Mira Grant

“This time, the anger in her voice wasn’t there, and the tears were beginning to overflow her lower lids, starting their slow tracks down her cheeks. She looked old, and tired, and like the woman I’d only ever seen in pictures taken before I was even born. She looked like someone who could have loved me.”

“We walked to another door with an amber light above it. This one led to a hall I hadn’t seen before. It was less pristine than the others. There were whiteboards on the walls, scribbled with notes about cafeteria menus and security sweeps. There were even a few flyers taped up, advertising cars for sale or asking if anyone knew a good tutoring service for high school biochemistry. It looked so much more real than the place I’d been since I woke up, so much more human, that it almost made my chest hurt. The world still existed. I’d died and come back, and the whole time I was gone, the world continued.”

“Things it is not polite to discuss at the dinner table: politics, religion, and the walking dead.”

“It's better to go out with a bang and a press release than with a whimper and a secret.”

“Fuck this. Let's just blow some shit up.”

“When the corruption seems to go all the way to the end of the world, the only good approach is through the front door with a gun in each hand.”

“The truth may set you free. It won't fill your fuel tank.”

“Hot, short, thorough," I said. I hesitated before adding, "Please." It never pays to insult computers that are smart enough to form sentences. Not when they're in control of the locks, and especially when they have the capacity to boil you in bleach."Absolutely," said the shower.”

“I figure I'll just keep on going the way I am until something starts making sense.""What if nothing ever does?""I guess if that happens, I'll start hoping all the God freaks are right, and there's some superior intelligence up there treating us all like laboratory rats.”

“I am tired of shooting zombie deer that wander past our safety zone. Well, okay. I'm not really tired of that part. That part is pretty cool. Suck it, Bambi.”

“Boo-hoo," said Dr Abbey. "Let me know when you people want to grow a pair and join the scientific community. We're looking for answers. We'd love access to your lab equipment." "You mean join the mad scientists," spat Kelly, guilt turning into anger in an instant. "You say potato, I say pass the jumper cables," said Dr Abbey.”

“Be good. Be kind to each other. And if there's somebody you love, tell them. The world always needs more love.”

“The only thing we have in this world that is utterly and intrinsically ours is our integrity.”

“The latest literature says we’re supposed to call them “post-Kellis-Amberlee amplification manifestation syndrome humans,” but fuck that. If they really wanted some fancy new term for “zombie” to catch on, they should have made it easy to shout at the top of your lungs, or at least made sure it formed a catchy acronym”

“This is Shaun Mason activating security protocol Campbell. The bridge is out, the trees are coming, and I’m pretty sure my hand is evil. Now gimme some sugar, baby.”

“People blame science. Shit, man, people shouldn’t blame science. People should blame people.”

“Last guy I was interested in turned out to be an incestuous necrophiliac," she said. "So no, not currently dating, and definitely not doing any more shopping in the 'sociopath' category”

“I'm going to aerosolize me some dead guys.”

“Remember what I said about the mosquitoes?" "Which part" asked Maggie. "The scary part, the really scary part, the legitimately terrifying part, or the part that makes suicide sound like an awesome way to spend the evening?”

“Indy Rivers got things done. Maybe she was a fictional character, but they were in a fictional place, in a fictional situation. There were worse things to be than fictional.”

“Gregory smiled a little, holding up an empty syringe. “I’m afraid you don’t have all that much choice in the matter. I added a little something to your IV line. We’ll see you in a few hours.”“What—?” My eyes widened. “You bastard.”“My parents were married.”“You could have… could have asked me…” My voice was already slowing down. I didn’t know whether it was psychosomatic or just very well timed, but either way, I was pissed.”

“So hell, maybe we just killed the last grizzly in the world. I'd feel bad about that if it hadn't been an infected zombie bear that wanted to eat my delicious flesh.”

“It didn't start out like this, Georgia. It started out with good intentions--God, such good intentions. They thought they were taking steps to protect the country. In the end, no one noticed when protection turned into imprisonment, or when 'for the good of the people' turned into 'for the good of the people in power.' It was all baby steps, all the way.”

“What kind of world were we living in, where the people we trusted to keep us healthy were the ones keeping us sick[...]”

“They can't reproduce?" said Shaun incredulously. "That's your big solution? They won't fuck? Did none of you people ever see Jurassic Park?”

“Journalism must have been very different before people resolved so many of their conflicts with bullets.”

“I'd say it was nice knowing you, but as you've effectively ruined my life, it almost certainly hasn't been.”

“That's Becks. Always ready to offer a helping headshot.”

“The dangerous thing about truth is the way it changes depending on how you're looking at it. One man's gospel truth is another man's blasphemous lie. The dangerous thing about people is the way we'll try to kill anyone whose truth doesn't agree with ours.”

“It's amazing how many of the things needed for a basic biology lab are capable of blowing up, if you're willing to try very, very hard, and don't much care about possibly losing a few fingers in the process.”

“You all cool?" "I'm cool," confirmed Becks."I haven't been 'cool' since arriving in this godforsaken hellhole you persist in claiming is a civilized nation. I am, however, ready to go violate a few more laws.”

“[H]e looked at me gravely and asked, "Are you ready?" "No," I said. "I'm pretty sure I've never been ready for anything that had to be prefaced with that question.”

“The only question is whether they're going to get caught, and so far, the answer's been 'no.' Things are chaotic. No one knows exactly what's going on, and the people carrying out the orders aren't the ones giving them. As long as no one ever gives the order that says 'let those people die, they don't matter,' nothing illegal is being done.”

“It's amazing how effective simple disorientation is as a mechanism for controlling people.”

“[M]y Coke hit the floor with a metallic clink, so much like the sound of a bullet casing being dropped.”

“People used to romanticize the natural world, before the Rising. These days, we mostly just run away from it.”

“People say things like "it wasn't supposed to go this way" and "this isn't what I wanted." They're just making noise. There's no such thing as "supposed to," and what you want doesn't matter. All that matters is what happened.”

“Nobody cares if you're an idiot, as long as you're a useful one.”

“In the end, no one noticed when protection turned into imprisonment, or when 'for the good of the people' turned into 'for the good of the people in power.' It was all baby steps, all the way.”

“The problem with people who have power is that they start thinking more about what it takes to keep that power than they do about what's right or wrong or just plain a bad idea.”

“...a truth you don't understand is more dangerous than a lie.”

“Madness is surprisingly freeing.”

“But when the springtime turns to dust(A thousand shades of blood and rust)And everything is ash and stone(Contagion writ in blood and bone)Then what exists to have and hold?(What story, then, has not been told?)Let this be my sacred vow(O Mother Mary hear me now):I will not fail, I will not fall(Though Heaven, Hell and Chaos call).We are the children of the Risen.This world our home, this prayer our prison.”

“The echoes of my knock were still ringing when the door swung open, revealing a short, cheerfully curvy woman with spiky brown hair streaked with bleach-white lines that looked more accidental than anything else. She was wearing an electric orange T-shirt that read DO NOT TAUNT THE OCTOPUS, jeans, and a lab coat, and was pointing a hunting rifle at the middle of my chest.”

“You're crazy," pronounced Becks."And you're carrying eight guns," I replied. "Now that we've covered what everybody knows, can we move on?”

“And to those who would choose the safety of inaction over the danger of taking a stand, I have this to say:You bloody cowards. May you have the world that you deserve.”

“She really talks to you, doesn't she?" She asked. "it's not just you talking to her. She talks BACK.""hel, half the time she starts it." I said, half-defensively. "I know it's weird.""Well, yes, it's weird. Technically, I think it's insane. But who am I to judge?" Maggie shrugged. "I live in a house most people view as the setting of a horror movie waiting to happen, with an army of security ninjas and a couple dozen epileptic dogs for company. I don't think I'm qualified to pass judgement on 'weird'.”

“Well, that’s that, then. We’re all going to die. Charming.”

“Even after death, life still goes on.”

“It felt odd to be laughing during a firefight. Then again, if you can’t laugh when you’re about to die, when can you?”