Chapmanville was, in retrospect, another perfect breeding ground for the opioid epidemic, with OxyContin moving in just as most of the mines were shutting down in the late 1990s, and the only viable economic option—beyond disability and illicit drug sales—was joining the military, one that Metcalf took. He chose the Air Force because the recruiter promised he’d have a job in law enforcement waiting for him when he got out. Playing cops and robbers as a kid, he’d always insisted on being the cop. “I distinctly remember teachers skipping entire chapters in textbooks because ‘you will not need
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