Relocation - A Journal of Harold Ward

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

First entry.


I guess I'll start writing in this thing again. If for nothing else than to keep me from going somewhat bloody insane. Ever since I pulled out of the UC division it has has been an absolute nightmare. Relocation after relocation and protection details across half of the god-damned country. Anyway, I'll talk about that later, for now, I may as well try and focus on this new place.

So far Canada as a country has been pretty great, the people are generally kind and the train ride into the city showed the great landscape of this place. I mean I've seen plenty of mountains as a boy but these were so much greener and full of wildlife. As for the city well its pretty average. Grey as per usual but a big change from Jo'Burg or Pretoria. The whole place is so clean and some of these buildings are older than our city.

Anyway, I just got the rest of my stuff moved into the apartment that I am staying in, for now, hopefully, I will be able to carry on writing once I am out and about a bit more.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

Day Two.

The morning seemed to go by fairly quickly although it started early. I must have been up at just before six in the morning. That didn’t exactly play nicely with the night I had before, jetlag and the bus ride just left me dead. Alas the job doesn’t get to sleep in so neither did my tired ***. Anyway, that’s what they invented sugar filled coffee for!

I had to get a cab down to the station to be there for my orientation meeting with the chief for eight. I made sure to be there for seven thirty to at least try and make a good impression. It might be all I have going for me here, well that and my dashing good looks. Anyway, I managed to get some breakfast at a little diner before I went over to the station and I will say that these Canucks know how to make a mean set of pancakes even if syrup with bacon caught me off guard at first. On that note all the folks here have been relatively welcoming, at least those I had met in and around the station. Others have been… well a little creepy in all honesty.

After breakfast and copious amounts of coffee, which by the way they will keep refilling for free in some of these places! I went over to the office and got myself signed in early. I’ll have to send a picture back home to the boys of what it looks like compared to our old one. Now where was I, oh yeah, I got officially signed in as a member of the Harper Rock Police Department and attached to their Special Branch. I still have to undergo a couple more days of orientation seminars and ride along lessons to adapt to the way they do it here. Still, I get to wear anything I want as long as it fits the regs and get my own badge and gun! Feels a bit like a film. All I got to do now is work on my accent. Anyway, I am going out now, so I will try to finish this tomorrow since some of the guys are going to the bar.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

Day Three.

I went out last night to one of the bars in town and had a bit too much to drink with some of the other guys on the squad. They are all pretty funny guys, although somewhat lacking when it comes to any drive concerning the jobs at hand. I mean I took some time to pull up the statistics for missing people data within a mile radius of the Quarantine Zone that I am assigned to and they have sky rocketed since this thing has been there. I mean to a ridiculous amount and yet it seems there is no major investigation. When I asked the guys most just shrugged and said it was above their pay grade. I don’t blame them for not challenging the structure, but it seems as if there are other forces at play within the department.

Anyway, to get back on topic I had a good couple drinks with the guys and told a few stories. Although keeping up the cover has been a little tricky. You know not being able to talk about the reason I am actually here.
For the rest of today I spent it doing the action packed, death by power point presentation of public relations, use of force, radio operations and codes, weapons handling and all the other crap they needed me to go back over and learn the new systems. Either way I am gonna get payed for it and it’s a hell of a lot easier than beat patrolling or being on tactical response back in Jo’burg if not a little less exciting.

Tonight, I have a job interview over at one of the mall’s. It should help to bring a bit more cash in to send back home as well as introducing me to the people here. The woman that runs the place seemed polite enough on the phone and it’s also not too far from the Train station so that is always nice even if I am using the unmarked squad car now. Which to touch on that, is also really a step up from the cars we were given back home. Most of the cars there were still left over from the nineties STF. Anyway, the Canadian ones are much nicer, they have working heaters and A/C built in! Alright Ward signing off.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

Day 4

Last Night went well, if anything better than expected! I got the job and it seems to pay pretty well which is always nice and it’s not all that far from work either which is always nice. Got the car fully transferred to me this morning from the PD so I am officially able to blast my blue lights again! As for the rest of the day I still had to go over more and more lectures and orientation. Started with law scripts and detention rights as well as all the other boring paperwork stuff such as shift logs, arrest logs and incident reports before finishing lessons for the day on AC procedures and internal affairs. Spent the last couple of hours just chilling out and watching some TV on my laptop, bought myself another bottle of scotch tonight and am aiming to finish that bad boy before the nights out. Harold out.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

Day 5

So, it’s getting late tonight but since I can’t seem to sleep after today I guess this should help. So, it’s the fifth day since I arrived in Harper Rock, yet this was my first day outside of that god damn classroom. I mean damn I know it’s a transfer of procedures, but I went through a briefing back home and I have done this for ten years of my life now. Ah, whatever! I got assigned my FTO today and started out on my basic assessment for certification. The exam went fine, and I passed with an 87% rate which is always nice. Alas I had to go back to the station for a further briefing and meetings and orientations on the “issues” of the quarantine zone and that has pretty much eaten up most of my day.
Spent most of tonight training over at the Dragon’s Lair. Still thought it was a funny name for a somewhat modern bar but it’s a nice little place nonetheless. Punters seemed to like the change in accent and this isn’t my first time working on bar duty, so the training wasn’t too hard either. I must say however, that the way of working has shifted since I tended in my student years.

Anyway, I start proper work tomorrow so I should probably go and try to kip even for a little while. Totsiens.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

The other pages upto this point would have seemed to have been torn out from the book in a rushed manner. It is only later that between charred pages and those torn free the script continues.


Day 200

It seems everyday I spend in this city my thoughts darken. At first it was an opportunity to ease my ideas of glory. In reality I sometimes wished I had stayed in Jo’burg and faced the gangs, at least when we had to shoot them down they stayed that way. Every time I head out onto the streets even for the normal beat it seems we find another ditched corpse or a travesty that I find hard to comprehend with words.

It gets worse when the task force lads and I have to raid one of these dens that the rabid biters seem to nest in. We lost Jack to a bite last week, poor lad couldn't have been more than twenty three and had that throat of his half torn from his neck after not checking his entry corner. That being said, even the so called normal ones are getting bolder and bolder by the day, even going as far to lure people out so they can fill their wretched stomachs.

Talking of that I had to kick in my neighbours door yesterday just to ward off one of these damn animals from getting at her kids. Imagine that she works all the damn time to keep them clothed and fed yet the first night she brings a new man back, in what must have been years to hear her say it, and he only looks to leave her and the little ones bloodless husks on the floor I caught him with a few good ones to the chest but the blinder got off before I could finish the job. The bossman at the station said he would keep a lookout around the area for a while but the chances of finding the gutter rats are low, if god is good the bugger will have caught the morning light and gone to hell where the lot of them belong.

Anyway I hear the coffee timer going off its time to get out on the roads again, im in with Danny tonight but as per usual the Task Force wants me on standby.

[Harold Ward (DELETED 11625)]

Day 201

Shifts are getting shorter now that the summer days come through. Still longer nights than even the longest of winter nights back home but it is an improvement on the winter. The days are safer now as well, we try and increase patrols in the evening but thanks to the militias we are able to save more man power or so the boss says though our hours are as busy as always.

Today wasn't so bad. I drew a day shift we patrolled for two hours on the central stations until the force call came in. I have yet to write too much about the specifics of what we have been doing on the force. I guess I should probably go over something since I doubt anyone else has been recording our procedures.

Today is a good example of a task force day raid. We normally move into the Quarantine Zone in the truck or sometimes in convoy as to not break ranks. Destinations for raids tend to get picked out by informers on the inside or our own patrols as they keep eyes on. Today we had been given information on a feral den holed up in a set of apartments two blocks from Corvidae. The raid starts at the station, we will get our brief from one of the high commands or if we are lucky enough then by one of the undercovers that have been working the area. We often go over the makeup of a building and what we can expect to find inside.

Today it went pretty regularly for a daytime raid. We were briefed by the captain and had one team enter from the roof and the other through the door at ground level. Our team was the ground team. We had been told to expect ferals the s***s are more brutal than the full blooded parasites. Entry is the same as most yank SWAT teams, rifles up and lights on that sort of thing. However once we are in we have to get the beasts down before dragging them out to meet their fate in the light. We go room to room and the process is repeated we try and tear off and window boards and flush out any basements if we can do so beforehand.

Either way I feel I am finally starting to get an understanding on these animals. Back in the bush if we were hunting a predator you could lore them with bait and shoot. Easy. The animals here are more clever though every beast has a scent and one day I will find out theirs.