It felt like forever before Jake finally returned, waiting until he was next to Peyton to shift back.
The man looked darkly irritated. “No patrols anywhere on either side, but I’m seeing what looks like new sensors on the fence. I don’t think they’re video cameras, but I could be wrong. Based on what you said, I might not be recognizing them. Now I’m freaking paranoid as hell.”
“Terrific,” Peyton grumbled. “So what now?”
“Well, the good news is that the culvert I’ve used is still there and not as wet as I thought it’d be. I think what we should do is walk right up to the end of the woods. It’s about a mile from here to there. Then shift and drag our backpacks with us through the culvert. There are woods on the other side we can shift back in. We’ll be moving so fast that hopefully they won’t even think about investigating since we won’t look like humans. We’re leaving Russia, not coming in, and the Fins aren’t the ones we need to worry about. Once we’re over there, we’re good.”
Jake dressed and they continued, Peyton painfully aware of how vulnerable he felt in this moment. He didn’t want to freak Jake out, but the technological advances in sensor equipment since Jake had disappeared meant they could already be under remote surveillance by stationary or drone-mounted sensors.
It felt like forever before Jake stopped him and pointed through the trees.
They hunkered down and Peyton stared, barely making out the fence through the mist.
Without speaking, Jake made the shape of a circle with his hands and pointed again. Following his line of sight, Peyton spotted the culvert and nodded. It would be a tight fit, but they could make it. And, yes, faster as wolves than as humans commando-crawling through the thing.
Peyton touched Jake’s shoulder and used his Prime powers to talk to him silently. “Let’s consolidate into one backpack. Leave behind anything that won’t fit or that we don’t need. We can tie our shoestrings together and carry them around our necks. Bottle of water each, and the knives.”
Jake gave him a thumbs-up, and they quickly stripped and repacked the larger backpack, which Jake had carried. In ten minutes they were ready, and Peyton touched Jake’s shoulder again.
“Do you want me to carry the backpack?” Peyton asked with his Prime.
“No, because I know where I’m going and you can probably outrun me. I’ll go through first. As soon as you see me emerge from the other end of the culvert, follow me as fast as you can. We’ll run down the gully that culvert dumps into for about a half mile before we shift back, as long as we can make it that far with the backpack without any problems. At that point, we’re good.”
“Okay.” Peyton hung his sneakers around his neck and shifted. Jake did likewise, then grabbed one of the backpack’s straps in his mouth, moved it around until he had the best grip possible, and then crept forward.
After listening for a moment, Jake took off, Peyton holding his breath until he saw Jake disappear into the culvert. It felt like forever until he saw the wolf emerge from the other end of it, and then Peyton ran for his life.
Jake was right about the speed differential—Peyton quickly caught up with Jake, snatching the backpack’s other strap as he passed him and matching his speed with Jake’s to lighten the load.
It can’t be this easy, can it?
Still, they ran, quickly making time on four legs over the rocks and shallow rivulets of water sluicing through the gully. Peyton thought they’d traveled a lot farther than half a mile when Jake finally grunted, slowing and coming to a stop in a thick copse of trees, but he didn’t shift back. He touched his nose to Peyton’s shoulder.
“I’ll scout ahead.”
Peyton nodded. Both of them dipped their heads and shed their shoes, which they’d managed not to dislodge during their run, and Jake shot off again.
Peyton panted as he caught his breath, finally drinking from one of the rivulets as he waited.
At least they were in Finland. He wasn’t at all familiar with the government or military here, but he suspected that if they were captured there was a smaller chance of them being shot first and questioned later than if the Russians grabbed them.
Ten minutes later, Jake returned and shifted back, and so did Peyton. “All clear,” Jake whispered. There’s a dirt road nearby. I ran it to the top of a hill and saw lights in a house off in the distance. No traffic.”
“Good.”
“I’ll stay shifted if you’ll carry the backpack. Then I can run ahead and scout if we need it instead of wasting time changing clothes.”
“I don’t mind being the scout,” Peyton said.
Jake smirked. “How good’s your Finnish? Or Russian? Because it’s common for people around here to speak both.”
“Ah. Excellent point.”
“Yeah, I thought so. Plus, a guy and his dog are less likely to be shot than two wolves running wild together.”
“Again, you’re outthinking me.”
“Been doing this a long time,” Jake said. “I learned a few things. Sometimes on my scouting trips, if I saw someone walking, I’d do the good-boy act and walk with them wherever they were going so anyone who saw me thought I was their dog.”
