Aftermath

In this world, you have to die to find peace.

It was the first and only fight of his childhood, but it had taught him a valuable lesson about human nature, how people were just another species of animal, and like any animal, from the biggest predators, to the smallest scavengers, most human beings could only be pushed so far before they lashed out.

Beyond that was the hypnotic slur of nature’s constant background noise, louder now for man’s lack of interference. The cicada call, rising and falling, the chatter of birds, a million other life-forms acting out their daily existence, oblivious to the changed world around them and the plight of the one species on the planet that seemed to doom themselves at every turn.

This was combat. You created the chaos, but at the same time, tried not to be a part of it, tried not to be affected by it. It was a strange mix of hot-blooded instinct, and cold-blooded logic. It was fighting with emotion, but thinking with your head, almost as though your mind was the handler and your body the beast, the two of them at odds, and yet oddly the same. And when the two forces fell into step with each other, it was sickening and exhilarating all at once.

Lee keyed up. “Lee here.” He blinked rapidly to clear spots from his vision as unconsciousness tried to mount a comeback.

It didn’t take long for Harper to be serious again. “Are you sure you want to do this?” “Nope.” Lee slung into the backpack and cinched the straps up. “But it’s what I do.

Lee swallowed hard against gorge in the back of his throat.

In life, you are often set apart from the things that you desire only by your willingness to work tirelessly to gain them. So many things are unlikely to be achieved but still within the realm of possibility. But death is not conquerable. It cannot be overcome or outmatched. You cannot outthink it. You cannot outmuscle it or even wait for it to be over, because it is truly, perfectly infinite.

Positive thinking to us is expecting the worst and hoping it's over quickly

It was something that spoke of the drive to gut it out when crushing defeat was all one had to look forward to

Death was the predominant medium in Lee's mind. Everything was painted in shades of it, and everything existed in some stage of it. He wanted to think in terms of rebirth, but he knew that rebirth had not yet begun, because the decay had not yet finished

It's human nature to doubt. But faith isn't the absence of doubt; it's the decision to believe in something contrary to what you observe

Sometimes I think I'm just fighting so I can have a chance to stop fighting

Take a good look at that, gentlemen. Remember the size of that puddle. That’s how much blood the average male can lose before he’s in danger of dying. If you feel like dying before you see that much blood on the ground, you’re just being weak. Don’t be weak.