Chapter 786

I've Got Him

Seconds ago:

Cammy knew there was trouble around the corner. She knew Sheila was now in pursuit of whoever pursued her earlier. She was in the alley and ready to move around the side of the building. She suspected a Gray or a hostile Terminator would be there.

She came around the corner wide at full speed. She saw someone shooting at Sheila as she moved behind a dumpster. They were at the other end of the building. She opened fire on them. She emptied her magazine into them. They turned to face her. She knew all of her shots hit the target. They were unaffected. It could only mean one thing. It was a Terminator. She continued towards him at full speed. She still needed to traverse the full length of the building. She was sure she would get shot a few more times.

Sheila moved around the dumpster and fired into the Terminator. It caused him to turn back in her direction. Cammy appeared to be more of a threat to him. He perceived Sheila as the lesser threat and moved back in her direction. He was about to try and go back the way he came. It appeared to him evasion was the best course of action currently. Once he was away and better in control of the situation, he would resume his attack.

Bob could hear all the gunfire. It was clear both Sheila and Cammy engaged him. He was almost to the corner of the building. He could see Sheila behind the dumpster. She indicated to him the Terminator was just around the corner. It looked like a little brute force would break up the attack against Cammy and Sheila.

The Terminator made his move. He was about to run past Sheila when Bob came around the corner and continued forward at full speed. He headed straight for the Terminator. He slammed into the Terminator and knocked him against the cement wall.

Cammy and Sheila were now both next to Bob.

The Terminator lost his weapon. The slide was locked open. He was out of ammunition. He bolted up onto his feet. He dropped the full magazine he was holding. He didn't have time to complete the reload. He still hoped to get past the three of them and evade them. He hadn't anticipated he would need to fight three Terminators unarmed. He only thought he would need to track and terminate a single 'Metal Bitch'. She hadn't looked like too big of a threat to him initially. He actually thought she was going to be destroyed by the HK drone he sent to engage her.

Sheila pulled her Taser out and fired. She hit the Terminator just as he tried to make a break for it. He went down. Sheila pulled her knife and rolled him over onto his back. She wanted Cammy and Bob to hold him down.

"You owe me something." Sheila said. "I'm here to collect."

She was angry now about being shot at earlier, as well as targeted by the HK drone. She wanted some payback.

Cammy and Bob saw she was going to do more than remove his chip. It appeared she was going to remove something else first.

Bob remembered his earlier thought about allowing Sheila to do what she wanted. He didn't like being targeted either. Somehow now it didn't seem like the right thing, even if it did.

"Remember, this will be a new recruit for the Resistance." Bob said.

Sheila thought they could refer to him as 'Shorty'.

Cammy wanted Sheila to stop.

"Sheila!" Cammy said sternly.

Sheila looked at Cammy and Bob and then up at their drone. It was directly over them. It was clear everything she did now was going to be recorded. She looked back at Cammy and nodded. She then removed the Terminators chip.

Cammy went over and quietly took the chip from Sheila. She added it to the three she already obtained. Savannah previously asked her to quietly get four chips for her without any questions. It was supposed to be something which occurred only between the two of them. She was a little concerned about what was actually going on. She would 'scrub' them and give them to Savannah.

Savannah asked her to make sure everything was erased on them. She asked her to do everything three times to make sure. She knew it wasn't something within the scope of their normal operations.

Cammy wondered what it was about. Savannah asked her to not ask her about it. She didn't want any questions. She trusted Savannah more than anyone, so she would do it. She wasn't so sure something good was going to come out of it. She even wondered if one of them would end up in her chassis. She didn't think Savannah would ever do it to her. If Cameron was the one behind it, it was another story. She wouldn't trust anything Cameron would do to her, further than the wires on her Taser would reach.

Cammy was glad Sheila stopped what she was about to do. What she would have done would have been transmitted to John and Young Allison. She knew Savannah would have seen it at some point. On a personal level, she didn't want Sheila to cultivate her 'mean streak'. She too wanted to see a 'better' Sheila. She already took things a little further than she needed to on most of the Grays she dealt with on the current operation.

It was time to check in with John and John Henry. It appeared the current situation on the ground was under control. She wondered where the next threat was around them, or headed towards them. She doubted things were over yet.

"Is there anything else happening around us?" Cammy asked.

John Henry recently moved one of the drones over the three Terminators. On its way there, the drone hadn't identified any additional threats.

"Negative." John Henry said. "I haven't detected anything in the air, or any additional movement on the ground. The two buildings which were destroyed haven't shown any activity in or around them since they were hit."

John knew the Terminators were in several firefights. There was a fair amount of gunfire involved with both Cammy and Sheila. He was sure there were more than a few bullet wounds to both of them. He was aware Terminators weren't always forthcoming as to the actual extent of damage to them. He wanted to know anyway.

"What is the damage report on any of you?" John asked. "I don't want anything held back either. Give it to me straight."

Sheila looked at Cammy and smiled at the last part of John's statement.

"I thought you were going to give it to us - straight." Sheila said.

There was no reply from the Command Center. John ignored Sheila's comment. It was something he would actually like to try. He knew all he needed to do was ask.

Cammy and Sheila filled John in. There was minor cosmetic damage to them only.

John and John Henry watched the whole scene go down and were glad their personnel were relatively undamaged. Their vests prevented any major damage.

Bob indicated he was undamaged.

John wanted to move the operation along. It was long overdue they got the captured HK drones away from the area. He didn't want to wait around for the next Skynet counter attack. He would rather not have to destroy the HK drones either. He wanted the Resistance to benefit from their capture. He knew it was something his mother didn't agree with. He didn't at first either. Cameron already collected a substantial quantity of HK drones, HK Tracks, and even a few HK Treads.

"I want to get the captured HK drones in the air." John said. "I want them out of there, and all of you too."

Bob, Sheila, and Cammy turned to head back in the direction where the captured HK drones were at in the back of the big rig.

Cammy went to pick up the deactivated Terminator.

Bob quickly bent down and picked him up. He knew Cammy or Sheila could carry the deactivated Terminator just as well as he could. He believed he learned a certain amount of chivalry from his exposure to humans. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

"I've got him." Bob said.

Cammy wanted to reassure the Command Center they would get all the business taken care of. They were ready to move on as well.

"We'll head across the street and get the HK drones airborne." Cammy said.

John wanted to make sure everything was in order in the target area. His main concern would be any destroyed Terminator or any HK equipment still identifiable in the wreckage of the buildings.

"Once the HK drones are gone, I want you to check on the two structures we hit." John said. "John Henry has all communications shut down in the area so there is no 'emergency response' yet."

Bob hoped to get the operation concluded so he could move on to the next one. Based on the current intel they gathered through Sheila's enhanced interrogations, there were sets of boxcars hidden inside of buildings where the railroad siding actually entered into the building.

"Affirmative…." Bob said.

John Henry wanted to reassure them they would have drone support. The other drones would be on patrol around the area to make sure Skynet didn't send any additional surprises.

"You have two drones with you now. Ally is on her way with the manned drone." John Henry said. "We're on the lookout for any additional threats. So far everyone has done a magnificent job."

In the Command Center they continued to search for any threats which could endanger the team on the ground. They also needed to make sure there were no threats to their drones in the air. There were also two helicopters on their way.

John wanted to discuss a few issues with John Henry since everything seemed to have settled down a little bit. He wasn't really sure how to address the issue. It concerned what Sheila was about to do to the deactivated Terminator when the drone showed up to back them up.

"I saw what was going to happen." John said. "I know what Sheila was about to do."

John Henry hadn't actually witnessed anything occur. He didn't think they should make a big deal about it. He doubted it would do any good. He didn't believe there was an actual remedy to the situation.

"It didn't." John Henry said. "All we saw was a Terminator deactivated. It's probably best if we leave it as such."

John knew events were about to progress a little further than a simple deactivation when they began to receive drone footage. It was clear the only reason Sheila stopped what she was about to do was because the drone arrived. He wondered how much influence he might have over her behavior.

"Do you think if I spoke personally to Sheila it would do anything?" John asked. "I don't want to make it worse. I want to make it better."

John Henry seriously doubted it. It was deeper rooted than an impulse. It was actually more like a compulsion. It was part of Sheila's core programming. It was who she was.

"No." John Henry said. "The 'Neural Interface' from Jesse is part of her programming now. It's beyond it as well. It's something she enjoys."

John didn't think he could rely on Cameron or any of the other Terminators to assist him. There was only one person who he believed could help him in this endeavor.

"I need to have Savannah help me with it." John said.

John Henry believed it was now problematic. Previously Savannah attempted to work with Sheila to curb her impulses. The approach seemed to work for a while. When Savannah was nearly terminated several times at the bunker near the nuclear power plant, she gave Sheila a new set of instructions. Maybe they weren't actually instructions, but more about lifting Sheila's current 'restrictions'.

"Savannah told Sheila to do whatever it took." John Henry said. "I believe she was upset about what she needed to go through at the bunker near Serrano Point. An entire team was almost lost. You witnessed what Savannah needed to face several times, and the choice she made to remain behind when the drone could only take one individual. I believe all of it weighed heavily upon her."

John wasn't aware at the time Savannah lifted the restraints. He was now. He watched Savannah need to fight for her life while she protected both Cameron and Cammy. Several times during the entire ordeal she was nearly terminated. He thought he understood her anger and frustration. Then again, he wasn't the one on the ground fighting for his life. He knew he should be the one who did those things, not a teenage girl.

"I'll talk to Savannah first and then to Sheila." John said. "I don't want the Resistance to be associated with Scavengers or Grays for cruelty. I don't want it to be seen as how the Resistance operates. It's not. It's not who we are. It's not who I am."

The concept seemed like a logical choice to John Henry. It was actually only one individual in the Resistance who currently partook in the type of deviant behavior. He thought Sheila attempted to cover her tracks well by her follow up actions. Usually the building was torched to destroy any evidence of her unorthodox behavior. It seemed like the best thing to do was to agree with John.

"It's a wise choice." John Henry said.

John Henry wasn't sure Sheila was going to listen. Even if she did listen to John and cut back her 'atrocities' when she was on a Resistance operation, he didn't believe for a moment she would stop the same behavior on the 'off the books' operations with Cameron and CamNet involved.

He actually wasn't against what was done to the sex traffickers who targeted young females and forced them into the sex trade. He understood Cameron's reasoning to allow Sheila to act as she did during those operations. He never needed to look further than Vanna or Jesse to be reminded how cruel some humans could be to other humans. In the future he visited, he was a witness personally to the acts carried out by Scavengers against other humans, usually against females. Any action Cameron took now would only thin the herd of Scavengers who would rise up in a Skynet future. He believed Sheila was the proper tool to use against those individuals.

He also decided anything he uncovered in his battle against Skynet, which would relate to any of Cameron's 'off the books' operations, he would make sure CamNet received the information. He didn't need to know all the activity which originated and was carried out from Cameron's base about any of the 'off the books' operations. The future would need all the help it could get, even without Judgment Day.

Cammy led Sheila and Bob back across the street to the building the big rig was parked inside of. Bob carried the recently deactivated Terminator. They needed to get the HK drones launched out of the back of the truck before any more Skynet forces showed themselves, either on the ground or in the air.

The three of them reached the structure. Cammy yanked the roll up door to the building open. Sheila moved up and opened the doors on the back of the truck. Bob dropped the Terminator on the ground in back of the truck and pulled the other Terminator in the truck out and dropped him on top of the newest arrival.

Cammy looked down at the two Terminators who now lay on the ground at the back of the truck. It reminded her there was some unfinished business at the location where she took down another Terminator previously.

"I still need to get the Terminator at the other building." Cammy said.

Sheila was worried about her SUV being targeted earlier.

"We need new wheels as well." Sheila said. "I think our SUV is compromised."

Cammy wanted to get moving. She didn't want to leave in the big truck and their SUV was the only other vehicle in the area, other than the vehicles the Grays arrived in. The drone images showed they were all severely damaged from the explosions and fire.

"Go get it for now." Cammy said. "Check it to make sure it hasn't been tagged or booby trapped."

Sheila wanted to leave the area as well. There were a few too many close calls associated with it.

"I think it's a good idea." Sheila said.

She still thought about almost being 'lit up' by the HK drone.

Cammy wanted to get all three things done at the same time. It would allow them to leave quicker.

"I'll get the Terminator from the other building. You can pick me up with him. We'll pick up Bob and these two stiffs afterwards." Cammy said. "All of the captured HK drones should be away by then."

Bob assured them he could complete the mission with the HK drones.

Cammy and Sheila took off.

Bob made sure the drones were ready to go. He went up into the back of the big rig. He reconnected the power source to each of them, one at a time, as John Henry flew them out of the rear of it. He waited for one before the next one took off to reactivate it. He didn't want any surprises in the back of the truck if there was a problem.

John Henry took control of each of the captured HK drones. They flew out of the back of the truck and out of the building. They were headed to a secure remote location for evaluation and inspection. Once it was done, they would be fitted with their weapons systems and put into storage.

Bob drug the two deactivated Terminators outside of the building. He closed the roll up door to the building. The empty big rig would be left behind. He thought about leaving a booby trap in case any of the Skynet forces searched the area and found it. He decided against it because of the local homeless population. More than likely one of them would be who found it first. He wasn't really concerned about their fate. He was more worried about the investigation which was bound to follow. There were already enough things they needed to cover up in the area as it was.

He actually thought about sending out information to some of the 'chop shops' in one of the larger communities in the Central Valley. It would be about the location of the three big rigs. They could go ahead and 'boost' them. They could either be taken south of the border, or to a 'chop shop' for 'processing'. The big rigs would disappear without any further questions asked by anyone. None of them would be discovered abandoned anywhere.

A few minutes ago:

Sheila made her way back to the SUV. It was near where the first building was taken down at. She carefully checked the area to make sure no one lay in wait for her. She was unable to determine the location where the Terminator who targeted her was located. Everything looked clear around it. She approached the SUV and inspected it for any booby traps. None were found. She figured if she missed anything, she would know when she turned the key. Nothing happened when she did, other than the vehicle started. She drove away and headed for her rendezvous with Cammy.

A few minutes ago:

Cammy carefully approached the building she left the deactivated Terminator in. She was a little wary of what she would find once she entered the building. If there were any additional Skynet forces with the Terminator, they could either lay in wait for her to return, or booby trap the area. She left a strand of her hair in the door jamb with the door closed against it. If anyone went in the same way they all did, the hair would fall to the ground. It was still in place the same way she left it. It gave her a little more confidence the area was undisturbed.

She checked for everything as she entered. She found the Terminator as she left him. She did a final check around and carried him outside. Sheila pulled up thirty seconds later. She deposited the Terminator's chassis in the rear area of the SUV and climbed into the front seat next to Sheila. They headed for the building where Bob was. As they neared the location, they spotted one of the captured HK drones take to the sky and head straight up. It was lost from sight in seconds.

Bob watched the last HK drone fly away and disappear into the night sky.

Sheila and Cammy arrived soon afterwards. Cammy helped Bob toss the two deactivated Terminators into the back of the SUV. They joined the other one she collected from in front of the X-ray room. They climbed in and Sheila drove off.

Sheila noticed the handling of the SUV was a little different now.

"I can feel the extra weight in the back." Sheila said.

Cammy wasn't concerned with it. She wanted to finish their assignment and get rolling.

"Let's get back to the first building and check it out." Cammy said. "Maybe we'll have a little more weight to add to it, even if it is slightly charred. There could have been a Terminator in with the Grays who didn't make it."

They wanted to wrap up the operation. They still needed to check out the structure across town where the two HK drones which came to attack them were launched from.

They remained in constant communication with the Command Center. There were no new threats detected on the ground or in the air as they finished their mop up operations.

Young Allison was at home now. Holly and her were in the bunker with Anna. They finished dinner and headed straight for home. They watched everything happen. None of them liked the fact Allison went with Savannah and Cameron. Hanna was upstairs with Claire and Summer.

Holly was very upset Allison was out in the field, especially without her. If she was home at the time, she would have gone with Allison to help protect her. She actually would have tried to prevent her from going in the first place. There was no reason for Allison to go.

Young Allison and Anna could see it caused Holly a lot of grief.

"She shouldn't be out there." Holly said. "I need to be with her."

Young Allison felt it should have been her who went instead of Allison. She went and calmed Holly. She didn't think their current assignment would be too dangerous. It could always change and change fast.

"You know Cameron will protect both of them." Young Allison said. "The fighting is over for now. It should be just a helicopter ride for her."

Holly I wasn't so sure about it. She knew from past experience things could happen fast.

"You spend a lot of time down here now doing this." Holly said. "You know how these things can go."

Holly wanted to mention Allison was with Cameron. Anything Cameron was involved with could become very violent rather quickly. She hoped Savannah being there would be a moderating force to prevent it. She decided not to mention it. It was bad enough to think it.

Young Allison wanted Holly to understand she was no stranger to concern about their troops in the field.

"I'm just as worried about Savannah and Cameron as you are about Allison. I'm worried about her too. Remember, she was me." Young Allison said. "I'm worried about ALL of them. I worry every time."

Holly knew Young Allison wanted to take things a step further. She thought it was a bad idea. She would rather have Allison take the risk instead of Young Allison. She was pretty sure the only reason why it wasn't Young Allison out there was because she was a teenager and lived at home with her family. She was fairly certain it was one of the reasons why Savannah hadn't allowed things to go further and for Young Allison and her to be together at the Resistance base. It wasn't something she really thought about until now as to why the brakes seemed to be put on everything. It was Savannah who was pushing on them hard to prevent things from progressing too quickly on every level.

"You want to be there with them." Holly said.

Young Allison thought it was more about sharing the burden and the danger.

"I do." Young Allison said. "I want to help share the risk for Savannah and Cameron."

Holly didn't view it as a normal human reaction to violence. Most humans would shy away from being shot at. They wouldn't want to be in a situation where people were being killed and they would need to fight for their life at times.

"Aren't you afraid?" Holly asked.

Young Allison didn't think it was about fear. It was about her responsibility to the future.

"Of course I am." Young Allison said. "It's not about me. It's about our duty, and about protecting the future. I don't want to get hurt or die, but I don't want anyone else to either. I want to share the burden and do my part."

Holly looked at the younger version of her lover.

"You're braver than my Allison." Holly said.

Young Allison didn't think so. The fact Allison was out right now was proof of it. Allison was her, even if she wasn't Allison. Allison needed to fight plenty in the future she came from. She didn't shy away from battle. She believed Allison was braver than her.

"No, I'm not. We're the SAME person." Young Allison said. "Our fingerprints are the same. They're identical. Anything I can do, she can do. Anything which happened to her, can happen to me. I'm aware of what most of those things were too. Remember, all of those things did happen to me, as her. I've been trained ever since I can remember by Cameron and the others, and by you too."

Holly knew why Future John selected Future Allison. Every Allison was special. No wonder Cameron was so special herself. Anybody based on such a person as any Allison would have to be.

"Anything Allison would do, I would do. Allison was very brave in her future. I only hope I'll be able to do some of the things she already accomplished. Allison is the definition of brave. Anything I would do, Allison would do." Young Allison said. "It includes the 'big girl' stuff too, all of it. I'm more than ready for all of it. I also want it to be my choice first, before it's someone else's choice by force. Don't think it isn't something I think about. I do."

Holly and Young Allison shared a long look with the last part of her statement.

Holly knew she needed to start watching over Young Allison even more. It should be the same way Gail started to do for Savannah. Both of the girls were special. It was more than what Cameron attempted to make them into. It was the girls themselves - The 'Chosen Ones'.

Cammy's team arrived at the first building they took down.

Ally was overhead in the manned drone as she scanned the rubble.

"Everything here is wasted." Ally said. "I don't see any signs of any Terminators either."

Sheila checked to make sure her 'handiwork' was 'covered up' by being incinerated, it was. She was still concerned their ride was compromised.

"You're right, love. Everything here is wasted." Sheila said. "We need new wheels soon, find us something good. I feel like our SUV has a bullseye painted on it."

Ally knew Sheila liked the Escalade they 'borrowed' for one operation. She didn't know if she could find another one or not. There were a lot of pick-up trucks though.

"I will see what I can spot." Ally said.

Cammy and Bob looked around too. They collected whatever firearms they saw and tossed them into the dumpster which contained the two dead men Sheila terminated earlier. The weapons were all burnt and worthless. Maybe someone would find them, maybe they wouldn't. They made sure everything in the dumpster was covered over. CamNet assured them the contents of the dumpster would end up in the dump soon enough.

"Let's head to the other place." Cammy said. "We still have some work to do."

None of them were sure what they would find at the other location.

Savannah flew the UH-1. She knew they were near the quarry.

"I make us about fifteen miles out from our target location." Savannah said.

Cameron was aware of their specific location. She was impressed at how accurate Savannah's navigation was.

"We are fourteen point nine miles away." Cameron said. "You're flying is perfect."

Savannah was aware the LZ was going to be completely dark. It was inside of the canyon. She didn't want to take any chances, especially with Allison on board.

"I want you to take it with the close quarters in the dark at the quarry." Savannah said. "I don't want any problems. I know the Blackhawk will be there as well."

Cameron was aware the Blackhawk was about to hook up to the first downed drone.

"The Blackhawk is already there." Cameron said.

Savannah wanted to make sure they arrived safely.

"Are you ready?" Savannah asked. "You got it?"

Cameron took control of the Iroquois.

"I've got it." Cameron said.

Savannah looked back at Allison.

Allison wanted to say something but she wasn't sure exactly what. She enjoyed being out of the house. It was her chance to get away from it all, even if it was for a short time.

"I didn't see much, but I enjoyed the flight." Allison said.

Savannah was unsure what would unfold after they'd picked up their damaged HK drone.

"We're not done yet." Savannah said. "We may need to find additional transportation home if we pick up the captured Terminators as well."

Cameron didn't believe they would have any trouble with the additional weight of a drone and the captured Terminators. She reset the governor on the engine.

"This bird can take it." Cameron said. "I worked on it myself."

Savannah wanted to double check with the Command Center about the area which surrounded the granite quarry. One of their drones kept it under constant surveillance ever since the two HK drones were brought down.

"What does the drone show, John Henry?" Savannah asked. "I don't want a hot 'LZ'."

John Henry kept a careful watch over the area as well as where the other team was at.

"There's nothing around the area." John Henry said. "The landing zone isn't hot. The Blackhawk is already retrieving one of the HK drones. The crew will have the other ready to hook up for you. You should only need to be there a short time."

Cameron didn't see anything as a problem.

"We'll be in and out very quickly." Cameron said. "What about the Terminators Cammy's team has?"

John Henry knew there were a few issues about their current ride.

"They'll need to acquire new transportation soon." John Henry said. "They think the vehicle they're in was 'made' earlier."

Cameron thought they could speed things up a little bit.

"We can fly there and get the deactivated Terminators first, while the Blackhawk crew gets everything ready at the quarry." Cameron said. "It will be easier to collect the deactivated Terminators before we have a load underneath us."

John wanted to make sure Cameron didn't push things too far. He thought it would be better if the Blackhawk collected the deactivated Terminators.

"Hi, Cameron. What about your lift capacity?" John asked.

Cameron was pleased John was concerned about her safety. She wanted to remind him who the real people were he should speak to.

"Hi, John. Don't forget to say 'hello' to Savannah and Allison." Cameron said. "My lift capacity is within the aircraft's limits."

John wanted to verify something with Cameron. He told John Henry to give him a private line. He wanted the truth.

"This is a secure line to you only, Cameron." John said with real concern in his voice. "Which Allison do you have with you?"

Cameron was instantly irritated by the question. It appeared she would need to deal with John's continuous negativity.

"It doesn't matter. They're ALL the same person." Cameron said. "ALL of them."

Savannah noticed right away a change in Cameron's demeanor.

"What are we missing?" Savannah asked.

Cameron looked at Savannah and Allison. She didn't want to make a big deal about it.

"It's a private conversation with John." Cameron said. "That's all."

Savannah and Allison looked at each other.

Allison selected a new tune.

'Honey Don't' by 'Carl Perkins', echoed through their headphones as Cameron pushed the Huey a little harder.

Closing monologue by Cameron:

I Can Get Her

The answer is before you
Yet you're reluctant to choose
If you make the wrong selection
In the end it's you who will lose

Think beyond this second
There are many a tomorrow
Whose strength can you borrow
Who will you leave in sorrow

You know where your love is
You know it's not a mystery
Think before you act foolishly
Or what may, will become history

Moments of anger
Can lead to destruction
Recognize your true love
Increase the feelings production

Stop what you are pursuing
Chose the one whose love is sure
You know inside yourself you say
I can get her

Nobody