The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(59)

“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—”

“FIFTY CAL!” I shouted over the din of the gunfire, cutting Violet off. Margot met my eyes, her own large with fear. I grabbed her, practically jerking her across my lap and then curling my torso over her body as the .50 caliber began to fire. The sound was akin to a cannon in my ears, a nonstop, relentless staccato, and red streaked across the sky, a sign of the tracer bullets they were using to help them better identify targets. I looked up in time to see one of the men hurrying toward me—Jeremy—go down, his body convulsing as the massive bullets tore through his body. I turned away from the bloody sight, cringing. At this time in our attack, we had no way of recovering the bodies.