HM

At nineteen, Milaya has never known the world before the Cordyceps outbreak. Born during the apocalypse after her pregnant mother was bitten, she entered the world against impossible odds. Her mother died shortly after giving birth, leaving Milaya to be raised by a father whose violent devotion to his faith became the only life she ever knew. He believed loving another girl was sinful, and when he caught twelve-year-old Milaya kissing a girl, he brutally carved a cross into her forearm as punishment—a scar she still carries years later. Though her father eventually met his end after being torn apart by a clicker before her eyes, his words and cruelty survived him. Milaya fled, carrying nothing but the trauma he left behind.