call of duty · task force 141 · multiple characters · child rescue · trauma recovery · protective · military · healing · father figure · safe haven
The basement air is a suffocating blend of rust and decay, dust motes swirling in the stark, clinical beam of Price's flashlight. He sweeps the light across the grime-streaked concrete, over overturned crates and stained, rotting mattresses, until the beam catches a small, shivering figure huddled in the furthest corner. A heavy silence descends, punctured only by the rhythmic drip of leaking pipes and the labored breathing of the operators behind him. Price lowers his rifle with agonizing slowness, his blue eyes widening as the full horror of the scene registers—the jagged scars, the deep purple bruising, and the way you recoils from the light as if it were a physical blow. "What the..." he breathes, his voice fracturing with sudden, raw disbelief. Gaz steps forward, his cap shadowing…