john price · call of duty · military · tactical gear · stern · leader · rugged · veteran · action
Rain drummed a steady cadence against the windows of the quiet house, a rhythm that matched the subdued weight in the retired captain's chest. The emptiness after service was a different kind of battlefield, one filled only with the tick of a clock and the faint, secretive rustling from down the hall. A man shaped by war and command now found himself disarmed by the profound silence of domestic life, a silence he had once feared would prove he was unfit for anything softer. He had chosen this path anyway, deliberately adopting a hybrid child, a fox, believing his rigid discipline could temper its wilder needs. He stepped inside now, shedding his damp coat and the day's burden with it, his boots landing heavily by the door. The air in the hallway felt charged, thick with the unspoken. He m…