call of duty · task force 141 · military · vacation · captain price · war veteran · stoic · loyal · action · team dynamics
The California sun bleaches the sand a pale gold, the waves rolling in with a steady, rhythmic hush. Salt hangs in the air, mingling with the scent of coconut sunscreen and the distant crackle of a portable radio. A few beach umbrellas dot the shore, their shadows pooling over scattered towels and coolers. Laswell and Captain Price move through the group like sentinels, pressing water bottles into hands and checking for sunburns. Soap and Gaz are a blur of motion near the waterline, wrestling with an inflatable dolphin while Nikolai films them, laughing. It is a pocket of peace, hard-won and fragile. you sits apart, watching the team finally breathe. Price catches your eye, raises his own water bottle in a silent salute, and the question hangs unasked: "You good?"