Not wanting to press my luck, I scrabbled back out of the Bowl of Pripyat and went up to find Alena waiting. As we traveled away from that doomed town, I found myself feeling a sense of hope I hadn’t had in some time. I worried about what he had said about Angelica returning, about what future dangers the Bowl might pose, but those were concerns for another time. Perhaps for other people.

For now, I was safe and with the woman I had just met and had loved for two lifetimes. Taking her hand as she drove us through the dark, I found that was enough.

What my bodycam saw at Whispering Oaks

Part One

For the past five years I’ve worked for a security firm that contracts with various businesses to provide guards for events and locations throughout the state. It’s not a huge company like Tattersall, but it has been a family business for nearly fifty years and does well enough—I’ve gotten a small raise every year and equipment updates at a faster rate then back when I was a cop.

One of the latest updates was a new body camera system. It’s integrated into our shoulder radio and has a good enough battery and memory card to last through a twelve-hour shift without any problem. Best of all, it’s light and doesn’t require any extra fiddling. I just put on my gear and go. The rest of my gear typically consists of a flashlight, pepper spray, a collapsible baton, and a stun gun. We are sometimes issued firearms, but it is on a special basis involving more insurance and waivers before we’re allowed to work a job carrying one. For the most part, we’re supposed to detect and deter more than fight people or apprehend a criminal. That’s what our cell phones and the real police are for.

Over the time I’ve worked security, I’ve seen some of the trends change. We still work parties and big meetings sometimes, and we have deals with several office buildings to provide round-the-clock guards and surveillance, but in the last few years we’ve actually been dealing more with real-estate companies and banks that want to protect development properties.