Wolf by Wolf

Yael is taken back to the holding area where the other racers are waiting. Using the knife in her boot, she frees the hostages, assisted by a Japanese contestant named Takeo, who produces a knife of his own. Yael says they must make a break for it while the Soviets are assembled in another part of the village. She doesn’t tell them that this move was prearranged with Vetrov in advance. The racers sneak out of their prison and run to hijack a transport vehicle. Most of the racers scramble aboard as Felix guns the engine. As soon as the Soviets are alerted by the noise, they give chase on foot. An injured Japanese racer struggles to reach the truck with Luka behind him, shooting back at the Russians.

Determined not to leave anyone behind, Yael runs forward to hoist the injured racer onto the truck. She climbs aboard but notices Luka being pursued by a Russian soldier. She thinks, “He’s not going to make it. Yael reached into her jacket, pulled out the pistol Vetrov had returned to her […] Yael held her breath and pulled the trigger. She was done leaving people behind” (249-50). Luka clambers aboard the truck just in time. When he points out that there are two other transport vehicles left and that the Russians are sure to follow them, Takeo casually mentions that he slashed their tires before leaving. The racers are then able to escape to safety.

The narrative shifts back to 1955 and covers the time Yael spent at a farm in the Alps receiving combat training from Vlad. After three years, she has become adept at spycraft, combat skills, and weaponry. Reiniger arrives unexpectedly at the farm to announce that Yael is ready for her first assignment. Now that Adele has won the Axis Tour, the resistance wants Yael to take her place, win the next race, and kill Hitler. Vlad protests that Yael isn’t done with her training yet. Reiniger agrees to give her one more month with Vlad before beginning her preparation for the race.

During this time, Vlad works on eroding Yael’s fear of her past. She can’t even look at the tattoo on her arm and can barely fire a gun using her left hand. Vlad insists that she sit quietly and gaze at the tattoo and allow herself to acknowledge its existence. He says, “The ghosts will stay. Just like your numbers. Just like my scars. Just like our pain. […] But you don’t have to be afraid of them” (266).

According to the rules, even when conventional motorcycles aren’t available, contestants are allowed to used alternate means of transportation. This means that despite the loss of bikes, the Axis Tour is still on. Felix drives all the racers to a nearby German mining camp. The camp overseer says that they have no spare fuel, but a cargo train will be leaving the camp in 10 minutes bound for New Delhi. All the racers climb aboard to spend the night in boxcars.

After everyone settles down for the evening, Yael and Luka share a quiet conversation. Neither one is what they appear. Yael used her hidden pistol to shoot Luka’s attacker. He, in turn, tried to rescue an injured racer. They kiss. Luka points out that with Katsuo still out there somewhere on the road, Luka and Yael need to join forces:

Her eyes found Luka’s. He was watching her—a frustrated stare through wads of bandages—passing something between them. Something different from the kiss, but still dangerous. Still knowing. Allies? Yael nodded. It was time to play dirty (288). 

When the racers arrive at the New Delhi checkpoint, everyone is shocked to learn that Katsuo arrived before them. His official time is now two hours ahead of Yael’s and Luka’s. The Axis Tour committee has decided to fly all the racers to Hanoi, where they will be given new motorcycles to complete the race. Yael feels there will be no way to recoup the lost hours and beat Katsuo against these odds.

On the plane ride to Hanoi, Luka comes to sit beside Yael and scribbles a note: “It was nice writing: stout, but not too blocky. Strong without being strict. If either of us wants a chance of winning this tour, we need to take care of Katsuo” (290). He hints at something that happened at the ferry landing outside Hanoi during their prior race. Yael has no information about this episode and bluffs her way through the conversation. She only knows that Luka is planning to make a move and that the three riders need to take the ferry together.

The next day, Yael is disappointed with the Rikuo motorcycle that is being supplied to replace her much faster Zündapp. It takes practice for her to get the feel of the machine, but Katsuo has already trained on such a bike and takes off quickly. Yael and Luka follow him at a short distance. When the three arrive at the ferry landing, Katsuo climbs on and orders the ferryman to push off before anyone else boards.

Yael jumps aboard with her bike before the ferry leaves the landing. Behind her, a blond man also jumps on, and she assumes this is Luka. Katsuo pulls a knife and lunges at Yael, almost tipping the ferry over. She deflects the blow and pushes Katsuo overboard. When she turns around, Yael realizes that Felix, not Luka, is her ferry companion:

Yael stood a moment more, watching Luka, surrounded, yet so alone at the end of that dock. The river hushed and tore between them. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was leaving something behind. ‘That’s that,’ she said, and turned away (305).