Afraid

When Wiley moved back to Safe Haven, flush with ill-gotten gains, he spared no expense building his dream house. And Wiley’s idea of a dream house was very close to Batman’s.

Do you really believe that freedom of choice exists? India still has a caste system. Most of the Middle East treats women as inferiors and those who practice other religions as enemies. China regulates how many children couples can have, genocide abounds in South America and Africa, Malaysia has a booming underage sex trade, and the list goes on and on. All around the world the people in power abuse it and human rights are ignored. But what if we were incapable of hurting our fellow man? What if our core impulse was to help each other rather than control each other? The human race is destructive. This research could fix it. Purify it.

A sickly sweet odor invaded Duncan’s head, pushing away the stench of burning hair. The fact that it smelled tasty made it even more disgusting.

Change is inevitable,” Stubin said. “You can’t ignore technology.” “Ignoring it and choosing not to embrace it are two different things, I think,” Josh said.

What turns a person into a monster like this? Training? Some horrible event in his past? Genetics? How does a man lose his humanity?

She flailed out her arms, trying to climb up, but struggling slicked her in blood and slippery fluids, making her slide down farther. Gory, lukewarm limbs poked her. Pale faces with rictus grins kissed her.

You didn’t win at chess by killing pawns—you won by checkmating the king.

We can’t control what happens to us,” Streng said, recalling something his father used to say. “Only how we react to what happens.

I’m not afraid of the dead,” Streng remembered saying. “I’m afraid of what made them dead.

Sal pushed down on the knife, forcing it in to the hilt, making himself stone for her sake. He held it until Maggie’s heart ceased to beat, until the vibrations in the knife’s handle stopped.

Do you really believe that freedom of choice exists? India still has a caste system. Most of the Middle East treats women as inferiors and those who practice other religions as enemies. China regulates how many children couples can have, genocide abounds in South America and Africa, Malaysia has a booming underage sex trade, and the list goes on and on. All around the world the people in power abuse it and human rights are ignored. But what if we were incapable of hurting our fellow man? What if our core impulse was to help each other rather than control each other?

There is no decent place to stand in a massacre. —LEONARD COHEN