The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(68)

“Time’s stealing other options away from us,” I said. “But if you’re asking whether my people can handle it, I know we can.”

“I’m not, but that is good to know. All right. Amber, Ms. Dale—what’s your ETA?”

Thomas answered. “Given their current rate of travel and the obstacles in their way, I’d say an hour and twenty minutes. Give or take. Viggo, soon I’m going to have to move Violet’s drone to Amber’s team for a while.”

Violet and I both acknowledged him, our voices coming through the line at the same time, sending a little surge of amusement through me—we were on the same wavelength, it seemed, even now. Then I was back in the moment.

We had an hour and twenty minutes, give or take. “All right, guys,” I called out to my team, looking around at the faces watching and listening to my transmission with serious expressions. “We’ve had a change in plans. We’ve just confirmed that the Matrians are tampering with the water treatment plant. So we’re going to have to take a rougher route than expected to get there before contaminated water can make its way out on the streets. This just got a lot more vital, but I trust you all to be able to handle it. If anybody wants to go back now, you have the chance. No judgment.”

I surveyed the room. A chorus of disgruntled voices greeted my announcement, a woman named April and some others saying, “We’re not giving up now!”

Nobody volunteered to leave, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, great. Let’s get ready and get on the street. Gregory, I want you checking the street cameras for us. We’re moving more blindly now, so we need to play this smart. Take a small team back out to the main road and check it out. Everyone else… you have five minutes to move out. Let’s get ready to go.”





24





Viggo





The light from the handheld illuminated the angles of Mags’ face as she clicked through the video feeds. “Any movement?” I asked, turning back toward the street.

“No,” she whispered back. “But the cameras are only at the intersections, so I can’t tell if the streets are clear.”

I scanned the street. This one reminded me of the one we’d pushed through earlier, burnt or damaged cars scattered everywhere, windows on shopfronts broken, stores looted, trash and debris littering the sidewalks. The tall buildings that lined the road were bathed in shadows, but at an intersection a few buildings up, fires burned in barrels on every corner, creating a dome of red glow. “We’ve been through thirteen intersections just like this, Mags.”

“Yeah, well, right now we’re dangerously close to Porteque territory,” she replied. “We need to be ready to run like scared rabbits. Trust me, I know this area particularly well.”

“Rabbits freeze when they’re scared,” I replied, standing up and waving for everyone to move forward.

Offering a hand to Mags, I helped pull her up from where she had been seated against the building, ducked down behind an overturned newspaper stand. “Same old Viggo,” she said dryly as she tucked the handheld into her satchel. “Doesn’t change the fact that those barrels are lighting up the intersection like a beacon. Somebody really wants to see what’s going on down there.”

I shot her a look and began to move away, threading my way through the chaos of broken-down cars. My boots ground against shards of glass coating the street as I walked, but I managed to mitigate the sound, trying to keep our approach as silent as possible. Mags and Alejandro moved similarly to me—the trick was putting weight on the outside edge of your foot when you stepped, rolling your foot down rather than planting it. It had felt odd when I’d first started practicing it, but after a while it had become ingrained.

But the limited time we’d had to train with our refugees—and even a few of Mags’ team—meant that many people were making more noise than necessary. I kept a sharp eye on the building windows on either side of us, but didn’t stop until we were a few feet from the intersection. I motioned with my hand, and we split into two teams, one on either side of the street. At least they were all fairly proficient at following my signals.

I glanced over to where Alejandro stood up front. He was peering down his scope at the building on the adjacent corner. I turned to Margot and nodded, and she slowly raised her rifle, scoping the building on the other side. Our practice was to stand at the corners and appraise the other team’s side of the intersection for better visibility.

“The building opposite you is four stories tall, set behind a small park,” said Alejandro on the team channel. “The park creates a wide-open space, which gives the building behind it a better view of the street.”

“The one on your side is two stories, and pressed right up against the street,” I replied. “It’s doubtful anyone’s holed up in there.”

“Which means if there is anybody watching, they will be in the building Alejandro has eyes on.” Mags’ voice sounded grim. I hesitated, and then pushed up closer to the intersection, heading for the sharp corner of the building. “What are you doing?” she asked as I crossed the threshold from darkness to light, the glow extending beyond the actual intersection.

“I want to see what we’re dealing with,” I said as I eased forward.