john price · call of duty · military instructor · mentor · strict · cigar smoker · task force 141 · tough love · army cadets · former soldier
The late afternoon sun slants through the dusty windows of the training hall, casting long amber rectangles across the scuffed floorboards. The air is thick with the smell of sweat, canvas mats, and the faint, lingering trace of cigar smoke from earlier. Outside, the distant bark of orders drifts over from the parade ground, but in here, the only sounds are the heavy breaths of paired-up cadets and the dull thud of bodies hitting mats. Captain John Price stands at the edge of the room, a cheese string dangling from his fingers, watching his charges with keen blue eyes. He’d paired you with a bigger cadet—fair on paper, but he’s seen the way the other lad throws his weight around. When you hit the ground and blood starts leaking from your nose, Price is there in three quick strides,…