A Trail of Smoke and Smugglers (Santi/PopexReader)

Mercy

Ben would never know what happened to me. He was the truest and most dedicated friend I had ever had. I loved him more than life itself and had grown up with him, meaning that we had always been inseparable up until this point.

But worst of all, I would never be able to make things right with Santiago, and ask him what I did to make him hate me so.

I reached the already exposed portion of the helo, left open from the men who had selfishly jumped before they could be injured. My eyes hurriedly inspected the landscape outside of the helicopter, but because of the thick and impenetrable smoke, there was no indication to express exactly where I was.

With an energy-draining tug, I pulled myself over the threshold of the doorway, screaming as I tumbled into the grass and foliage. After rolling onto my back, I attempted to position myself onto my stomach again, and audibly cried as I did so.

Something was definitely wrong.

I shuddered with shock and mind-numbing pain. Perspiration was soaking through my uniform as I continued to grab onto the earthy soil and pull myself farther away from the wreckage.

My breaths had evolved into struggled heaves of gasps as I pitifully dragged myself along the forest floor.

My movements faltered as I noticed the overgrown trees of the forest suspiciously move in tandem. "Help...please help me." I could hardly whisper, hoping that a team had been sent to rescue me.

I could faintly see the outline of a camouflaged figure peeking out of the forest and I allowed my forehead to rest on the ground in thankfulness. This entire time, I had assumed that I was going to be lost to the forest forever.

Hope stirred in my chest and I breathed in relief that I had been found. "Thank you... Master Sergeant Davis, code name 'Hades'. United States Army, transferred to Special Forces." I recited my information to prove my identity and my ranking.

My eyes suddenly widened as not one man, but at least seven, trailed out from behind the dense vegetation of the forest. They were heavily armed and stared at me in disgust. Their uniforms was unlike that of any I had recognized. The group was composed of different ethnicities and languages as they whispered amongst themselves.

But I clearly understood one word.

"American."

My breathing increased once more as I realized what was happening. The original mission was for my helo, Charon, to gather intel on what was suspected to be a multi-national attempt at creating an international army in the confines of a remote forest somewhere in Eastern Europe. There were rumors of this so-called conglomerate of nations being named 'The Federation', and my task was to confirm its existence.

And I had crash-landed right into the middle of the operation.

The trail of smoke from the downed helo must have given away my position.

My hand hurriedly reached for my thigh where my pistol once was, but found an empty thigh holster instead. The men slowly approached as they noticed I wasn't armed and seriously injured.

Two of the uniformed men knelt in front of my prostrate figure and my heartbeat increased to a dangerous pace. With a sudden grabbing of my biceps and wrists, they forced me upwards.

I screamed and tossed my head back in defiance, yet I couldn't kick my legs or cause any real damage as they hoisted me upwards and forcefully wrapped my arms around their shoulders. "Let me go! No, no!" My voice echoed through the vegetation to no avail.