He’s a murdering chud,” Zil was yelling.
“What do you want to do? Lynch him?” Astrid de...
MICHAEL GRANT Scared people did scary things sometimes,
MICHAEL GRANT He didn't mind if she hated him. They were never going to be a cute romantic couple like Sam and Ast...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam was slow getting up. To Quinn he looked like an old man standing up after slipping on the ice. B...
MICHAEL GRANT Did you throw a rock at my brother?” Astrid yelled, fearless in her outrage. She dropped to her kn...
MICHAEL GRANT [Caine]
"Interesting. Me, I've always wanted to know who my real parents were."
[Sam]
MICHAEL GRANT Brianna dropped the skateboard in front of Sam. "Don't worry: I won't let you fall off."
"Yeah...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam,” Astrid yelled. “Quick.”
Sam thought he was too far gone to respond, but he somehow ...
MICHAEL GRANT Where was Sam?
It hit her full force then, the shocking realization. Was this how Sam felt? Was...
MICHAEL GRANT Okay, look. I get it. You're one of those people who thinks they have to help screwed-up people. Or ...
MICHAEL GRANT Sometimes I think He looks down and says, "Wow, look what those idiots are up to now. I guess I bett...
MICHAEL GRANT So asking you to take a moonlit walk with me, that would totally not work?"
"What?" Again that ...
MICHAEL GRANT No," Lana said, "I'm not going to heal your scratch."
"Good," Sanjit said.
"Good? Why good...
MICHAEL GRANT You're staring," Lana said.
"Yes. I am. I'm a teenage boy. Beautiful girls in wet underwear hav...
MICHAEL GRANT I like your boyfriend," Dahra said. "Not many guys volunteer to carry ten gallons of diarrhea and vo...
MICHAEL GRANT No one vinces me, baby
MICHAEL GRANT Caine met Diana's disbelieving gaze and laughed aloud.
"Why so gloomy? Doesn't every little gir...
MICHAEL GRANT If God gives you a Quiznos, can I have a bite? No way. You have to pray for your own food.
MICHAEL GRANT It's Sanjit. It's a Hindu name. It means 'invincible.'"
"That's great," Lana said.
"Invinc...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam, that's a great concept. And maybe you believe it. But I'm black and I'm a lesbian, so let me te...
MICHAEL GRANT They said a lot of things to each other that night, but nothing that involved words.
MICHAEL GRANT Astrid had gone to look at the burn zone. Doing the right thing.
Kids had yelled at her. Demand...
MICHAEL GRANT Too bad we don't have marshmallows. This is an amazing fire." Howard emerged through the smoke behin...
MICHAEL GRANT He didn’t mind Drake so much. Drake was a creep.
It was the girl who made Orc want to cry. MICHAEL GRANT Fear was about possibilities. Not things that happened. Things that might.
MICHAEL GRANT Guilt was a fascinating thing: it seemed not to weaken over time. If anything it grew stronger as th...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam’s probably out there somewhere being his usual heroic self,” Caine said. “I can’t let th...
MICHAEL GRANT No, no, no, so not getting the point of fear. Because fear wasn't about what made sense. Fear was ab...
MICHAEL GRANT Hey, thanks for stopping by," Howard said. "I'd offer you some tea and cookies, but all we have is b...
MICHAEL GRANT Superpowers, don't always make you a superhero. - Duck
MICHAEL GRANT Yeah. A feeling. Like the whole point of my life from the alleys in Bangkok to the yachts and privat...
MICHAEL GRANT There’ll be guys who were in wars hearing what we did and thinking, ‘Whoa.’ You and me, we can...
MICHAEL GRANT Why are we sneaking out in the night?” Jack repeated.
“I already explained,” Sam snapped....
MICHAEL GRANT You let her get away?” Caine demanded, forgetting Sam for the moment.
“I didn’t let her g...
MICHAEL GRANT About time,” Brianna said.
“Hey, sorry, we were kind of busy,” Quinn snapped. “And I di...
MICHAEL GRANT Why do we have to do this in the middle of the night?” Taylor asked.
“Because we don’t wa...
MICHAEL GRANT Yeah, let’s get John here. That way we can stall for a while longer. We can keep on doing nothing ...
MICHAEL GRANT He was still furious at Quinn, but they were—literally—all in the same boat now.
MICHAEL GRANT People are idiots, Choo. Always remember that: people are faithless, backstabbing, weak, creepy, stu...
MICHAEL GRANT Cabeza de turco.
MICHAEL GRANT He's one kind of person, you're another. When life is going along normally, you're sort of the same....
MICHAEL GRANT The pain was her whole world now. Pain and fear.
MICHAEL GRANT She placed her palm over his wound, pressing as hard as she dared.
She would stop the blood. MICHAEL GRANT What’s happened so far? Coyotes evolved limited powers of speech. Worms developed teeth and became...
MICHAEL GRANT I came up with myself. FAYZ. Spelled F-A-Y-Z. It stands for Fallout Alley Youth Zone. Fallout Alley,...
MICHAEL GRANT He found a set of encyclopedias—like Wikipedia, but paper and very bulky.
MICHAEL GRANT Man, don't ever be sorry you don't want to kill someone.
MICHAEL GRANT The point is,” Caine continued, “you and I share something in common, Sam. We were born just thr...
MICHAEL GRANT but I know you're the brightest shooting star in the sky - Astrid
MICHAEL GRANT So many things I'm not, and so few things I am.
MICHAEL GRANT You'll never have complete control, Caine. This world is changing all the time. Animals. People. Who...
MICHAEL GRANT Ninth graders with machine guns: its hard to make that a happy story.
MICHAEL GRANT Let me guess: you're secretly a wizard who was raised by muggles.
MICHAEL GRANT welcome to the FAYZ. Wherever, whenever or whyever that is
MICHAEL GRANT One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone. There. Gone...
MICHAEL GRANT It's not about who's got powers, morons. It's about who's not afraid. And who's going to do what has...
MICHAEL GRANT I had a polynomial once. My doctor removed it.
MICHAEL GRANT It's vital to keep a sense of humour when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange pla...
MICHAEL GRANT It couldn’t last. Everyone was just killing time. But if all they did was kill time, time would en...
MICHAEL GRANT That's your solution? Have a cookie?' Astrid asked. 'No, my solution is to run down to the beach and...
MICHAEL GRANT We didn't Make this World we're just the Poor Fools who are living in it.
MICHAEL GRANT Welcome to Perdido beach, where our motto is: Radiation, what radiation?
MICHAEL GRANT Astrid found the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up over his head. She unbuckled his belt and shove...
MICHAEL GRANT The food is ready,” Zil announced to loud cheers.
“But we have something more important to ...
MICHAEL GRANT We’ve searched all of the homes and carried the food to Ralph’s,” Sam continued. “The proble...
MICHAEL GRANT Diana can read power levels,” Astrid said. “Did she ever…”
Sam nodded. “She said the ...
MICHAEL GRANT I’m mean? That’s the worst you can throw at me?”
“Mean and self-pitying. Does that make...
MICHAEL GRANT It’s time,” Jack said.
“Breeze? Count the kids,” Sam said.
Brianna was back in twe...
MICHAEL GRANT I don’t guess you can outrun an explosion, right?” Sam asked doubtfully.
Jack rolled his ey...
MICHAEL GRANT The door exploded inward and a tangle of bug legs appeared.
“I can hold them, but I can’t k...
MICHAEL GRANT The only crime, if any, that may have been committed in these circumstances is the perpetration of a...
MICHAEL GRANT Tino really battled inside. He battled against [Joe] Reitz, which was a really good battle all night...
MICHAEL GRANT We can't afford to give away games by not executing and not knocking down our free throws.
MICHAEL GRANT With five minutes left in the game and it's a seven point game, we had our chances to get back into ...
MICHAEL GRANT We didn't take care of the basketball and we didn't concentrate on knocking down our free throws. I ...
MICHAEL GRANT The question I have is what alternative does either the county or the state have? ... Does anybody h...
MICHAEL GRANT I think it's going to be fairly difficult.
MICHAEL GRANT The Tao of Natural Breathing by Dennis Lewis is filled with drawings, insights and guidance from an ...
MICHAEL GRANT An enormous failure of the system has clearly been exposed, but this system failure is associated wi...
MICHAEL GRANT You look okay,” Sam said with a certain desperate edge in his voice. “I mean good. You look good...
MICHAEL GRANT Where’s Sam?” Brianna asked.
“He’s out. So is Edilio,” Dekka said. “You going to te...
MICHAEL GRANT He never should have left the island. He’d been there with Diana and Penny. He could have tossed P...
MICHAEL GRANT Lunch had been at a McDonald’s in Santa Barbara. It had been so clean. It had smelled like food. I...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam, I know you’re upset over what happened with you and Drake,” Astrid began.
“Upset?”...
MICHAEL GRANT If you do bad stuff and don't repent, you go to hell," Orc said, like he was begging for a refutatio...
MICHAEL GRANT What do you think that fish is?' Sam asked Astrid.
She peered closely at the alleged fish. 'I t...
MICHAEL GRANT I want my mom,” a little boy cried out suddenly.
Every voice fell silent. The boy had said wh...
MICHAEL GRANT Hi, Albert,” Quinn called back. He seemed distracted. And Albert was sure that he’d seen Quinn m...
MICHAEL GRANT We’re here to execute a murderer,” Zil said, pointing at Hunter. “We are bringing justice in t...
MICHAEL GRANT I’ll tell you all about it, but let’s eat first. I’ve had nothing to eat. Although I was offer...
MICHAEL GRANT God knew our lives would be really bad sometimes. Like maybe we'd be turned into a monster and then ...
MICHAEL GRANT More than two dozen kids lined a low railing around the gazebo. They were all tied to it by a rope l...
MICHAEL GRANT We were disturbed the president moved too slowly, that FEMA looked too disorganized.
MICHAEL GRANT How has he moved so quickly from childlike naïvité to existential panic?
MICHAEL GRANT Drake's whip hand spun Diana like a top.
She cried out. That sound, her cry, pierced Caine like...
MICHAEL GRANT Don’t want no more rock,” Orc repeated.
The bleeding stopped almost immediately.
“Do...
MICHAEL GRANT Mr. Albert? Mr. Albert?” Harley said.
“Just Albert’s fine,” Albert said tersely.
�...
MICHAEL GRANT The intruders spoke no words as they rushed in. Five boys carrying baseball bats and tire irons. The...
MICHAEL GRANT Caine’s a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof....
MICHAEL GRANT Lana leveled the gun at Penny. “Stop,” Lana said.
Penny’s reddened face grew pale. Whatev...
MICHAEL GRANT You can't let him get away with this!" Penny shrieked.
Caine wasn’t having it. “You stupid...
MICHAEL GRANT Penny rolled over, got to her feet, trying to get control of her scattered mind, but Quinn was behin...
MICHAEL GRANT Hello, freak,” Drake said.
Lana backed away, but too late. Drake leveled his gun at her.
MICHAEL GRANT Astrid and Taylor didn’t like each other much. But Taylor was an extremely valuable person to have...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam, there comes a time when the world no longer needs heroes. And then the true hero knows to walk ...
MICHAEL GRANT But when reality was hopeless, fantasy became more and more necessary.
MICHAEL GRANT And yes, we do have some food. Maybe you'd like to join us? Unless you want to stick with your sheep...
MICHAEL GRANT Hey, Sam,” Drake shouted. “I thought you’d like to know this isn’t my whole army.”
Sa...
MICHAEL GRANT Why, so we can look for some little kid who probably doesn’t even know he’s missing?”
Aga...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam, Edilio’s a good guy,” Albert said, breaking in on Sam’s gloomy thoughts. “But like I sa...
MICHAEL GRANT You know what, Sam? We created the council to take pressure off of you. Because you were falling apa...
MICHAEL GRANT Which was how Britteny ended up nestled next to Mickey, under the shelter of a painter's drop cloth....
MICHAEL GRANT Sam sent me to give you a message, Edilio. He said, ‘Tell Edilio I couldn’t kill the bugs.’”...
MICHAEL GRANT ot everyone liked Albert. Not everyone was happy that he had become the most important person around...
MICHAEL GRANT Leslie-Ann set down her own bucket and watched, marveling, as a quarter of an inch of water covered ...
MICHAEL GRANT Stay in your boats,” Dahra said. “We’re still going to need food. Throw your fish onto the doc...
MICHAEL GRANT Brianna’s looking for Drake,” Edilio said, thinking out loud.
“You sent her out against D...
MICHAEL GRANT Have either of you seen Sam? Brianna can’t find him.”
Albert sighed. “He’s out of town....
MICHAEL GRANT Hey! One of Edilio’s soldiers just came staggering in from the gas station. He says someone attack...
MICHAEL GRANT Albert, I don’t know how long we can keep Sam involved at all,” she said.
“You’re upset...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam always felt like a fool in this room. He sat in a too-big chair at one end of the table. Astrid ...
MICHAEL GRANT Albert had created a currency based on gold bullets and McDonald’s game pieces. He’d wanted to c...
MICHAEL GRANT I’m trying to make a profit. I’m using batteries, toilet paper, and paper towels as currency. Ea...
MICHAEL GRANT Hey, brah,” Quinn said.
“What is going on, do you know?” Sam asked.
“It’s a club...
MICHAEL GRANT Sorry, folks, but the maximum occupancy is seventy-five,” Albert said. Then he spotted Jack. “Ja...
MICHAEL GRANT I’m trying to help,” Albert said.
“By paying him with beer?”
“I paid him what he...
MICHAEL GRANT What’s up, Albert?”
“Well, I’ve done inventory at Ralph’s, and I think if I had a lot...
MICHAEL GRANT Um, people.”
It wasn’t hard to get their attention. They gathered around. Even the littlest...
MICHAEL GRANT What happened?” Albert asked.
Taylor looked at Sam. Sam said nothing. He stared. First at his...
MICHAEL GRANT Female say Pack Leader stop,” Pack Leader said angrily.
“What?” Caine could make no sense...
MICHAEL GRANT The light of day showed you the limits of possibility. But walk through the dark, the absolute, tota...
MICHAEL GRANT What’s Albert going to do?” a boy named Jim demanded. “Where’s Albert?”
Albert steppe...
MICHAEL GRANT He pictured himself at the lake, on a houseboat. Dekka would be there, and Brianna and Jack. He woul...
MICHAEL GRANT Hand me my pants,
MICHAEL GRANT Hunter’s dead,” Taylor said without preamble. “It was these . . . these things. They came craw...
MICHAEL GRANT She’s stronger than you are, Sam. It’s like fighting yourself and Caine and Jack and Dekka, all ...
MICHAEL GRANT promise me, Sam: whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to survive.”
“Astrid—”
MICHAEL GRANT He overheard the director talking to one of the cameramen. The cameraman was explaining that he coul...
MICHAEL GRANT There were dozens of theories about what it was, that dome. Every scientist in the world, it seemed,...
MICHAEL GRANT He’s becoming useless. Worse than useless,” Sam said. Then, relenting, he said, “We’ll get p...
MICHAEL GRANT Man, sometimes you are clueless. You don’t even see what’s happening.” He perched himself on t...
MICHAEL GRANT Human Crew had been a group formed to defend the rights of normals against freaks. At least that was...
MICHAEL GRANT You’re supposed to be the big boss.”
Sam said nothing. The crowd hushed, ready to watch thi...
MICHAEL GRANT First there was Caine’s patently false “confession.” Then there was the fact that the FAYZ Leg...
MICHAEL GRANT A man without pleasure is a man without any idea what life is about
MICHAEL GRANT I’ve helped you when I could, Caine. I’ve done all of it. I kept you alive and changed your filt...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam woke to a feeling of utter, profound, incredible relief.
He closed his eyes as soon as he o...
MICHAEL GRANT We’re not going to give in. We’re going to fight.”
“Got that right,” a voice cried ou...
MICHAEL GRANT Tell me something, Noah. Which is more important: freedom or happiness?'

What was this, a...
MICHAEL GRANT And death is better because death is the end of fear, isnt it? -Dekka
MICHAEL GRANT (...) But Gaia had absorbed the new information. "I won't need to kill billions, Diana. When Nemesis...
MICHAEL GRANT Still Caine hesitated. A big, warm bed. A beautiful girl to share it with. Food. Water. Everything h...
MICHAEL GRANT No, I'm not a jerk, Astrid. You know what I am? I'm the guy getting people killed," Sam said quietly...
MICHAEL GRANT Brittney, it was wrong to murder even before Moses brought down the commandments. Right and wrong do...
MICHAEL GRANT Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of ma...
MICHAEL GRANT It's over, Sam. Finally."
"Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."
"Turn out the light, Sam."
MICHAEL GRANT Hello, Darkness," Caine said.
Gaia's face fell. Her bloody, feral grin faded to be replaced by ...
MICHAEL GRANT It takes me a while to figure things out, doesn't it?" Edilio grinned. "Do me a favor. When you find...
MICHAEL GRANT Caine tried to roll to his feet, but something was jabbing him in the crouch. He shook off the stars...
MICHAEL GRANT Come live with us, Diana. Don't argue. Just say yes."
Diana looked at the ground to hide her em...
MICHAEL GRANT Say it. But..."
"But what?" he asked.
She whispered it, sounding too vulnerable. "But only...
MICHAEL GRANT It took Caine a few beats to get it. “No. Go kill yourself. Eat your own gun. No. No no no.”
MICHAEL GRANT Find Sam Temple. Tell him you escaped.”
Jack gulped and bobbed his head.
“Better yet, ...
MICHAEL GRANT Has Orc shown up here?” But neither Caine nor Diana answered. Both were staring at Drake, who saun...
MICHAEL GRANT My little man,” she said.
“No.”
She stretched out her hand to him. “Come.”
...
MICHAEL GRANT You saw the way everyone looked at him? And when I asked for nominations, his was the first name men...
MICHAEL GRANT Now, who else speaks for Perdido Beach?”
Bouncing Bette said, “Sam Temple here went into a ...
MICHAEL GRANT A white van drove slowly—as slowly as only an inexperienced and frightened driver could go—
MICHAEL GRANT Delay of pain: that was the meaning of life, wasn’t it?
“I’ve made some bad decisions,”...
MICHAEL GRANT But then had come the voice that said, "Come on, you little freak, wherever the hell you are,
w...
MICHAEL GRANT It’s not about the powers, man; it’s that we aren’t kids anymore. Look what we’ve been throu...
MICHAEL GRANT Endgame,” Sam muttered, not really expecting Caine to hear.
“Yep,” Caine said. “That’...
MICHAEL GRANT But hey this was the FAYZ, where all you could really hope was to delay the pain.
MICHAEL GRANT And now, at last, gaiaphage and Nemesis stood facing each other.
“Why didn’t you just . . ....
MICHAEL GRANT I’m sorry for hurting you. I know I did. I’m most likely dead now, and I guess if there’s any ...
MICHAEL GRANT You need to think about all that, Sam,” Dekka said. “You’re the leader, after all.”
“...
MICHAEL GRANT Do you love me?” Diana asked.
Caine’s eyes widened. She could actually see him twitch. Like...
MICHAEL GRANT Hunter woke suddenly. A noise.
It was a noise unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Close! ...
MICHAEL GRANT He reached over and took Taylor’s hand. She did not pull her hand away.
He moved his hand up ...
MICHAEL GRANT Little Pete. He’s not exactly just Astrid’s autistic brother.” He explained briefly while Toto...
MICHAEL GRANT Quinn came forward and Sam pulled him aside. His old friend looked tortured and sad.
“What’...
MICHAEL GRANT Have a seat with me,” Caine said, hopping down from the wall. “How have you been, Taylor?”
MICHAEL GRANT And he thought of the two people who had held his job before him: Sam and Astrid. Both beaten into d...
MICHAEL GRANT Today, each of you will make a decision,” Caine said. “To go with Sam, or to stay here. I won’...
MICHAEL GRANT He’s not the first to say that.
MICHAEL GRANT Like a bullet out of a gun. His big paws had caught the dog before the dog could even flinch.
MICHAEL GRANT Sam was starting to feel anxious. Nutella and noodles were fine. Great in fact. Miraculous. But he'd...
MICHAEL GRANT The gaiaphage. That's the other word they use. 'Gaia,' as in world. 'Phage,' as in a worm or somethi...
MICHAEL GRANT Mother Mary wants to draft two more kids,” Astrid told Sam.
“Okay. Approved.”
“Dah...
MICHAEL GRANT First off,” he said, “I want to say I’m sorry about E.Z. He was a good kid. He didn’t deserv...
MICHAEL GRANT Its the fate of all creators: They fall in love with their creations.
MICHAEL GRANT Have you seen Sam?” Mary asked.
“What do you want with Sam?”
“I can’t take care ...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam Temple kept a lower profile. He stuck to jeans and understated T-shirts, nothing that drew atten...
MICHAEL GRANT Sam walked cautiously around Pack Leader to see the other side. There were the insect jaws protrudin...
MICHAEL GRANT Astrid felt a towering wave of disgust. She was furious with Sam. Furious with Little Pete. Mad at t...
MICHAEL GRANT At night we cry sometimes, and if you think that just applies to the females then you have never bee...
MICHAEL GRANT The Tao of Natural Breathing by Dennis Lewis is filled with drawings, insights and guidance from an ...
MICHAEL GRANT Why are we doing this?" Caine asked him. "You know damned well why we're doing this. Because it's a ...
MICHAEL GRANT I’m getting my stuff,” he said, and bolted for the steps.
“You don’t have to move out,�...
MICHAEL GRANT The warrior who had gone out from the lake to save his people by slaying the evil one was now just a...
MICHAEL GRANT