How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He'd always thought they'd go home one day and everything would be like it was before they came. Mommy wouldn't come back—he wasn't a baby; he knew Mommy wasn't coming back—but he didn't understand that there was no going back, that what had happened was forever. (38.27)
Sammy is old enough to understand death, but he can't quite wrap his mind around the end of the world. To be fair, most of his elders are experiencing the same problem.
Quote #8
Seeing his family in front of the Christmas tree, gathered around birthday cakes…forces it down my throat: the end of Christmas trees and birthday cakes. (54.14)
Looking through Evan's family photos, Cassie experiences a sharp moment of grief for the old world, pre-attacks.
Quote #9
A thousand years later and a million miles from the halls of George Barnard High School. Here, in the belly of the beast at the bottom of the world, standing right in front of me. Benjamin Thomas Parish. (83.37-83.38)
When Cassie finds herself face-to-face with Ben Parish (her high school crush) at the end of the novel, she reflects on how much things have changed over the last few months.