The Gender End (The Gender Game #7)

“She would have held them off.” Alyssa entered the room wearing heavy black slacks, a sweater, and a puffy snow vest around her chest. A scarf wrapped around her neck, and she had a beanie on her head, her white hair tucked in underneath. The fabric seemed like it was swallowing her up, distracting the eye from the shotgun she was once again cradling in her hands.

It occurred to me that I had never seen where she’d put it away after brandishing it at us earlier. She gave us all a look and then nodded toward the door. “She held them off so she could know what the plan was—she knew she had time to hear what you’re doing next. If somebody is coming for us, she would have sent them about when I asked what you wanted me to do. So we might have a few minutes.”

“She’d have them close—” Viggo said, meeting my gaze.

“But not close enough to tip us off,” I finished for him, realizing where Elena had miscalculated—and, probably, where we had. “She assumed we would use lookouts.”

“Let’s go,” Viggo replied, shouldering his bag and rushing everyone toward the door. We exited and ran to the vehicles, Ms. Dale leading Morgan, Tim, Amber, and Logan toward the second car, while Viggo dove into ours, Owen already hopping into the backseat. Thomas and Solomon were right behind me as I came around the back to the passenger side, angling for the front seat. I climbed in, pausing when I saw Alyssa heading toward the gate.

“We’ll open it when we’re in the cars and leaving,” I called softly to her.

“I’m not going with you. For your plan to work, you need me to get that information out.” She hunched over, keying in the code, and the wrought iron doors started to swing in.

“What’s she saying?” Viggo asked, and I ducked over.

“She’s going to try and get the information out. By herself.”

Viggo cursed. “She can’t go alone. We’ll need to send one or two people with her, maybe Amb—”

“No need,” Solomon grumbled, already opening his door. “I’ll go with her. I’m worth ten of them in a fight, and now that I’m not a monster anymore, I’ll have better control over where and when I fight than anybody else they could send at me. I’ll keep her safe.”

I turned, spearing him with a look. “Are you sure? Elena—”

“You’ll get her,” he declared, his eyes glistening intently in the ambient light. “I told you I wanted to put a stop to all this. Keeping her safe means the information gets out and the population is informed. You just make sure justice is carried out.”

I licked my lips—no pressure, right?—then nodded. “Be careful.”

“You too.” He looked at me long enough to show how much he meant the statement, then shut the door gently and jogged over to where Alyssa was already moving down the drive, heading for the street. He caught up as I sat down, falling into step with her with what appeared to be little effort, and in a moment they’d disappeared around the curved wall.

Sitting down, I began to buckle up as Viggo hit the gas, heading toward the gate. “Put in the comms,” he said, and I reached over and opened a pocket on his vest, pulling out the earbud and subvocalizers. These were the older style, unfortunately. Too many of the gloves Thomas had developed to turn them on and off had been damaged in the fighting at the water plant.

I hooked Viggo’s subvocalizer around his neck as he drove, turning it on, and as soon as I slipped the earbud around his ear, his mouth began moving silently, the words hidden from my ears. I quickly put mine in and turned it on, shifting uncomfortably at the feeling of my vocal cords freezing.

—repeat, I am going left. Your team goes right, meet at rendezvous position. My team will be on B channel, yours on A. Touch base if you get in a jam. I’ll do the same.

Copy that, Ms. Dale’s voice said, and her headlights cut to the right, heading down the same street Solomon and Alyssa were walking down at a hurried pace. It seemed surreal for them to be going out in the city unprotected like that… but maybe they could slip through Elena’s defenses that way. The wardens were much more likely to be expecting us in the cars. And Solomon was definitely the best person for the job. I swallowed and kept my eyes ahead, accepting the rifle Owen handed me from our stash of gear in the back. I cradled it carefully, keeping the muzzle pointed down at the floor, hidden behind the dashboard.

Viggo picked up speed as he turned, barreling down the slight incline. We passed by one street, then another, and then I saw another car screech around the corner, heading right for us.

There! I transmitted. If it had been out loud, the sound would’ve been a shout. As it was, the car was filled with a quiet that was almost worse than the noise of battle—just the wind whistling, the engine roaring beneath us, the whooshing noises of things going by.

Viggo was already braking and spinning the wheels, his eyes focused entirely on the road. I leaned my shoulder against the door as we turned and pivoted in my seat, looking out the back window. At first, there was nothing there, but sure enough, headlights soon appeared in the window, the vehicle growing closer with each passing second.

Hold on to something! Viggo transmitted, and I spread my legs wider, bracing them on the frame of the vehicle and grabbing the handle above the passenger side window. Viggo cut the wheel hard, yanking the emergency brake with his right hand, and our center of gravity shifted suddenly as we rounded a sharp corner in a squealing slide. He downshifted and slammed the emergency brake off, releasing the locked wheels, then hit the gas, and we jerked forward.

They shot right past us, Thomas exclaimed, and I turned and saw the flash of red light as the other car’s brake lights lit up the lane in front of us.

Yeah, but they’ll be right back, I said. We need to get off this road.

I know, Viggo said, but we were in an alley that seemed to run between the backsides of houses. There was no break in the brick walls, save for small doors leading in and out of backyards and gardens.

He accelerated, and I clutched the handle overhead as though it would help us, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as he continued to race down the narrow street, garbage bins and little windows blurring past far too rapidly. Viggo looked over at me—just a quick glance—and then smiled… and suddenly, for a moment, this was exciting. It reminded me of the first time he’d taken me for a ride on his motorcycle. How exhilarating it had been with him in control.

I trusted him implicitly.

They’re catching up! Owen shouted, the tone of the shout carrying even through the subvocalizers.

The roof, I said, looking up.