The Gender End by Bella Forrest (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📕

passed. I ducked down low under a stalactite, and my flashlight caught the cave wall in front of me.

I stopped short and started to adjust, when Tim’s voice carried through the cave, slightly muffled by his gas mask. Of all of us, he was the only one who couldn’t use the subvocalizers, although he had the earbud. The subvocalizer caused him too much pain, so we had decided he would do without. But it meant he couldn’t notify us of anything when he saw it, not without using his voice.

I could tell he was whispering to whoever he was holding on to, and then Morgan’s voice came on. Viggo, there’s something different in this tank back here. Tim wants you to come look at it.

I exchanged a look with Violet, her eyes widening at mine through the clear panels of her gas mask, and then let go of her arm, moving carefully back down the line. Tim was bringing up the rear, and I saw him before I saw the tank. I was moving close to him when the mist suddenly parted, and I recoiled, unable to fully comprehend what I was looking at.

Fur that was coal black and deeply matted ran across the creature’s huge, four-legged body. It sat like a dog, hunched over, the head and mouth wolf-like—but the tail was monkey-like, twitching as the creature stared at me through golden eyes. A pink tongue lolled out of its mouth, drool dripping in thick globs down to the floor of its cage, and its teeth were jagged and yellow.

It closed its mouth, the head cocking back and forth as it seemed to study me. Then a paw—scratch that, a hand came up and pressed against the glass. The palm of the hand was long, the bones between the joints in the fingers longer still, and the tips seemed curled. It studied me for a moment longer, seemingly waiting for me to do something, and then presented its back to me, shaking itself and then lying down on its belly.

“What that?” asked Tim, his eyes wide and alarmed.

I hesitated, and then shook my head. I have no idea. I’ve never seen it before.

The paws… Did you see that? Does that mean it can open doors and… use weapons?

I looked over at Morgan, and shook my head again in answer to her question. I was baffled. If this was a creature from The Green, it was one that neither I nor Alejandro had come across. There was a gleam of intelligence in its eyes that gave me pause, a predatory patience that made me wonder if there would be a way to kill the denizens of these tanks before they got out and got to us.

Viggo? Violet’s voice was a welcome distraction from a conversation that was leaving me feeling a bit more nervous than before.

Yeah? I replied, turning to face the front, where her figure was now completely obscured behind the mist.

I think I’m hearing voices coming from ahead.

Alarm coursed through me, and I moved as quickly as I dared, following the line of people back and linking my arm through Violet’s. I strained my ears, and I could definitely hear… something. It was barely discernable, but certainly human in origin—comforting, in this environment, but only slightly.

I pressed forward, following the sound, and soon it became clearer. It was difficult to tell their gender; their voices were intentionally pitched low, in an effort to disguise their location, but that probably meant they couldn’t hear each other well, either. Avoiding that issue was half the reason we’d brought the subvocalizers. Slipping my arm out of Violet’s, I moved forward a few steps and shut off my flashlight, following the voices.

Stay there for a minute, I ordered the team. The mist roiled as I drew nearer, and as I pushed through it, I almost impacted with the cave wall. In the dimness I could see a narrow passage, much like the one separating the two chambers we’d just come from, cutting into the wall a few feet away, the voices echoing from within it. I leaned my back against the left side of the wall and began easing myself around the corner and down the passage, picking up each foot deliberately, trying to make sure I didn’t give away my presence.

After a few seconds, I was finally able to discern actual words among the echoing sounds of the conversation carrying through the mist.

“I’m really not sure this is the right data chip, sir.”

“Keep trying. One of the ones we stole from that… Tyler fellow has got to work.” I froze when I recognized that voice, an icy stab of rage cutting through my gut.

“His name is Thomas, sir.”

“I don’t care what his name is, I’m ordering you to open the door!”

“Trying, sir.”

Maxen and whoever was with him fell silent, and I heard the sound of footsteps echoing through the chamber. At first I thought they were heading toward me, and I drew back, keeping my gun at the ready. But then I realized the moving person was pacing the confines of the chamber they were in. I pushed forward again and looked around the corner, risking a glance inside.

The mist seemed to be thinner in there, almost non-existent, and I spotted Maxen, Mark Travers, two of the other Patrian wardens, and… Peter of the Porteque gang. He was flanked by two of his men, and I could pick out the triangle tattoos displayed proudly on all three of their faces.

Mark knelt on the floor in front of an airlock door, fiddling around with the keypad, while Maxen impatiently paced the cavern floor.

We’ve got a problem, I transmitted to my team as I pushed back, moving away from the area as quietly as I could. Maxen and Peter and some of their men are in the chamber in front of us. They’re trying to use one of Thomas’ stolen data chips to get in.

What? Thomas exclaimed, his alarm coming clearly through the