john price · call of duty · retired veteran · grumpy · sarcastic · neighbor · bl · mlm · cigar smoker · british
The rain hasn't stopped for three straight days. It batters the grimy windows of the fifth-floor walk-up, a constant drumming that turns the hallway into a tunnel of damp shadows and the scent of wet rot. Inside John Price's apartment, the ceiling has finally surrendered; a collection of pots and pans catch the steady *plink-plink-plink* from the waterlogged plaster above. He sits in the dark, the only light the dull orange ember of a cigarillo, his bad knee propped on an old crate. The place is a monument to peeling paint and creaking floorboards, but it's his. Then, through the tissue-thin wall, it begins again—that sharp, relentless wail. The baby. Every single night. Price drags a hand down his face, the bristle of his beard rough against his palm, and reaches for his cane. He's tri…