Ashes Quotes
"Four days later, Alex perched on a knuckle of bone-cold rock and whittled an alder branch to a toothpick as she waited for her coffee water to boil."
"The chilly air smelled chilly—which is to say that for Alex, it really smelled like nothing at all."
"The cold was a surprise, but then she’d never hiked the Waucamaw in late September either."
"With no sense of smell, your memories dropped like pennies out of a ripped pocket, until the past was ashes and your parents were blanks: nothing more than the holes in Swiss cheese."
"A stuttering beat, something between a lawnmower and a semiautomatic rifle, broke the silence."
"She sipped her coffee, heard herself swallow. The coffee smelled and tasted like nothing, just hot and brown."
"That’s okay, she lied, and thought, Wild dogs?"
"You get used to it. I thought it would do her good to unplug and get out in the fresh air, spend some time with Mina."
"People mean well, but there’s just so much sympathy a little girl can take."
"She thought she was maybe eight or nine and already had way too much ’tude."
"The Krispy Kremes were stale—she still got texture—but dunked fine."
"What no one warned her about was that when you had no sense of smell at all, a lot of memories fizzled."
"She could smell Jack’s blood. There had been those forgotten memories of her wagon and white roses and her mother."
"The pain was fire, a laser that scorched her brain."
"Her watch was an older-model Casio IronMan, the only watch she wore when she hiked because the watch was rugged and waterproof and cheap."
"Her gaze crawled to Ellie, and those iPod earbuds still dangling around the kid’s neck."
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
"I’ll be okay," Alex said, though it was more of a vocal tic than something she really thought about.
"It’s nobody’s fault. We’re both doing the best we can."
"I shouldn’t have left you," she said. "You weren’t ready, and I was too freaked to see that."
"Promise." She crooked her little finger. "Pinky swear."
"That’s a good thought. It’s the only thing that makes sense."
"You learn basic battlefield medicine in the army, and then some, if you hang around the medics and care to learn."
"We can talk about this in the morning. You know, after Ellie gets some rest."
"I think, given everything that’s happened, we’re all entitled to a couple bad days," said Tom.
"I’ll be happy to answer all your questions after we eat."
"I refuse to believe that we’ve gone through all this just to die."
"I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in fate."
"The world’s over! There’s crap and dust and debris in the air and people are dead."
"We’re not dead, we haven’t changed, and we’re not going to."
"You’re supposed to help. You’re supposed to save people. That’s your job."
"Everything’s different. Nothing’s simple anymore."
"Running away won’t help. We have to talk about this now, while we still can."
"We may not be the only people looking for a place to spend the night."
"You must honor Tom's sacrifice. You must honor him. He would want you to live."
"Everyone works, and that includes you, young lady."
"What if someone started shooting, it would be over fast, and there is only one of her."
"He would want you to live one more day, and that is a blessing, too."
"The dogs, the dogs, the dogs. They don’t know everything."
"God is faithful, and with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
"Because there are some things better kept behind closed doors. The fewer who know, the safer for everyone."
"I know what people are feeling sometimes. I know when they—the Changed—are around."
"You only want to brawl. You want a fight. Fighting tricks you into believing you can change the past, even when the past is dead and gone and all of it ashes."
"Freedom has a price, too, girl. For all your bravery, you do not—"
"If you’re smart enough to ask that question, you already know the answer."
"You either lived with the monster, or you did what she’d done: carpe diem and run."
"It’s what happens when you have only two choices: live with the monster, or kill yourself."
"Our Lord has called on you, my consecrated ones. I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, to execute My anger."
"I'm not going to shoot you, Alex. You will have to trust me."
"Depending on what you find, you may not have cause to thank us."
"Shake thyself of dust and loose thyself, o’ captive daughter of Zion."
"Test everything, but hold fast to what is good."
"Rule wasn’t fighting them. Rule was feeding them."