No Man's Land

10- Take a Hike, Parker

Maxine Clarke

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I watched as Parker retreated to a nearby tree, his mouth pressed into a fine line. I'd seen him have some kind of heated exchange with Jana earlier, and ever since, he had been pacing, scribbling notes in a pocket journal. It seemed he had finally given himself a break from whatever he was working at. 

It had earlier dawned on me that I needed a better relationship with the other group leaders. At the moment our communication was minimal at best and neither Parker nor I trusted Jana. That would have to change. I took a breath and started towards Parker.

"Hey, why don't we take a walk." Both of us knew what I was implying. It wasn't just some show of comradery. Obviously he couldn't say no.

"Sure. Where to?" He asked, interested.

"Oh, you know. Let's just kind of get the lay of the land. But first, let me go get Jana." Parker raised his eyebrows, and I shrugged. He nodded, wordlessly, and leaned back against the tree. I found Jana under the makeshift shelter, her forearm shielding her eyes. She didn't even open them as she let out a groan.

"What?"

"Parker and I are going on a walk. Care to join?"

"Sorry, can't right now."

"Pardon?"

"I have a migraine right now, Maxine. Sorry, but I literally can't focus on anything right now. No can do." Her voice came out harsh, but quickly dulled into something near polite. Or, more tired.

Though  I had only known her a few days, this was probably the first time I had seen her actually tired. Actually turn down a challenge. Something was off.

"Jana, I know you know what I mean. Come on." I urged, crossing my arms over my chest. She muttered something incoherently, and pushed herself up, rubbing at her eyes.

"No more than thirty minutes." Jana warned, tapping her watch. She swiftly got onto her feet, tugging her jacket tighter around her. "You're thinking about something." I spared her a glance as we made our way back to Parker. She was looking to me, expectantly.

"What were you and Parker talking about?" Jana shrugged.

"He doesn't trust me- likely assumes I killed the pilot." I raised my eyebrows. She slowed her pace just a little so that we would have more time to talk. "What, you didn't expect me to say it so willingly?"

"If I were you, yeah. It would make me a lot more suspicious."

"So you believe him as well?" She stopped, and I jerked my head in her direction a bit too quickly. She rubbed her temples. "You phrase it as if I'm afraid of being suspicious, like I'm afraid of being caught. That would imply that you believe I have something to hide."

"I've met professional interrogators who don't even have half your capacity for mind games, Jana."

"Must have been some crap interrogators then."

"Touche." Around that time, Parker seemed to have decided to come to us.

"Packing a lot of heat for a hike." Parker commented. Out of the corner of my eye I noted the bulge of a gun tucked into her waistband, hidden by her shirt, probably accompanied by that knife I had seen holstered to her thigh.

"Could run into a bear," she shrugged. 

"The bears are terrified, I'm sure." Parker joked in a fruitless attempt at easing the tense situation.

"Which way?" I asked, gesturing to the undisturbed foliage.

"There was a lot of game about a kilometer north-east of here. Why not bulk up our food supply while we hike?" Parker suggested. So he's packing too. That makes three of us.