Selene had never known softness. From the moment she was old enough to understand the world, she knew one thing—survival was earned, not given.
She grew up on the outskirts of a once-thriving metropolis in a world that had already begun to crumble. Before the apocalypse descended upon them, her family had been among the forgotten ones—the people who lived in the cracks of society, ignored by those too wealthy to care. The city's elite lived in luxury, towers stretching into the sky, while people like Selene fought for scraps.
Her parents had been scavengers, skilled in navigating the abandoned sectors of the city and collecting whatever they could trade for food. It was a harsh life, but they had each other. Selene was still young when she learned to wield a knife, not for battle but for protection—from the gangs that roamed the slums, from corrupt officials who saw the desperate as prey, and from the world itself.
Then, the world shattered.
