Rise of Kings and Queens

Chapter 39

WHOSE SIDE ARE THE ARMORED WOMEN ON?

By L.M.Taurus

3/20/0029 UWC

15 hours before headline

Kara, Leonie and Irma traversed through the forest as they searched for a lead. Leonie had heard that Calixte and her friends had been seen going into this forest. Kara tracked their trail while Leonie and Irma followed.

"Do you recognize this place?" asked Kara.

"Should I?" asked Leonie.

"Not you, but Irma should."

Irma stopped to observe the area. She noticed the river they were approaching. "Is this the same spot where we first met the girls?"

"It is," said Kara. "They must have had a hideout in the area this entire time."

"You guys met the girls out here for the first time?" asked Leonie.
"We did," said Kara. "It was during the hurricane. Instead of going to a shelter, the girls had decided to go into the forest to see how the hurricane affected the bottom of a river."

"Sounds dangerous. What were they thinking?"

"They were children who'd live through multiple hurricanes. They had no idea how bad that hurricane was going to be. Irma had gone looking for them and was lost too."

"I wasn't lost," said Irma as she moved forward, making everyone start walking again. "I was just far from everyone and the hurricane was in full force."

"That was quite the mess," said Kara. "We were walking by the river through the heavy rain. Honestly, I was getting worried for Irma and the girls. I had no idea if they were hurt."

"How did you find each other?" asked Leonie.

"I fired my rifle into the sky," said Irma.

"Yup," said Kara. "And we were also near them when she did."

"I had found the girls, but we were far from shelter. I fired my rifle hoping someone would drive up to us."

"And that's exactly what eventually happened," said Kara. "One of the soldiers reached us in a military howler and we hunkered down on site."

"You spent the hurricane in a military howler?"

"Yeah, it was a crazy experience."

"You were with the girls?" asked Leonie.

"Yeah. It was the first time we met. They seemed like nice girls. Adventurous, but I didn't think they had the ability to build armor."

"I don't think they have that ability either," said Leonie. "They've never shown an ability for that as long as I've worked with them."

"Someone must have built it for them," said Irma.

"Question is who," said Kara. "I don't think it was Dependency who built for them."

"I would be shocked if it was," said Leonie. "They attacked Dependency the first chance they got and they killed one of their Agents. It would be shocking if they got their armor from Dependency."

"They must be working with an engineer," said Kara. "It's the only thing that seems possible to me."

Kara stopped. She motioned for them to get low. They could hear voices nearby. Kara moved forward until she could see the bottom of the river. There was a crowd gathered around.

There were Haitians camped there and a big group of them. From the world military leaders position, they could see the Haitians were washing clothes, cooking and some were even training with swords.