The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)

Because there were so many moving parts to our mission, we had to work on multiple channels. Violet, Henrik, Ms. Dale, Amber, Thomas, and I were all authorized to be on the main one, trading information and modifying plans as needed. However, Ms. Dale, Amber, and I would probably spend most of our time on the channel with our team members, while Violet, Henrik, and Thomas would switch between them, delivering updated orders and, more importantly, information through our two remaining drones.

“In position. Viggo, be aware that there are ten more guards in that building.” I pressed my eye back to the scope, angling the gun up slightly, as Violet spoke into my headset. Violet’s drone was hard to make out in the darkness above the street, but I caught a glimpse of it as she began lowering it into position.

A round cage jutted out from the bottom—one of the innovations Violet and Thomas had spent several days conceptualizing and putting together. The design was deceptively simple, just grenades that had long strings threaded through the pins, so that when the doors beneath them opened and they dropped, the pin would pull and the grenades would explode. Hopefully, it would work.

“Releasing in five, four, three, two, one.” As she counted down, I held up my hand and followed along in my head. Through the scope, I could see the guard I had been tracking stop short of the building entrance and look down. There was a pause, and then her head snapped back up, her mouth moving. I couldn’t tell what she said, but the look of panic on her face made it easy to read. She started to run. Three seconds later, the six grenades Violet had dropped from the cage went off, and I lost my mark in the flaming blast of the explosion.

“I missed the vehicle!” Violet exclaimed in disgust, and I acknowledged automatically, then turned to Margot and the rest of my troops. “Two are down, but that’s it.” I could hear Violet’s disappointment, and I understood it. She had wanted her drone contraption to be more effective, if only to help me out.

“Margot,” I said, pushing the sentimental thought out of my head. She was already peering down the scope, and I heard the soft puff of air as she squeezed the trigger, the silencer muting the round. Instantly, this side of the barricade went dark as she struck her target—the massive light perched on the roof on the right side of the road.

“Forward,” I ordered loudly, already feeling like we had lost precious seconds. I pushed up off the ground, cradling my rifle to my chest, and loped forward, keeping my body low. I could hear the rustle of clothes and grass as everyone moved with me, forming a long line.

The next sound of a gunshot came from my line, the crack of it loud enough to drown out the early sounds of alarm from the enemies still standing.

Seconds later, bullets began to whiz past, accompanied by the flash of fire from muzzles wielded by the women rushing toward us—at first in slow, random pings, and then picking up in speed, until the area was filled with a cacophony of pop pop pops, going off irregularly. I raced forward, keeping my feet high to avoid tripping on the uneven ground, and hip-fired at a woman starting to stand up from behind one of the concrete blocks that made the first barricade, catching her in the side. She dropped, her cry merely adding to the din of noise, and the firing increased.

“The blast didn’t damage the entrance,” Violet reported through the earpiece. “More people are coming out.”

“We need that first ring!” I transmitted to my team, switching before she’d finished speaking. “Don’t straggle! That makes you targets!”

I didn’t pause in my run, but I did look to the left as I spoke, where I could see several wardens emerging from the damaged face of the building. I pushed forward, firing wildly at them as they came out, and they scattered. I was pretty sure I’d hit one, but it was hard to tell—my head was swiveling around looking for more enemies.

Margot raced beside me, her long legs churning as she held her heavy sniper rifle high to her chest, her breath coming in harsh gasps. I turned, and shouted, “Keep moving!” as I angled for one of the barricades on the left side. A woman on the other side popped up from behind the barricade, swinging her gun around at Margot, and without thinking I shot her three times in the chest, a rush of adrenaline driving my hands.

The sound of battle was growing, with shouts and gunshots echoing all around us, both our own and the enemy’s. I made it to the barricade, diving down below it as shots whizzed all around me. Margot was seconds behind, and she dropped down next to me, pressing her back to the three-foot-tall barricade. I looked around, checking to see where everyone was, and noticed that Margot and I were among the first to hit the first ring—the rest were still straggling behind, taking pot shots at targets.

“Run, people!” I shouted into the microphone for the second time. “Teams, report!”

“There are so many of them!” Margot shouted beside me, panting as she pulled out her handgun and clicked the safety off.

“Just keep firing!” I replied, and then peeked up from the barricade to find my next target.

“Tim, Tasha, myself, and about four more are on the right side,” reported Gregory through the channel. Even though the earbud sat directly in my ear canal, the sounds of battle and shouting were already starting to mix together, and threatened to drown him out.

I fired twice, and then the gun clicked empty. Dropping down, I slid an extra magazine from the side pocket of my black cargo pants. I took another glance as I ejected the clip and slammed the fresh magazine in.

“Cruz here. Harry, April, Marna, and… two other people are here with us in the center.” I grated my teeth together and fired a few more shots, narrowly missing a woman as she raced toward the second barricade. She grabbed cover just behind it, and I kept my gun trained on the area she had disappeared behind, searching for signs of movement.

“Only Margot and I are on the left side! We need more people over here!” I transmitted as I scanned.

“Cad here. We zigged when we should have zagged, and now we’re closer to Gregory. Should we try to send people to you?”

I squeezed off a few rounds as another target crossed my line of sight. I wasn’t sure if I was the one to hit her, but she fell all the same. “No—Cruz, send me some of those extras you have.”

“On it,” said Cruz.

Adrenaline surged dangerously in my veins, and my eyes skated back and forth around the chaotic battlefield. Too quickly—I almost missed movement farther back along the road into the city. I did a double take, jerking back in time to confirm that the .50 caliber machine gun mounted to a truck was moving.

“Viggo—”