The Kill Order Quotes
"It seemed impossible, though she’d now seen the Swipe implanted in dozens of boys before Thomas. How could this kid ever be unfamiliar to her?"
"How could she ever stand in front of him and not leap at the chance to communicate telepathically?"
"Teresa watched as metal and wires and plastic tubes slithered across his skin and into the canals of Thomas’s ears, saw his hands twitch reflexively at his sides."
"The machine began its work, plucking images from Thomas’s memory. Erasing his mom and his dad and his life. Erasing her."
"But the greater part was as solid as the rock of the cliffs outside."
"She and Thomas were proving their conviction by submitting to what had been asked of the others. And if they died, so be it."
"It was what it was; what was done was done; what would be… would be."
"How could she shrink at sacrificing a few to save the many?"
"They’d said their official goodbyes, and the words See you tomorrow still rang in her head."
"The walk toward her had been as sobering as usual, each step weakening his resolve to have a good day."
"Mark had always felt like she was his as a simple matter of the situation."
"Today is going to be a perfect, perfect day."
"I haven’t had a perfect day since I turned sixteen."
"I could be perfectly happy in this place if we could just forget."
"Things are getting better. We just need to… let it go!"
"You can read more of your boring book later."
"It was a rumbling, cranking noise that shook the Shack from top to bottom."
"Mark covered his ears until the sound faded enough that the Shack stopped shaking."
"Who knew if things would ever get back to normal."
"They screamed and crumpled to the ground almost instantly, others tripping over their bodies in the mad rush for cover."
"Mark didn’t need to look up—he could hear the distinct swoosh of darts being shot at him."
"Maybe we cleaned out their crew. Everyone except the pilot, at least."
"But what else were they going to do, sit there and play blind hopscotch until someone came out to greet them with cookies and milk?"
"You fight back. I'm not going to let these bloodsuckers get away with that crap."
"We can't give up now, though. From day one we've been about living."
"I’ll go nuts if we do that. We found a workpad with a map of where that Berg came from. Let’s gather supplies and get out of here—maybe we can learn something."
"We should get as far as we can from this place."
"The world had punished everyone enough—why should they risk bringing anything more upon themselves?"
"Her eyes said it all—they were going to live through this just like they’d lived through everything else."
"We’re not abandoning her. We’re just going outside to talk."
"I think we need to readjust our outlook here."
"The best way to honor Misty right now is to get moving and learn something that could end up helping."
"If only this girl knew how much he likes her."
"We wouldn’t be down here unless something horrible happened up there. In the city."
"We have one hour, tops, to get out of these rat tunnels. You hear me? One hour."
"It’s sun flares, all right. Extreme heat and radiation. Double whammy. It was something the world thought it was trained and prepared for. The world was wrong, in my humble judgment."
"He doesn’t want to remember any of it. He didn’t want to relive the terror of that day."
"I refuse to believe my family is gone and swear to myself that I won’t rest until I find them safe and sound."
"As long as we stay inside for a while, we should be okay. But we have to get up there before the waters flood this place and kill us all."
"Even awake he could see that room beneath New York City where they’d first met Lana and the others."
"He didn’t even know who he was talking to. Was he talking to his own brain?"
"Tsunami. We’re in the middle of the subtrans system in New York City and that’s supposed to be our biggest worry."
"We can’t afford to carry anything—empty your arms and pockets or we might get attacked."
"He had a sudden feeling of foreboding. The more this woman spoke, the more he felt it."
"The demons burned my face, melted it into what you see today. That way I can never forget my calling."
"And then the death has come in waves. Taking longer each time."
"This was complete lunacy as far as he was concerned, and there was no way to deal with it rationally."
"They’ve killed me! The demons… finally… killed me!"
"Mark was completely frozen, staring at Jed’s body lying in an unnatural twisted position."
"Let’s get out of this place," the older man grumbled.
"All we’ve done is try to keep the demons at bay."
"Mark!" Alec screamed from nearby. "Not sure if you noticed, but we’re being attacked!"
"The roaring, crackling, spitting forest fire, still safely distant but getting closer."
"Would you just sit here and twiddle your thumbs?"
"If something has a nickname, that means it's big and being talked about. Not good at all."
"A slow soldier means Trina and them could be dead."
"The little girl. The two women. Gave them. The things Anton had said back in the bunk room. It all thudded in his mind, made him tremble."
"They assigned us to take part in the worst civil rights fiasco since the War of 2020. A holocaust!"
"We had no choice. They used the very resources they’re trying to preserve against us."
"All we can do is what we’ve done since the sun flares struck the Earth: fight tooth and nail to live."
"Darwin taught about survival of the fittest in the natural world. Well, the PFC is trying to cheat nature."
"Who do these people think they are? Gods? They can just choose to wipe out the entire eastern half of the United States?"
"I don’t want to waste the precious ammo we have left defending ourselves against a cult."
"He was a flurry of arms and legs, frantically trying to stay out of everyone’s reach."
"There was a moment when everything seemed absolutely ridiculous, like Mark had fallen into a clown act in a circus, and he almost laughed."
"In the frenzy, someone fell on Mark’s leg, someone else on his back. He twisted around and then there was someone sitting on his face."
"Mark knew they had to somehow fight their attackers off and get through there or they were done for."
"The deafening silence that filled the room was broken by the squeal of the wheel handle as Mark wrenched it tighter and tighter."
"In the relative darkness, the whole thing looked like some alien vessel rising from the abyss of the ocean."
"Maybe, just maybe, there was a spark of hope."
"All he could do was focus on the next rung of the ladder: Trina."
"The world felt disconnected, as if it were a play Mark was watching from the back row, lying on the floor."
"But a full stomach and a week’s worth of exhaustion pulled him to unconsciousness."
"Somehow even sadder to Mark than what the guy has just said, the object of his scorn just nods and apologizes."
"Just remember what I did to your buddy," Boss whispers to Mark when it’s his turn to get prodded.
"Careful," the armed man warns. "Now your work’s done, I wouldn’t mind gettin’ a little more target practice. Close-range, even."
"It’s done, all right," Alec says in a half growl. "We’re not idiots."
"Scared. That’s good. A fine soldier is always scared. Makes you normal. It’s how you respond to it that makes or breaks you."
"Let… go!" Mark yells as he slams his foot into the man’s shoulder again.
"Every question only increased his anguish. And there were no answers."
"Our friends," Mark said, sure that he’d never heard such a bitter voice escape his own lips before. "That’s all we can think about."
"They’re scared of fire, you know. Everyone is scared of fire, no matter how far your mind has gone."
"It’s your choice, my new friends. You can take a step toward me and I’ll light the flames that’ll take me away once and for all. Or you can go on your merry way and let me live another day."
"All we can do is find our friends and make sure we die on our own terms."
"We’re not crazy in this home. Not yet, anyway. No need to take my kids. They’re the only things keeping the monsters away."
"I thought surviving was all that mattered, but I was wrong. We can’t leave these kids here."
"Let’s go find our friends. After that we can come back. But if we take them now, we’ll have no chance."
"Surviving isn’t just about breathing, it’s about fighting for what’s right and protecting those who can’t protect themselves."
"We might be like those kooks we just ran away from soon."
"I just hope the boogie man doesn’t live on that thing."
"Maybe there's a way to get rid of the virus somehow. Maybe there's a chance."
"The problem is simple: the world has too many people and not enough resources."
"You may be familiar with an old business saying, "think outside the box." I believe it is time we do just that."
"It’s a virus. It attacks the brain and shuts it down, painlessly. It acts quickly and decisively."
"How could things possibly get worse than what we’ve seen?"
"We survived the weeks of solar radiation by hiding inside the Lincoln Building."
"They survived that, too, eventually finding their way to the settlements."
"I’m scared, Mark. I’m really, really sick. I need to die. I need to die and I don’t wanna die for nothing."
"But Alec’s idea was much like his, and the only thing he could think to do was take action."
"The anger pulsed through him as if it, instead of blood, thumped out of his heart and through his veins."