The Gender Game 2 by Bella Forrest (audio ebook reader .TXT) 📕

A flash of silver caught my eye, and I turned, pulling out my gun. I could hear something rustling in the bushes ahead of me. Beside me, Samuel crouched low to the ground, a trickle of a growl escaping his mouth. I tensed as I became aware of the forest growing silent.

Samuel and I remained still for a long moment. The rustling appeared to be moving away from us. We held our position until the sound had gone. Once the forest was noisy again, I holstered my gun. I took my canteen out of my pocket. I pulled my mask off, took several long drinks, and then replaced the mask. I offered water to Sam using the food tin from earlier. He drank it greedily.

I watched the dog, finding myself envying his ability to survive without a mask. Most animals could—it was only humans who would die when exposed to the polluted air. Scientists theorized that animals both in The Green and for miles surrounding it had adapted to the area’s contamination because their lifespans were shorter, and it was likely that they were exposed to the toxins for many generations. While many animals had died from the pollution, a percentage of them developed an immunity, which they had passed down to their offspring.

According to the scientists, eventually humans would develop an immunity to it as well, given time. It sounded like some sort of hopeful propaganda to me, one that gave people hope that eventually, they would be able to leave their safe haven and re-enter the world… whatever the world was.

I didn’t share their opinion. What use was it to hope that one day we could leave? The Green was deadly and The Outlands a mystery that no one had been able to answer. People thrived and survived in Matrus and Patrus. Life there was better than certain death.

After Samuel was finished with his drink, I put the canteen away and checked the compass, comparing it with the handheld. Violet was still heading south. I clicked it off and tucked it into my pocket.

I started walking, my mind trying to work out why Violet was heading the way she was. She had to be using a compass—her trajectory was too accurate to be merely wandering the forest. Was she purposefully heading back to Matrus, and if so, why? She was a wanted criminal there, too.

Unless she was heading for something or someone else. If she was part of a terrorist group, The Green would be a perfect place to have a rendezvous.

That actually made the most sense to me—it was likely that Violet was working with a terrorist cell. There weren’t many in Patrus and Matrus. The Porteque group was the largest one in operation, but there were a few others of note.

The Unification Coalition was the most innocuous. In fact, calling them a terrorist cell was ridiculous, as the only thing they did was protest the treatment of the minority gender in both countries. They published manifestos that spouted that gender-specific laws only served to hurt both countries, and urged both Matrus and Patrus to unify under the idea that all people were meant to live equally, no matter what their gender.

Suffice it to say, they were pretty unpopular on both sides. Both governments had no interest in changing the policies that allowed them to stay in power. I knew I certainly would not be treated well in Matrus. I was far too aggressive for their society.

After the Unification Coalition, there was a Matrian group simply known as the Mothers. I didn’t know much about them—nobody did. In fact, if it weren’t for a bombing of a Matrian lab, it wouldn’t even be known to exist. The facility had been raided, but nothing stolen. Nobody was even hurt in the blast. No one was sure why they had targeted that place. The only evidence that supported their existence was a single word on the wall—WHERE?

It was the newspapers themselves who named them the Mothers, after someone wrote a letter pretending to be a part of the group. It had turned out to be a hoax, the woman in question arrested and later deemed to be unbalanced, but the name had stuck.

Of those three options, none of them seemed likely to be behind any of Violet’s actions. I had to wonder if somehow, there was a new group of malcontents, one even more dangerous than the others.

Then what could she be up to? She wouldn’t be working alone, would she? If so, for what reason?

Samuel interrupted my thoughts with a soggy nose to my palm. I looked down, and realized that his hackles were standing on end. Irritated that I had yet again let my guard down thinking about Violet, I pulled the gun and looked around.

Everything seemed fine—in fact the forest was practically vibrating with sound. The mist roiled across the ground, clinging to everything it touched.

Then, as if someone flipped a switch, all sounds stopped. I felt the hairs on my neck standing on end, and I froze. I was in the middle of a clearing, with no discernible cover around me. I was exposed.

I looked at Samuel. His focus was completely in one direction. Trusting his instincts, I turned that way, dropping to one knee and leveling my gun.

The mist could play tricks on the mind. It shifted and moved, casting shadows that made it appear like something was back there, moving. I remained calm, knowing that if I fired my gun at a shadow, I might attract the attention of whatever was concealed in the wall of mist.

Suddenly, there came a long hooting sound, low and urgent, thrumming through the clearing. I almost squeezed the trigger, I was so surprised.

Samuel quivered at the noise, whimpering softly.

The hooting came again and again after a few intervals of silence. I remained still and steady. I had never heard of this phenomenon before. It could be wind for all I knew, but something told