After The End Quotes
"You have to be tough to survive an apocalypse."
"Only the sounds of the sled’s blades through the snow."
"My heart skips a beat, and I freeze, scanning the sky."
"I am securing the caribou with hemp ropes when I hear something strange."
"My mind is frozen by my father’s ice-cold panic."
"I leap up, spitting and wiping my damp hand on my parka."
"My throat has been clenched so tightly that it’s been hard to breathe."
"If I can’t keep a cool head, I might not be able to find my people."
"Our nightmares are populated with armed brigands roaming the land."
"Nature’s metamorphosis. Can you get any more magical than that?"
"You must find someone to take you on your journey."
"Birds don’t shit while they’re sitting down."
"I’m not sure what I believe anymore. I am unanchored. Adrift in this new world."
"I am the only person I can trust. I have never felt so alone."
"We’re not just sitting around. I was waiting for a sign."
"But who knows if those are the last signs I ever get."
"She actually seems halfway normal. Nice, even."
"We are on a schedule now that we’ve spent an entire day just sitting around?"
"Maybe because all I’ve been able to think about this morning are her golden-honey eyes, inches away from my own, and those warm, soft lips."
"My mom left Dad and me last year, so she’s not doing any worrying."
"Warmth spreads from where her fingers touch my skin."
"She’s sick. Severe depression. She tried to kill herself last year, and when she didn’t succeed, she said we would be better off without her."
"It’s okay," I say, feeling like I’m comforting her instead of vice versa.
"Yeah, well, mental illness is just the same as any other illness."
"My gaze drops to her lips, causing my heartbeat to stutter."
"I really should check in with him so he doesn’t freak out."
"I mean, I can’t just hand Juneau over to him. Not now that I’m sure she’s not the person he thinks she is."
"All that money you were flashing around in Walmart... where did you get it?"
"We drive without talking for the next two hours."
"This is the end of the line for you," she says, getting out of the car.
"Standing for a moment with her eyes closed and the raven squeezed close to her chest, she throws it up into the air."
"Your word is my command, O dark mistress of bird wrangling," I mumble.
"You wouldn’t understand anyway," I snap, hoping that will shut him up.
"That means absolutely nothing to me," he says.
"I’m going to drive south out of town, and then take 26 east until we get back to the main highway we were on."
"My butt fell asleep back near Canyon City," he explains.
"But I can tell her mind isn't on our breakfast beverages. Her thoughts are miles away."
"If every single child born into the clan has the eye starburst, maybe your parents and their friends were all exposed to something in Alaska."
"I’ve gone over so many scenarios in my mind already."
"We grow to adulthood and then just don’t get any older."
"That’s okay. That’s fine," I say, fishing for something to change the subject.
"I think we’re getting somewhere with the ‘Why were they kidnapped?’ question."
"I mean, a nice genetic mutation, of course, not like you’re freakish or anything."
"She’s still holding on to the 'truth' she’s been taught."
"Just close the door and follow me to my car."