The Lucky One
Chapter 1
The Start
Staff Sergeant Santana Lopez took a deep breath before she entered the Humvee that would take her squad to the midnight raid location. The intel told them that a few Afghans who were planning on the 'bad' side are huddled in one of the houses in the crowded village. Santana knew how dangerous the situation was because of the location of the raid. The people they are trying to ambush knew the village better than they do, if the raid doesn't go the way it was planned there might be a lot of America soldiers life at cost.
Major Puckerman who was leading the raid gave the hand signal for them to line up and prepare to enter the building. As long as their starting position was unknown the chance of the Afghans to prepare a counter-attack would be smaller. Major Puckerman gave another signal to the sergeant in front of Santana to knock the door down and Santana provided cover for him while he kicked the door down. The room was empty but they all knew the houses were connected so probably they need to move into the village to find the rebels.
Major Puckerman was in front of the line-up and he moved fast into the house. Santana tried to make sure her eyes were sharp, the midnight raid didn't help the vision and with all the dust and the strange things around the house it was really hard to differ between innocent bystanders and actual attackers. Santana gripped her rifle a bit tighter and she followed Major Puckerman. When they got to a room filled with people her first instinct was to shoot but when she realized they were women and children she shouted with all her might.
"HOLD FIRE! CHILDREN AND WOMEN!" The gush behind her was frightening even for Santana. Even if her squad fired their weapon it wouldn't be a mistake. Major Puckerman decided to split the team and Santana and two other soldiers went to the room with a hole on its ceiling. Suddenly the soldier in front of her fell down with a deafening shot and Santana was quick to take cover.
"Move out of the way!" Santana shouted as she fired back towards the ceiling. She can hear the shots and she knew exactly where the attackers were.
"ACES!" A few more soldiers arrived and even though Santana was confused on what it had meant she didn't take the aim off the attacker and she managed to kill at least three attackers.
When the medic Humvee arrived Santana could see two soldiers were dead. Both of them were the soldiers who went with her to the room and they both didn't survive. Santana sighed as one of the medics examined her bruised arm from the abrupt fall she did to avoid bullets.
"I'm fine ma'am" Santana said and she left towards Major Puckerman. He himself encountered another group but no one was gravely injured, only a GSW to the knee which is excruciatingly painful but it was curable.
On the way back towards the camp Major Puckerman didn't say a word about the loss of the soldiers but Santana could feel from the atmosphere around her that the two soldiers who died tonight were not ordinary soldiers.
"Lopez!" Santana looked at the guy who called her and saw SFC Fabray tossing her a water bottle. It was scorching hot and she needed it. "I'm heading back to the HQ" She said and Santana nodded. She can see a few other soldiers still standing by the rubble of the previous night's raid and Santana saw something gleaming underneath the rubble a few meters in front of her and she gripped the rifle a bit tighter then she squatted to look at it. Santana had to move a few rocks and it was a photograph. She spat on it and wiped the wet part of it with her thumb and she saw a beautiful blonde face staring back at her.
Next minute Santana was thrown backwards and when she woke up . . or when she recovered from her daze SFC Fabray was in front of her. She was looking at Santana and Santana could see Fabray's mouth was moving but she couldn't hear a thing. . that or her mind is refusing to listen to whatever Fabray is saying.
"I'm telling you. . you picked this up. If it hadn't been for this you'd be dead. . the place where you seconds before were blown. Three soldiers didn't make it. This picture saved you" Quinn said and Santana turned the picture around. There were two simple words behind the picture. 'Be safe'
"Hey I'm telling you man. . if I were you I would find that girl" Quinn said. Santana was riding shotgun and she laughed at Quinn's words. She had kept the picture she found on her last tour, which was eight months ago. Santana put the picture in her helmet and she strapped it to safety.
"I've asked everyone I can ask around here and no one knows who she is" Santana shouted above the rumble of the machine.
"Find her! You think she's going to appear out of thin air?" The Humvee was filled with laughter and Santana smiled.
Santana looked at the road in front of her and the water bottle in front of her was suddenly upside down and she can feel the Humvee rolling around. She was ready for her rifle and she crawled out of the Humvee. Santana shot towards the attackers and she can feel that the others are trying to survive as well. A few minutes later another Humvee arrived for back up and Santana passed out.
When she woke up she was in a medic tent and a few army doctors were all over her. "She's awake"
"Hello there sergeant" The doctor smiled and Santana groaned.
"SFC Fabray!" Santana almost jumped up but the doctor pushed her back down. "Get down soldier! That's an order" Santana had to obey not just because the doctor outranked her but also because her head felt like it was being hit repeatedly with a hammer.
"Please sir. . she's my buddy, I need to know!" Santana said and the doctor sighed. He took something out of his pocket and Santana's felt her eyes tearing up once again. "No!" She snapped and the doctor handed her a black ID tag. "No!" Santana said again and she tried to remember to remember the last conversation they had.
Flashback
"Hey I'm telling you man. . if I were you I would find that girl" Quinn said. Santana was riding shotgun and she laughed at Quinn's words. She had kept the picture she found on her last tour, which was eight months ago. Santana put the picture in her helmet and she strapped it to safety.
"I've asked everyone I can ask around here and no one knows who she is" Santana shouted above the rumble of the machine.
"Find her! You think she's going to appear out of thin air?"
End
Santana hooked Quinn's ID tag to hers before she packed her bags. She knew exactly where she's going to stay on her block leave. She already sent an email to her sister and she's flying out to Troy, Ohio as soon as her mess are sorted out on post.
"Sergeant" Santana looked at Major Puckerman and she stood at attention as fast as humanly possible.
"Sir"
"At ease soldier" He said and Santana smiled. "Good job in Afghanistan. Are you planning to go somewhere?" He pointed at the bag on her feet and she nodded.
"Yes sir. I am planning to pay a visit to my sister sir" Santana said and he took out a small file from his briefcase.
"I get that your sister lives in Troy?" Santana nodded and she understood what the file was. It was Quinn Fabray's file. "You know SFC Fabray quite well?"
"Yes sir" Major Noah Puckerman didn't miss Santana's cracked voice in the end and he tapped her shoulder's comfortingly.
"You should pay a visit to her mother. God knows she would need someone to hang unto. . that's an order"
"Yes sir"
"I'll give you the tickets to Troy and I'll see you in a month in my office in 1500 hours. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir" Santana said and she saluted. Major Puckerman walked out of the barracks leaving Santana thinking about her deceased best friend.
Santana walked down the road in her civilian clothes. She just got off the train and now she shouldering her bag and she's going to walk a few miles towards her sister's house. After an hour of walking she saw the streets of her sister's house and spotted her Doberman sleeping in front of one of the houses.
"Buddy!" Santana dropped his bag and the Doberman ran at full speed towards Santana. She snuggled the dog and she looked at the two young kids staring straight at her.
This is going to be a long month. . she thought and she tried her best to smile at the kids.
Author's Note: Hey yall! A new Fanfic for all you movie lovers. I love story ideas from movies and now finally I get to write one! :) Leave reviews and critics please!