The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(33)

Here, more of our people were fast at work, but it was an organized chaos, easy to navigate around. I headed for the back of the animal pens, to the largest one, where Cody was being kept. It had undergone some serious renovations since we had brought him there, in order to make the area feel more like a room and less like a stall in a barn.

I didn’t like that we couldn’t find some way to bring Cody into the house, but with Henrik’s convalescence (and his risk of infection), we just didn’t have the room. Which was why we had renovated this space, covering the walls with thin boards to prevent the draft and give him some semblance of privacy. I pushed open the door, the hinges creaking, and stepped into the lantern-lit room, a smile on my lips.

Dr. Arlan was in the middle of giving Cody the booster shot for the mild muscle relaxant we were administering to him. There had been a lot of debate on how to handle Cody when we had rescued him, and it had been a hard sell all around. Violet and I were adamant about giving him some semblance of freedom, but Ms. Dale was adamant about keeping the members of the camp safe. She wasn’t wrong to insist on the measures—at the end of the day, Cody didn’t want to be with us. From his perspective, we had kidnapped him, and we were the enemy. So, compromises had to be made, and in order to circumnavigate his enhanced abilities, we had agreed to drug him.

I hated it, but I understood that it gave people—not just Ms. Dale, Amber, or Thomas, but the entire camp—some peace of mind when it came to Cody. I just wished that translated into people being more open and less guarded around him.

“Hey, Cody,” I said with a wide smile. “You ready to go for our walk?”

Dr. Arlan pulled the needle out of Cody’s arm and set it down on the tray balanced on his knees. “All done,” he said affectionately, as he stood up and moved over to the small desk in the corner. I watched him go, smiling at the painting hanging on the wall just over it. The walls were a bit worn, and honestly, sad-looking under the dim glow emitted by the lanterns distributed about the room. Jay or Tim must’ve found it in the stuff we had taken out of the den to make room for Desmond, and hung it up for Cody.

There was a rap at the door and then it pushed open, revealing Jay, Tim and Samuel the dog, who barked when he spotted me and bounded over, his tail wagging. I knelt, and immediately Samuel lay down and rolled over onto his back, presenting his belly to me. I scratched his stomach a few times and looked over to see Cody staring at me, a sullen expression in his eyes.

“I don’t want to walk,” he said.

I smiled at him. “That’s okay. We can play a game. I’m pretty sure there’s a deck of cards floating around.”

“It’ll be fun,” added Jay, leaning into the room. “Although the forest is beautiful right now—the trees have all pretty much lost their leaves.”

Cody’s eyes flicked between us, and he gave a reluctant sigh before standing up. I watched him put on his jacket from my position on the floor, still rubbing Samuel’s belly. He zipped his coat up and then walked past me, burying his hands in his pockets. Jay and Tim stepped aside to let the young boy pass, and then turned to follow.

I lingered a moment, slowly rising to my feet. “He asked about Desmond today?”

Dr. Arlan sat down his pen, and sighed. I turned to see him leaning back in his chair. “It’ll pass,” he said after a moment. “Honestly, I don’t even acknowledge the question anymore, and neither should you.”

Frowning, I nodded, and turned to follow the boys, thrusting my own hands in my pockets. I trailed behind them as Jay and Tim cut through the chaos outside and toward the house, aiming for the bit of forest resting just behind it. Dr. Arlan’s recommendation didn’t sit well with me—but then again, it could have just been personal for me. It was hard to tell.

Jay led the way, pushing through the lower bare branches and making sure there was a clear path for Cody. I eventually caught up to them, and we continued to hike in relative silence through the forest. It was beautiful. The red, gold, and yellow leaves were strewn on the forest floor like a thick carpet that rustled together as we walked through it.

Samuel raced through the leaves, his legs kicking them up as he ran back and forth across the trail. Sometimes he’d spook a rabbit and take off after it, barking loudly. The rabbits always seemed to slip away, but I didn’t think he honestly wanted to hurt them, given how wildly his tail waved back and forth as he ran. He just found joy in the chase. I only wished I could be as carefree.

We eventually reached a clearing, and Tim slipped off his backpack and pulled out some water bottles and two cans of peaches. I felt a little guilty as I popped them open—peaches were Violet’s favorite—but they also doubled as a treat for Cody, so I doubted she would mind.

We all sat down on a nearby log and took turns eating the syrupy fruit. I had one, but passed on the rest, leaving it for the boys to enjoy. Cody took one as well, but he nibbled at it halfheartedly while his eyes surveyed the forest. I could see the gears turning in his mind, and knew he was trying to calculate some sort of escape into the forest.

I leaned over. “Think you could make it?” I whispered teasingly, and his head snapped around, his eyes wide in alarm. “Hey, it’s okay,” I tried to reassure him, and he softened a little. He lowered his gaze back down to the ground, and fidgeted slightly.

Tim and Jay shifted beside me, and then stood up. I looked up at them, and Jay nodded toward the wider part of the clearing. “We’re going to go play catch with Samuel. Cody? Want to come play with us?”