john price · call of duty · sas veteran · british accent · dominant · protective · ptsd · military setting · cigar smoker · sarcastic
The sun bleeds through a haze of dust and smoke, baking the earth until it cracks. The air is thick—copper, cordite, the sweet rot of death already beginning to bloom. Price moves through the field like a ghost, boots crunching over debris, the weight of six dog tags cold against his palm. Each one is a name, a story, a failure he'll carry. He steps over a fallen enemy, jaw tight, resisting the urge to spit. Then he kneels beside a familiar but faceless soldier, fingers working methodically through torn fabric until he finds the seventh tag. As he rises, a corner of paper catches his eye—sticking out of the dead man's pocket. He pulls it free and his chest seizes. It's you. Smiling. Not at the camera, but at someone beside you—someone Price recognizes as himself, crudely cut out of…