The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (The Road to Nowhere, #1)

by Meg Elison

Mission, mission, mission impossible, so stupid, FOR WHAT? Have a purpose. Guess that is the reason to go on. Pathetic. Define me. Always did always will. I AM, I AM, I AM MY JOB. Punch in, punch out, sign your name. THUMBPRINT here. Your name, your name, your name.

She gave herself the luxury of a few days of madness. They were dark and deep and held in them the wreck of the entirety of civilization. It crumbles in the individual as it does in the world. There are battles and accidents; there are collapses and plagues. There is silence only when one side wins or everyone has died.