The Gender Fall (The Gender Game #5)(101)

We were at the doors now. “Come on,” I shouted to Jeff and Cad over my shoulder as I made it to the door, but I wasn’t sure where they were in the crowd.

A group of civilians pushed me through it, and I snagged the doorframe, using it to swing myself around and off to the side. Jeff tumbled through a moment later, his gun flying from his hand and getting lost under the crowd’s pounding feet. I reached out and grabbed him under his arm, pulling him to his feet before the rush of fleeing people plowed him under as well.

Cad was there seconds later, pushing us forward. I raced ahead, pulling Jeff with me for a few feet, and saw Cruz standing fifty feet away on the pavement. He was waving his arm frantically in the narrow access road that curved around the stadium, leading to the main street. Beyond him, a few exits down, I saw the ambulance. Ms. Dale and Amber were already sprinting toward it, their faces red from exertion. I poured on the speed, Jeff and Cad sprinting toward the car in my wake. When we finally made it there, Ms. Dale had yanked open the doors, and the group of us simply leapt into the back. Everyone stayed there, except for me: I pushed forward to the front.

Thomas gunned the engine as I sat down hard in the passenger seat, sucking in air to try to calm the frantic beating of my heart. I heard the doors slam just as I was buckling up.

“Go!” yelled Ms. Dale, and Thomas pressed his foot to the gas, the vehicle surging forward.

We were all silent as we sped away from Starkrum Stadium, turning sharply onto the road leading out of the city. My gut twisted as my mind went to the other stadiums, and the countless more deaths that might take place within them, or had already. Deaths we had no way of preventing. Elena would have her mass of troops scrambling. We were outmanned and outgunned by a fantastic amount, without enough weaponry to supply even the people we’d managed to help escape. It was a harrowing feeling, knowing all the death that was taking place today was thanks to our plan.

I just had to believe that we'd dealt a death blow of our own.

That today would be the beginning of the end.





39





Violet





The sun rode low on the horizon as Owen drove his vehicle, probably one from Ashabee’s stash, off the road and up a hill. I chewed my lower lip nervously, squinting against the brightness. This was our third stop today, following the last bit of Thomas’ information. The engine roared loudly as Owen pressed the gas, but the pace was painfully slow as we crept up the steep, rough-and-tumble terrain.

At the top, he killed the engine, and I reached across my lap with my left hand to open the door and step out. “Tim!” I shouted. “Tim!”

I sucked in a deep breath, my ears straining to hear even the faintest of responses. But the only sounds were the whispering of the trees moving in the breeze, and the evening birds singing to each other. On the other side of the car, Owen got out and unfolded the map he’d brought with us, placing it on the hood.

Moving to the front of the vehicle, I watched as he compared the information he had received from Thomas with our current position, and drew a small ‘x’ at the corresponding location on the map.

“Are there any houses or farms nearby?” I asked.

Owen shook his head. “No. This place is pretty undeveloped. Looks like it’s just forest and…” He trailed off, his frown deepening.

“What? What is it?”

He met my gaze, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Well, we’re only three or four miles from Ashabee’s manor.”

“Really?” I looked around, as if expecting to see the manor sitting off in the distance, but even from our vantage point, all I saw were fields, hills, and trees. I shot Owen a questioning look.

“The backside of his compound is on the other side of these woods,” he supplied. “It runs right up against the forest.”

I considered this, and then looked at the map. “Where is it on this map?”

Owen leaned over it, and I pressed closer, peering over his shoulder as he carefully marked out a small area. The other two points we had already explored were farther away than our current location, but still close enough. I felt a surge of excitement.

“You don’t think he’s at Ashabee’s, do you?”

Leaning on an elbow, Owen gave the map a thoughtful look. “It’s possible. I mean, he didn’t know about our new location—none of us at the palace did. Ms. Dale had just discovered it.”

“Why didn’t we think of that?!” I whispered. “Of course he would go back to the mansion.”

Owen’s face was dubious. “Well, I don’t want to get your hopes up too high. Tim’s a smart boy: if he had come back here and found us gone, he wouldn’t stick around, would he?”

“He would if he thought it was the best chance of finding us,” I said, thinking of the occasions I had taken Tim out in public when he was a child. I’d always told him, if we got separated, to go back to the last place he’d seen me. “Owen, we’re this close. It’s risky, but we have to check it out. It’s only four miles away.” Glancing at my watch, I tried to recall the projected schedule for Viggo’s mission in the city and smiled. “The city is going to be crazy right now—maybe any surveillance will be distracted by the chaos. The leadership will probably be trying to run damage control.”