"Grubs and worms, awakened by the tremors, begin to settle again within the tunnels they have mined. They have followed the quaking rocks and dug deeper than ever before. Now the clamour from below has quietened, they are left with the familiar shuffle of the city above: the pulsing of human footsteps, rubber wheels scuffing tarmac, pencils being dropped, hammers striking nails, knives and cleavers landing on chopping boards, mugs of hot coffee clunking on tables, bums on seats, bodies on beds."
(I love that way of recording the life of a city: the things that worms sense)
"Precious is called in to see the nurse. Her name sounds rusty through the tannoy. The P pops and the ‘shus’ rustles. Her surname is swallowed."
"Roster changes the subject, though only in the way a hawk shifts direction after a missed catch to loop back and try again."
"Robert is afraid of silence like other people are afraid of the dark, and has spent his life avoiding it, moving in large crowds, living in the busiest parts of busy cities."