Chapter 123

I often think that that fear might have been the first true emotion experienced by man when he was put on this Earth. Fear of a new world. Fear of every sight, sound, taste, smell. Fear of the unknown. Fear of existence. Maybe it's what we feel as soon as we are born. Fear of being taken from the womb and thrust into this vast world of bright lights, loud voices and the touch of another, when all that time you had felt nothing but the soft nurture of a small enclosed space where everything was muted. Fear seems instinctual, which makes it the hardest to fight. Because how do you fight something that we are all born with? How do you fight something that comes so naturally to you? It's like fighting how to breathe, stopping yourself from taking that vital breath you need to stay alive, to keep going, to survive. I couldn't fight the fear as I fled from Brandon's compound. As he howled out his rage, I sank to my knees, the tight spasms in my bladder squeezing painfully and I knew just how