Ground Zero Quotes
"We’re a team. That’s what we’ve always said. This is how we survive, right? Together."
"You punch somebody, you get suspended, no matter why you did it. Your actions have to have consequences. If they didn’t, you’d be the bully."
"I don’t know, Brandon. Talk to him. Tell a teacher or something."
"I’m learning English because I’m going to be a teacher."
"It’s you and me against the world. But you shut me out on this one. And you let down the team."
"The Taliban followed a very strict interpretation of religious law."
"If this man has asked for refuge, he will have it."
"We were all Muslims, but in those days no one tried to force their beliefs on anyone else."
"If infidels invade, jihad is the obligation of every Muslim."
"Reshmina had managed to ignore the calls to war in their textbooks and used the books to learn her letters and numbers instead."
"Reshmina’s heart leaped. She still loved her twin brother, even if she wanted to punch him in the face."
"Reshmina was too late. Pasoon had found the Taliban."
"Brandon backed up against the stairwell door, his breath hitching in his throat."
"Brandon’s eyes jerked open. His heart thundered in his chest and every inch of him quivered."
"Brandon’s brain couldn’t handle what he was seeing, and he sank, shaking, to what was left of the floor."
"Reshmina felt the vibrations before she heard it—an Apache."
"The Americans weren’t looking for their soldiers. They were looking for revenge!"
Pasoon, stop!" Reshmina screamed. "Please! Don’t go!
"You’re not coming with me," Pasoon told her. "Watch me," Reshmina said.
Pasoon, you idiot!" Reshmina yelled. "Come back!
"Reshmina glanced back over her shoulder to look for the helicopter. There was still no sign of it."
"Brandon’s hands and feet moved like they were on autopilot as he and Richard made their way down the stairs."
"Esther found a station with two morning radio show hosts talking and laughing."
"Brandon’s heart caught in his throat, and he started to cry again."
"Reshmina turned and ran down the steep hillside, tumbling and falling and hitting every rock and bush along the way."
"Reshmina’s father refused to grow poppies, even though their family was very poor."
"But there was no one. Nothing. Just the poppies swaying gently in the mountain breeze."
"If she waited long enough, he would probably go to sleep."
"Reshmina couldn’t wait for that. She had to get past him. Now."
"That’s why he hadn’t noticed Reshmina as she came down through the pass."
"Every minute she waited was another minute the Taliban might be getting closer to her village."
"Reshmina closed her eyes and silently cursed herself."
I hear a crash, and my first thought is "A plane is hitting the building!"
"Safe travels, leopard," Reshmina whispered."
"Reshmina collapsed against a rock and cried."
"He’s happier you’re down here than up there with him."
"How was anything ever going to be all right ever again?"
"The rocket had just destroyed Reshmina’s home."
"I was frightened by a harmless stuffed animal!"
"Brandon felt his own tears coming back."
"All his life, a parent had been there for him."
"The world had exploded, and now he was totally, utterly alone."
"We’re never going to change this place."
"We’re here because we’re here, and we don’t know how to leave."
"A statue carved out of white marble, with blank, empty eyes."
"We are content with conflict. We are content with fear."
"The sun went out in the sky and darkness surrounded him."
"Manhattan was quiet again, silent as a grave. That’s what this place was now—a giant grave for the thousands of people who hadn’t been able to escape before the towers fell."
"Richard’s fingers twitched, and his arm slid out across the ash-covered asphalt, looking for something. Brandon didn’t know what Richard was looking for, but he was alive. Richard was alive."
"The tears carving tracks down the white dust that covered his face."
"One more artifact for the shrine to failed conquerors."
"‘That was a very brave and very foolish thing you did,’ Mor told her."
"Her mother wrapped Reshmina up in a hug so tight it hurt."
"I wanted to do the right thing, but all I did was lead everyone to their deaths!"
"We are safe now. The Americans are clearing the village of the last of the Taliban."