Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

Chapter Thirteen

The hike took little time, only about half an hour. But the quiet filled Alice with a very deep sense of peace that she had been sorely lacking in the whirlwind since New Jersey. Pine needles scattered the forest floor, some obscuring a few slanted rocks in the ground that made her thankful for Santi's boots. Even with the easy elevation, mary janes would've been tough. 

They saw no one else. Alice did catch sight of one deer, and George teased her endlessly for talking to it. But she just ignored him. If she wanted to talk to the deer, she was going to talk to the deer. At one point, they passed a boulder in the ground where someone had stopped to pile rocks up into a statue looking thing. George wanted to push it over.

"Don't be rude," Alice scolded him. "Come on. Hi-yo Silver, yeah?"

"Oh god," George moaned. "Don't."

"You're the one who's good at impressions. I won't even try Sobel," she assured him. With a chuckle, she kept pushing on the surprisingly well-marked trail. It was a walk in the park. Or, forest.

They broke out of the treeline. About fifty meters ahead, near a set of other trees, a boulder with more piled rocks lay next to the trail. George grinned and jogged up to it. "See. A really great boulder."

"It's fantastic, George. A great boulder," Alice teased. "Don't forget though, we still have to slog point three miles down."

"Yeah. Better take a rest."

She plopped down onto the boulder. Her beret tipped a bit off as she lay back, and she used it to keep stray pine needles from her hair. George had disappeared somewhere further down the trail. With a deep breath through her nose, Alice took in the fresh scent of pine, ferns, and chill air. 

It was nice. Not freezing, but chilly. Not loud, just peaceful. As much as Alice had enjoyed spending a couple days with the Luz family, they really were quite a rambunctious crowd, and she'd started to get a bit claustrophobic. Victoria had been a hoot, clearly not quite impressed with Alice at all. That had been the highlight, listening to her interrogate her like a prisoner.

But out here, it was more simple. No questions. Just quiet. And quiet meant she could think. She'd done quite a bit of thinking while with Bill and Babe and Spina. Something Harry had said in their last few days in Mourmelon-le-Grand kept coming back to her. 

"Why are you still hiding?"

Harry had been right, of course. Ever the expert at answering with nonanswers. A gift, really. At least the officers had gotten a bit more information after Germany. Gene and Malark knew the full story behind her joining the Maquis. But somehow George just... hadn't been there for it. And as Alice lay there staring up between shivering pine trees at the blue sky, she kicked herself for it. The one guy in all of Easy who she trusted more than anyone except Nixon was still in the dark about her life before Easy.

Laughter pulled her from her thoughts. George stood over her, shaking his head. He took a drink from his canteen.

"What?" Alice asked. She sat up as he took a spot on the boulder too. 

"You do the arm thing even when you're laying down," he told her. "When you're thinking."

With a groan, she shook her head. But then she paused. "I guess... It's like a way to protect myself."

George stopped laughing. "From what?" He looked genuinely confused.

She felt herself clamming up. Scheisse. She just had to talk! Why was it so hard? Alice felt her arms creeping back to her midsection. "I- I don't know. I guess just. People. Talking... Thinking." When he didn't respond, she just shrugged again. Alice just wanted to disappear. "Fuck it. You didn't happen to be around in Germany when the officers held a fucking intervention against me, so you never really got the whole... story."