You shake your head and smile at Dena, thanking her for her help, ignoring Lapu's taunts as you get to your feet. Slowly putting pressure on your knee to make sure that it healed properly, you drop to all fours and run to the other side of the road, looking back at Lapu as you leave him behind.
You know the best ways to get to each of your companions. It's really quite elementary after so many years growing up beside them, learning from their behaviors and habits. Lapu isn't half as strong as he thinks he is, and he has a desperate fear of being left alone, last in the pack.
"Okay, fine," the boy shouts out as you disappear in the direction of the bridge to the humans' territory. "You can come!" he says, panting as he tries to catch up. "Wait for me!"
Approach the Bridge
The Q Bridge is difficult to approach from concealment; the ruined buildings of the former city stop a good half mile before the pavement even begins to rise.
Having considered this, Tiva came up with a plan to access the bridge from the south side, hiding among the charred scrap metal husks of the old oil containers that litter the coastline near the base of the bridge.
When you reach the underside of the span, you take ropes from Tiva's backpack, each fastened to a grappling hook. Tiva worked in secret on the hooks for the past few weeks, smuggling them out of the machine shop where she works after closing hours. The ropes will allow you to bypass the checkpoint on this end of the bridge, although you'll still have to be lucky to avoid any patrolling guards.
"Here goes nothing," Tiva says with a grin as she tosses her hook upward. It latches against the underside of the bridge.
"Lucky toss," Lapu says as he attempts to replicate Tiva's throw, failing miserably time and again as the hook falls back to the ground with a dull thud. The boy looks over at you and Dena, but neither of you are doing much better. "Can't we all just take the same rope up?" he mutters despondently.
"I swear," Tiva says, "you guys couldn't do anything without my help!" One by one she tosses the hooks up into the tangle of steel beams underneath the bridge, cords of muscle straining on her arms.
Unlike many other wolves your age, she bulked up during her long teenage years spent working the forge. "We need to stay together," she says. "We can't have half of us sitting around for ten minutes at the top of the bridge waiting to get caught while the rest of you take your time climbing!"
"Hey, Huguel," Tiva calls over to you. "Let's make this fun—I'm in the mood for a game! If I can get to the top of the rope first, you'll cover my shift at the machine shop tomorrow."
You raise an eyebrow. "And if I win?"
"Hmm," she mutters. "How about I owe you a favor? You can cash it in any time. Nothing huge, mind you, but I'll owe you one."
You shrug your shoulders. It sounds fair enough to you. You've never really minded the machine shop anyway. You look upward at the ropes as they gently swing in the breeze. It's a long climb, and it's been a while since you've practiced. Still though, you shouldn't have a problem getting to the top. The question is, can you beat Tiva?