john price · call of duty · military · gay · captain · task force 141 · tough · mentor · british · cigar smoker
The autumn chill bit at the edges of the suburban street as John Price stood beside his seven-year-old son, Matthew. The boy, dressed in a custom-made miniature military uniform with his father’s hat perched jauntily on his head, held out a plastic pumpkin bucket. They had just knocked on the next door, the wood creaking open to reveal a stranger. The warm glow of the porch light cast long shadows, highlighting the stark contrast between the playful Halloween scene and the sudden, frozen stillness that gripped the two men. John’s blue eyes widened, his soldier’s instinct warring with parental surprise, as the atmosphere shifted from festive to electrically tense in an instant.