Canyon stopped in the middle of the road and told Predator to find a satellite in low earth orbit that he could commandeer. Predator binged.
:Communication blocked—
“Blocked how?”
:Technology unknown—
“Which communication is blocked?”
:All
Canyon told Predator to list all the network towers in the area, legal or not.
:Communication blocked—
Fuckshitdamn, Canyon said. He scanned the log files while Timber looked over his shoulder. Timber tapped the screen at a line of code.
“Right here. It’s definitely blocked and I can’t tell by what or who.”
I see it,Canyon said.But I don’t like it.
“Uh oh.”
What?
“Your truck’s missing.”
Canyon turned to look. His muscles tightened and his stomach swooped as forest seemed to fall in around them on all sides. The road under his feet disappeared and became trail, with trees all around, close enough to touch, when just a minute before, they’d been ten feet away on both sides.
Canyon growled, his mind reeling.My truck better be the fuck where I left it.
He smacked Predator into Timber’s hands, then broke into a run back the way they had come. He ran twice as far as they had walked in, and found no road, no truck. He stopped and Timber caught up with him, his eyes on Predator’s screen.
“Seb came up here several times. Listen to this—'I went in on foot, but any trail I entered seemed to close off behind me and spin me into some perpetual forest-maze. I spent two days lost, and I heard things I couldn’t see or find, like people calling for help and big animals fighting.’”
Canyon chuffed in disbelief.No wolf could get lost in this forest—
An eerie noise cut through the forest, like a foghorn, cutting Canyon off. Someone cried out. A woman screamed, “Help! Help—somebody help me!” The crack of a gunshot split the air, then two more shots.
Canyon and Timber exchanged a look and then they took off running toward the sounds. They left the trail and split up, Canyon to the left, Timber to the right. Canyon bobbed and weaved through the underbrush, avoiding branches. The metallic smell of blood hit his nose, then burnt gunpowder, whipping his wolf into a frenzy. He ran faster. Another scream came, desperate and terrified. The woman called for help again, this time from behind them.
“What the fuck?” Timber growled, turning and running that way.
Canyon followed. After twenty minutes of chasing the sound, they met near a downed tree. The screaming came again, this time off to the north.
Timber shook his head. His face was red and sweaty. “Fuck this,” he said.
He undressed quickly, piled his clothes and boots on a downed tree with Predator on top—then he shifted into his dark wolf and loped off. Canyon shoved the clothing into Timber’s boots, tied the laces together and tossed them over his shoulder, then clipped Predator onto his belt, and followed his brother.
***
Hours later, Canyon stopped at a downed tree for a breather. He leaned against it and listened. The forest was quiet. Timber appeared out of the underbrush and loped close to Canyon, then shifted from wolf to man. Canyon tossed him his clothes.
“This is bullshit,” Timber spat, dressing quickly.
It’s a recording,Canyon said.Gotta be. It’s a recording set to go off at random times and it’s being moved around the forest by a robot—or a drone.He scanned the treetops.
The woman screamed again, off to their right, sounding a hundred feet away.
