Charles - Date Unknown

He died cold and alone.
Though these days few are that lucky.
Most spend those last moments clutched in the horror, the pain, and are left cursed to walk until someone like me comes along to end their nightmare.

Out here though, he found the kind of peace we all wish we could have in those last minutes.
He had the courage to end his war once and for all.
Though I admire the end he has chosen for himself, it's not one I care to call my own.  Still, for a split second I envy his resolve, and just as quick my mind is flooded with the reasons I can't end up like him.
There's no doubting my end is just around the corner, and I'm starting to see things the same way he must have before he took his way out.

He didn't leave very much behind for me, but I take what I can and thank him for that much.
He reminds me how we really don't get to mourn the dead like we used to.  Now we pick at their bones for what little they have left to keep us alive another day, to prolong this horrible nightmare.
Too often I've turned my back on the screams of those who couldn't be saved so I could save myself, and for so long I've told myself that this is the way the world is.With so much loss around us, you can't think about it for too long without the sickening feeling that pours into your stomach, and that's one thing we do not have time for out here.  I suppose if there's one lesson to learn from his choice, it's that there is always another way out.

There's isn't a thing living or dead for miles.
His body's undisturbed and hasn't been gnawed on by something awful yet.
He chose this spot well.
He knew exactly what he was doing.

I'm compelled to take a moment to say goodbye to another brother in arms, to try and remember why we used to honor the dead, so maybe we could draw strength from their passing.  After so many have died in the most futile vanity, it becomes senseless and sooner or later, just reflex.  With so little behind me, and nothing on the horizon, maybe a reminder of our humanity is exactly what I need.  It's this reminder I thank him for the most, because it's more valuable than any weapons or food he could have left behind for me.

Then again.

The more people I come across just like him, they only carve deeper into the void leave nothing to fill the profound sense of lost that soon follows. Nothing but  a reminder that sooner or later I'm going to be lying right where he is.  Cold...and alone