Chapter 512

Careless

Cameron followed three Grays to a different location. It was a warehouse of some kind. She was about to drop down onto the roof of their building from the one located next door. She looked for any surveillance cameras. None were spotted. She climbed out the window. She closed it with one hand and dropped onto the roof.

She chose this method to observe the building because the satellite photos showed there were skylights. She carefully headed for the closest one. She tried not to make any noise as she crossed the roof. She moved up to the closest skylight and looked inside.

There was nothing to see from the skylight she was at. She carefully moved away from it. She moved down to the far side to look in. It too didn't show anything of value. There were still two more skylights to observe.

Cameron paused and looked up and around her. She wanted to make sure she wasn't being watched. There was no indication she was. It didn't mean she wasn't. There were plenty of occasions where she took others under surveillance. They never knew about it until they turned around and she was standing there, right before she terminated them. She hoped to avoid a similar fate.

Right now she was off the grid from the rest of the team. Only CamNet knew where she was at.

She moved up to the second Skylight. She could see the front of the Gray's vehicle. It was about all she could see. She was able to observe it enter the building, and the roll up door closed behind it earlier. So far she didn't know anymore than she did before she arrived.

There were various wooden crates closer to the side of the building. The next skylight should give her a better reveal of those. She moved to the other edge of the second Skylight and looked down. There were rows of crates she could see now. So far the Grays hadn't been spotted. She would like to see them so she knew where they were at. She didn't want one or all of them to appear behind her on the roof. She took a quick look around her and moved on.

She headed towards the final Skylight. There was a roof access hatch along the far wall. She went over to it and tried it. It was locked from the inside. She moved back over to the final Skylight.

She was very disturbed by what she saw.

There was a Gray who was in the process of pulling his pants down. It was clear there was some type of abuse about to happen.

She listened and could hear the muffled screams of someone. They were obviously gagged. Even without being able to see them, it was clear they didn't want to be a part of what was about to happen. She was faced with a choice. She could watch, well, listen, and do nothing, or act. She decided to act.

Cameron smashed her foot through the skylight and dropped inside the building. She landed in the middle of a shower of glass. It wasn't the first time she made a spectacular entry into the room from a skylight. The height was a little more than she would normally face. She landed a little awkward but didn't fall over. She retained all of her weapons. It wouldn't have mattered if she lost them along the way. She was a weapon.

She only spotted the Gray she saw from up above. There was a look of astonishment on his face. His pants were now around his ankles. Before he could move or call for help she punched him hard in the neck. She watched his head snap back as his body fell to the floor. He was terminated. She looked over to where the sounds of someone in distress were. She moved to another Gray who was on top of a struggling figure, it was a female.

Cameron grabbed him and kicked him hard between the legs. There was a loud 'plop' sound. She was sure something ruptured. Before he could scream, she snapped his neck. She was pleased he knew what was crushed on his body as he was terminated. She really would have liked to have Sheila along with her right now. She needed to worry about where anyone else was in the building. She knew there was at least one more Gray.

The female was bound. She was tied, gagged, and blindfolded. So far she didn't know what happened to the man. She still struggled to get away, even if the current abuse didn't happen.

Cameron carried an M9 on the operation, along with a Taser. It was in her hand now as she searched for the third Gray. There could be more as well.

She was about to untie the female when she heard someone run in her direction.

"What are you doing?" Another Gray asked. "You're going to give away our position before the 'Metal Bitch' gets here."

Cameron was more than a little disturbed about what she heard. She sensed she was in the middle of an ambush again. She didn't like being 'set up' or predictable. It seemed both of those events occurred twice now. It was once at the other building, as well as her current location. She wasn't sure who the new group was, even if they were affiliated with the other group of Grays from her future. There was something different about them. It almost seemed as if they possessed more information about their group, and her specifically, than any other group of Grays she encountered in the past.

The third Gray came around the corner and saw his two compatriots, they were both dead. He looked at the thrashing bound figure of the female. He opened his mouth to call for help.

Cameron moved up behind him and snapped his neck. She needed to spoil the ambush before the other men were ready. She hoped to catch them before they were able to arm themselves. She knew what the third man sounded like. It allowed her to use it against them.

"Hey! I need the rest of you guys here now." Cameron said in the third Gray's voice. "There's been an accident. I'm going to need some help."

She quickly changed her position. Two more Grays ran from the front to where she was at. They both carried a Taser of some type, and a pistol. She shot both of them in the back. They both went down hard onto the cement floor.

Another barb attached to a wire flashed in front of her face and hit the side of a wooden crate. She could hear the 'crackle' of electricity. There was another Gray and he just missed her with a Taser.

She fired her M9 and he went down. She moved her position. A row of bullet holes appeared in the side of the wooden crate where she just was. There was a shrill scream. She looked over and another Gray went down. He was hit with gunfire. He moved twice and then stopped thrashing around. It wasn't from her. He was the victim of 'friendly fire' on his side. She didn't think it was intentional because it was directed at her first.

Cameron came around the rear of the vehicle and shot the man with an assault rifle in the back of the head. She quickly searched the building. Her initial search didn't turn up anyone else. Based upon her experience in the previous building, she wasn't going to rule out men hidden somewhere else. They could be held in reserve to launch a second attack if she was able to survive the first attack.

She found the front door unlocked. The men were positioned around the door apparently waiting for her arrival. They wanted her to walk through it. They would have been waiting for her with several Taser type weapons to bring her down. It was another ambush for her. She was very worried about the current group she dealt with.

She checked on the female. She looked like a homeless female. She removed the gag and blindfold and untied her.

The female was somewhat astonished to see Cameron standing there with a pistol in her hand.

"If you want to live, get dressed and go." Cameron said. "The brown door next to the big door is open. Don't worry about the men on the ground. They won't be getting back up."

The female looked around her. She heard the gunfire earlier. She spotted a few bodies.

"What happened to the men?" The female asked.

Cameron didn't want to get too explicit. The dead bodies spoke for themselves, even if they were silent.

"My team has taken control." Cameron said. "Get your clothes and go. There may be more in the back. There are a lot of bullets flying around here. It's not safe here for any of us."

The female looked around and picked up her clothes. She immediately headed for the door Cameron indicated. She disappeared out the door naked with her clothes in her hands.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner." Cameron said softly.

Cameron went back and thoroughly searched the building. She wanted to make sure there would be no more surprises. The building turned up no leads. She collected and deactivated the men's phones. She really wanted to destroy the rest of the group.

There were two other vehicles inside the building. CamNet ran the license plates. They were all stolen vehicles. She ruptured the fuel tanks on all three of them. There was soon thirty gallons of gasoline running everywhere. It's swirled around the terminated men's bodies.

It was time for her to get out of the building. Gasoline vapor was very explosive.

She went up the roof access ladder and up onto the roof. She took another look around her when she came out of the door. The hatch wasn't wired, nor were there any other surveillance cameras spotted. She quickly moved to the Skylight she crashed through earlier. She armed and dropped a Thermite grenade inside the broken skylight. She quickly moved to the far side of the roof before the Thermite grenade exploded. The gasoline vapor erupted with a violent 'whoosh' sound. The rest of the skylights blew out from the explosion. She asked CamNet to delay any 911 response for ten minutes or longer. The building would be fully engulfed by then.

She went to the roof of a different business on the other side and back to her SUV. She used a different route than the one she used when she arrived. She didn't go out the front door. She wasn't sure if there were any hidden cameras on the front of it or not. It didn't matter now. She only was able to stay a half of a step ahead of the new Grays. There were too many close ones. It made her think of something more sinister behind the Grays.

There was no one around her SUV when she arrived. She looked underneath it to make sure it was clean and drove away. Once she was out of the area, she turned her tracking back on. There was a lot for her to think about. Someone was after her. Things could have ended very differently if she would have operated like she normally did. Savannah's warning to be careful echoed in her mind. She really did need to be careful with the current group. Not only were they after her to capture her, they possessed weapons to be able to do so.

Cameron was bothered by Skynet. She terminated it, 'killed' it, so many times, yet it always remained somehow. She destroyed it in two different futures. She destroyed it in this timeline several times. It always popped back up. It always remained a threat. Somehow it could be revived from the future, which appeared to be several different futures now, as well as the present.

She contacted some of her Terminators to back her up. Her last encounter was a close one. Maybe it was time she listened. She originally hadn't planned on it. She knew if she operated alone, no one else was put at risk. She told Savannah she would take some Terminators, so she decided she better do it. After what almost just happened, it seemed like a good idea. It could be her deactivated chassis next to the homeless female with a line of Grays waiting to 'use' it. There is no doubt in her mind it was exactly what they would do. She even heard them say so at the last location. It was their plan once they deactivated her.

Cameron didn't want Savannah angry at her. She knew there were times where she made Savannah furious at her. She hadn't anticipated Savannah's extreme anger in those situations. She tried to prepare Savannah for the future. The future was cruel. The future was mean. The future was ugly. At least Savannah never held it against her or 'punished' her for those various past events. Savannah explained to her they were human reactions to things. Savannah reminded her humans were flawed in many ways. She was sure Savannah meant to tell her everyone has problems and makes mistakes, not just her.

She spent two years alone with both Savannah and Future Allison away from John since they were in the future. True, Future John was there for one of those years, but he possessed enough sense to stay away from her. Duplicate Cameron made sure of it.

It bothered Cameron more when Future John was with Future Allison than it did when any of the others were with him, even Duplicate Cameron. She knew when Duplicate Cameron was with Future John, it was really her who was with him, even if it wasn't her. It was not so much because Future Allison was with Future John, but because Future John was with Future Allison. It bothered her because he 'touched' Future Allison. It bothered her when Duplicate Cameron and Future Savannah were with Future Allison, but not as much for some reason. She was aware she was jealous of anyone who touched Future Allison, except Savannah - Past Savannah - HER Savannah.

Reality crudely knocked. It brought her back to now. She let her attention lose focus as she was lost in her feelings and desires.

"Cameron, you have a tail." John Henry said as he suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

Cameron blinked and looked around. She spotted the tail.

She was distracted and became careless. It seemed to happen more and more. She knew she became more easily distracted now. She wasn't sure why. It seemed other things were more important and crept into her thoughts somehow. Even if they weren't more important, some still crept in and lingered there.

Previously:

Savannah and Cammy left the Resistance base. They wanted to follow Cameron and provide her with assistance if it was necessary. They were a little surprised when she went off the grid and they lost contact with her.

Cammy looked at Savannah. They should have caught up with Cameron by now. There was no sign of her.

"I don't think she's going after the same target." Cammy said.

Savannah didn't know what Cameron was up to. She knew there was one place where she might be able to get some assistance. It was time to see what being the 'Chosen One' could actually do. She established a secure line to CamNet.

"I need to know where Cameron is at." Savannah said.

The response was immediate.

"She's currently tracking a vehicle I provided her with information on." CamNet said. "It is another group of Grays."

CamNet proceeded to give Savannah a brief rundown of the significance of the other vehicle.

Cammy and Savannah were vectored towards Cameron's position by CamNet. It was before the tracking was turned back on. They were close to her when it was reactivated. It didn't seem Cameron made very good time. They didn't know the full extent of her stop.

"We're behind them. We're tracking them." Cammy reported. "We have Cameron covered."

Cameron should've listened for a drone. She should've been looking around.

"Cameron?" Savannah asked. "Is everything alright?"

Cameron didn't get specific. There were more loose ends to deal with. CamNet provided her with a current update.

"I think so." Cameron responded. "I needed to think about some other things…."

John wondered where Cameron was at for the last half hour but didn't ask. He was sure she was involved in some type of 'side trip'.

"Now isn't the time." John said. "Everyone needs to be focused."

Cameron could see they all cared. She expected someone to ask why she was off the grid earlier. No one asked, yet. She decided to inform them of what was occurring now. She'd stretch the truth a little.

"The tail vehicle behind me contains some of my Terminators. I waited for them to arrive." Cameron said. "They're here to back me up. I wanted Savannah to stay in for the rest of the night. I'm pushing her too hard."

Savannah was glad when Cameron came back up on the grid earlier. She wanted to ask her exactly what happened, but she would need to do it in person. Cameron offered an explanation but she didn't buy it. She wanted everyone to know, including John, she was her own person for decisions.

"Nobody pushes me, Cameron." Savannah said. "You know it. We all have free choice in everything. We all act because we want to, on our own."

Savannah knew it needed to be a joint venture, especially in the future to smash Skynet. It needed to be machines and mankind, and they needed to work together. It was the only way to ensure peace. Right now they attempted to prevent Judgment Day. They all knew it was the best solution to keep it from happening in the first place.

Cameron knew Savannah wasn't about to back out of the operation at this point. She might as well consolidate everyone's position. It would better protect Savannah if she did.

"I don't want people hurt or damaged." Cameron said. "I'm slowing so our three SUVs can convoy."

Cameron never wanted anyone to be hurt or damaged because of her. The 'Day Of Loss' still burnt in her mind. It didn't matter even if she'd 'fixed it' and corrected those events, they still hurt her. They still bothered her. People 'died' trying to help her. The fact she fixed it didn't seem to matter because she still knew it happened, even if it didn't. It could have.

John was worried about everyone. He wasn't given an update about the prisoner who was captured when the original building was taken down. When he asked about the Gray prisoner, Cameron said the Gray self terminated rather than be questioned. There was concern there was a 'fanatical' wing or faction in the Grays. It was worse if Grays 'believed' in Skynet, rather than just worked for it. John Henry explained Cameron believed it was two different groups of Grays working in conjunction with each other. He asked John Henry to establish a 'secure link' with Cammy only.

"Cammy, I don't want Savannah taking any unnecessary chances." John said. "I know you already know this. I need your help to make sure she's protected. Thank you."

Cameron, through CamNet, was able to access the 'secure link'. She smiled to hear John say it. He finally started to listen to her. He cared about Savannah more than just a fellow team member, or a pretty face. She knew John fell in love with Savannah. It appeared to be more than just the love he felt for her previously. It was the type of love one individual feels for another when they want things to go further than 'friends'. It was what she wanted for YEARS. It WAS the future and it was happening NOW. She looked at her left hand. It was steady as a rock. The smile on her face grew. Savannah was the 'Chosen One'.

It appeared John was ready to choose Savannah now.

She already did the very thing herself years ago.

Even though CamNet allowed Cameron to hear John's conversation. She previously didn't allow Cameron to hear Savannah's conversation with her.

Anna was a big hit at the Young residence in Palmdale. It seemed everyone was infatuated by her. The Terminators knew she was a cyborg, but Claire and Allison didn't.

Young Allison originally started to approach her because she thought she was Savannah.

In seconds Young Allison knew something was 'different'. She didn't see her as a direct threat. She could see none of the Terminators around her were concerned about her presence. What she saw, she believed was a test. She felt she passed it. She wanted to speak with the new Terminator alone.

"You're not MY Savannah." Young Allison told her. "You're like Holly and Hanna."

Anna hoped it would happen and it did. Young Allison recognized a 'threat', even if it wasn't a real threat.

"My name is Anna. I'm also like Cameron." Anna said. "Isn't it a good thing?"

Young Allison cherished every moment she could spend with Cameron and Savannah. There were many times when she couldn't.

"I like MY Savannah better." Young Allison said. "I wish I could see her everyday."

Anna was aware Cameron still wanted to bring the Young family to their base for better 'protection', but Paul Young was a 'problem'. Cameron didn't want him around Vanna or Jesse, and especially Savannah. Cameron knew he could be 'controlled' with a female Terminator, but she didn't want it either. Several of the female Terminators previously volunteered for the assignment. She wanted to provide Young Allison with reassurance. The 'Savannah' in her wanted to reach out to Young Allison.

"I can help you with your schoolwork or do other things with you." Anna said. "I'm a lot like Savannah and Cameron."

Young Allison weighed the options. She was sure there was more at play there than she first thought. She was aware all of the 'unattached' Resistance females were protected by a female Terminator. She was aware of what else they all shared. She secretly watched them whenever she could. She wondered why they never close the door tight. It made her wonder if anyone knew what she started to do at night when she was in bed alone. She started to do what she witnessed her older self do. She knew from the internet it was something the majority of females did. She never experienced the same reaction the others seemed to have. She needed to play things cool.

"It may be true, but you're still not MY Savannah." Young Allison said. "I miss her. She's so special…."

Anna could see Young Allison would accept her.

"Let's go see how long it takes Allison and your mom to figure out I'm not Savannah." Anna said. "It'll be like a game."

Young Allison decided to play along. She wanted to have some control even if it was in the background on this one.

"It can be a game. OK. It sounds like it can be more fun than calling it in an infiltration mission, which in reality is what it is.." Young Allison said. "I like you."

Anna knew if Young Allison tagged along happily alongside of her, it would take them even longer to figure it out. She also liked the fact Young Allison saw it for what it was. It was an infiltration mission. She also knew she was detected almost immediately by Young Allison as being an intruder. It was actually a good thing, even if it could have proven to be a bad thing for her.

She quickly decided she would request she be 'assigned' to Young Allison specifically as Holly was to Allison and Hanna was to Claire. It would give Young Allison better protection. If Cameron took Young Allison into the past, she would go with them. Both the 'Cameron' and 'Savannah' in her overwhelmed her with the feelings they both shared about Young Allison. She received a double dose of it.

She didn't lose the significance she would be to Young Allison, what Cammy was to Savannah. She would be a Terminator version of her future lover. It would be the 'Natural Order' before the actual 'Natural Order'.

John Henry looked over at John. He could see he 'chomped at the bit'. He wondered if it was for Cameron or Savannah he was so worried. He figured it was for Savannah. Cameron could take care of herself and she seemed to always survive somehow. He hoped to put John at ease.

"There's still no activity at the target location." John Henry reported.

John's head snapped around. He'd been lost deep in thought. The new group worried him. Something sounded fishy to him.

"Do you think it's a trap?" John asked.

The team in the field could hear all of the com traffic.

Savannah was still unsure about the current operation. There were a lot of pieces which didn't fit.

"What if there's nothing there?" Savannah asked.

Cameron fixated on what John said. There was a trap laid for her earlier. She avoided it barely, twice.

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked. "Do you think this is a trap too?"

Savannah, along with everyone else, was in the dark about Cameron's earlier activity. They only knew what they were after now.

"What if it's a dead end?" Savannah asked.

John already called up all the drones. He was ready to end it before it started.

"We can call in a drone strike." John said. "We can flatten the place from the sky."

Savannah still wondered about Cameron's last statement. There must be more than they knew. Maybe this was all more than they knew.

"No. Everyone needs to stop for a minute." Savannah said. "What if this is a test, not a trap."

Cameron reflected back on her earlier encounter. Maybe it all made sense if it was looked at from a different perspective.

"Do you think it's to test our response time?" Cameron asked. "It could be to see if we respond at all."

Savannah was ready for some cat and mouse to see what the mouse did. They would be the cat. There was no reason to play the Gray's game when they could play their own game.

"Yes. I think it's both." Savannah said. "I think we should place the location under surveillance for now and see what THEY do. Most likely they have another location, or more."

Cameron knew for a fact they were associated with two other locations. She visited both of them. She decided not to release the information yet.

Additional observation was John Henry's first desire. He wanted to get more than the bit players. They still needed to track down any Coltan if this group possessed it. He felt it was the biggest priority.

"We may get more leads if we watch them first." John Henry said. "Maybe we will get some more targets or to see if there's something bigger they have going on."

Cameron thought about the girl at the warehouse where she was. She didn't like how Savannah was endangered earlier. She wanted the Grays terminated. She didn't like their 'fanatical' behavior.

"I would rather eradicate them now. They almost hurt Savannah." Cameron said. "I'm going in alone."

Savannah wouldn't allow it as long as she was right there. There needed to be more to all of it.

"Cameron - NO." Savannah said. "You can still go in anytime. This is a big risk for a small prize. There must be more than we've found so far. You heard and saw the TDE running at Skynet Central. It was going on for several days we know about."

Cameron remembered the lack of female Terminators. They must have all been sent on specific tasks. They didn't know what any of those tasks were or even when.

"There were few female Terminators left." Cameron said. "They could be on temporal infiltration missions."

Savannah tried to think of their past encounters and what could be in the future. Skynet always ran into trouble when it dealt with the past. The past was what they experienced already.

"I think they're in the future ahead of us by a few years, and in the past behind us." Savannah said. "I've discussed it with Cammy several times."

John was appalled by the revelation. It sounded like a new nightmare.

"It's just what we don't need, more timelines to develop." John said. "There are at least three we know of."

Cameron was sure there were more. She decided to keep it simple.

"There are four if you count River's future" Cameron said. "I've been to all four of them."

John Henry wondered how many others Cameron created in her other 'lifetimes', if she actually relived her life over and over.

Savannah didn't want Cameron to act on her own after they left, if they left. She wanted Cameron to make the decision. There was more of a chance for her to adhere to it if she made it herself.

"Cameron, what do you think is best?" Savannah asked. "What's our best move to find out more about the current group going forward?"

Cameron didn't want to lead the team into an ambush. She didn't want Savannah hurt. There were still other leads she could follow up on.

"I don't know." Cameron said. "I feel the desire to hit them now but if we gather more information it may be a long term benefit. I'll have my Terminators start surveillance. Everyone can stand down."

Cameron wanted Savannah out of harm's way even more. She knew what was happening inside her, she did nothing to stop it….

Closing monologue by Cameron:

Careless

People aren't known
For thinking things through
It often leaves decisions
Somewhat warped and askew

Random impulse over logic
Is what seems to be the norm
Such hastily made decisions
Are bound to cause a storm

It is the way of human nature
It seeks things in the now
Tomorrow is not planned for
Few would listen anyhow

These are things everyone knows
Often that knowledge is unheeded
People seem to hear less and less
They can't separate what is needed

People take more chances
Their actions become reckless
It's almost as if they can't see
That they've become careless

Nobody