.

Bob wanted to inform the Command Center what their plan was going to be. He didn't know if they would need to go dark again or not. He wanted them to know the area they would be in if one of their drones would be able to assist them.

"We're headed back in the direction Sheila went." Bob said. "We'll approach from two different directions."

John was concerned about more enemy Terminators. He knew there could be Grays as well. They wouldn't pose as big of a threat, but they could be armed with Tasers or other types of electronic devices which could be used to bring a Terminator down.

"Maybe you should stay together." John said. "You would better be able to support each other if there was an attack. If Sheila is after someone, or they are after her, there's a good chance there are others out there as well."

Bob knew it wasn't going to happen. As soon as Cammy laid out her plan a short time ago, she went off to enact her part of it. He knew he couldn't stop her. He thought it was a good plan anyway.

"You're too late. Cammy's already gone." Bob said. "I see her headed down the alley. I need to get moving as well."

John just shook his head. It sounded exactly like something Cameron would do. Then again he needed to consider the source. Cammy was 'Cameron' for all practical purposes. It wouldn't do any good to call her out on anything.

"Nice…." John said.

John Henry delivered more bad news to John. There was no response when he attempted to contact Cammy.

"She has gone 'dark' again as well." John Henry said.

John would have at least liked to have known why. It was out of his hands now. He was worried about Sheila but he was also concerned with getting the captured HK drones out of the area as soon as possible. He was sure additional Skynet forces would show up at some point.

"Bob, use caution and let's get those captured HK drones out of there." John said.

Bob wanted to look for whatever threat was after Sheila on his way to where the HK drones were at. He felt her whereabouts was more important. They didn't know what her exact current position was. He hoped it wasn't discovered when they heard gunfire. He understood the importance of completing the assignment with the captured HK drones. He was also concerned with his fellow teammates. He knew how upset Sheila was when she couldn't look for Cammy. Now she was in a similar situation. He didn't want to get into an argument with John.

"Affirmative…." Bob said. "I'm going 'dark'."

John was worried about all three of the Terminators on the ground. They weren't his only worry. He needed to turn his attention back to what was happening at the old granite quarry. There was one HK drone down, and another one attempting to evade.

"Ally, what's happening?" John asked. "Have you been able to lock up the other HK drone?"

Ally felt her hands full at the moment. She needed to let a few things play out before she could give him an accurate answer.

"Give me a minute…." Ally said. "I'm good for right now. Don't worry."

Seconds ago:

There were two HK drones which followed Ally to the granite quarry. One was shot down, but the other one was still in the fight. She didn't know if it was the one which started to go back previously, or the one which continued to pursue her.

Ally looped around. She was still high above the quarry.

She spotted the HK drone take evasive action as she closed on it. Due to her steep, nearly straight down descent, and the fact the HK drone hugged the ground in the quarry, she didn't have a clean missile shot. There was too much ground clutter. She went to guns as the HK drone turned to face her. The HK drone was going to fight. She would expect no less from it. It only used evasive action earlier to prevent it from being destroyed like the other one was. She was sure it was the one which continued to pursue her earlier when the other one attempted to turn back.

Right now she needed to use some evasive action of her own.

She maneuvered with a sliding motion and slowed almost to a stop. The rounds from the HK drone passed through the empty sky where her aircraft should have been. The maneuver thwarted its attack.

"Ally, what's happening?" John asked.

Now it was Ally's turn to open fire.

"Give me a minute…." Ally said. "I'm good for right now. Don't worry."

Ally's aim was true and effective. The minigun barked out a buzzing roar with a tongue of flame like a dragon as the Coltan rounds searched for their target. They found it and the HK drone dropped off to its port side. It slammed into the burnt out wreckage of the helicopter, which was still smoldering there. It cartwheeled wildly after the initial impact and slammed into the granite face of the rock and bounced off. It came to a rest near one of the burnt out cars.

She was pleased with her marksmanship. She could see the power plants on the second HK drone were both heavily damaged. It wouldn't be going anywhere except the scrap heap. She wanted to maintain control of the area. She was glad their other drone was there to assist. She wanted to get back to where the rest of the team was. She was concerned about Sheila. She was worried about Cammy and Bob as well. She wanted the Command Center to know what the fruits of her efforts were.

"Scratch two." Ally said. "Have our drone stay here to police the area and make sure it remains safe for the two helicopters. We don't want anyone else to show up, especially unannounced. We know for a fact they've sent two different groups to this very location." Ally said. "I'm about to return to the action zone now. It sounds to me like they could use a little assistance there."

John was pleased with all of Ally's actions. It was also sound advice to keep the granite quarry under surveillance to make sure no hostiles showed up. It would make the approach of the helicopters much more secure. The other drone would also give them a heads up about anything else which attempted to approach the area.

"You did a good job." John said. "It was really good thinking to lure the HK drones away like you did. It will make everything easier and safer for everyone. The majority of the cleanup is all in one area right now."

Ally didn't think she did anything too much different than any other Terminator would have done. She may have experienced a little bit of unexpected help. Since everything was concluded for now, it gave her a little time to reflect on her actions. She thought she took a few extra chances she may not have needed to take. Everything worked out in the current situation so she couldn't complain. No one would listen anyway.

"I think I still have a little 'Future Allison' in me." Ally said. "She was a real firecracker."

They all knew Cameron contained a lot of Future Allison in her. The main difference there was it was the 'original' Future Allison, and not the 'improved' Future Allison which Cameron created.

Ally wanted to know if there were other pressing issues. Something else could have turned up in her absence. She wondered if more Skynet forces were on their way. She might be in a better position to confront them from her current location.

"John Henry, is there anything else I need to concern myself with?" Ally asked. "If not, I'm going to back up our team on the ground."

John Henry hadn't identified any additional threats. He knew it really didn't mean anything since he didn't detect the other threats either.

"I think it's fine if you return at this time." John Henry said. "If anything else develops, I'll let you know."

John wanted to point out another suspected Skynet location.

"We also have the other location across town we believe the HK drones were launched from." John said. "I want to attack it as soon as possible. It may be more than one structure since there are several of them located near each other. We hope we can come up with a definitive answer and launch our aerial attack."

Ally firewalled the throttles. It was something she could only do for maneuvering as she led the two HK drones to their doom. They couldn't keep up with her at full power. They would have returned back to the previous location once they realized she was gone.

"I'm on my way back at full speed." Ally said. "I'll go where I'm needed."

Ally was pleased she was able to corral the HK drones in the quarry where they could both be brought down safely. She was worried about the team on the ground. John Henry filled her in on some more of the details. While the immediate threat of the HK drones was over, there were still Terminators on the ground stalking the team. It appeared Sheila currently faced the biggest threat. It was unacceptable to her. She couldn't let anything happen to her.

She wanted to get back and help them out. She pushed the manned drone to its fullest performance level and then some. She knew it was all very much unlike her normal disposition or demeanor. She was sure Cameron was a bad influence on her.

"I'm coming Sheila, just hang on." Ally said softly to herself.

Earlier:

Sheila observed she picked up a tail. It was probably the same individual who targeted her for the HK drone strike. She hoped it was because she still needed to settle the score on what nearly transpired. She also needed to remain mindful the individual was a threat. It was possible they were a Gray, but she doubted it. She was sure it was another Terminator. She was going to find out as soon as she could.

She moved past the building the captured drones were in and then cut across the street to the other side. She went down the side of the building. Once she was out of the view of whoever was tracking her, she broke into a run. She ran at her full Terminator speed. It was her goal to be out of the person's view when they reached the gap between the two buildings she went down. They wouldn't know if she was hiding or which way she went when she reached the other end of the buildings.

At the end of the building, she doubled back through the alley and came up along the other side of the building and out to the street again. She was alongside the next building. She stopped and paused. She saw someone cross the street to follow where she just was a few seconds ago. Now she spotted a new problem. She saw additional movement the way she came from before she crossed the street. They disappeared before she could identify them. She heard gunfire twice from the other end of the street earlier. She hoped Bob and Cammy were OK. She would need to go check on them as soon as she eliminated her current threats. At least the HK drones stalking them were gone. She hoped they were gone anyway. There could always be more.

She would have to commend Ally on her wild flying. She already thought of a few ways to personally thank her. She needed to keep her head in the game. There was the immediate problem to deal with. She still planned to give Ally a special treat when they were alone together. She knew things could have turned out drastically different than they did earlier.

Sheila decided to engage the closest target to her. She moved along the front of the building. She hoped to come up behind the person who followed her. With her maneuver, she should come up behind them while they would expect her to be in front of them. Then again, they could have anticipated what she just did and be waiting for her….

At this point she doubted she would finish the operation without some kind of sheath damage. She really wanted the individual who targeted her. She really hoped she didn't get 'zapped' when she came around the corner. Her Taser was armed and ready, as was her pistol. She didn't for a moment think it was a homeless person who just happened to be in the area where she was and followed her.

Earlier, John Henry dispatched two of their drones to the area where he suspected the two HK drones which almost attacked them were launched from. John wanted the building flattened immediately. He would have liked to have checked it out a little bit better first, but John was adamant the building be destroyed before any further threats could be launched from it. There was a strong possibility the Grays and the Terminators they encountered so far came from the same location.

"Both of our drones have arrived near the building the HK drones were launched from." John Henry said. "There are several other buildings in the area."

John wanted to nip any further threats from the location in the bud.

"Hit it." John said.

John Henry fired two missiles from their drones. Both of the missiles tracked true and struck the target. They were both solid hits. Much of the building collapsed. What remained began to burn.

"Each drone has fired a single missile." John Henry said. "There's some movement in the flames."

John wasn't about to take any chances. He didn't like the danger his troops on the ground faced just a short while ago.

"Hit it again." John said.

John Henry fired the remaining missile on each of the drones at the target. There were two more fireballs where they struck. The drones searched for any additional threats, none was detected. He really hoped it wasn't a structure some of the homeless moved into for shelter. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He didn't see any need to address the issue at this time.

"The missiles have been fired and tracked true. Both of them have struck the target." John Henry said. "There's no longer any movement."

John wanted to make sure there was no breakaway or an escape. He also wanted to verify there was no new attack headed towards their troops on the ground. The Skynet forces had more than a few minutes to do either of those things before they were able to identify the latest target and neutralize it.

"Search the surrounding area for any vehicles fleeing or approaching our people on the ground." John said. "Have the next set of drones ready to move in."

John Henry made the check. The search came up empty. Three of their four drones in the area expended their air to ground missiles.

"Negative." John Henry said. "There's nothing moving."

John wanted to get things finalized.

"What about the first structure we took down?" John asked. "Has anything else happened there or has anyone tried to get out?"

"Negative." John Henry said. "Nothing happened there since we took the building down."

John wanted more assistance for the three Terminators who were on the ground. The area the one drone was at looked secure. There was a bigger threat elsewhere. His biggest worry right now was Sheila.

"Send the drone there to assist Sheila." John said. "If we can spot the threat, we can take care of it ourselves."

John wanted to wrap things up and get the captured HK drones out of there. It bothered him greatly they hadn't been able to get those captured HK drones sent off yet. They did need to deal with the threats on the ground first.

He needed to wonder how all of the operations seemed to expand on their own and grow into major events. It seemed to happen more often than not. It was no wonder Cameron often returned shot up after attempting to deal with similar situations on her own. He at least felt somewhat lucky on this operation they were able to have some of their drones available to assist them. If there wouldn't have been any of their drones with them, things would have turned out a lot differently than they did so far. He wasn't sure how much bigger the operation would expand, or if it was nearly over.

Bob heard a drone approach his position. He was sure it was one of theirs. He was behind a block wall. It was one of their drones.

He saw a figure cross the street, it wasn't Sheila. They moved alongside a building. Another figure emerged and moved across the front of the same building to follow the first figure. The second figure was Sheila.

He was a little surprised to see she already moved around the building and moved behind the individual who was following her. They wouldn't expect the person they were following, to now be behind them. He thought it was an effective strategy.

Bob looked around and then headed the same way at a run. He wanted to get over there and back her up.

Cammy wanted to back Sheila up. She was just stalked by a Terminator. She didn't care much for it. It was very unpleasant to be hunted. She managed to turn the tables and get the drop on the Terminator who tried to get her. He was now deactivated. He would soon join the Resistance force once his sheath was Resequenced and his chip was reprogrammed.

She moved along the back alley on the opposite side of the street from where the captured HK drones in the back of the big rig waited. She saw a figure come around the side of a building in the distance and run back up the other side of the building after they crossed along the backside of it. She thought it was highly unusual. She didn't get a good look at them but she believed it might be Sheila. It wasn't a large figure.

Cammy looked around and increased her speed to a run. She stopped at the edge of the building before the one she saw the figure run around. She peered cautiously around the corner and saw the figure take off at a run. It was Sheila. She headed across the front of the next building. It was the same building she just ran around the back of. She figured Sheila did the maneuver to try to get in back of whoever was in back of her. It was a good move to turn the tables. The individual following Sheila would be in for a surprise. The hunter was now the hunted. She thought it was an effective strategy.

She decided to move along the backside of the same building to head in the same direction as Sheila, but come up the other side of the building. Since Sheila was headed back the same way from the street side, she thought she could head off whoever chased Sheila, or who Sheila now appeared to chase. As she passed the gap between the buildings, she saw Bob in pursuit of Sheila as well. She was glad Bob was right there to back Sheila up. She was pretty sure the threat would be headed directly towards her. She briefly wondered how much more gunshot damage she would take before the operation was over. It didn't really matter right now. She was there to help her team.

Cammy hurried to the corner of the next building. She would have preferred to still have her Taser. She didn't. It was already expanded. Her Glock was up and ready….

There was gunfire on the far side of the building.

A second set of gunfire was answered in return.

Cammy came around the corner and gave it a wide berth at full speed.

She didn't want to come around the corner too close as there might be someone there. If there was someone there, they would expect her to be close to the corner to use the wall for cover, not away from it and on the attack. The goal was to try to stay one step ahead of the enemy.

Seconds ago:

Sheila made her way up along the side of the building and was back on the street. She was about to go around the corner of the building for a second time when she saw a figure was in pursuit of her from two buildings back. She perceived it as the bigger threat. She was about to change the direction of her response when she saw a welcome face. She was able to identify it as Bob. She immediately resumed her trek to continue around the side of the building after the original figure who pursued her.

With Bob behind her, she came around the corner wide at full speed. Gunfire split the night as projectiles flew by her, only one struck her. It appeared her stalker expected her to come right around the edge of the corner, not wide. It was exactly the same technique Cammy intended to use.

She returned fire as she went behind a dumpster.

More shots clanged into the dumpster. The full metal jacket pistol rounds were unable to reach her. Both lids on the top of the dumpster we're open and down over the backside. It gave her three layers of metal to protect her from the aggressor's bullets. If they would have possessed a rifle, it might be a different story depending upon the caliber or the type of rounds used.

She was a little surprised when there was more gunfire from further back at the rear of the building. Since Bob was behind her, it must be Cammy. They seemed to have someone pinned between the two of them with Bob on the way. It appeared it would soon be three to one. For once it was in their favor.

Sheila figured her sheath was going to be damaged at some point. It looked like she was right. Now whoever shot at her was trapped between Cammy and her, she was itching for some payback.

It was doubtful the figure was going to stay in the location for very long. They needed to make a choice to try to make a break for it, either back the way they came or continue along the direction they were going. They didn't know for sure what was in front of them besides one shooter. What they did know is there was only one individual behind them. They were across the way behind a dumpster and identified as a female.

What they didn't know was Bob was about to arrive and back Sheila up.

The constant throb of the helicopter's rotor beat a steady rhythm into Allison's head.

She looked around, everything was dark. She hadn't been able to see much on the flight so far. Now it seemed there was even less to see.

"Where are we?" Allison asked. "It looks like the middle of nowhere."

Cameron briefly looked back before she continued to search the sky in front of them and to both sides of them. Both John Henry and CamNet cleared the air space around them for twenty miles in all directions. She could understand Allison's question about the vast darkness below them.

"A lot of the Central Valley looks like this." Cameron said. "There are communities along each set of railroad tracks every now and then and a lot of farmland, or even just open land."

Savannah checked her instruments and readings. She glanced at her map briefly.

Cameron liked the detail Savannah paid to everything. They were given a new destination and we're currently headed for it. She wanted to reassure Savannah.

"You're doing perfect." Cameron said.

Savannah didn't want any mistakes. She knew there were two other Resistance aircraft in the area. She didn't want there to be any problems.

"Tell me if I'm not." Savannah said. "I know we have the Blackhawk and a drone in front of us."

Cameron was on the lookout for both of them.

"I'm watching. We'll be at the quarry soon." Cameron said. "Allison, rock the house."

Allison was glad to keep the tunes coming.

'Blue Suede Shoes' by 'Johnny Rivers', followed the request.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I Need To Show You Something

I'm trying to express myself
To me it's all very confusing
I feel I should be the one
Instead of who you are choosing

I know what I'm feeling
It seems beyond my control
Is it not what we both seek
A way to make each of us whole

When I covertly touch you
I can feel what your response is
We both know the answer
Without taking a pop quiz

When you see me change
Because it's hot out
You really know what I'm asking
Neither of us need doubt

I must make you understand
That I'm more than nothing
I'll let you see and feel me
I need to show you something

Nobody