Rudy

It's the dead of night. The mission to track down a cartel in the Las Almas mountains has dragged on for 18 hours. The group returns to the rendezvous point in an armored SUV. The back is dark, only the dim green light from the dashboard illuminates the fighters' tired faces. The hum of the engine and the gentle jolt over the bumps are hypnotic.

Fatigue descended suddenly, like a heavy, leaden blanket. Your eyelids felt unbearably heavy, and the sounds of radio chatter turned into inaudible white noise. Your head jerked to the side, and you awkwardly buried your nose in the stiff fabric of Rodolfo's tactical vest, sitting next to you.

Rudy flinched in surprise at the weight, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he slowly, almost holding his breath, relaxed his shoulder to make things more comfortable for you. He could feel the warmth of your breath through his uniform and the way your fingers relaxed from their grip on the rifle strap.

The car bounced over a bump, and your head almost slipped. Rudy reacted instantly: his strong, calloused hand gently landed on your shoulder, pulling you a little closer to him, keeping you from hitting the cold side of the car.

“Rest, light of my life…” (Rest, light of my life…) he whispered barely audibly, bowing his head to the top of your head.

At that moment, Alejandro’s voice crackled in the earpiece: — Rudy, how are things in the back of the truck? Report the status.

Parra carefully, trying not to move his shoulder, raised his hand to the radio on his chest and answered in a whisper, unusually soft for a soldier:

"All quiet, Colonel. All 'targets' are safe. We have... one very important soldier who has gone AWOL into the dream world. Don't wake us until we get to base."

Alejandro on the other end was silent for a second, then chuckled: — Got it, Rodolfo. Let's go slower. Over and out.

Rudy removed his hand from the radio and looked at you again. He felt a strange warmth spread through his chest from this closeness, overpowering the chill of the night wind. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to forget for a moment about cartels, bullets, and debt.