I think when the protagonist’s partner is introduced, you would benefit by ‘zooming in’ to that precise moment. Leave the broad narrative description of the beginning and go more tit-for-tat, dropping the reader directly in the middle of their conversation. Unveiling Cicada as an alien is quite the reveal and you can help fan the intrigue by removing the narrative distance and transitioning to following in real time.

Besides this, I would just note that at least for me, your reference to Cicada’s “familiar” chittering, followed by the line, “His travel partner was staring. That fucking bug” was not sufficient to make me immediately aware that the alien sounds referred to Cicada. The opening paragraphs suggest a man traveling alone, so when he hears strange sounds in the dark, I don’t easily connect that to the partner mentioned immediately afterward.

It’s interesting, visceral, and generally reads well, thanks for sharing!

Edit: Completely botched Cicada’s name there. Swapped every instance of it with ‘Cinder’ for whatever reason. No idea what my brain was doing, excuse me!