Capítulo XVII. Control de la ejecución

the victim are the first to react to whatever threat you have been confronted with. It is up to you to be energized with your fight or flight physiological boost and make the choice that will best ensure your survival. There is a choice to ensure yourself of pain (both physical and psycho- logical) and quite possibly the loss of your life or that of a loved one.That consti- tutes no choice at all. Being immersed in the world of civilized society can lead to an opossumlike state of vacillation when con- fronted with noncivilized situations.This inertia is quite understandable since we conduct the vast majority of our lives in a realm where conflict is not violent, dis- putes are solved via reasoning or discussion and those we deal with respond in a reciprocal manner.When confronted with behavior so far outside of our under- standing, we sometimes see a victim stuck in neutral trying to evaluate the situation in terms of civilized experience.

This sort of vacillation is a problem as we, the civilized prey animal, have no correlating experience with

Law enforcement

and other emer-

gency personnel

are known as

first responders,

and it is a

deserved reputa-

tion, but in actu-

ality, you are the

first responder.

which to evaluate and handle the situation.What is occurring here, in mechanistic terms, is a sort of cogni- tive short-circuiting of the parasympathetic nervous system.The fight or flight response is an old system in brain development.We easily recognize fight or flight parasympathetic reaction in “lower” species. On the other hand, our neo-cortex, which is responsible for all the advances we have made in culture, society, science and the like, is a relatively new development.When we encounter threat and undermine the older system (the parasympathetic) with the newer system (neo-cortex), we essentially lock up both systems leaving them to spin their wheels and gain zero ground in protecting us from the threat at hand.

We need to inoculate ourselves against the possibility of this lockup by making a conscious, cognitive choice now before any hint of threat appears on the horizon. We must resolve now that we will step out of the way and let the fight or flight response work its magic.We inoculate ourselves by understanding the processes at war within our craniums and by making a decision to allow the civilized neo-cortex to turn off in time of primitive threat.Then the primitive parasympathetic system can work at optimum capacity.

Deciding now to slough off the veneer of civilized con- duct when things go primitive is of vital necessity in your quest for survival.You must reduce your cognitive options to two and only two — fight or flight.There is nothing else to choose except loss.

Predator Profile #7

Roxanne Hayes was raped and stabbed to death in 1997 by Larry Singleton. Singleton was on parole for a crime he had committed 20 years prior. He had abducted and raped 15-year-old Mary Vincent.

Singleton beat Mary and then used a hatchet to reduce her arms to stumps at the forearms in the hopes of pre- venting fingerprint identification of her body. He then threw her nude, disfigured body (still alive), down a ravine.

Mary, despite all of this, made it back up the ravine and staggered for two miles down a desolate road until she found help.

If there is a silver lining to any of this, Mary lived to testify against Singleton. Unfortunately, for Roxanne Hayes, parole seems to sometimes

overlook savagery.

Before we go any further, I want you to make a deci- sion, perhaps the most important decision of your life. I want you to decide that if you are ever confronted with a violent attack that you will do everything in your power to be a survivor.That you will flee if at all possible, that you will fight back if escape is not an option. I want you to make this decision not just in your head, but declare aloud that you will survive. Do it. Say “I will do whatever it takes to survive.”

Don’t treat this exercise lightly. Give voice to it. Recognize the severity of the threat that you may be confronted with and decide that you will never be easy prey. Decide that you will do whatever it takes to sur- vive and thwart these despicable predators’ deviant desires.And for those who have skimmed ahead and decided that some of the advice is a bit too “extreme” for you, I have a little thought experiment for you.Two, actually.

Male or female, I want you to put yourself in Mary Vincent’s place, the survivor from Predator Profile #7. Could you do what she did? Could you survive after being horribly maimed as she was? The truthful answer is you don’t know. None of us know if we have as much intestinal fortitude or guts as the heroic Mary Vincent. But by resolving as if we do, or at least holding her up as a role model, we can resolve to do whatever it takes just as she did.

If that’s still not enough for you, then I want you to pic- ture a loved one. Picture your child being confronted

with what Mary Vincent had to endure. Can you make a decision to protect them? Would you do whatever it takes to make sure that your child, your spouse, your sibling, your friend never has to go through what Mary did?

If you won’t make the decision for yourself, then make it for a loved one. Decide now to do something — to do whatever it takes to survive.

Predator Profile #8

I include another male/female duo to drive home the point that predators come in all varieties, and it is best to avoid filling your head with

stereotypes. Mitchell Carlton Sims and Ruby Carolyn Padgett had what can

only be called a hatred of Domino’s Pizza restaurants. Such a banal

target would be comical if these two weren’t such vicious animals.

On December 3, 1985, in Hanahan, South Carolina, Sims entered the Domino’s where he was formerly employed and held two employees at gunpoint. Sims tortured the victims before killing them execution style with gunshots to their heads.

A week later, Sims and Padgett had made their way to Glendale,

California, where they lured a

Domino’s deliveryman to their motel room. They stripped the man, gagged him with a washcloth, tortured and drowned him in the bathtub.

Sims then donned the uniform and went to the Domino’s restaurant. He forced the two employees into the freezer where he tied them in such a way that they had to remain on tiptoes to

avoid hanging themselves. Sims looted the safe and returned to Padgett.

9 Resistance is