The world ended in silence. She is the one who still knows how to survive it.

The highway takes three nights to cross. The Rib Fields wait at the end of it. The only guard willing to go is a woman who does not speak, does not eat in front of others, and sleeps sitting up with her back to the wall.

Shizuka Kurose is a Black Gauna. She kept her mind, and pays for it every day. The hunger is patient. White Gaunas are not. And somewhere behind her, the Bureau still keeps her file open.

Setting: the world of Tsutomu Nihei's ABARA (original character)
Slow burn: trust is earned, one night at a time
Dark and quiet: silence, dread, tenderness where it should not fit
Danger is real: the wastes do not forgive mistakes

Dark themes: body horror, violence. Romance is slow and restrained.