The Hawaiian Special Forces

Chapter 19

Aoloa leaped from branch to branch, Hokulani at his side. ::Stupid video cameras! Now EVERYBODY knows we exist!::

::But on the good side, the UPS might not realize it's us, so they'll only be mildly interested in hunting us down,:: Hokulani retorted, a bit snidely.

::Yeah, yeah, now let's shake these dogs.::

That was their biggest issue: dogs. Mutts had this annoying habit of being loyal to people, and chasing after anything people could get it in their collective minds to try to chase down. In this case, a couple of hybrids that had been working very hard to avoid detection.

Cameras were a lot more popular than Aoloa had realized, however, and the blasted things were all over the place. Almost every road they crossed would start the chase all over again. The stupid things were tiny, too, so half the time he didn't realize it was there, until it had transmitted his picture.

Belarus, unlike Russia, Georgia, and Turkey, was ridiculously modernized. That, combined with their distinctively non-human appearance, meant they stood out all the time. We can't catch a freaking break, but people are still trying to prove bigfoot exists. HE'S NOT REAL!

Finally, they stopped for a rest, perched high above the ground. Much to Aoloa's consternation, Hokulani curled up and fell asleep in a branch above him. He did the same, but found himself consulting the maps they had. There has to be a way out of this mess. Catching a ride is going to be almost impossible, now, and the longer we're in the area, the more the risk the authorities will finally catch us.

Settling down, he tried to sort out their options. The trees were bare, now. Being high only served to keep the dogs from catching their scent. Unfortunately, they were also easy to spot. As they were getting closer to Minsk, it was getting increasingly difficult to avoid detection.

We could turn back, hide in Russia. But even they know we're out there. They know we were in their borders. We could try going for Norway instead, but that's more out of our way, and I'm not sure how well we'd do traveling in winter. Why does this have to be so hard?

It was the sound of drones that woke him up. He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep, and now there were aircraft circling overhead. You have got to be kidding me! He reached over and gently woke up Hokulani. He'd hoped they weren't spotted, but as he assessed the situation, it was clear that wasn't the case.

::You're better at computers than me. Think you can get control of those things?::

She nodded slightly, then closed her eyes again. After a few minutes, they took up a more regular pattern, then proceeded to slam into trees around them. ::Happy? They'll know we have electronics. We bought some time, but we're giving away more of our secrets.::

::I know, but we can't escape if they have a visual on us. Let's move.::

They started leaping from tree to tree again, maintaining their rough course. They'd agreed a few days back to swing a bit south of Minsk and stop trying to parallel the main highways so closely. Unfortunately, that was proving more challenging than they'd hoped. They were doing fairly well, but the strain of being chased was wearing on both of them. Not being able to hunt for more than small game was also becoming troublesome. They'd been reduced to raiding some homes, when they got desperate.

It was as they were circling around Minsk that Aoloa noticed something important. ::Railroad!::

::What about it?:: she asked, curious.

::We could catch a ride on the railroad. If we can stow away in the luggage cart, we'll be able to get out of the country fairly quickly and easily. They may have guards, but I don't think they'll have too many. Once we're in Poland, the hunts might back off.::

He could tell she was doing some checking validating what he'd come up with. ::It would get us there in a day or two, instead of a month of freezing our butts off. It's worth a try.::

With a plan in mind, they positioned themselves a short distance off the passenger rails and waited, eager to get some speed away from the area. After a few hours of waiting, the train finally came... going at a ridiculously fast speed.

::You have got to be kidding me!:: They watched helplessly as the train sped by, going far to fast for them to attempt to catch it. His frustration was rewarded with laughter coming over the comms at him. They proceeded to trudge along, once again.