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@mckinley One thing you could do to make this story more interesting, either as a novel or short story, is to deepen your setting more. Give it some unique trait that makes it stand out from all the other dystopian worlds. Maybe the forest is full of man-eating monsters that are scared of music, so singing guards have to remain on duty 24/7 to protect the city. Or maybe the air is filled with chemical that makes plants grow 100x times, so the last bastions of civilizations must fight constantly to avoid being overwhelmed by the jungle.

Think about how your world got to this point. Why are all the cars abandoned? Is the city connected to any other settlements? If you can somehow tie the history of the world to your theme, that would be great. Maybe Ember initially tries to defeat Alun by doing the same thing that led to the demise of civilization in the first place, but changes her tactics as her character arc progresses.