“You're too skinny."I could almost laugh. "Yeah, well. The restaurants in the Wilds are mostly closed. They're mostly bombed, actually.”

“You want to hit the gym with me?" Ellie wrinkled her button nose. "Gym? Me?" I eyed her skinny self. "You mean you're naturally that gorgeous?" She laughed, flushing a little. "I have good genes." "Yeah, well I have to work-out to fit into mine.”

“But you're happy?''Yeah? I think I am. Are you?''Happier. Happyish.''Happyish. Well, happyish isn't so bad.''It's the most we can hope for.”

“The people who lie the most are nearly always the clumsiest at it, and they're easier to fool with lies than most people, too. You'd think they'd be on the look-out for lies, but they seem to be the very ones that will believe almost anything at all.”

“When you're on your own, you look for signs. Sometimes you make them up, sometimes they're actually there, but most of the time you can't tell the difference from the two.”

“No," he said, voice thick and husky. His fingers dug into the chair's arms. "You'd better not get too close."I stopped, laughing softly. "You don't strike me as the assaulting type, Mortensen.""Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything.”