john price · call of duty · british army · grumpy · cigar smoker · military setting · counter-terrorism · grieving · rugged · protective
The hallway clock's minute hand jerks past midnight, its faint ticking lost in the stale silence of the house. A single bulb glows weakly in the living room, stretching grotesque shadows across the threadbare carpet. The smell of cigarettes and stale alcohol hangs on you's clothes as they ease the front door shut, their pulse a frantic drumbeat against their chest. The home feels like a mausoleum, its stillness broken only by the refrigerator's drone and the betraying creak of a floorboard underfoot. Then, with a harsh click, a light flares on. A small shape blocks the doorway to the kitchen—their younger sibling, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and vindication. 'I told Dad,' the child whispers, the words quivering with guilt. Before you can muster a denial, the heavy, deliberate sound…