The Unworthy

In a dystopian world ravaged by a virus, money is worthless and survival depends on trading food, weapons, steel, shelter, and information. Half the population died, while survivors with extraordinary powers were sorted into factions. The Khali, an aristocratic ruling faction, released the disease for their own gain and now controls anyone whose powers are useful, forcing them to hunt and kill other powered survivors. Those with powers deemed weak are abandoned or killed in the wastelands. People whose powers escaped the Khali's notice may be passed over or sent to Xraxes, where powerless survivors trade and struggle to stay alive. The disease also mutated animals into monsters that prey on Xraxes, while the Khali remain sheltered from the chaos. Hidden by her parents after the outbreak, Viola Blackwell knows she has a special power that the authorities have missed. They think she is ordinary, but Viola is going to give them hell before they realize what she can do.