Ah. And then you kill him."" No," Arkwright replied patiently. "We are British. We avoid murder if we can help it.{...}

— Rick Yancey

And, for one– ten thousandth of a second, all of it fell away, the despair and grief and anger and pain and hunger, and the old Ben Parish rose from the dead. The eyes that impaled. The smile that slayed. In another moment, he would fade, slide back into the new Ben, the one called Zombie, and I understood something I hadn’t before: He was dead, the object of my schoolgirl desires, just as the schoolgirl who desired him was dead.

— Rick Yancey

And if humanity is the last war, then I am the battlefield.

— Rick Yancey

And it occurs to me that there’s no real difference between us, the living and the dead; it’s just a matter of tense: past-dead and future-dead

— Rick Yancey

And it occurs to me that there’s no real difference between us, the living and the dead; it’s just a matter of tense: past-dead and future-dead.

— Rick Yancey

And John Kearns whispered into my ear: "Do you see it now? *You* are the nest. *You* are the hatchling. *You* are the chrysalis. *You* are the progeny. *You* are the rot that falls from the stars. All of us--you and I and poor, dear Elsinore. Behold the face of the Magnificat, child. And despair." Though I was sickened by the sight, I looked. In the bower of the beast at the top of the world, I beheld the face of the Magnificat, and I did not turn away.

— Rick Yancey

Aren’t you coming with us?” I feel his hand on my cheek. I know what this means, and I slap his hand away.“You’re coming with us, Evan,” I say.”There’s something I have to do.”“That’s right.” My hand flails for his in the dark. I find it and pull hard. “You have to come with us.”“I’ll find you, Cassie. Don’t I always find you? I—”“Don’t, Evan. You don’t know you’ll be able to find me.”“Cassie.” I don’t like the way he says my name. His voice is too soft, too sad, too much like a goodbye voice. “I was wrong when I said I was both and neither. I can’t be; I know that now. I have to choose.”“Wait a minute,” Ben says. “Cassie, this guy is one of them?”“It’s complicated,” I answer. “We’ll go over it later.” I grab Evan’s hand in both of mine and press it against my chest. “Don’t leave me age

— Rick Yancey

Are you okay?" I (Cassie) call up to him." Um. Define okay." (Ben)"Okay means you're not bleeding to death."" I'm okay.

— Rick Yancey

As long as you draw breath anywhere -here or ten thousands miles from here- I will love you. I can't help loving you, so I choose to hate you...to make my love bearable.

— Rick Yancey

Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield.

— Rick Yancey