"I was a Wolf before you were born, son, and-"
"Then you should know," Valentine interrupted right back. "We stay as a team, whether it's two or two hundred. Only the dead get left behind."
"Whoever's giving off lifesign is dead already, Val," Eveready argued, trying to pierce the black curtain behind them. "Maybe not tonight, but some other trip in the future."
"We don't know they're reading lifesign. Maybe they tracked us the old-fashioned way. There are sniffer-Grogs, I'm told."
"Sorry, kid. I've got experience, and you don't. Gotta be lifesign."
Valentine broke the glum silence. "I say we put it to a vote. Every man for himself, yea or nay. If we decide to stick together, we put you off on the west shore. Alone, the way you like it." Valentine feared he might have pushed the old Cat too far. Maybe the vote would go four to one against him again, but he needed to try.
"No, no votes. Not with five Reapers on your tail," rasped Eveready.
"This isn't about you anymore," said Burton. "It's for us to say."
"Have it your way. Idiots. You know, if one Reaper catches up with you four, just one, you'll all be dead in twenty seconds. Five seconds each."
"Okay, lets take a breather," Valentine ordered, turning himself around in the boat to face his fellow Wolves. "Tradition. Youngest first. Hernandez? Every man for himself: yea or nay."
Valentine expected the sixteen-year-old to glance around at the others, or at least Alistar, for approval. But he looked squarely into Eveready's eyes. His hero. The man he called sir despite Eveready's repeated commands to knock it-off.
"Nay."
Valentine's heart leaped. He could have hugged the skinny youth. "Alistar?"
The tawny youth, who thought himself the leader of the Wolves through this summer, shook his head at Valentine, a half-sneer on his face. "Yea."
"Fuck you, Al," Burton spat. "Nay. And fuck you again, in case you didn't hear me the first time."
"Nay," added Valentine, trying not to grin in triumph. "Al-istar, you can get off with Eveready, if you like."
"You bet your ass I like."
"Can we get moving, Valentine?" Eveready asked.
The four rowed with renewed vigor. Valentine, feeling the energy of vindication in his limbs, dug his paddle deep into the water. Burton poured out his fury on the other side, and the canoe sped through the night.
Within five minutes, the western shore loomed out of the darkness. Alistar buckled on his pack, and Eveready jumped out and held the canoe steady. Hernandez started to put on his pack.
"Wait, Hernandez. We're staying in the boat," Valentine ordered.
"What's that?" Eveready asked.
Valentine put his oar behind his back and stretched. "Burton, let's switch places so I can use some different muscles. Eveready, you said they don't swim too fast, right? We head downriver, with the current. We'll hear any patrol boat. Go all night if we have to, then start moving overland at dawn."
"Hell, kid, if you had a plan, you should have said so. You're still taking a risk that the Reapers don't have another boat."
"You said five. This boat fits five easy. Can you still draw one off?"
Eveready smiled, apple-whitened teeth the brightest thing Valentine had seen all night, like a beacon of hope. "If one is still following me by sunrise, it won't live to see another nightfall."
"Alistar, last chance," Valentine called to the receding figure.
"You'll be bled out before dawn, Valentine," Alistar said. He turned. "Hernandez, this is your last chance, too."
The teen shook his head. "Sorry, Al. The pack stays together."
Alistar tightened his straps, managing to put contempt in the gesture. "Hope you make it anyway. I'll wait for you at Arkansas Post."