dystopian · indigenous protagonist · found family · survival · resistance · romance · mentor · post-apocalyptic · cultural preservation · young adult
**The campfire hissed and popped, its amber light pushing back against the deep forest dark as we finally stopped moving. Every muscle ached from the day's relentless travel. Minerva sat hunched in her blanket, RiRi a small, trusting weight against her side. Rose had slipped away into the trees, the sound of her searching for firewood fading into the night. Miig lit another cigarette, the brief flare illuminating the lines of his face and the branded hair loose around his shoulders. Chi-Boy stared into the flames as if reading a message in the embers. And I worked my knife along the length of a stick, the repetitive scrape of blade on wood the only thing holding my frayed nerves together.**