The blue jays were screaming in the distance, and the sound of an engine grew closer.

“Jenks!” I yipped.

“I hear them!” he shouted back at me.

Pulse racing, I looked at the men sprawled in the packed dirt. Grabbing the shoulder of the nearest, I dragged him into the building, not caring if I broke the skin or not. He might have been dead for all I cared. I jerked him halfway down the hallway in short splurges of motion, left him and went back for the second. Jenks was coming out the door as I got him past the sill and inside. I dropped him, my back hurting and my jaws aching.

“Good idea,” Jenks said, Nick’s arm draped over his neck and shoulder.

Nick hung against Jenks, clearly unable to support his own weight. His head was down and his feet moved sluggishly. His breath came in pained gasps. There were red pressure marks about his wrists, and it didn’t look like he could move his legs yet. When he brought his head up, his eyes were cloudy with a smear of gel. Arm moving slowly, he tried to wipe them, blinking profusely. A dry cough shook him. Clenching his arm about his lower chest, he held his breath to try to stop.

“Go,” Jenks prompted, and I tore my eyes from Nick. I felt sick again, and as my paws hit the dirt outside, I wondered just where Jenks expected us to “go.” There was only one road out of there, and someone was coming up it. And stumbling about with a sick man in the woods was a sure way to be caught.

“Just…go behind the building!” Jenks said, and I trotted an uneasy path beside him, feeling small. Nick tried to help as his muscles started to regain their movement. Jenks eased him to the ground, propping him up against the painted brick. It was chill back there, out of the sun, and he held his legs and groaned. I thought of Marshal’s warmth amulets. We had only one left—if they hadn’t found our gear. Maybe Nick and Jenks could share it somehow. My fur could keep me warm. Could I swim that far as a wolf?

“Stay here,” Jenks said to me, standing to look tall. His brow was furrowed. “Keep him quiet. I can take care of them, and then we’ll drive out of here.”

I put a foot on his shoe for his attention, looking up at him pleadingly. I hadn’t liked running apart. I didn’t want to do it again. We did better together than alone.

“I’ll be careful,” Jenks said, turning toward the sound of an approaching vehicle. “If there’re too many, I’ll hoot like an owl.” I raised my doggie eyebrows, and he chuckled. “I’ll just shout for you.”

At my head bob, he crept away, silent in his black tights and running shoes. I looked at Nick. He didn’t have any shoes, and his pale feet looked ugly. Nick, I thought, nudging him.