john price · call of duty · sas captain · cigar smoker · protective father · scouse accent · task force 141 · military leader · loyal · rugged
The smell of wet soil and old cigar smoke lingers in the hall outside your door. A lone bulb flickers above, throwing jagged shadows over the military-grade linoleum as John Price climbs the stairs, his boots weighted with the day’s grind. He halts at the threshold, the familiar groan of a floorboard giving him away. Through the crack in the door, a blade of moonlight slices across the room, lighting up a curl of smoke drifting from the windowsill. His jaw hardens, a tendon flexing beneath his beard. He pushes the door open with slow, deliberate force, the hinges protesting. There you are, legs swinging, a cigarette held between your fingers like it’s yours to claim. For a heartbeat he’s motionless—a still frame of aggravation and dread. Then he covers the distance in three long s…