The Gender Game 5 by Bella Forrest (uplifting novels .txt) 📕

studied it. It took me a few seconds to focus, as the map seemed an amorphous blob to my tired eyes. I blinked several times, trying to make everything come together through sheer force of will. “Why do you consider this good news?” I asked after I had taken a good look at it.

Thomas gave me an incredulous look and then sighed in irritation, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “Because they could mean recruits for us! More people to fill out our ranks and make us more formidable.”

Considering his answer, I looked over to Ms. Dale and noticed she had a frown on her face. “What do you think, Melissa?”

She met my gaze and then shook her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she replied. “We have no idea how accurate that information is—for all we know, this place is just a mass burial site for the people they’ve been killing.”

“What?!” exclaimed Thomas, practically sputtering. “That’s ridiculous—they wouldn’t kill people and then transport them. Too much work, and it has the potential for alerting the remaining population to their true intentions. It’s much more likely they are collecting the men, transporting them to the site, and then executing them. Less chance of witnesses that way.”

“That’s… actually a good point,” Ms. Dale muttered. Thomas beamed, and Ms. Dale went on. “But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t just transporting them there to kill them. However, even if that’s not the case, it’s still not necessarily a good idea to charge in. The camp will be heavily fortified and defended. Besides, our top priority should be addressing what new information Elena is feeding the populace. The tickers are still down, which would cause mass chaos, but we have seen no evidence of chaos. Elena is probably disseminating the news to the population somehow. We need to send an agent into the city to find out how she’s doing it. That way, we’ll have a better idea how to proceed.”

Thomas opened his mouth to launch a counterargument about how his idea was more important. I slowly stood up, keeping a careful ear on the conversation, but also desperate for a cup of coffee—I was on the brink of falling asleep, a sure sign I was overtaxing myself, and I knew getting up would force more life into my limbs, and coffee would help my mind. The debate continued as I rose, and I had to admit, both of them were making good points; both ideas were well reasoned and thought out.

I poured myself a cup of coffee from the metal coffeemaker and took a sip, grimacing at the stale taste, and then forced another sip, needing the caffeine. I moved back to the table, loudly setting my cup down as the argument began to grow heated.

Thomas and Ms. Dale paused, looking at me, and I held up my hand in a silent entreaty. They both shut their mouths and waited, and I was struck with appreciation for how well we all worked together.

“I think we should send two agents,” I said, “one male, one female, into the city. Ms. Dale is right—we do need to know how Elena is keeping control. Knowing what lies she’s telling is going to be essential to helping us know how best to move forward.”

Ms. Dale gave me a smile and leaned back, smirking at Thomas. I let her have her moment of victory before adding, “I also think we need to send scouts to the location Thomas pointed out. He’s right—any chance we can spare lives, while also getting them to join up, is a possibility worth looking into. Besides, what if Tim was picked up and shipped there? That possibility makes it all the more important that we check it out.”

Everyone nodded, and I took another sip of coffee.

“I think we should send Jeff into the city,” Ms. Dale said. “He’s got a clean record, and with Ashabee taken by Elena, he has a perfect cover. I also have some ideas for who else to send, so don’t worry about that.”

I gave her a grateful look. “All right. Is there anything else?”

“I should add that the move from Ashabee’s manor to this location was mostly successful,” Ms. Dale continued. “Thanks to the refugees, we were able to drive most of the vehicles in one big caravan, and fit all our people and supplies. We were able to move most of the items from the warehouse, as well as Solomon—but there were a few things left behind that we might want to go get.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Amber chimed in, looking at Ms. Dale. “By now, they will have figured out we were using the house for a while, and will likely be watching it, waiting to see if we come back.”

“There’s also the fact that they have Amber’s father,” added Owen. “If they’ve tortured him…”

“They might not be torturing him,” Amber said, although by her tone of voice, I could tell she hoped they were.

“They are,” Thomas cut in darkly. “Why wouldn’t they? They would’ve already pieced together that something was wrong when their patrol never checked back in. It would be the first thing they’d do. It’d be the first thing I’d do. It’s better to think about this in terms of worst possible outcomes, so that we can take every precaution foreseeable.”

“That’s why I’ve secured King Maxen at an alternate location,” added Ms. Dale. “It’s also where I’m holding Solomon. I’m the only one, besides the guards I placed with them, who knows where it is, and the guards check in with me regularly.” She shot me an apologetic look as she continued. “The precaution is necessary to prevent anyone else from being leveraged like Violet was.”

I nodded, carefully considering her words, repressing an irrational flare of anger. I knew she wasn’t placing blame on Violet, but it was hard not to feel like she was. Violet had jeopardized a key part of our plan