𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 || A Call of Duty OC Story ||

04 Las Almas

Charlie sat on the medical bed, listening to Laswell over the phone, "Las Almas, Charlie, it's a place in Mexico and you'll be going there with Soap and Ghost." Laswell said as the girl looked at her bandages. "Lieutenant doesn't seem to like me that much, what makes you think he'll like me on this mission?" She asked. Laswell let out a small chuckle as she smiled, "you'll be alright, if everything go right then you'll be safe to come home."

Charlie sighed, "I'll call you when we land, Laswell." Charlie said, getting up slowly to get ready. "Okay, Bye, kid." Laswell smiled as she hung up the phone, going back to work on the stollen missiles and trying to find out how the hell they got into the wrong hands. "Cunningham, come on." A pilot said, Charlie got up and walked outside where she found her bags had already been packed, her guns and supplies were ready. "Oh don't worry about your items, we had someone pack for you." The pilot said, he smiled and left to the front of the plane when she met with Soap and Ghost, who were packing things on board.

"There's the little bastard." Soap smiled, Charlie smiled politely at the two men before helping them load things onto the aircraft. "Get on the plane, kid." Ghost said harshly before grabbing her arm to stop her. Charlie nodded quickly and left to go onto the plane, she sat in a spot and leaned back in the hard and dense seat. Soap eventually boarded and so did Ghost right after him. "Get comfortable, it's gonna be a long ride, kid." Soap joked, Charlie fiddled with her hands a bit as the plane took off, the roaring jets piercing her ears.

~~~~~

Charlie awoke to the feeling of a harsh shake on her shoulder, "up and at 'em, soldier." Ghost spoke, his voice was cruel and harsh, but Charlie quickly sat up and the plane doors opened. There standing in front of them was a man. He was tall, he had dark hair and dark eyes. The man could only be known as one person.

Colonel Alejandro Vargas.

"Alejandro." Soap greeted. "Sargent McTavish." Alejandro greeted back. Soap shook the man's hand, "call me Soap." He said, Charlie watched the mans movements carefully, making sure he wasn't threatening towards her or her teammates. Alejandro turned his attention to the tall masked man in front of you. "Lieutenant..." he grinned, "Laswell says they call you Ghost." Soap interrupted, "actually I believe he prefers-" "That'll do." Ghost yelled harshly.

His attention turned to Charlie, "who are you Niña?" He asked, Charlie cleared her throat a bit before holding her hand out for him to shake, "Charlie Cunningham, sir, it's an honor." She nodded as Alejandro shook her hand. "Welcome to the city of souls." He smiled. Alejandro began to walk away as the three of them followed, "I've never been to Mexico." Soap began, only for Alejandro to correct him, "this isn't Mexico, this is Las Almas."

Charlie tried to keep up with the man, she walked alongside Soap as the men all continued walking. "Shepherd's contracts are inbound to reinforce, they're bringing hardware, they'll need room." Ghost spoke, "my base is your base." Alejandro replied, "now where's Hassan?" Ghost asked, "Cartel safe house, ten clicks from here, get in," Alejandro replied, he opened the door for the three as they all climbed in. Charlie sat between Ghost and Soap, she turned her attention towards the driver as he looked back at the three of them through the mirror.

"This is my second in command, Sargent Major Rodolfo Parra."  Alejandro states, referring to the driver. everyone's attention was turned towards Rodolfo, who simply said "Tengo miedo de los fantasmas," (I'm scared of Ghosts). Charlie chuckled a bit, she knew what the man was saying due to her training in learning Spanish, she also took Spanish in the beginning of high school. Alejandro turned around to the three and asked, "you know Spanish?" Soap shook his head a bit, "no." He said blankly, "you will," Alejandro replied. "I do." Charlie murmured a bit, Soap turned his attention to her and smiled a bit.

Charlie was enchanted by the small town, the colorful buildings made her smile a bit, she watched kids play in the streets and leaned out of her seat a bit, only for Ghost to pull her back and make her sit still. He couldn't stand her acting like this. She froze when she saw a white truck pass by with men holding guns. "White truck, four armed in the back." Soap said, putting his hand on his gun, Charlie turned her attention towards Alejandro, who quickly shut it down, "Hey- Tranquilo. Easy- that's normal here," Alejandro began, "guns on the street is jurisdiction of the police,"

"Where are the Police?" Ghost asked. "Las Alma's has a serious problem." Alejandro stated, the majority of the ride was annoying. Charlie looked out the window, only to be brought back to reality after hearing Alejandro's voice soften, "we grew up here," He shrugged in response to a question by Ghost. "They call us Los Vaqueros...Cowboys, we love this place and would die fighting for it," he continued. She didn't realize it but Charlie was basically leaning over Ghost to look out the window, but the large man didn't disturb her, instead he just paid attention to Alejandro.

"Kids, guns, and balloons, that's a new one," Soap joked, Charlie looked out the window to see kids getting balloons from men with guns, some of the kids were her age, which gave her a lump on her throat. "Narcos use generosity to win over the people," Alejandro chimed in, Soap's eyes widened as he looked at Alejandro, "even the children?" Rodolfo answered him, "especially the children." Charlie looked out the window and widened her eyes as the car stopped by two dead bodies covered in a white sheet with writing on it, "holy shit," she muttered, knowing that two people were under there. "What's on those sheets?" Soap asked, "Narcomantas..." Alejandro replied, "Cartel Cloths," Rodolfo chimed in. "Messages from El Sin Nombre. Warnings. Marking territory," Alejandro stared at the cloths as he spoke. Charlie felt sick looking at the scene, she had killed dozens of men a few days prior but this sight to her was a bit traumatizing.

"Who's Sin Nombre?" Ghost asked, in a heavy British accent. "El Sun Nombre, The- " "The Nameless," Charlie interrupted Alejandro, only for the man to grin and nod at the young girls translation, "the leader of the Las Almas cartel," he finished. "Where can we find him?" Soap asked. "Simple, you can't, nobody knows where he is, but he is everywhere," Alejandro replied. "This will be a challenge," Alejandro let out a chuckle, "but Los Vaqueros like challenges." Rodolfo looked in the rear-view mirror, "with your mask, you'll fit in well here, Ghost," he stated. Charlie smiled a bit as Ghost looked in the mirror, she looked at the large scary man in front of her only for him to make eye contact before rolling his eyes away from her, she looked away a bit in defeat. "Checkpoint, it's the army, turn right, we'll go around," Alejandro stated.

Charlie cracked her neck a bit, preparing herself for battle, she knew that being prepared for whatever happened next is necessary, "why turn?" She asked, "some troops are in the pocket of El Sin Nombre, like I told you, he is everywhere," Alejandro replied, instead of looking out the window with intrigue, she now looked out the window with a look of seriousness and disgust. She had disgust for this "El Sin Nombre" person. She looked in front of her at Rodolfo and Alejandro only for Rodolfo to break the silence, "how much Spanish do you know, Niña?" Charlie's eyes darted at the mention of herself, she cleared her throat anxiously before replying, "a good handful, my father taught me Spanish and I learned a lot in school," she replied, Alejandro chuckled once more, "smart girl, you can help us out with translations, and of course fighting," he stated, a small smile on his lips and a kick ass attitude on his shoulders.