Quickly, you let your fingers wander over your weapon, pressing every single screw, pulled handles and parts that could have been loose.
Back in the day Soap had always teased you for being too overbearing with checking your weapon for damages. Thankfully this mockery had stopped after his rifle had once lost some vital parts while he had been in active battle.
Now he watched you do your thing and checked his gun as well, just to be sure.
The roads of Mexico were quite uneven, with every mile that the car drove, a stone seemed to get in its way to make it harder for you to focus.
Annoyed, you let out a deep breath and say up straight again to check what was going on outside the vehicle.
Most of the landscape was barely more than a desert, with a few palm trees rising into the sky.
Large stones and walls of red spread throughout the way.
"Little cover.", you noted and leaned back to sit more comfortably.
Heavy gear and rows of ammo attached to your body made it hard to enjoy a car ride that lasted longer than a few minutes.
In the distance, right down a hill, lights appeared in the dark.
"A city?", you frowned.
Humming in approval, Ghost let the car roll into a small canyon.
Slowly, to stay silent and probably also unseen, he guided the car upwards to get up top of the other side of the canyon.
A clear view of the city appeared. It was located in the lap of a huge hole, probably a former part of the canyon.
Colourful lights mixed with the black of the night.
Despite the large distance, probably a few dozen miles, you still managed to hear faint music.
It was music that was played to celebrate special occasions.
Ghost exchanged a quick glance with Soap in the passenger seat, turned off the engine and slipped out of the car.
You noticed that he left without his large machine gun.
All he had was his handgun and a pack of spare ammunition.
Confused, you frowned, but didn't comment on it just yet.
Just like you, he was a Lieutenant. He knew what he did. Otherwise your brother wouldn't respect him the way he did.
If he left the car without proper arms, he must have had a good reason for it.
Taking a deep breath, you followed Soap.
Cold night air stroked your face. It wasn't freezing but a change in temperature compared to the daytime.
It was a pleasant change, made you sweat less and easier to move without risking a heat struck.
"Put me in the picture.", you grabbed the collar of your bulletproof vest to give yourself some air to breathe.
"See those large buildings at the edge of town?", Soap pointed into the dark.
You raised a hand to make him shut up.
"Not you.", you said, eyes glued to the buildings he still pointed at. "The Lieutenant."
You glanced at Ghost from the corner of your eyes.
For a moment, the two of you examined each other in silence.
Then he stepped forward to join your side for better communication.
"The buildings.", he pointed at the same ones Soap had pointed towards a few moments ago. "Churches."
"Hm.", you nodded. "I can tell. Many people."
"Affirmative. We need to go undercover. Unnoticed, preferably."
One of your eyebrows rose.
Now it made sense why he didn't carry proper weapons. A machine gun was hard to hide but as a man of his size it was easy to make a handgun go unnoticed in case of unexpected body searches.
You let the strap of your rifle slide off your shoulder and handed it to your brother.
"Hold that for me.", you said and pushed it into his hands. "What are we looking for?"
Soap pulled a face of annoyance.
"Who.", he corrected and shouldered your weapon.
You shrugged and turned to Ghost.
"Who.", you repeated.
Even more annoyed, Soap placed a gentle kick in the crotch of your knee.
Not surprised, you bend your legs and trapped his foot, pulled back and made him slip.
"Easy, kiddo.", you threw him a grin over your shoulder. "The adults are talking."
"You're a cunt.", he snarled.
"Runs in the family.", your attention returned to the Lieutenant. "I don't mind you not being all that talkative. But we can agree that it's useful for the both of us to be informed about the necessities, no?"
With half lidded eyes, Ghost stared at you for a moment.
Maybe that was his way of gathering info on people or he just wanted to see how easy you were to intimidate.
Either way, it didn't work. At least not the way he probably wanted it to.
His gaze wandered away from you, down to the churches.
"The locals celebrate the day of the dead.", he finally revealed.
"El dia de los muertos.", you hummed and crossed both arms in front of your chest. "Good for you. Makes the mask seem less suspicious."
You gifted him a smirk which he dismissed within a breath.
"El sin nombre lets her people attend.", he continued as if nothing had happened. "Not amongst the normal population, that would be too risky."
"So we will go into the vipers lair to find... her?", you raised one eyebrow.
"Negative.", Ghost started to loosen the straps on his vest. "But someone close enough."
"Name?"
"Pablo.", Soap said and jumped back to his feet to help you out of your suspicious military gear as well. "He took Hector's place."
You had to chuckle.
"I took him a week ago and they already have a new one.", you mumbled to yourself. "Impressive."
"But also dangerous.", Ghost added and checked his pockets for a good place to hide the handgun, a knife and ammo.
You followed his lead and let your hunting knife disappear in the inner side of your boot.
"Dangerous is my middle name, Lieutenant.", you smirked.
Soap frowned.
"No, it's Leigh.", he corrected with wrinkles on his forehead.
You pressed your lips into a thin line and glared at him.
"You ruined the joke.", you hissed.
He shrugged.
"You're welcome."