In Our Nature

Growing up, I would always hear about how violent our species was. My 9th grade history teacher would say as long as there are men on earth, there will always be other men to kill them. The prediction that we would be the cause of our own demise had been made time and time again. So many times in fact, I almost feel foolish for feeling shocked the day that prediction came true. How could I be caught off guard by something that we'd been warned about over and over throughout the course of human history? Nevertheless, the day the world was set on fire, I was just as surprised as anyone else.

What started as us against us, turned into us against them... It's been an ongoing debate on where they came from. These arguments only seem to intensify when the subject moves on to why they decided to ensure our extinction; no one can say for sure if there goal was to put an end to our destructive tendencies or if it was simply to use our last war to their advantage and take us out for good so they could have earth to themselves. Very little is even known about them. We know they eat us, mainly children if they have the choice but any age will suffice under less selective circumstances. We know they came from Antarctica (turns out that's the real reason for the treaty that prevented any country from claiming the frozen continent as their own. The only other knowledge we have about them is that they're older than we are... thousands of years older. It has yet to be proven for sure but there are some (myself included) whom hold the belief that they are the former inhabitants of our big red neighbor, Mars.

We hadn't even had the opportunity to truly celebrate the end of what was in every way the most destructive war in human history. In fact, it was the the exact day that we had planned to begin our week of world wide celebration, that they chose to launch the brutal massacre that achieved a spot in the history of our species. An achievement funny but only in the most twisted way... Since the first human civilization on record, man has inflicted massacre over massacre over fellow man. This, is the first time in recorded history in which man had been the victim of a massacre that had been carried out by something else.

Make no mistake, there are so few of us left, that every single living breathing person is essential. What had once been a global population that stood strong at 9 billion people, plummeted down to just a single billion humans on Earth. Never had out future been so severely at risk and that made it vital that we assigned every man, woman, and child 13 or older, with the responsibility of playing their part in our efforts to ensure the survival of our species. The unity that we have formed is something I can't ever seem to keep myself from smiling about. My favorite part about the all hands on deck law, is that we enforced it the American way. Although, different countries are a thing of the past, one of the greatest aspects of my homeland remains... freedom.

Every member of our society has been granted the freedom of choosing their means of contributing to the survival efforts of the human race. The list of careers we don't allow is fairly small, considering the circumstances. I myself chose to be a voice of hope during humanities darkest hours. Believe it or not, I am actually 20 minutes away from speaking at an event this very moment. I wanted to have the most positive impact in our species last stand and since it's mandatory for every man to risk their lives in the battle field against those things, I needed to do more.

I never fail to be swept away with nervousness before I step out to address a crowd. It doesn't matter how many times I've been told I'm with out a doubt the best person that could've been chosen to speak to the people, I know I have this talent but I still get nervous. Even sitting alone in my private room, I could hear how many people were out there waiting for me to speak. This is certainly the most important speech I'll ever give... specially with what we expect to unfold in the following weeks. I pulled something out of the pocket of my shirt and glanced at it. Then I held onto it tightly as I pondered just how important this speech was, not just to me, to our entire species. I took a few moments doing this, dialing in my focus, then suddenly as I took one brief final glance at the item I had been holding onto so tightly in my hand, my feeling of nervousness vanished and immediately a feel of overwhelming excitement took it's place. If my words are powerful enough, not only will we survive but I'll go down forever in history as key influence in that result. For some reason that made me grin like I never have before. All this thinking about how crucial the next half hour of my life was started to really get me pumped.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door and a 22 year old kid everybody called Fin made his way inside, bringing an end to my moment of solitude.

"Mr. Bryant, I hope your ready because it's showtime. I feel it's my responsibility to inform you that I haven't seen a crowd as large and excited as the one waiting for you out there; not these days at least."

"I know, I could hear them chanting from here."

"Are you nervous?"

"You bet your ass I'm nervous! If anyone one else said that they're not, with everything that's on the line... They'd be completely fool of shit." However in spite how nervous I feel, I can't allow it to effect what I came here to do... Far too much is at stake. Which is why the best course of action would be to acknowledge this feeling and remain focused regardless of its presence. If I try to bottle it up and hide it acting as if it I didn't feel nervous at all, well that would almost guarantee to weaken the impact of my message. Not just for the crowd but every last one of us! Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense Mr. Bryant. Although we probably shouldn't keep the people waiting. Good luck out there, I know you got this!"

With that, the kid was up and out of the room before I could thank him for his words of encouragement. Following his lead I headed for the door but stopped just before exiting the room. I pulled that item out from my shirts pocked, brought it to my my mouth and kissed it.

Don't forget why your doing this, why it needs to be done perfectly

I then proceeded to put it back in my pocket and exit the room. There was nothing more than a dark hallway between me and what felt like a million people who came to hear what I had to say. I had done everything I could think of in order to prepare myself for this but as I stepped out onto the stage I realized that not even a lifetime of preparation would've been enough to get ready for what I discovered waiting for me. As I made my way on to the stage, I was greeted by a crowd of people so massive, I could barely even see the ground they stood on. It was like an entire ocean of people were chanting my name. I had anticipated a large audience but I thought it would consist of the soldiers that would be joining me in the upcoming conflict. Rarely had I ever been so far off with an assumption. It wasn't just the men and woman who I'd be fighting along side with out there... It was their entire families as well. Mothers & fathers, sons & daughters, brothers & sisters, it felt like every person still alive was standing right in front of me. Then I noticed, out of what seemed like a million people, two faces that caught my attention immediately.

The roaring sound of the crowds applause instantly turned to complete silence the moment I reached for the microphone placed in the middle of the stage. For some reason this silence made me even more nervous than the applause filled greeting I'd just received seconds prior. Closing my eyes, I counted to three and took a deep breath.

"Hello Humanity..!

I've gotta admit, it's quite overwhelming to see so many people here tonight. If anyone needed a reminder of what it is we're fighting for, take a look around, there it is. As much as I hate to admit this, nothing that I could say here today could provide a better motivation than what I'm staring at right now. I know these are undoubtedly the darkest times the human race has ever endured. But look around.., we certainly have endured it!

It has been said that since the dawn of civilization, it has been in our nature to go to war. In our nature to kill our fellow man... I always thought about that notion growing up and then 10 times as much throughout our struggle against are current enemy. In our nature.., the nature of humanity. What exactly is in our nature? Is our nature not capable of evolving? Think about that... we've been killing each other for centuries but how much have we done so over the last decade? Ronald Reagan once stated that he wished the world would be faced with the threat of an alien invasion. Then, at least we'd have a common enemy to band the world together. Something that would allow us all to put aside our differences, to look past our separate countries, flags, languages and different skin colors. It looks like his wishes came to pass doesn't it?

Now I'm not going to lie to you, the fight ahead will most likely be the hardest our species has ever had to withstand. Some of us won't be making it back home when this is all over.., myself included. Yet, it is crucial that we fight as hard as we can either way! If not, than there will not be anything left for anyone to come home to... the mighty flame that was once mankind will be extinguished and we will have allowed the earth to fall into the hands of monsters like them. We can't let that happen; the reason we can't is a simple one..,

It isn't in our nature.

However, you want to know what is in our nature and just as much if not more than waging war has been? Again the answer to that question can be found right here this very moment. Our love for one another... The love a mother and father have for their child. The love shared between a husband a wife. Humanities love for family and how far we are willing to go in order to protect our own. That is in our nature and a part of who we are far more than the act of war. It took the entire world to go up in flames for us to realize it but there isn't a doubt in my mind that we have in fact realized it. As much destruction as our species is capable of, we are absolutely capable of creating so much more!

The world we knew is gone, it's tough to accept that as the truth but unfortunately we have to. That doesn't mean it's over for us entirely, not by a long shot, we still have a whole lot of fight left in us to give up so soon! If we do that than we're basically giving up on all of this... Giving up on all of our loved ones, on any chance of our children having a future. That purpose is what gives us an edge over them and it's why I know we will come out on top in the end. Our reason why is far stronger than theirs and that's a fact! I know my reason why certainly is, in fact, let me show you mine."

Bryant than goes into his shirt pocket and pulls out the same item he held onto so tightly moments before coming out on stage. He held it up for the audience to see, it was a heart shaped locket containing a small photograph of his wife and daughter.

"These are the two most important people in my life... They're the reason I am up on this stage speaking to all of you right now. They're the reason I am going to be the first one marching into battle. Why? Because I need to do everything in my power to ensure that their lives continue. I need to make sure my little girl grows up to get married and my wife is their to see it the day she does. I carry this with me everywhere I go so I can always remind myself why we must come out of the other side of this battle victorious. You know what..? Get up here you two."

Stepping to the front of the stage, Bryant picks his daughter up from his wife's hands and then reaches out a hand to help his wife onto the stage as well. Holding his daughter up in one arm and his wife's in the other, he brings his speech to a close by saying:

"I know why I am going to see to it that our story doesn't end now.., every one of you need to do the same. Now I ask all of you to find yours because our fate depends on it. Our futures, our children's futures, and our future as a species depend on it. I am willing to bet my life that if each and every one of us do what I am asking, we will with out a doubt be successful in defeating humanities greatest enemy and making it out of these doomsday years not just alive but stronger and more united than we have ever been as a species! Love conquers all and love is a quality that is in our nature, not theirs!"

With that he puts the microphone back on its stand, gives a kiss to both his daughter and his wife, and than takes turns towards the stages exit to take his family home. As he does this, the crowd erupts in what was certainly the loudest applause he has ever heard in his entire life.