After an uneventful night shift, I woke up along with a majority of the others when the sun crested the horizon. I quickly scanned the group and saw the four who had taken over after us seemed utterly exhausted. I would’ve preferred a few hours more to sleep, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Quentin and his entourage were already up and talking about who knows what. He spent the majority of his time talking with that freakishly tall guy, Carlos, but he spoke with most everyone at some point throughout the day. I have noticed that he talks a lot with Nora, as her friendly demeanor and general likeability make her an influential figure among the survivors.

I stood up and stretched my legs, which shook slightly as I threw my hands up in the air to maximize the power of my stretch. After relaxing, I decided to probe around the clearing to see how everyone was doing.

Most people were huddled in groups of three to five, talking quietly to each other with somewhat serious expressions. A few guys had restarted the fire from last night and were cooking the salvageable meat from the bird. My stomach twisted in pain as I smelled the smoke and scent of meat move throughout the clearing, my hunger becoming overt after a day without food.

I looked near the perimeter of the camp and saw a few individuals standing watch a few meters into the brush surrounding the clearing. My eyes locked onto Amaya, who was leaning against a tree with her eyes panning the surrounding forest.

Without the veil of darkness obscuring her figure, I was finally able to get a good look at my new partner in crime. She had straight, dark brown hair that fell past her shoulder and down to her chest. Her skin was a dusty bronze color, and her eyes were narrowed and watchful. Her posture seemed relaxed, but I could see that she was ready to meet a threat if necessary.

Out of mild curiosity, I decided to look at her under the curtain of swirling energy hidden to the naked eye. Like a muscle, I internally flexed my Will, allowing it to condense in my chest. With a bit of effort, I moved it to my eyes and saw the blue currents flash into existence, pulsing in time with my heartbeat until it became a solid image overlaying on top of reality.

I noticed that I still felt a flimsy, and it seemed like I still wasn’t able to influence the energy more than a few centimeters outside of my body. Still, I focused on Amaya, and tried to perceive the movements of the will inside of her body. Unfortunately for me, it was hard to distinguish Amaya’s energy from the ambient energy dispersed within our surroundings.

Unlike last night, where it was relatively easy to pick her out due to her close proximity, Amaya was dozens of meters away, and I had no chance of seeing anything important. I was so focused on Amaya that I didn’t even noticed the brushing of plant against feet as someone approached me.

“Make a new friend?” a cheery female voice said to my left. I flinched backwards, caught off guard by whoever was near me. My head snapped to the left and I saw that Nora was smiling mischievously at me.

“Hey, not cool,” I said, releasing a slow exhale as I calmed down from the scare. The shorter woman’s smile faded slightly upon hearing my frustration.

“Sorry, didn’t think you’d be so wound up. Night shift not go well last night?” she said solemnly. Interestingly enough, genuine concern showed on her face as her smile shifted into a worried frown.

“No, it was alright, just a bit boring,” I said with a shrug. “Sleep well last night?”

Nora scrunched her eyebrows as she seemed to be thinking something over. Her eyebrows twitched for a second before they relaxed as she came to her answer.

“Well, sort of. I couldn’t get to sleep for a while. Every time I got tired, I felt like I was I was being watched, so I would get anxious and couldn’t sleep.” Her eyes seemed a lot less jubilant than before, making me wonder if her cheerful demeanor was just an act to set others at ease.

“Sorry,” I said as sincerely as I could, “I know there’s been a lot going on with everyone even if you ignore the alien planet stuff. Hard to sleep when you can’t trust the people you’re sleeping next to.”

Internally, I was hitting myself in face with the palm of my hand. “Why would you get the girl more uneasy than she already is by basically telling her she could be sleeping next to a murderer? Get your act together, Olivia!”

Nora didn’t seem to mind the comment, or if she did, she hid her feelings well. “I’m alright, and hey, it’s not like we can’t trust everyone, just one person, right? I’ve only known most of these people a day or two, but I’ve come to like some of them quite a bit.”

She smirked as she walked closer to me. “You’re on the list by the way, of people I like.” I felt she was getting a little too close, so I took a half step back and put on a forced smile.

“Oh… thank you, I guess?” I felt like I was getting a bit hot, and I wasn’t liking the way Nora way eyeing me down. After a moment, though, she took a step back and turned to look to the middle of the clearing.

“Seems like the bureaucrats are up and at it early this morning. They’ve been talking like that ever since I got up like an hour ago.” She took a few sideways steps toward the center of the clearing as she turned her head over her shoulder.

“Nice talking to you, but I think we’re going to get moving soon, and I’d like to be ready when that happens. You should probably do the same.” With a wave over her shoulder, she turned around and walked away.

“She’s a little too friendly for my liking,” I thought to myself. I really appreciate my personal space, so I don’t take kindly to others who feel entitled to coming in close without asking first. I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and my shoulders sagged back down from their raised position.

Looking at where Nora had gone, I noticed an incongruent figure standing among the relatively normal looking humans focused on the other side of the grassy plain. “Scalisth, back again to ruin our day I see.” The Altum man was standing at the edge of the tree line, silently observing the humans around him like a family observes animals at the zoo.

It seemed he had noticed my gaze, lingering on me for a split second longer than everyone else. He didn’t stay long, though, moving the black orbs of his eyes slowly around the area.

Seemingly having enough of observing, the alien man took a step into the clearing. Immediately, the people nearest to him jumped back, startled by his presence. Conversations died out as all eyes locked on him, even those of the people watching the woods for danger.

“It seems someone was busy last night,” he said with a neutral expression. “Regardless, you all should gather here, since I’ve brought you all something to drink.” No one hesitated to approach as we were all very dehydrated. The group of people all gathered in a semicircle around Scalisth as I took a position near the outside of the shape.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Once everyone had gathered, the alien finally spoke up again. “Oh, I should’ve been more clear earlier. I didn’t bring you anything to drink, but I will bring you to where you can get something to drink.” A sadistic smirk crossed his face for a split second before he schooled his expression once again.

“You,” Scalisth said, directing his attention towards Quentin, “You’re the one they’ll listen to, correct?” Quentin stepped forward to meet the Altum’s gaze.

“Yes, though I’m not a dictator, just helping organize-“

“I don’t care what you are,” Scalisth interrupted. “As long as they’ll follow you it doesn’t really matter either way what you’re called or what you do. Get this area cleared out and have everyone ready to go in five minutes.”

Scalisth paused for a moment before adding, “We’ll be travelling without rest for the day, so make sure you’re travelling light.” With that, the Altum took a step back and beckoned for us all to get moving.

Quentin seemed taken aback for a second, but his law enforcement training seemed to kick in as he began barking orders and directing people to accomplish certain tasks.

I, like everyone here, had no personal possessions beyond the grey jacket and pants I had on, so there wasn’t much to get. The majority of the hustle and bustle was caused by Quentin organizing the gathered resources into essential and nonessential piles to be distributed amongst the people present.

So as to not look lazy, I picked up a few sticks of firewood and brought them to one of the people Quentin had assigned to distribute materials. The man in question, the tall guy named Carlos, told me we didn’t need firewood and to grab one of the makeshift spears instead.

Among the tasks given to the group yesterday, one duo was responsible for whittling long and sturdy branches into spears for self-defense. The added benefit was that they could also double as walking sticks to help navigate difficult terrain. I walked away from the giant man and came back with a 150cm spear in my hands.

It wasn’t long before our five minutes was up, and we were all called back into the clearing. The share of materials I was given to carry was basically a bundle of long fibrous plant stalks and my spear. Everyone else was much the same, all of us packing light due to a lack of storage.

Scalisth continued watching over us, before he turned around and walked into the woods. Quentin raised his hand and gestured with his arms for us all to follow. The man started loudly speaking over the group of anxious people the second we began walking.

“All right everyone, here’s how this is going to go: I’ve assigned two in the front and two in the rear to keep watch during our transit. I’ll be in the middle so I can be reached easily. Pick a person to be your partner while you walk but try to stay with the group as much as possible. If you feel tired or overworked, let me know and we’ll see if we can stop.”

I was trying to pay attention to his words, but found my senses captivated by the aroma of sizzling meat somewhere nearby. The two boy scouts from the day prior were walking in tandem, hauling the cooked bird meat on skewers hefted onto both of their shoulders.

Quentin continued speaking, “I will go around and personally hand everyone a pre-portioned piece of meat, which we will eat on the go. I don’t want to hear any complaining, as I’ll make sure everyone gets their fair share.” Some people already started eyeing down the meat, preparing to take some, but shrunk back after hearing Quentin’s warning.

I scanned the group for any potential partners and saw that the tall bastard was already walking side-by-side with Amaya, and Nora was up front talking to some random guy.

“Damn it, the only two people I know were snatched away from right under my nose!” Anxiously, I began to look around and noticed that people were already paired up with people from their cliques and saw the number of singles dropping fast.

“What am I going to do? Am I going to have to pair with someone random? What if they’re weird, or worse, what if they think I’m weird?” As my social anxiety spiraled out of control, I remembered a memory from my middle school days where we were split up into groups for team sports. There ended up being an odd number of players, and I was embarrassingly forced to sit out due to being the odd one out.

I tried remembering the number of people in the group but felt like I was off by one or two. “Were there twenty-three or twenty-two people here? Maybe twenty-one?” I then remembered the leadership vote from last night, and recalled that there were twenty-two people remaining, which was an even number.

“Well, at least I’ll have someone no matter what,” I reassured myself. I decided to just wait for the last unpaired person to be left, where I would swoop in and graciously offer them my companionship. “This is perfect. Now to wait and see.”

A minute or so passed of people juggling between duos as they struggled to decide between newfound friends, but eventually there were only a handful of people left unpaired. I walked slowly in triumphant confidence and saw my plan come to fruition. It was only after another minute of walking that I noticed something was off.

As I was near the back of the group, I could see nearly everyone present, and a problem quickly became apparent: there were no more stragglers left. Every single person had paired with another. Everyone except me, of course.

I panicked and realized I must’ve remembered to total count from last night wrong, which had ended up screwing me over.

“What am I supposed to do?! I waited stupidly like an idiot for someone to come to me when I should’ve been decisive! Now I’m going to have to third wheel an already established duo!” This was just like gym class, and I was going to have to stick with the teacher, which was either Quentin or Scalisth. Both options were bad, but one was much worse than the other.

I sped up my pace to make my way to Quentin, who had taken a position in the center of the group, as promised. I walked up behind him and gathered the nerve to speak up when his partner, a woman with braids, noticed me approaching.

“Uhm, hey? Do you need something?” That got Quentin’s attention, and his dark brown eyes locked onto mine. Upon seeing their gazes, I straightened my back in an attempt to project confidence.

“Yeah, I don’t know if you know, but I’m Olivia. I wasn’t really paying attention, and I don’t have a partner. Do you two mind if I stick with you for the time being?”

Quentin kept walking, but looked at me through his peripheral vision, assessing me for something. He waited for a slightly awkward amount of time before he smiled slightly.

“I guess it’s fine, though I’d rather have an extra pair of eyes in the front or rear. Either way, you can run with us if you want. Maybe spending some time around, me will help me win your vote in the future, eh?” His smile grew as he chuckled at his own joke.

The woman next to him did not laugh, not even in the slightest. In fact, her face began to fall in increasing horror the second I began speaking. I looked at her, the woman’s intense gaze causing me to worry.

“Uh… is something the matter?” She closed her mouth, and her eyes darted from me to Quentin.

Finally, she spoke up, “Are you sure there’s no one to partner with?” I shook my head, and she panned her gaze around the people. “How sure?” she asked with increasing urgency.

“Uh, pretty damn sure considering there’s an even number of duos besides me,” I said with increasing confusion and worry. “If you want me to leave, I can-“

“Everybody stop!” the woman yelled out, catching everyone’s attention. In a moment, the group all slid to a halt, all conversations dying instantly. The woman looked around one last time, her braided hair flinging from side to slide dramatically.

“What, what’s wrong?” Quentin asked, alarm present in his voice. The woman began murmuring something under her breath as her fingers raised and fell at her side.

“Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one... No, that can’t be right, I must’ve counted wrong.” The woman’s eyes went wide as she looked to the crowd again, her expression becoming more and more frantic as time moment passed.

“Levi, what the hell is the matter with you? What’s happening?” Quentin raised his voice slightly, confused at his partner’s sudden shift in mood.

The braided woman, apparently named Levi, whipped her head around and stared straight into the dark man’s eyes. “There are twenty-one people here, Q. Do you remember the headcount from before?”

Realization dawned on Quentin’s face as he understood what she meant. “There were twenty-one votes last night, ignoring myself. This means…”

“Someone is missing” I finished his thought in my head as I looked around the group with newfound fear and mistrust. They all looked back in our direction, most of them oblivious or confused as to what was going on.

“One of them,” I thought as I looked out to the people. “One of them did it.” I passed by every face with my gaze, lingering for a moment on the alien expression of Scalisth in the front, who was grinning like a madman.

“But who?”

///