The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)

I reeled back at the blow to my nose and felt blood dripping down my face. The woman before me let out a throaty scream of victory and then launched herself at me, her arms swinging for me faster than I would have believed possible. I avoided the first blow, but her second one caught me in the side. Luckily, the angle was wrong—her fist glanced off my ribcage, barely two knuckles connecting.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. The pain was immense and immediate, and I dropped down on my hands and knees. The warden’s foot lashed out, kicking me in the same spot, and whatever air I had been able to catch from the kick in the chest earlier was gone again. I gasped on the floor, seeing her foot draw back in my periphery, and I knew if she kicked me again, she would probably kill me.

Instinct made me ignore the pain for long enough to pick my knee off the floor and land a hard kick of my own directly to the joint of her knee, picturing a spot just behind it and aiming for it. I kicked her harder than I thought, and her knee compressed backward. She crumpled immediately with a howl and began rocking back and forth.

She came to a flopping stop as Alejandro pulled the trigger, his face squeezed tight in pain. “Behind you!” he shouted, and I rolled forward, not even bothering to look. A hand clamped down on my ankle and began to squeeze, and I heard Alejandro’s gun click empty. I lashed out with my other foot, trying to break free.

“Got it,” Tim shouted, and a deep, thrumming hum filled the air, followed by a metallic clunking sound. Then I saw the young man turn and shoot the woman who was holding me, using her own pistol. Her grip on my ankle relaxed, and Tim bent over to help me up.

I leaned on him, a little afraid to put any weight on my ankle—it was throbbing so hard.

I tried to straighten, freezing when I saw six more women step in, three from either side. Their eyes quested back and forth, their breath labored and angry, as though there was only one thought in their minds now—destroy the enemy. I sucked in another tight breath, still unable to breathe normally, and just… looked at them. Alejandro shouted a curse and threw his gun at one of the women, but she ducked easily. Tim nervously brandished his gun, his eyes darting around. I could see the calculation in his eyes: he had good reflexes, but even he couldn’t kill all six of them before they were on him.

I watched them approach, and then pressed my fingers together. “We initiated the purge, Ms. Dale. You can turn back. We’re not going to—”

Heavy gunfire tore through the control room, and I ducked as I heard the loud sound of a large-caliber rifle being fired at automatic speeds, pulling Tim along with me. It stopped seconds later, leaving nothing but bloody carnage on the floor.

I peeked my head out and saw Ms. Dale stepping into the room, the massive, blocky weight of a .50 caliber machine gun gripped firmly in both her hands, steam still piping from the front of it. She tossed it to the floor, giving me a stern look. “Of course we’re going to make it,” she said tiredly. “Because we just did. I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you sooner—my microphone got broken, and then things got crazy.”

I turned to look out at the treatment room through the door, and saw the water churning in the vat, the rushing sound growing even louder as the water rapidly drained out.

Lowering myself back to the floor, I rested my head against the console and resisted the urge to laugh in relief. Or sorrow. Or both.

Ms. Dale’s people started to press in and pass through the control room toward the other side of the plant. “Cruz is trying to find a way around,” I told her, and she nodded and began giving orders to her people, sending a couple of them to help.

I watched as she led a group of them out, and then climbed slowly to my feet. My entire side still burned as I tried to move, and I wound up walking slightly stooped over, unable to fully right myself for fear of pulling the severely bruised muscles. If Cruz had our people coming in the other side, I was certain they could handle it. I had bigger concerns at the moment. I hobbled slowly over to Harry, fighting through the pain, and sank to a heavy knee next to him, putting my fingers to his neck. His pulse was still there, but it was weak. A quick check revealed purple splotches on his chest and stomach. I was certain that wasn’t a good sign, but there was nothing I could do for him at the moment.

Standing up slowly, keeping my slightly doubled-over posture, I moved over to Alejandro and Mags, listening to the gunshots filling the air suddenly double. Ms. Dale’s group must have joined the fray with Cruz. I pressed my fingers to Mags’ neck, and found her pulse beating strongly. Peeling back her eyelids, intent on checking her pupils, I found myself doubled over and gasping for breath as she suddenly lashed out with a small fist, not hard, but catching me in the same side the warden had.

I had to lie down, the pain was that bad. I slowly lowered myself as Mags leaned over me, her face fluttering in concern. “Viggo? I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” I wheezed hoarsely, trying not to breathe too deeply.

I was lying and we both knew it, but she ignored it, looking around at the bodies on the floor and the otherwise deserted room. “Did we do it?” she asked. “Did we win?”

I looked over to where Harry lay, Gregory just a few feet away from him. “I think so,” I said tiredly, the statement not fully expressing every feeling coursing through me in that moment. “We purged the plant,” I said to Mags. “The contaminated water is gone. There might be a little still in Patrus, but not enough to destroy the entire city.”

Mags’ eyes glittered with tears, but whether they were of happiness or sadness, I didn’t think even she knew. “We did it,” she said hoarsely. “We stopped ‘em.”

“Yes,” I said, although the triumph tasted weird in my mouth. “And now we need Dr. Tierney here. We got a lot of wounded.”

Mags nodded and began transmitting as I somehow managed to flop over onto my back, thinking of Violet. We’d made it through this; we’d survived the first hurdle. Desmond hadn’t appeared and stopped our attack on the plant—I hoped to God Violet had stopped her. I pushed all those thoughts away, imagining how much I was going to enjoy just… holding her tightly and going to sleep by her side. Soon. As soon as all this was cleaned up.

Once Mags was finished on the radio, she leaned heavily to one side, resting her weight on the wall behind her. “I wish we could say this was it,” she said. “But there is so much more to do. The city is in shambles; people are still killing each other… We may have saved them, but that doesn’t mean we can re-establish order.”

I groaned, and slowly worked myself into a sitting position, the fantasy of holding Violet popped by Mags’ cold dash of reality. “We need to reorganize and get our people medical attention, food, and rest first,” I said. “After that, we’ll start with the city. One block at a time if we have to. The biggest thing that will calm people down is restoring power, but some of the seedier elements will have to be dealt with. Luckily, I think having Maxen will be useful.”