War makes monsters of men, you once said to me Todd. Well, so does too much knowledge. Too much knowledge of your fellow man, too much knowledge of his weakness, his pathetic greed and vanity, and how laughably easy it is to control him.

It is a true story, the monster said. Many things that are true feel like a cheat.

...That it's making a dare to the world and when has the world ever let us win a dare?" ~pg 423

Superior numbers versus superior firepower. A recipe for unending slaughter.

Never trust a politician, Todd. They have no fixed center, so you can never believe them.

I was just trying to stay alive, looking for ways to find you, hoping you hadn't left me behind." "Never," I say. "Not never." He looks back up at me. "I'd never leave you neither." "You promise?" "Cross my heart, hope to die," he says, grinning shyly. "I promise, too," I say and I smile at him. "I ain't never leaving you, Todd Hewitt, not never again.

Everything that's happened has brought me here, to this place, with this knife in my hand, and something worth saving.