HURRICANE MITCH HITS AND DESTROYS THE SMALL ISLAND OF HAITI.
By L.M.Taurus
2/17/0026UWC
24 hours before headline
Kara walked down a beat up street in the island of Haiti in her world military scout armor. The armor was purple and lean while Esme was bulkier. There was a letter v on the right breast plate of her armor, identifying her as the vice leader of her squad. There were large military howlers up and down the street, but she stood outside by herself. Howlers were the modern day cars created by a genius from the great war.
She continued to walk down the street as she scanned the small houses. The houses were made out of stone and looked strong but that's not going to matter when the hurricane hits and floods them.
Kara's mission was to take all of the civilians to shelters before the hurricane hits land. Kara and her men were now in the mountains getting what was left of the civilians who hadn't left for the shelters yet.
A soldier came up to Kara. "Ma'am, we're all cleared here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Have we heard from my squadmates?"
"Leonie is all finished up with her section. Irma is running a little behind, but she should be done before the hurricane hits."
"What about Celeste? Has she not arrived in Haiti yet? I was counting on her help around the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic."
"Her ship is supposed to be arriving as we speak."
"Alright. Take me to her right away."
"Yes ma'am," said the soldier with a salute.
****
It took an hour to arrive at the port but at least the drive was easy due to no one being on the road. It seemed as if the airship had arrived not so long ago because there were still people unloading things. The sky was dark but it hadn't started raining yet.
Kara quickly got out of her vehicle and made her way to the airship. Everyone stopped what they were doing and saluted Kara as she passed by.
"Where is Celeste?" called out Kara to someone on the airship.
"She made her way inside," said a man on the ship as he gestured towards headquarters.
Kara didn't stop her stride as she made her way to headquarters. She entered the building and found no one. The building was quiet which was strange. Then she heard something coming from a nearby bathroom.
"Hello," said Kara as she entered the bathroom. Someone turned a water faucet on and Kara walked around the corner to find Celeste washing her face. "Hey."
Celeste splashed a bunch of water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red. "Yes Kara."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," said Celeste as she finished washing her hands.
"What took you so long to get here?"
"Sorry," said Celeste as she turned the water faucet off. "Had some personal problems delayed me. I promise it won't happen again." She was about to walk past Kara when she grabbed her by the arm.
"Were you crying?" asked Kara.
Celeste shrugged Kara off. "Doesn't matter. I'm fine now. We have a mission to do, right. Let's get moving." She walked out and Kara followed. "What's our current situation? Has anyone evacuated my section yet?"
They stood outside as they both stared at the dark sky. "Of course I have people working on your section, but I'm not sure of their progress yet."
A soldier came up to the two female world military leaders. "Ma'ams," said the soldier with a salute. "Celeste section is almost evacuated. We suspect we'll be done before the hurricane hits."
"Great news," said Celeste. "Seems like I wasn't actually needed."
"Yes, but Irma's group has hit a bit of a problem. They're running quite late and we don't know what's the cause of their delay."
"How about Leonie?" asked Kara.
"She's all done and on her way to homebase."
"Alright," said Kara. "We're going to regroup with Irma. Celeste and I will go on ahead. When Leonie arrives, tell her to meet us at Irma's section if the hurricane hasn't started to hit yet. If the hurricane has landed, just head for a shelter."
"Understood, ma'am," said the soldier with a salute before leaving.
Kara turned to Celeste who had a stern look on her face. "Suit up. I'm not sure how much time we have."
"Right away," said Celeste as she headed back to headquarters.
Kara stared at the ocean sky and could see the lightning in the distance. It was a frightening sight, but still a good distance away. She still had time to go and help Irma. She went to her vehicle and took the driver's seat.
Kara didn't have to wait long as she saw Celeste approaching with her armor on. Celeste's armor was exactly the same as Kara for the exception of not having the letter v on her breast plate. Like Kara, Celeste was also a scout for their squad.
Celeste got in the passenger's seat. "Let's go."
Kara took off and two other military vehicles followed. Kara drove at a fast speed causing Celeste to have to brace herself. The two drove in silence for a long time as they got near to their destination.
"Are you sure everything is alright?" asked Kara, finally breaking their silence.
Celeste took a couple of seconds to answer but reluctantly did. "Not really, but it's my problem and I'll handle it."
"You know you can talk to me about it. I won't tell anyone and maybe I can help."
Celeste stared at Kara who had a genuine look on her face. She turned away to look outside. "You're being nosy."
"I'm sorry. It's just you look so hurt. I would like to help, if I could."
Celeste let out a sigh. "There's nothing you can do. This only affects me."
"I can listen."
"Maybe I don't want to talk about it."
"Then you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. At least you know you have someone you can talk to if you want."
Celeste took another quick look at Kara and could tell she was saying the truth. "I'm getting a divorce."
"Oh," said Kara, surprised. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's my idea. I haven't told him yet. Actually, I had decided to get a divorce when you walked inside the bathroom."
"Is it because of the job?" asked Kara.
"No. Yes. Maybe. I'm not really sure. After we became world military leaders, things seemed to have gotten worse, but there were always problems in our relationship. I just never made a big deal about it."
"What type of problems if you don't mind me asking?"
"Armek seems to be jealous of my success. At least as of recently. He's the reason I was so late on departing. We had an argument about me coming here."
"He didn't want you to come to Haiti?"
"He didn't want me to go straight to a hurricane."
"He sounds like he's worried about you."
"Maybe, but he thought once I became a world military leader, I would have less work to do. 'Isn't the point of becoming the boss is to do less work' he said to me. I told him it doesn't work like that. I have more responsibility than ever. I'm in charge of keeping the peace around the world. It's something I'm very proud of and I'm taking it very seriously."
"Likewise."
Celeste smiled at Kara then turned away. "But he doesn't understand that. I think he wants me to be a housewife and I've never been that."
"Did he not know that when you first got together?"
"He knew. The first day we met told him everything he needed to know about me."
"Now that sounds like a story I would like to hear," said Kara with a smile.
"You know I used to run with a gang when I was younger, right?"
"No," said Kara, shocked. "I never knew that."
"Nothing big. Just a local street gang. We didn't even leave our city."
"This was in Argentina?"
"Yes, and that's where I met Armek," said Celeste with a sad smile on her face. "Armek is Muslim and that wasn't look good upon the people of my neighborhood. He had a run in with my gang and they were beating him up pretty bad. I saved him."
"Wait, the first time you met your husband, you were part of a gang and your gang were beating him up?"
"Correct, but just because I was part of a gang didn't mean I was a bully. I never liked that shit. Picking on the weak. That always disgusted me."
"How did you even become a gangster?"
"Just something that happens to the tough people in my neighborhood. So I rescued him and more or less nursed him back to health."
"How so more or less?"
"I brought him back to his home and brought him soup once or twice a day."
"Why did you do that? Did you have a crush on him?"
"Not really," answered Celeste. "I just felt bad that my gang did that to him. Eventually he got better and started pursuing me. He managed to impress my gang who then let him join us."
"When did you two actually get together?"
"A little after he joined my gang. He impressed me as well," she said with a smile. "But we're no longer kids and I'm no stupid little gangster."
"No you're not."
"I'm a world military leader and I'm going to do my best to leave a great legacy behind. For me, my family, and my people."
"I'm sure you will. I'm sure our squad will do the same."
"Couldn't ask for a better team," said Celeste, and she bumped fist with Kara. "What's going on up ahead?"
Kara and Celeste leaned forward as they saw a group of military vehicles huddled up by a waterfall. "I'm not sure," answered Kara as she pulled over.
The two world military women got out of their vehicle and joined a small group of soldiers gathered by the edge of the waterfall. The soldiers turned and saluted their leaders.
"What's going on here?" asked Kara as it began to rain. The sound of thunder in the distance made the mood feel uneasy.
"Some kids are missing," answered one of the soldiers. "It's the reason we're running so late. They were last seen by the river but this is as close as we can get with our vehicles."
"Where's Irma?"
"She went down the river in search of them. She took a small squad of six with her."
"How long ago was this?"
"It's been almost an hour."
"Kara," whispered Celeste. "We're running out of time."
"I know," whispered back Kara. She returned her attention to the soldiers. "Has everyone else been escorted to a shelter?"
"Yes ma'am," answered the soldier.
"How many kids are missing?"
"Three teenage girls."
"So we're missing ten people in all," said Kara as she turned to look at the vehicles. "Alright, we're keeping these two vehicles and their drivers," she said as she pointed at two large howlers. "I want the rest of you to head to the shelter and bunker in until the storm is done."
"Ma'am, and you?"
"I'm going to help Irma with the search." She tossed her howler's keys to the soldier who spoke. She turned to Celeste.
"I'm staying as well," said Celeste. "Between the two of us, we should be able to find them quickly."
Kara gave her a nod then turned to her soldiers. "You have your orders, now move."
The soldiers all scattered as they returned to their vehicles and drove off to their shelters. Only two other soldiers and the world military leaders remained.
"Am I right in assuming you two are the drivers?"
"Yes ma'am," said the soldiers in unison.
"Good. You two wait inside your vehicles. You might end up stuck in your vehicle during the storm. Hunker down wherever you find safest. We'll try to hurry but if we don't make it in time, use your judgement."
The two soldiers looked at each other unsure of themselves before giving the women a salute then headed to their vehicles.
Celeste was at the edge of the waterfall as she looked down. Kara joined her and they could see footsteps in the mud way below. "Let's move fast," said Celeste.
"Right," said Kara and they both jumped down the waterfall.
Their armor kept them safe as they ran through the forest by the river. They moved fast even against the rain and the bad terrain. Thanks to the soldiers that had gone ahead, their path was clear. It was easy for the two world military leader scouts to find their comrades in no time, the problem was there were people missing. They came up on the six soldiers who must have gone with Irma on the search. The soldiers stop to salute their leaders.
"Where's Irma?" asked Kara.
"She kept going," said a soldier. "She told us to return to safety while she continued to search for the girls."
"We'll get Irma," said Kara. "There should be two howlers up on top, waiting for us. You guys get in one and tell the driver to head to the shelter. Tell the other one to wait for us."
"Yes ma'am," said the soldier with a salute. "Good luck." Kara and Celeste watched as the soldiers made their way back.
"Irma is being reckless," said Celeste.
"She must know the girls are still out there," said Kara. "I can't see her taking this kind of risk without having a reason."
"Then we need to hurry," said Celeste.
The women continued to run ahead. The trip was harder. Less evidence where they should go due to the rain and the fact they're only following one person instead of the seven from before. They were struggling to move at their original pace as they slipped in the mud, but neither of them were going to give up on their squadmate.
The two stopped when they heard the shot of a sniper rifle. They looked up ahead and could see Irma in her slim world military sniper armor. She had her rifle pointed to the air while three teenage girls stood behind her. The three world military women waved at each other. They reunited.
"I thought you could use a little help finding us," said Irma as she brought her sniper rifle down.
"We had it," said Kara, not so sure of herself. She looked at Celeste. "We had it, right?"
"Of course we did," said Celeste.
The three shared a smile with each other before Kara turned her attention to the girls. "Are these the missing teenagers?"
Irma put a hand on two of the girls. "Yup, these girls had the bright idea of spending the hurricane by the bottom of the river."
"What were you girls thinking?" asked Kara.
"We get hit by hurricanes all the time," said one of the girls who took the lead. "They're usually no big deal." A lightning struck nearby, startling the group.
Kara put a hand on the girl's shoulder as she pulled her forward. "Well this one is the real thing and we're going to have a hard time getting to shelter."
The group started to walk up the river. Celeste led the group while Irma stayed at the rear. Kara and the girls were in the middle. They struggled to walk against the wind and rain. Kara turned back to look at Irma.
"Can you fire a shot in the air every ten steps?" asked Kara. "Maybe our driver can try to meet us halfway."
Irma shot her rifle in the sky as her answer. The girls were startled by the shot but Kara put her arms around them for comfort. They pushed on and Irma fired her rifle four times when they saw a light flashing towards them. They rushed through the forest and reached the military howler. They all got inside, Kara sitting in the passenger's seat.
"I figured those shots were meant to get my attention," said the soldier.
"They were," said Kara. "Well done soldier."
The soldier couldn't help but blush at the compliment. They hunker down in the middle of the forest next to a large tree. Hours passed and eventually the storm passed. The howler was covered in branches and only the back door by the passenger's side was able to open. Everyone got out of the vehicle and the sight of greenery around them was beautiful. Most of the trees were still standing, but there was no path in sight.
Kara noticed the girls had worried looks on their faces. "What's with the looks of despair? We're alive. We can survive the hike back to civilization."
The girl who seemed like the leader of her group moved forward. "Right," she said. "Thank you for coming for us. We owe you our lives."
Kara leaned down to be eye level with the girl. "You don't owe me a thing. It was in my power to help you and it was the right thing to do." The two shared a smile. "What's your name?"
"I'm Calixte," she answered.
"What a beautiful name. I'm Kara." She offered her hand and Calixte took it. "It's very nice to meet you."