As they passed through the checkpoint, Yara leaned closer to Selene and whispered, "Is it always like this? The threatening and the backing down?"
Selene's lips curved into a slight smile, "Welcome to human society after the collapse. Power determines how rules are applied, mostly. You will need to get used to it."
In the world that had emerged from the apocalypse's arrival, official authority meant less and less the higher you climbed in strength. Laws still existed, bureaucracy still functioned, but when someone reached a certain rank of power, those structures became... negotiable.
Yara stored that lesson deep in her mind, adding it to her growing understanding of how this new world operated. Strength wasn't just about survival here, it was about freedom. The freedom to move without restriction, to ignore petty officials, to exist on your own terms.
It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
