The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)

I frowned, my mind working. Amber was right. The fact that Elena had unleashed the boys here, and six blocks away from the water treatment plant, seemed careless. Like an afterthought.

Then again, maybe it had been. Elena’s plan was coming apart at the seams—maybe she was running out of solutions. Maybe we finally had her scared.

But that didn’t feel right for Elena. She wasn’t the same as regular people. She didn’t have the handicap of fear to distract her from the battle. Frustration, yes, but fear, not so much. The woman was a high-functioning sociopath with power. Whatever was going on, I doubted it had much to do with desperation. Not yet.

“Violet, keep an eye out for them and let Thomas know if you see any more boys.” Ms. Dale’s voice was firm, but I could detect the notes of exhaustion and concern in her words. “Clear the channel. We need it for the plant.”

“Roger,” I acknowledged, my heart a stone in my chest as I realized that Ms. Dale and everyone were going to attack soon, and that some of the brave people who were fighting with us were not going to survive.

Leaning forward between the seats, I grabbed Morgan’s attention. “Get us there fast,” I said. “We can’t afford to let Desmond disrupt their plan in any way.”

She nodded, her face grim, and sped up as the road in front of us seemed to clear. I leaned back in my seat, unable to feel relaxed as my eyes darted around, studying the road as we drove by. The streets had quieted down again, but I couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling in my stomach at the revelation that the boys were here.

There was something more to this plan, something we were overlooking. I just wasn’t sure what.





33





Viggo





“You and Drew’s team do your best with the barrels, cars, whatever,” I told Ingrid. “Just keep them from coming in behind us.”

The pixie-faced Liberator bobbed her head, her blonde top-knot bouncing. She swiped the back of her hand against her cheek, wiping away sweat and leaving a long black smudge along her jaw. “We got your back, Croft,” she said. “Stop wasting time.”

I nodded and approached the door where the rest of the team—now twenty-six of us—were heading in. The circular building was massive, and the area of the plant we needed to get to was buried in the heart of it. The place was also designed in a maze-like fashion that made it difficult to navigate, but Thomas had pre-plotted our route.

Cruz cursed, and I turned to see where April was finishing wrapping up his still bleeding shoulder. She tied a quick knot, eliciting another harsh sound from Cruz, and then gave him a sharp nod. “It’ll hold,” she murmured. “But you should really sit this one out.”

“And miss protecting your lovely self from harm? You would deny me that honor?” Cruz’s face was tight as he said it, his flirtatious tone lighter than usual, likely due to the pain he was in. Still, somehow, April gave him a wide grin.

“You never give up,” she teased, and he managed a half shrug as he stood up.

“I was never taught how to.” He looked around, his eyes landing on me. “We ready, Croft?”

I looked at his shoulder, and then nodded. “Waiting on you,” I replied as I turned back to the small door that led to the plant and the rest of our mission. Apprehension tried to take over my brain, but I shouldered it aside.

We just had to hope for as little resistance from inside as possible, though that hope sounded dim given what we’d encountered just getting here. I nodded to Alejandro, and he pulled back the heavy metal door. A red glow emitted from the wall across from me, illuminating the small service corridor that bordered one of the massive tank rooms. I could hear the loud roar of machines churning deep inside the plant through the entrance.

Pulling out a hand mirror, I handed it to Alejandro, who held it out into the hall, checking the left side. It wasn’t something everyone had considered bringing, but I had brought mine, my time as a warden having taught me the importance of it for checking blind spots. Mine happened to be one of three on our team. He dutifully handed it over to Mags, who did the same on the right. “It’s clear,” she said softly, handing it to me, and I slipped it back into my pocket.

I stepped forward into the hall. The red emergency lighting lit it up well, revealing only small pipes—probably filled with chemicals to treat the water—lining the wall, periodically feeding back into the wall or into a box.

“Viggo?” Violet’s voice in my ear was soft, but there was an edge to it.

“Violet?” I asked, taking a step deeper into the plant. “It’s not a really good time.”

“I know that, but this is important.”

I hesitated, and then turned, disconnecting the microphone so I didn’t transmit orders meant for others over the line. “Cruz, Mags, take two teams of five and find the doors. The one on the east side needs to be secured and locked, while the one on the west leads to our first room on the way to the control center.”

Mags nodded and began giving orders in hushed tones. I stepped deeper into the hall and then put my back against the wall, giving people room to move by. “What’s up?”

“I guess this goes for everyone, really, but there was something off about that enhanced man.”

I frowned, confusion coming over me. It took me a minute to remember what she was talking about—which was understandable after everything that had just happened. “What was it?”

“He was… angry. Kind of berserk.” She delivered the information matter-of-factly, but I could hear the bomb drop in her words. I suddenly felt rooted in place, my stomach churning in horror as I realized what she was saying.

“Oh my God,” I said.

“What?” asked Henrik, confusion roughening his voice. “What are you talking about?”

“Hold on a second,” I said. “Thomas, is it possible that whatever they have been contaminating the water with is making it out into the city fountains already?”

“Possible. Especially the ones closer to the plant,” announced Thomas grimly. “But you seem to have drawn a conclusion based on some yet-to-be-explained data.”

“He was like Solomon,” Violet said, her tone bitter, angry. “Angry and prone to attack everything around him. That’s not like the boys we’ve known, especially when they’re on the Benuxupane.”