ALPHA ATTRACTION

Standing in the middle of the area that she had come to inspect with her friends, Nina felt a gaze on them, on her. They had never ventured this far before. Suspicious, focused, and calm, she turned to scan the landscape around her. Everything was flat and dry there: no houses, no trees, no ruins to hide in. Yet, The young woman knew that someone somewhere was watching them. Her gaze fell on the single small hill in the distance. She stared at it intently as if questioning it.

A young Asian man in his twenties squinted as he adjusted the lens of his spyglass towards the five young people standing on the horizon. The smallest of them seemed to lead the group. They had probably ventured this far in search of food, but there was none here either. The more the days, the months, and the years passed, the less food there was anywhere.

Soon, the small group of young people heard the sound of a motor vehicle behind them. They spun around intrigued, but fearless. They were together in a territory as vast as the sky above their head. The motorcycle stopped short in front of them, the young Asian man switched off the engine before dismounting his vehicle with a serious face:

"If it's food you're looking for, sorry, there's none here," he said, staring at Nina.

"If there's none, what are you doing here? What do you live on?" Nina retorted dryly, her face stern and closed.

"It's simple, I don't live here. We're on the other side, further away," he replied calmly. "I'm here to guard."

"Is there food on the other side then?" Nina asked.

The young man smiled weakly before answering calmly:

"Few, but yes, there is. However, like everyone else, we don't share."

A heavy silence crept in between them. Nina resumed in a threatening voice:

"We no longer ask, we just take."

The young man let out a small burst of laughter before retorting:

"You're five, there are fifty of us."

Hearing these words, Nina's gaze clouded over while her face remained impassive; she continued to stare at the young man in front of her, his figure blurred by her tears. The young man looked down for a split second, confused by the breeze of doubt that blew inside his calm mind.

Nina turned back without a word, followed by her friends.