Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

by Neal Shusterman

There are times I feel I am fighting a losing battle against an old-fashioned apocalypse of the living dead.

My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.