Hunter at the End

After the cities fail, a hunter tracks people through what is left. Her trial tests nerve, loyalty, and how much of herself she will spend to keep moving. Water is scarce, neighbors are worse, and no institution remains to hear an appeal. She is given a route and a quarry, not a noble reason. / The trial can crown her or use her. People on the road want a leader, a shield, or a story they can survive by repeating. She has not said which she is willing to be. Night keeps closing the distance to the thing she follows.