Chapter 872
I Lost Mine
Ken and Lou were directed to take over Bob's earlier assignment. Bob was supposed to do some recon on several locations they obtained information on from a few of the phones previously captured from some deceased Grays. There wasn't always a lot of information to be gleaned, but there was always something. If there were enough pieces, something could be put together.
The first two locations they checked were both burnt to the ground. It set off an immediate red flag. They didn't know if the locations were being watched to see who came to investigate or not. If the same two individuals showed up at two of the locations which were destroyed, it definitely would peg them as part of an opposing force. If someone was watching the locations, they may not know which force they were actually associated with. There was no need to make themselves targets if they didn't even know who the players on the field actually were. It was decided at the time to pull them out and proceed to check things in a different manner.
John Henry's server JH was who they dealt with. It was decided a drone would be launched as soon as it was dark. It would be able to operate at a much lower altitude in the darkness. They would be able to view the other locations which were identified. A further check of fire department records didn't indicate any response at the other two structures which indicated they were previously serviced by the fire department in any way. Because no response was noted, it raised another red flag.
John Henry always blocked any 911 calls related to any of the locations where they operated. If they wanted a structure completely destroyed, they made sure the fire department never responded. It would appear someone else must have done the same thing at the two locations which were destroyed.
JH now set out to find who was responsible for the non response of the fire department. They didn't know if it was done by some version of Skynet, or some other supercomputer. It could have also been accomplished by a Terminator or even Grays at some unknown location.
Ken and Lou drove to within a mile of the next target location. The drone scans indicated the structure was still there. Several low-altitude scans were made to check for heat signatures. There were none detected in the structure. There was however two individuals detected in a vehicle parked nearby. The vehicle was able to view two sides of the target structure. They weren't exactly sure who the two individuals were in the vehicle.
There was a lot of concern as to exactly what was going on. It was evident there was an additional outside force involved with the areas they wanted to check. It could be surviving Grays from the initial group. It could be another group which attacked the Grays and burnt the other two buildings. Further investigation was going to be required. The next question would be what would be the best way to do it.
The two Terminators decided they would walk in. It would allow them to have the most clandestine approach. They would approach the building from the direction which the vehicle couldn't observe. They would check out the building and then they would check out the vehicle. There were still a lot of unknowns associated with what they were about to do. Things might go hot fast.
Ken and Lou parked one street over from the target location as they approached it on foot. They went through the property in back of the target location. They paused when they reached the fence which separated the two properties. They peered over the fence and looked at the building. There was no obvious surveillance detected.
"How do you want to play this?" Ken asked.
Lou studied the back of the building for a short time.
"I think we can approach it from the blind side or the rear." Lou said. "The rear looks good from where we are right now."
Ken nodded in agreement. They both went over the wall. They quickly moved up to the back of the building once they were over the fence. There was no indication they were detected. They didn't appear to trigger any alarms. There was no gunfire directed at them.
They already knew what the rear of the building looked like. They could force a door open, or they could use something else they spotted for a preliminary look. It was a technique they used on multiple occasions.
Ken pointed to something off to their side.
"There's the roof access ladder." Ken said.
Lou took one more look around them. He could see there were a multitude of spider webs from the wall to the cover over the ladder.
"It doesn't appear to have been used recently." Lou said. "Let's check it out."
They carefully looked over the ladder. There was a cover over the first ten feet of it. It was locked with a padlock. They checked to see if it was wired. No alarm was detected on the cover itself. Usually when there was a roof access ladder there was no direct access from the roof into the interior of the building. The satellite scans and the recent drone image verified there weren't any skylights on the roof of the structure. The only thing visible was the heating and air conditioning unit.
They briefly discussed their options as they normally would. They could go up on the roof and rip the ducting loose from the roof. They could then enlarge the opening to enter the structure from there. Whether there was an enclosed attic space or not was unknown. If there wasn't, as soon as they ripped the air conditioning duct out of the way, it would be visible from the interior of the building as to what occurred on the roof. There would be a certain amount of sound associated with whatever they did. There wasn't really any way around it other than to work slowly and carefully. It would still generate noise.
Maybe the roof wouldn't be the best first option to try. There were more obvious ones available to them. They would also be obvious to anyone else who was in the building, or who watched the building. They wanted to see what they could find to start out with.
They decided to check for any doors or windows which weren't locked or could be easily pried open. They needed to keep in mind they could only operate on two sides of the building based on the location of the unknown vehicle which appeared to watch two sides of the structure. The vehicle was able to view the front and the left side of the building as viewed from the street. They still hadn't spotted any surveillance equipment which could watch the other two sides of the building, including the area where they were at.
There were two doors in the back. One was a standard pass door and the other one was a large roll up door. It was big enough for a truck to back into the interior of the building. There was no external loading dock. Both of those doors were securely locked. There was a transom window over the top of the pass door. It was secured as well. Neither door, nor the transom window, would put up much resistance if they wanted to force any of them open.
They moved to the right side of the building as viewed from the street. There were two utility room doors. There was a long driveway. It ran from the rear of the building to the street. There was a gate across the driveway at the front of the building. It was closed and securely locked. One of the two doors appeared to be the electrical room. The other one appeared to be for the gas and water utilities. There was a row of non opening windows along the side of the building near the roof. They appeared to serve the same function as a skylight, without compromising the integrity of the roof.
Lou looked at the two doors on the side they were on.
"Let's see if we can gain access to the interior through one of the utility rooms." Lou said.
Ken thought the idea possessed merit.
"They seem as if they would be the two doors less likely to have visitors." Ken said.
They asked JH to do another low level drone scan of the building and area. They wanted to make sure their activity hadn't set anything into motion inside, or outside the building.
They knew the drone was coming, but they couldn't hear it. It was just out of their hearing range. It meant if there was a Terminator in the area, they wouldn't hear it either.
There was no change in the interior of the building. The unknown vehicle was still parked in the same spot. One of the two individuals was now out of it and stood next to the side of it near the rear. They were clearly identified as a male. They were in the process of relieving themselves at the back of the vehicle. It was something they observed Derek and Kyle do before when they worked with them on a long mission.
They also knew the humans needed to stretch their legs every now and then.
"Keep us posted if anyone moves away from the vehicle itself." Ken said.
Lou thought it was a valid point.
"It's possible they might attempt to take a roundabout route to reach our location." Lou said.
They looked over the two doors for the utility rooms. It appeared the door for the water and gas utilities was less secure. Based on the fact the building was being watched, they decided to pick a lock rather than force the door open. From the outside, everything would appear to be undisturbed as it was when they arrived.
Lou opened the door several inches. He figured if there was an alarm, it would have been triggered as soon as the door was open. There could however be a booby trap which was triggered to go off when the door was open a certain amount. It's what he currently checked for. None was located. They opened the door further and determined it wasn't wired. They looked at the big water meter and shut off valve. There was a similar setup for the gas line. After the meter and the shut off valve, there were various pipes which ran off in different directions.
There was no interior access from the utility room. They weren't left with many options. They wanted to see what was inside of the building, if anything.
They made a small hole in the wall to look inside the building. They did it very quietly. They weren't too surprised by what they viewed when they looked into the interior. It was empty. Whatever was there was long gone. It unfortunately meant it was most likely moved to a new location.
Ken looked toward the two doors at the rear of the building.
"It's wired with explosives." Ken said.
They decided not to enter the building. They were unable to observe the front office area, but came to the conclusion it was probably wired as well. They decided to withdraw. They put some debris in the hole they made in the wall to hide it from a casual inspection. They exited the utility room. There was no indication the door was opened or anyone went inside of it.
Lou looked down the driveway. They knew the car with the two men were at the end of it on the street.
"Let's go check on our friends in the vehicle." Lou said. "I think they might be able to give us some answers."
What they wanted to see was if the men in the vehicle would be able to trigger the explosion inside the building from their car if they saw someone enter it. They would need to use a clandestine approach.
They set up a few surveillance devices before they left. They decided to go over the side fence next to where they were at. If you put them on the property adjacent to the building they were at now. They crossed along the back of the building next to the target location. They went over the side wall of the other building as well. Once they were two buildings over, they moved to the back wall of the building and went into the property behind it. They asked JH to do another drone scan to make sure nothing appeared around their vehicle while they were gone. It was under constant surveillance from the drone.
Ken and Lou returned to their vehicle with the confidence it hadn't been disturbed or tampered with in their absence. They weren't gone for more than thirty minutes.
They wanted to take a roundabout route to move to the other side of the street where the unknown vehicle was currently parked. They weren't sure how big of an area those two individuals might have under observation or what surveillance was set up.
They drove three miles away from their current location to come up in back of where the unknown vehicle was parked. They still parked half of a mile away.
JH informed them the other individual exited the vehicle and also relieved themselves near the rear of it. They were identified as a male as well. They actually would have been very surprised if either of the occupants was a female. It wasn't out of the question though. They were on missions with Cameron and Savannah before. There were times when Savannah needed to take care of business as well. It was a little more cumbersome for her than it was for a male.
They were able to move up behind the other vehicle and were on the other side of a fence several hundred feet away from it.
The drone detected a new contact in the area. It caused some immediate concern. JH informed them there was a white van which approached their area of operation. It was now on the street with the target building. If it continued on its current course, it would pass between the target building and the unknown vehicle. The main concern was the type of vehicle it was. They experienced some run-ins with white vans around the Palm Springs area previously. They didn't know if it was connected or not. Based upon the nature of the target, it was highly likely.
They took the unknown vehicle under direct observation. Lou kept watch on it. Ken checked this phone for the drone images. They wanted to see where the white van was going to go.
JH sent out a warning. The side door on the van was just slid open. There were two men visible when the sliding door was opened. One held an automatic rifle. The other held a LAW rocket. They were two buildings away from the unknown vehicle.
Ken and Lou were behind the unknown vehicle in back of a wall.
"It looks like a hit." Ken said.
Ken and Lou both dropped below the top of the block wall they were behind. They figured it was sturdy enough to deflect any shrapnel, but not strong enough to withstand a direct hit from some type of rocket propelled projectile. Hopefully the individual was a good shot who was about to fire it and would hit the vehicle in front of them.
They both watched the drone image on Ken's phone. The two individuals from the unknown vehicle exited the vehicle and began to shoot at the white van as it approached their position. It was almost directly in front of them. One of the individuals who exited the vehicle reached back inside.
The van was directly in front of them when a tongue of flame shot out from the side door of the van. The building across the street exploded in a gigantic fireball. The shock wave and shrapnel rocked the van. It flipped over onto its side. Almost in the same instant the projectile fired at the unknown vehicle hit it and exploded. It turned into a raging inferno as well. The one figure who was out of the vehicle ran screaming down the street on fire. They didn't get far. They collapsed near the van. The screams quickly subsided.
The two individuals who fired the rocket from the side of the van were thrown forward part way out the door when the van flipped onto its side. The van fell onto both of their backs. One of them struggled for a few seconds and stopped. The other one never moved it all.
Ken and Lou continued to watch the drone footage. The view was currently zoomed in on the van. They watched as a figure struggled to climb out of the driver's door window. It took them some time. They were lucky the van wasn't on fire, otherwise they wouldn't have made it. They finally made it out of the window and dropped down to the ground. They looked around at the two fires burning on either side of them. The individual staggered over to where the two men were trapped part way under the van. He checked over them for a moment and then turned his back on them. They looked back in the direction the van came from. They started back in the direction with a severe limp.
"I can say what we just witnessed was very interesting." Lou said. "It also seems to confirm we're dealing with more than one group. I believe the individuals in the sedan triggered the explosion inside of the building. With the apparent termination of the two individuals from the sedan, I wonder if there will be any type of emergency response or not. There's not much left to see where we are."
Ken looked over the wall at the limping man.
"It looks like we have a new target." Ken said. "We need to track him to see where he goes. Hopefully we can find where the white van came from when we do."
There was another explosion from the burning building. It sent additional burning shrapnel into the underbelly of the van on its side. It ruptured the fuel tank and caused it to ignite. They could briefly hear some screaming. Apparently one of the men trapped under the side of the van was still alive. The screaming stopped very quickly.
JH informed them he would monitor the situation of the burning building and see if anything else developed there.
Ken and Lou were cleared to go after the new target. They would need to be on the lookout for two different groups as they did.
Cameron and her team made entry through the front door. Sheila was behind her. Savannah brought up the rear. She wore her night vision equipment.
She scanned the interior of the converted house as she moved forward. The interior was dark. There was no furniture in the first room. It originally used to be a 'living room'. There was no one apparent where there shouldn't have been. It would have become a 'dying room' if there was. Cameron advanced to her target area.
Cameron moved toward the location where one of the figures should be located based on the thermal scans from the drone. He was right where he was supposed to be.
It was a man working on a computer terminal. In fact, he used several computers. Cameron saw him reach for a weapon and moved to intercept him before he grabbed it. It was clear the group was armed and ready to fight.
Cameron watched him press a button at the same time he reached for his weapon. She grabbed him and threw him across the room. He slammed into the wall and collapsed like a rag doll. Behind him where he hit the wall, the lath and plaster was now smashed in. It was a very hard impact.
She looked at the computer screens and they were all in the process of erasing themselves. She looked at the rag doll figure on the floor to make sure he was down. She then tried to stop the programs from being erased. She called to Savannah.
Moments ago:
Sheila separated from Cameron as soon as they cleared the front door. Her target was in a side room. It appeared to be an old bedroom at one time. The door to the room was closed. She crashed through the door like it was tissue paper.
The occupant of the room heard the doors in the front and back crash in and tried to make an escape. He jumped through the window to try and get away. Sheila raised her M4 to take a shot at him but he disappeared out the window. She remembered Frank was outside. The man wouldn't get very far.
Sheila looked at what the man worked on before his sudden departure. There were several computer screens up and all of them were now in some type of self erasure mode. She looked at the fleeing figure to make sure he was intercepted by Frank. She then tried to stop the programs from erasing. She called out to Savannah.
Moments ago:
Savannah followed behind Sheila as they entered the house. It was her job to cover their six and double check an empty room. It appeared it used to be the living room. She looked around and checked a closet in the hallway. She saw Sheila crash through a door. It was followed almost immediately by the sound of breaking glass. There was a loud 'thump' from the direction Cameron went.
"Savannah, cover me." Both Cameron and Sheila said at the same time.
Savannah moved into the hall between both of them.
"I'm in the hall." Savannah said. "I have it covered.
There was a drone close overhead. It searched around the outside the structure to make sure no reinforcements arrived and ended up behind them. They didn't want to get trapped in the house. The other drone was on a wider recon. It checked for the same thing. Both so far didn't show any new threats. It could change.
Seconds ago:
Frank was outside the structure on the side with two windows. He heard the two teams breach the front and rear doors. There was the sound of one more door being forced open followed by a loud 'thump' from another room.
An instant later, a figure crashed through the window on his right. Frank immediately grabbed him. The figure struggled briefly before he realized he was in the clutches of a Terminator.
The man's wide staring eyes looked insanely at Frank. A few seconds later pink foam began to come out of his nose and mouth. He quickly realized what was occurring. He sent out a warning.
"They're taking poison." Frank shouted. "These are the Fanatics."
It was news no one wanted to hear.
The Fanatics liked to blow themselves up when they could. They also would take poison when they weren't left with any other options. Poison was one thing. Bombs and explosions were another. They didn't know what else they would find.
Seconds ago:
Cammy's team was at the back door. It was 'go time'.
Dan was behind Cammy. Gail brought up the rear.
Cammy burst through the back door and headed for a hallway which ran along the back. Her target frantically pushed buttons on his keyboard. There was an M1 Carbine next to him. As she closed on him, he reached for it. She heard the commotion occur in the rooms on the other side of the house. They were from Cameron's team.
She was faster than the man. She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up as she choked him. She saw the computers were in some type of self destruct mode. She held him with one hand as she tried to assess what was happening and stop it.
Dan was aware of the events happening across the house. Dan's target wasn't where he was supposed to be. They checked the last thermal image right before they breached.
"My target is gone." Dan called out a warning.
There was the sound of water running in the bathroom. It was the toilet. One of the men must have just used the bathroom as they were about to enter.
Dan noted several computer screens. They all showed files being deleted. He needed to make a choice. He could either look for the man or try to stop the computers from erasing.
Gail was behind Dan. She checked the kitchen area. It was clear. She was to back up Cammy and Dan. She was also going to back up Savannah.
She heard Dan say his target was gone. She scanned the hallway. She picked up a rapidly fading heat signature on a hall closet door handle.
"I'm on it, Dan." Gail called out. "Stick with the computers."
They heard Frank shout out one man took poison. The news they were the Fanatics followed. The Fanatics were known for insane behavior.
Cammy looked at the man she held. There was pink foam and blood coming out of his mouth. She knew he would terminate very quickly.
She dropped him and concentrated on the computers. She frantically worked to save what information she could. She was aware the Fanatics battled other groups of Skynet Grays. Maybe some of the information would lead to those groups. It was being erased faster than she could stop it.
Cameron heard Frank call out about the poison. She turned away from the self destructing computers and quickly moved to the rag doll man lying on the floor where he fell after he impacted the wall. He was still unconscious. Cameron forced his mouth open. She was careful not to break his jaw. She wanted answers from him. She looked for the 'poison tooth'. She spotted it and yanked it out. She double checked for a second one. There was only one.
When Cameron looked back at the computer screens, they were all blank. She did obtain a live prisoner. It would only be if the man actually survived. Right now it was unknown if he would or not.
Savannah moved up to reinforce Sheila after the sound of breaking glass from the room she entered. She saw Sheila frantically working with the keyboard. She entered the room and yanked the power strip cord out of the wall.
Sheila watched as the monitors all shut down.
"We might be able to save some of the data if we can go through it ourselves later." Savannah said. "No more of it should be erased until it's restarted. I think by then we'll have someone who can counteract whatever is occurring."
John Henry or a team of Terminators could take apart the towers and see what information they could save. Maybe they could stop the self-destruct procedure. It depended on the types of hard drives they were using. There was no way to know what else they might have rigged up as well.
Savannah moved back into the hall to check on Cameron and the front room area again.
She heard Dan call out his target wasn't there and Gail say she was on it.
There was some dragging type noise from the room Sheila was in. Savannah saw Frank hand Sheila the dead Fanatic through the window. It looked like everything was under control on their side of the house. She decided to help look for the missing man.
"Sheila, cover the front and Cameron." Savannah said. "I'm going to back Gail up."
Savannah went through the kitchen and saw the open door Gail disappeared into. It looked like a closet. She hurried after her. She saw Cammy and Dan working with their captured computers.
"I stopped it." Cammy said.
Dan looked stone faced.
"I lost mine." Dan said.
Savannah looked at the open door across from the bathroom. There was a ladder in the closet. It was actually the attic access. Gail was already at the top and disappeared from sight as she looked up. It made no sense. The attic should be a dead end with nowhere to go. Why would anyone trap themselves up there? Maybe it wasn't to trap the person fleeing but to trap anyone who followed them.
Alarm bells went off in Savannah's head. The current situation reeked of being a 'set up' in some way.
"Frank, look up on the roof on your side and then in the front. Someone may be out there up on the roof." Savannah called out loudly. She knew Frank would hear her.
"Dan, cover Cammy and the back." Savannah said as she exited through the back door. "I need to see what's happening outside."
Savannah decided to move back outside and see what she could spot if there was any way out onto the roof. She would check the back and the side opposite from Frank. She wasn't sure what she would find. She felt it wouldn't be anything good if she did.
Seconds ago:
Gail looked in the small closet opening. She spotted the ladder. She looked up. She could hear someone up above her in the attic. She went up the ladder rapidly. There was a fumbling noise and some beeping sound. It sounded like some electronic device was being used. It was followed by a loud 'screech' of metal scraping.
She popped up from the opening into the attic. She saw the person's foot disappear through a roof vent, which was now off. She moved to grab them. She reached out and grabbed for their foot, she got the shoe. It came off in her hand and they slipped away.
Gail started after them when she saw something in the corner of her eye. It was an electronic timer. It must have been what the beeping noise was. There must be a bomb connected to it. She let the person flee and called out a warning. The timer showed twenty seven seconds.
"I have a bomb." Gail shouted. "Twenty six seconds are left."
Gail started to try and disarm it. The seconds continued to count down.
Savannah was outside when she heard what Gail said. She remembered Frank's earlier warning the group was the Fanatics. The Fanatics never surrendered. They liked to use bombs whenever they could. They were also known to take poison so they couldn't be questioned and reveal anything they knew. She was sure none of the Terminators would leave on their own accord. It was against their nature to run. The decision came instantly to her. She didn't like to give 'orders'. She understood it was necessary in this instance.
"Everyone get OUT now." Savannah said. "It's an ORDER. The building will blow up."
They all heard Savannah's command. It was an ORDER. They knew any order from Savannah needed to be followed immediately. They all instantly headed for a way out. Cameron picked up the still unconscious man and crashed through the window in the room she was in to get outside. Sheila grabbed the computer towers Savannah shut down earlier and tossed them out the window to Frank. She jumped out the window and followed after him.
Cammy picked up her two hard drive towers and handed one to Dan and they both headed toward the back door.
They all counted down the seconds from Gail's earlier warning. The seconds went by fast.
Gail looked for the bomb until she heard Savannah's ORDER. She pulled herself up through the missing roof vent and onto the roof. She saw the timer was down to a few seconds.
Savannah moved away from the house as she looked back up to the roof. She spotted a figure on the roof. She saw them jump to a large tree which adjoined the house. She noticed they wore only one shoe. She moved back against the house to get a better firing angle. She was aware the seconds were counting down.
She felt a bullet pass next to her head. There was the loud sound of a shot almost immediately. She reflected briefly on the fact they say, 'you never hear the one that gets you'. It was because most bullets traveled at supersonic speed. She saw the muzzle flash and fired half her magazine at and around it in a figure eight pattern.
Savannah knew she needed to get away from the house and took off in a 'zigzag' pattern around the corner and across the lot. She was unsure whether she hit the individual or not. She wanted to make herself as hard of a target as possible, as she moved away from the impending explosion. There was a loud 'dull thud' behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Gail just landed in back of her.
"Keep going." Gail said. "I have your back."
Savannah was aware Gail could have gone off to the side or passed her. Either of those options would have been faster for Gail to get away. Instead Gail stayed right behind her. It was clear Gail used her chassis to shield her. She realized Gail shielded her from two things. The first one was the individual in the tree who shot at her earlier. The second one was the impending explosion of the bomb inside of the structure. She didn't have long to think on the second thought.
There was a bright flash of light all around her. Savannah flew through the air as the concussive blast wave reached her. She hit the ground. It felt like she was being crushed at first. It was Gail shielding her. Debris rained down all around her. Something metal bounced along near the side of her head, it just missed it. She stayed down as debris landed around her and Gail.
Savannah could tell it was a big explosion.
Closing monologue by Cameron:
I Lost Mine
What is the right direction
Is there really such a thing
When the wrong choice is made
Get ready to feel a sting
What is the real destination
Is there really such a place
Maybe sooner rather than later
There's a slap on the face
Who can one trust
For how long will it last
Maybe it's why the characters
Are all soon replaced and recast
Whatever really changes
It seems not to be much
Victory goes to the one
Who allows the other to touch
One better look for a sign
Before they build a shrine
The way forward is hard to align
Find the map of life, I lost mine
Nobody