Kill for Me, Kill for You

by Steve Cavanagh

Human beings in crisis cannot think straight; their instinct to preserve life gets sidelined in the sea of their desperation.

He felt disgust at himself, and his weakness, and his mistakes, and he couldn’t stand another goddamn second of it. If there’s enough guilt and shame, it becomes a fire. It consumes flesh like burning gasoline. He stood there immolated in shame. He had to make the burning stop.

Trauma changes you. Losing a loved one to violence provokes a response. There are two common responses: either they don’t want anyone to ever hurt like they do, or they want everyone to hurt like they do.”