Gone Michael Grant Caine Quotes & Sayings

Sam's probably out there somewhere being his usual heroic self," Caine said. "I can't let that boy save the world all alone. I'd never live it down. — Michael Grant

Let them go, Caine," Diana pleaded.
"Why, Diana? Why do you betray me?"
"Betray you?" Diana laughed. "Betray you? I've been with you every day, every hour, from the start of this nightmare!"
Caine looked at her. "But you hate me, anyway."
"No, you sick, stupid creep, I love you. I shouldn't. I shouldn't. You're sick inside, Caine, sick! But I love you. — Michael Grant

A white van drove slowly - as slowly as only an inexperienced and frightened driver could go
down San Pablo Avenue. It came to a stop at a distance, and Caine found himself hoping it was
trouble. Trouble he could handle. A fight would be a wonderful relief from the tedium. — Michael Grant

Do you love me?" Diana asked.
Caine's eyes widened. She could actually see him twitch. Like a startled animal. Like a rabbit who had just heard a fox.
"It's a yes or no question," Diana said acidly. "But I'll accept a nod or a shake of the head or an incoherent grunt."
"I . . . I don't know what you mean by that," Caine said lamely.
"When I jumped off the cliff, you saved me even though it meant letting Sanjit and the others escape."
"You didn't give me much choice," Caine said peevishly. "You had a choice. You wanted to destroy them."
"Okay."
"Why did you make that choice?"
Caine swallowed and seemed to find his palms sweaty since he rubbed them on his sides.
Diana walked to the door. She unlocked it and held it open. "Go away," she said. "Come back when you figure out your answer. — Michael Grant

Who would you say are the ten most powerful people in the FAYZ, Edilio?"
Edilio raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Number one is Albert," Edilio said. "Then Caine. Sam. Lana." He thought about it for a moment longer and said, "Quinn. Drake, unfortunately. Dekka. You. Me. Diana."
Astrid folded her arms in front of her. "Not Brianna? Or Orc?"
"They're both powerful, sure. But they don't have the kind of power that moves other people, you know? Brianna's cool, but she's not someone who other people follow. Same with Jack. More so with Orc. — Michael Grant

You can't do anything else with people like this. You have to kill them all. Zil. Caine. Drake. You just have to kill them — Michael Grant

Say it. But ... "
"But what?" he asked.
She whispered it, sounding too vulnerable. "But only if its the truth, Caine. Only. If."
"I love you," he said. — Michael Grant

Ah. Yeah, that would be better. Have you ever driven a bus?"
Caine shook his head. "No, I have not."
"Strangely enough," Sam said, remembering the long ago moment of terror and competence that had earned him the nicknames School Bus Sam, "I have. — Michael Grant

Now, who else speaks for Perdido Beach?"
Bouncing Bette said, "Sam Temple here went into a burning building to rescue a little girl. He can speak for me, anyway."
There was a murmur of agreement.
"Yeah, Sam is a hero for real," a voice said.
"He could have died," another voice seconded.
"Yeah, Sam's the guy."
Caine's smile came and disappeared so quickly, Sam wasn't sure it had happened. For that millisecond it was a look of triumph. Caine walked straight up to Sam, open and forthright, hand extended.
"There are probably better people than me," Sam said, backing away. — Michael Grant

The door exploded inward and a tangle of bug legs appeared.
"I can hold them, but I can't kill them all," Caine shouted.
"Yeah. They're hard to kill. You got a plan?"
Caine bit savagely at his thumb, worrying the cuticle. They were surrounded. The very walls were being battered. The windows were all smashed. They couldn't fit through the door but they would soon make it wide enough.
They stood, Caine and Brianna, in the kitchen, the center of the house, as far as possible from the windows, but now the bugs had their mandibles shoved in through the doors and windows, questing, slicing the air, their ropelike tongues lashing madly.
The entire house was like a drum pounded by dozens of drumsticks.
"You know, I'm kind of disappointed," Brianna said. "Situation like this? Sam would come up with a plan. — Michael Grant

He didn't mind if she hated him. They were never going to be a cute romantic couple like Sam and Astrid. Clean-cut, righteous, all that. The perfect couple. He and Diana were the imperfect couple. — 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 kind of fairness in the afterlife I'm probably in hell getting roasted. But if that's where I am, I want you to know, I still love you. Always did. Love, Caine — Michael Grant

Why are we doing this?" Caine asked him. "You know damned well why we're doing this. Because it's a fight. It may be THE fight. I may be the final fight. And what else are we good at, you and me? What are we going to do if we ever get out there anyway? — Michael Grant

But then had come the voice that said, Come on, you little freak, wherever the hell you are,
whatever the hell you are, let's get this done with. — Michael Grant

Caine erupted in disbelieving laughter. Yeah, that'll do it. 'I'm just a kid, Your Honor!' Hah. They'll have to find a few scapegoats, and guess who it will be? You and me, surfer boy. You and me. — Michael Grant

Benno was the kind of bully who did what the bigger bullies told him to do. He didn't make his own judgments. And he wasn't stupid enough to think he could override Caine's orders. Something — Michael Grant

Caine tried to roll to his feet, but something was jabbing him in the crouch. He shook off the stars and saw Edilio standing over him. Edilio had the business end of his automatic rifle in a very sensitive place.
"If you move, Caine, I will shoot your balls off," Edilio said. "Toto?"
"He will," Toto said, "Although he's not sure it will be just your balls. — Michael Grant

Four days," he said, just loudly enough for those in the room to hear. "That's how long it took me to defeat Sam Temple." Caine locked eyes with Drake. "Four days," Caine sneered. "What did you accomplish in the three months I was sick?"
Drake met his gaze, then wavered, and looked down at the floor. There was red in his cheeks, a dangerous glitter in his eyes, but he could not meet Caine's triumphant scowl.
"Remember this when you finally decide it's time to take me on, Drake. — Michael Grant

Female say Pack Leader stop," Pack Leader said angrily.
"What?" Caine could make no sense of it till he saw Diana striding up, dark hair flying, eyes furious.
"I told this filthy beast to stop," Diana said, barely controlled.
"Stop what?" Caine demanded.
"They're still attacking the kids," Diana said. "We've won. Sam is dead. Call them off, Caine."
Caine turned his attention back to the battle between Drake and the monster. "They're coyotes," Caine said coldly.
Diana flew at him. "You've lost your mind, Caine. This has to stop. You've won. This has to stop."
"Or what, Diana? Or what?" Caine demanded. "Go get Lana. I'm hurt. Pack Leader, do what you want."
"Maybe this is why your mother abandoned you," Diana said savagely. "Maybe she could see that you weren't just bad, you were twisted and sick and evil. — Michael Grant

Caine:
Sheep. So long as they had a shepherd to ward off the wolves, they were happy. Spineless, indifferent, weak, stupid: it was hard not to have complete contempt for them. — Michael Grant

Penny said two words, the second of which was "you." Caine laughed. "I think you meant '
you, Your Highness. — Michael Grant

Who is it?" Gaia asked.
Would she know if he lied? He couldnt hesitate. "I think it's Edilio."
"Waht are his powers?"
"None," Caine said. And thought, Unless you count having courage to stand out there facing the gaiaphage.
"Then heep moving,Father," Gaia said.
"He does have a gun."
"Do you think I fear a gun?"
You should, you arrogant ... "No, but I do," Caine said. — Michael Grant

I think you should send Penny away." When Caine started to object, Albert, finally evincing his impatience, raised his hand. "First, because Penny is a sick, unstable person. She was bound to cause problems, and she'll cause more. Second, because what happened to Cigar turns everyone against you. It's not just Quinn: everyone thinks it's wrong. And third, if you don't and if Quinn stands firm, this town will empty out. — Michael Grant

Deep down, she's a good person, Diana is," Caine said, and sighed. "Deep down, I'm not. But she is. — Michael Grant

It took Caine a few beats to get it. "No. Go kill yourself. Eat your own gun. No. No no no."
"You're happy here counting fish and nagging kids to work?" Edilio asked.
"He's not," Virtue said, beating Toto to the punch and earning an annoyed glance from Caine.
"He's only done it for two days since the battle, and he's already bored. — Michael Grant

Still Caine hesitated. A big, warm bed. A beautiful girl to share it with. Food. Water. Everything he needed, just a few miles away on the island. The logical, rational answer was obvious.
"Which is why the world stays messed up," Caine said under his breath. "People aren't rational."
He took a few deep, steadying breaths, and prepared to die for power. — Michael Grant

The point is," Caine continued, "you and I share something in common, Sam. We were born just three minutes apart."
Sam felt a tingle go up his spine.
"Three minutes," Caine said, moving closer. "You go first. And then me."
"No," Sam said. "It can't be."
"It can," Caine said. "It is. And you are ... brother. — Michael Grant

She almost cried out with relief when she saw the eyes of the boy who had never backed down. She saw the eyes of the boy who had first stepped forward to fight Orc and later Caine and Drake and Penny. She saw Sam Temple. Her Sam Temple. — Michael Grant

Delay of pain: that was the meaning of life, wasn't it?
"I've made some bad decisions," Caine said, not really meaning to say it out loud. — Michael Grant

It's not about the powers, man; it's that we aren't kids anymore. Look what we've been
through. Look what we've done. Look at yourself, surfer dude. We've done something none of our
parents have even come close to. We didn't take over their boring world; we took over a world about a
thousand times tougher. If we walk out of this alive, we won't have to bow our heads to anyone. — Michael Grant

Get me out of this," Caine demanded.
Quinn said, "It's not so easy. You should know: you're the scumbag who invented cementing. — Michael Grant

Caine met Diana's disbelieving gaze and laughed aloud.
"Why so gloomy? Doesn't every little girl want to grow up to be a queen?"
"Princess," Diana said.
"So, you got a promotion," Caine said. — Michael Grant

Things will be different this time," Caine said. "There was too much contention, too much violence the last time. I tried to be a peaceful leader. But thing went badly."
"I wonder why," Diana muttered.
"These people," Caine said grandly, sweeping his arm towards the town, "need more than a leader. They need ... a king. — Michael Grant

Sam had a DVD in his hand. He said, "Yesterday I sent Edilio to the power plant to get two things. First, a cache of automatic weapons from the guardhouse.
"Machine guns?"
"Yeah. Not just for us to have, but to make sure the other side doesn't get them."
"Now we have an arms race," Astrid said.
Her tone seemed to irritate Sam. "You want me to leave them for Caine?"
"I wasn't criticizing, just ... you know. Ninth graders with machine guns; it's hard to make that a happy story."
Sam relented. He even grinned. "Yeah. The phrase 'ninth graders with machine guns' isn't exactly followed by 'have a nice day'. — Michael Grant

About time," Brianna said.
"Hey, sorry, we were kind of busy," Quinn snapped. "And I didn't exactly realize I was on a schedule."
"I don't like what I have to do here," Brianna said. She handed Quinn the note.
He read it. Read it again.
"Is this some kind of joke?" he demanded.
"Albert's dead," Brianna said. "Murdered."
"What?"
"He's dead. Sam and Dekka are off in the wilderness somewhere. Edilio's got the flu, he might die, a lot of kids have. A lot. And there are these, these monsters, these kind of bugs . . . no one knows what to call them . . . heading toward town." Her face contorted in a mix of rage and sorrow and fear. She blurted, "And I can't stop them!"
Quinn stared at her. Then back at the note.
He felt his contented little universe tilt and go sliding away.
There were just two words on the paper: "Get Caine. — Michael Grant

And now, at last, gaiaphage and Nemesis stood facing each other.
"Why didn't you just ... fade?" Gaia demanded plaintively.
"You hit me," Nemesis said. It was a little boy's voice coming from Caine's mouth. "And that's not okay. — Michael Grant

First there was Caine's patently false "confession." Then there was the fact that the FAYZ Legal Defense Fund racked up three million dollars in its first two weeks. Then there was a judicial panel that took statements from eminent scientists and concluded that the FAYZ was in fact a separate universe and thus not covered under California law.
Finally, there was a shift in public opinion following the involvement of the two popular movie stars, the McDonald's documentary starring Albert Hillsborough, the likelihood of a major Hollywood feature film, and the kiss seen round the world. Polls now showed 68 percent of Californians wanted no criminal charges brought against the FAYZ survivors.
The kiss alone would have wrecked the career of any prosecutor or politician who had anything bad to say about Astrid Ellison or Sam Temple. — Michael Grant

Dont hurt me,'Caine whispered. He didnt have the will to look up at her.
Gaia laughed. Have you seen Mother? I seem to have lost her. — Michael Grant

Gaia wasn't ruthless and self-serving like Caine; she was evil, like Drake. A psychopath. A mad and terrible beast. — Michael Grant

There'll be guys who were in wars hearing what we did and thinking, 'Whoa.' You and me, we can say, 'You got yourself some medals solider? Yeah, well, I lived through the FAYZ. — Michael Grant

Caine raised the debris off himself.
The bugs were all gone. He saw the tail of one as it raced away.
If he went after them, he'd probably get killed.
But stay here and do what? Be safe? He'd have been safe on the island. He hadn't come back to be safe.
Two possible outcomes: the bugs killed everyone and then who would Caine rule over? Or the bugs were defeated by someone else. And then how would he ever get control? Power would go to whoever won this fight.
Still Caine hesitated. A big, warm bed. A beautiful girl to share it with. Food. Water. Everything he needed, just a few miles away on the island. The logical, rational answer was obvious.
"Which is why the world stays messed up," Caine said under his breath. "People aren't rational."
He took a few deep, steadying breaths, and prepared to die for power. (p435) — Michael Grant

Hello, Darkness," Caine said.
Gaia's face fell. Her bloody, feral grin faded to be replaced by lips drawn right with fear. Her killer blue eyes widened as she looked at Caine who was no longer Caine.
"Nemesis," Gaia said. — Michael Grant

Stop, or I'll shoot," the voice cried, scared, almost begging.

Caine stopped. Drake stood beside him.

"Shoot?" Caine demanded, sounding puzzled. "Why on earth would you shoot me?"

"That's we're opposed to do."

Caine laughed. "You can't even say it right. Who are you, anyway? If you're going to shoot me, I should know your name."

"Josh," the answer came. "It's me, Josh."

"It's me Josh," Caine mimicked.

Drake snarled, "You better step off, me Josh, or me Whip Hand is going to hurt you. — Michael Grant

Sam and Caine were left standing side by side, bruised and battered, to stare over Penny's sickening corpse, at the face of their mother. — Michael Grant

He never should have left the island. He'd been there with Diana and Penny. He could have tossed Penny off a cliff and been fine on the island. Decent food, a beautiful mansion, electricity, and a soft bed with Diana in it.
What had he been thinking, leaving the island?
He missed Diana busting him. He missed her snarky voice. He missed her eye rolls and that skeptical look she had where she'd half close her eyes and look at him like he was too dumb to merit her full attention. He'd have killed, or at least injured, anyone else who treated him like that. But she wasn't anyone else.
He missed her hair. Her neck. Her breasts.
She understood him. She loved him, in her own way. And if he had listened to her, he'd still be on the island. Somehow he would have found some fuel to keep the lights on there. Probably. And the food would have run out and then they'd have starved, but hey, this was the FAYZ, where all you could really hope to do was delay the pain. — Michael Grant

Sam had kissed Astrid beside a freshly dug grave. Caine — Michael Grant

She's stronger than you are, Sam. It's like fighting yourself and Caine and Jack and Dekka, all at once."
"Yeah."
"Talk to Astrid about it."
"I already talked to Astrid."
"And she's okay with a suicide mission? Because I'm not. You go out there, go to win, huh? Don't go out there thinking you're doing us a favor by getting killed."
Sam sighed. "It's the endgame, my friend."
"Sam . . .," Edilio began, but that was all he had, that one word, that one-word plea for a different solution.
"Take care of Astrid for me. Try to keep her safe and don't let her follow me. — Michael Grant

Shutup,Caine," Edilio said in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
Anger, a dangerous anger, flared in Caine. "Who are you to talk to me that way?"
"You've been the problem, Caine. From the start. You're the one who kept us from ever really being able to unite, to fight this thing, You and your stupid need to control everyone. Don't you come here now all sheepish, all head hanging down and tell me you're scared." Edilio stabbed a finger in Caine's chest. It was such a un-Edilio moment it surprised them both. — Michael Grant

Have a seat with me," Caine said, hopping down from the wall. "How have you been, Taylor?"
"Life's one big party," she said.
He laughed appreciatively at her joke. "Things must be pretty bad for Edilio to send for me, huh?"
"Things are always pretty bad," she said. "We're at a new level of bad. I saw those bugs."
Caine mustered all his sincerity. "I have to go and fight these creatures. But I don't know much about them."
Taylor told him what she knew. Caine felt some of his confidence drain away as she laid out the facts in gruesome detail and with complete conviction.
"Well, this should be fun," Diana said dryly. "I'm so glad we came back. — Michael Grant

No you sick, stupid creep, I love you. I shouldn't. I shouldn't. You're sick inside, Caine, sick! But I love you.
- Diana — Michael Grant

You saw the way everyone looked at him? And when I asked for nominations, his was the first name mentioned. I don't like it, his being Nurse Temple's son. That's a bad coincidence. Get a read on him. If he has the power, we may not be able to wait to deal with him. — Michael Grant