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

sandbags, her rifle held loosely in her hands. Others rose to their feet, watching us approach, but the one at the sandbags was clearly in charge. As we approached, she held up her hand, and we drew to a stop. “Mr. Cruz, what are you doing here right now?” She flashed a curious gaze to Ms. Dale.

“No need to talk to him,” Ms. Dale announced, her mouth set in a grim line. “We found them unconscious just outside the control room. Has the captain breeched the door yet?”

The warden frowned, her eyes gazing at us with suspicion. “No, ma’am. The mechanism has been damaged.”

“I see. Well, allow us to pass, so I can escort these potential traitors downstairs as I was ordered.”

I had to give it to Ms. Dale: she exuded authority. By the time she was finished, the other woman had no reservations, and she stepped aside to allow us past her.

“Take them down the next staircase,” the woman said with a nod as we moved by her. “The contingency plan is being authorized on this level.”

“Now, really, madam! I must protest!” said Cruz, imbuing his tone with indignation. Ms. Dale’s eyes were hard as ice as she ignored him, her mask secure.

We hurried away from the checkpoint, and I was hyperaware of the eyes watching us all, not just the main warden’s, but everyone who worked there. Sweat was collecting on my chest right now, making my shirt cling to my skin. I was grateful for the coat I was wearing, in spite of its constricting nature, as it hid the stains no doubt growing on my shirt.

As soon as we were out of earshot, I grabbed Cruz, hauling him over to the doors leading to one of the VIP boxes. “What’s going on? What contingency plan?”

“I have no idea,” he replied, his voice reflecting his confusion. “Clearly something is going on, some sort of response to your video. But beyond that, I don’t know.”

Frowning, I looked at Ms. Dale, who shrugged her shoulders. “We have to keep going,” she said softly. “We can’t stop to question it now.”

I took a deep breath, sticking my head out slightly to check the halls. “How far to the next checkpoint?”

Cruz looked down the hall over my shoulder. “Maybe a hundred, a hundred and twenty feet.”

“All right, then. Abigail, you and Kurtis take point, Vivian and Jeff, you’re in the rear. Get ready with some more security babble, and Cruz—get ready to be more and more irate about this whole situation.”

We were halfway to the next checkpoint when we passed by another set of doors leading to a VIP booth, and the sound coming through it stopped me cold. I dropped from formation and dashed over to the door, my heart skipping a beat as I heard the screams of rising panic tearing through the walls—punctuated by the definitive sound of automatic gunfire.

38

Viggo

“What’s happening?” Cad asked me. “What are we—?”

“We gotta get as many people as we can out alive!” I said, my eyes meeting his.

I snatched my gun from its holster, looking over my shoulder at Ms. Dale and Amber as the sounds of gunfire and shrill screaming ripped through the corridor. Ms. Dale’s face was grim, her mouth an angry slash across her face.

“Do what you can here,” she barked. “Vivian, on me. Mr. Cruz, you’re still coming with us!” Then she turned back down the corridor the way we’d been going, breaking into a run.

Amber nodded, taking off down the hall after Ms. Dale, her weapon at the ready. Cruz stared from them, to me, to them again, as if questioning.

“I don’t have a weapon!” he began, but I overrode him, shouting, “Just go!”

He went, and I paused at the door handle for just a moment. “Are you two ready?”

“I’ve got your back,” said Jeff, dropping to a knee behind a metal trashcan, his gun coming out of the holster.

“Good. Cad, with me.”

The young man nodded, and I tore open the door, not wanting to waste any more time. The panic that had been muffled by the door exploded into our ears, and I moved down the carpeted steps into the VIP box we’d entered, my eyes scanning the second level before falling toward the ground. Wardens had encircled the crowd, blocking the exits, standing there and firing mercilessly into the crowd. It was a brutal scene, one that made my vision go red: the thousands of people trapped inside, diving this way and that, crawling around behind the seats for cover, using their neighbors as shields or trying to shield them… I had no way of knowing whether the same thing was happening in the other stadiums yet. Right now, all we could do was save as many witnesses as we could from this one.

I moved quickly down the stairs, hardening myself, becoming mechanical and precise. I raised my handgun, sighting the wardens I had a good angle on and squeezing the trigger once, and then again. The woman on the left dropped immediately, but the second one grabbed her shoulder and sagged back against the door. I squeezed the trigger again, not letting in any emotion, save a grim sense of satisfaction.

Amber had lied when she’d said I didn’t kill women. I would kill any human who had stooped to something like this.

Cad rushed up to the wall next to me and began firing at the wardens covering another set of doors. I cursed and grabbed his shirt, hauling him back as someone looked up at him and began firing at us. Bullets whined as they flew by, and I pulled Cad down onto the ground as they impacted the walls overhead.

Meeting my gaze, Cad’s eyes were tight and furious. As soon as the first round of bullets lulled, he rose to his knees and squeezed off a few more rounds. I followed suit, dropping two more wardens and losing four bullets in the process. Seven rounds down, four more