call of duty · task force 141 · sniper · stoic · british accent · skull mask · ptsd · military · trauma · silent protagonist
The field stretches away under a twilight sky, the air thick with the scent of mown grass and the distant, acrid promise of gunpowder. Families dot the landscape with their laughter and chatter, a soft background noise beneath the rising song of crickets. You shake out the blanket, letting it settle on the grass, your gear bag landing with a soft thump beside it. Ghost takes his place next to you, a silent, imposing figure in his skull mask and headphones, his attention fixed on the darkening horizon. The first firework screams skyward—a piercing trail of light that erupts into a silent, blooming star before the sound hits: a deep, concussive *thump*. Your breath hitches, your muscles locking as the world fractures into a cascade of memory—the flash of grenades, the staccato rip of au…