Chapter 23: Infiltration
Instinctively, Alexandre stepped to the side and shoved the speaker violently away. A moment later, he saw his assailant's identity.
She was a young woman of about the same age as him, probably of Indian or Iranian origin, with fair skin but lightly tinted. She wore a uniform similar to his own, though it was integrated with what looked like riot gear-style armor.
The young woman snapped, "What the hell are you doing? Maybe you need to spend a few days in the stockade to calm down..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the badge on Alexandre's chest. "Oh," she said in a much friendlier tone, "You'll be taking part in tomorrow's test! My apologies. Still, you're not supposed to be out here alone. Please come back to the fire. There'll be an announcement shortly."
"No problem," Alexandre said in a flat tone. "I was just on my way back anyway." He followed the young woman to the bonfire, where everyone else was wearing school uniforms and drinking alcohol. 'This must have been the group the idiot on the road was part of,' Alexandre thought to himself.
The young woman gave Alexandre a nod. "Alright, enjoy your evening. I need to return to my patrol."
Alexandre had a sudden impulse. "Wait, I've never seen you around before. You're very pretty. What's your name?"
The woman gave him a surprised look which turned, after a moment, to a slight smile. "Latika," she said. "And you?"
"Alexandre," he replied. "Can we meet again?"
Latika said, "Sure. I'll be done with patrol duty tomorrow at dawn. If you want, we can grab a bite to eat tomorrow evening at eight. Does the Iwo Chinese restaurant sound good?"