The Gender Plan Read online

  “All right, that’s everyone,” I said, my voice low. Around me, everyone was getting ready, unwrapping their gear and trying to squeeze the water out of their clothes. “We don’t have time to scout this one, so I want you treat any man with a weapon as a hostile and drop him—quietly. Kill if you have to. These are Porteque guys, according to Mags, and I doubt anyone will miss them. The mission is simple: go to the fourth floor, shoot the guys in the window, and take their place to fire on the men attacking Mags. Any questions?”

  “Can I get out of the water first?” Alejandro looked up at me from where he held himself up by his elbows, his lower torso still in the water. I quickly reached down to help him up and out.

  “Time is of the essence,” I reminded him as he slid his hands over his wet clothes, trying to force the water out. The entire floor was covered in a puddle by the time we were finished. I gave Alejandro a moment to catch his breath, then crept over to the door, gently testing the handle.

  I turned my flashlight down a few clicks, and then opened the door slightly. Gunfire rattled, the sound muted by the building around us, but the hallway before us remained silent. I pulled the door open a few more inches and poked my head out, taking a quick glance. The hallway stood empty and straight, only one other door within view of my flashlight.

  “I’m heading in,” I whispered over my shoulder, and then opened the door more fully, moving into the hallway. The other door led to the electrical system, but the room was completely empty, and I closed it again, moving farther down the hallway as the flashlight slowly revealed it to me. The passageway finally stopped at a small landing of narrow, switchback stairs, heading up.

  As soon as the rest of the team had gathered, I began to climb, keeping my footsteps as silent as possible. I approached the ground-level landing slowly. It was completely dark, and there was no sign of flashlights or any other sources of light, so I felt confident keeping my flashlight on.

  The light revealed a door, and I dialed the flashlight even lower, until it was only emitting a small glow, as I moved up to it. The door was locked, so I stepped to one side, wordlessly pointing at the lock.

  Harry pushed his way through, rummaging in his pockets, and slipped the lock-picking device into the keyhole just under the knob. The machine whirred softly, falling silent as the lock clicked after a few seconds. Harry pulled it out and tucked it back into his pocket, and I motioned for him to move back down the stairs as I ever so slowly peeled back the door, trying to ensure that it wouldn’t creak, and peered through the small gap.

  Red light flooded the crack, and as I peeked through it, I could see it flicker, indicating something was burning. I pulled it open a little more.

  Double glass doors stood twenty feet away, just past another set of concrete stairs heading up. Outside, two men stood with their backs to me and the door, staring down at the streets. I could see the straps cutting across their backs, and one shifted slightly, the long muzzle of his rifle coming into view. I ducked back, swinging the door shut extra gently to avoid even the slightest click, and took a moment to think.

  “We’ve got two men on the other side of double glass doors that lead to the street. The opening for the stairs is directly behind them. There’s light coming in off the street, but that only works for us now, when their backs are turned—it works against us if they turn around.”

  Everyone leaned forward as I whispered, listening intently. Cruz raised two of his fingers, meeting my eyes. “The stairs—is there an open side? A banister?”

  I blinked, trying to remember my split-second picture. “Yes.”

  “Then we use the shadows and climb up and over the banister,” he said easily, a smile twisting the corner of his lips. “Limited exposure time, and we take advantage of the shadows, right?”

  “I’m not sure I’m that spry anymore,” whispered Alejandro.

  Cruz’s smile grew, and he grabbed Alejandro on the shoulder. “It would be an honor to give you a boost, my friend.”

  I looked at Cruz, wanting to find a flaw in his plan, but unable to do so. Yes, it involved a little risk, but it was actually minimal compared to trying to sneak past the guards, or even trying to take them out.

  “Sorry, Alejandro,” I said, meeting his eyes. “But Cruz is going to give you a hand.”

  Alejandro hesitated, and then shoved his gun into the wet leather holster on his hip. “Let’s get it over with,” he grumbled. We opened the door wide enough to let him and Cruz slip through, keeping low to their stomachs. I watched as they crept down toward the doors, using the shadow to mask their approach. Cruz gripped Alejandro and rose, and within seconds, Alejandro had rolled over the banister and dropped onto the stairs with barely a sound. Cruz scrambled up behind him, and the two crept up the stairs, disappearing from sight.

  “Next two,” I whispered, allowing Harry and Marna to go through the door. I watched them both as they slipped over the banister and onto the steps. There was a tense moment when I heard Harry’s shoe slap on the ground, but the guards continued to watch the street, their backs to us.

  April, Carl, and I went last. I covered Carl while he helped April up, and then climbed up after her, using the banister as a handhold and the steps, appropriately, as a foothold. I kept my gun in my hand as I climbed, rolling over the thin banister and onto my hands and toes on the stairs. I moved up them quickly, passing through the red light that illuminated a section of them and slipping onto the next landing.

  Alejandro helped me up, and I noticed a pair of legs sticking out of the doorframe just behind his left shoulder, illuminated by candles placed strategically around the hallway. The man on the floor was slowly being dragged deeper in. “There was a guard. Cruz shot him. Harry and Marna are checking the apartments.”

  The feet disappeared completely into the doorway, and then Cruz stepped out. He wiped his fingers on his chest and pulled the door closed. “That room is filled with ammunition,” he whispered as soon as he noticed me watching him. “We should stock up if we can.”

  “We think this floor is being used as a warehouse,” whispered Marna from behind me, and I turned to stare at her as she and Harry approached, her gun out but pointed at the floor. “There’s a ton of supplies in each apartment, food, water… There’s an entire room filled with toilet paper.”

  “So stupid,” muttered Harry.

  Alejandro huffed, his beard twitching. “You kidding, boyo? If it were the end of the world, I’d trade the lot of you for a double-ply roll.”

  I managed to keep from laughing. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down. “Not the place,” I said gruffly. “If this floor is clear, then let’s get to the next floor. Cruz, take point.”

  The dark-haired man nodded, and moved past me to the set of stairs above the ones we’d just climbed. I followed him closely, my gun back in my hand. The landing at the top was clear—at least from our angle—but I remained vigilant as we crept up the stairs.

  Cruz threw up a hand across my chest, and I froze. He craned his neck, then held up one finger, indicating one guard. I gave him a thumbs-up, and then he sprang into motion, sprinting up the stairs, not bothering to silence his steps anymore. I followed at his heels, keeping my gun trained on the area just left of the landing as it came into view. I fired at the leg I saw a second later, the shot puffing softly out in the quiet we’d established, and then again as the guard fell, hitting him just over his left eye. Continuing up the stairs, I kept my gun trained on the hall as I cleared the steps.

  Cruz knelt next to the man on the floor, pulling his weapons from him. I motioned for Alejandro and Harry to check the rooms, while I pushed past Cruz, aiming for the corner room. I pushed open the door, and froze when my light cut across a long pair of bare feminine legs, bruised and dirty. I raised the light a little higher, revealing dirty underwear, a thin pink tank top, and finally a woman’s face, her hands raised up to block out the light. Her back was to the wall, and she was sitting on a thin, dirty mattress. I immediately low
ered the light out of respect.

  “Please,” she pleaded softly into the darkness. “Don’t.”

  Every instinct in me was screaming for me to help that woman. “Viggo?” said Harry from behind me, and I held up my hand.

  “I’m going to get you out of here,” I announced softly. “Wait.”

  I stepped back and pulled the door closed, wishing I could block out the vision of her bruised arms and tangled, knotted hair. “Viggo,” Harry said, “there are—”

  “Women on this floor,” I finished for him, and he nodded, his face pale. I felt a seething anger come across me, settling into my bones and muscles, disguised as calm—the heavy calm that promised death. It gave me a clarity of purpose, a vision of a future that would make the Porteque gang suffer for what they were doing. “This ends now. I go first, then Cruz. April, you bring up the rear.”

  The middle-aged woman nodded, the freckles spread liberally across her cheeks and nose bright in contrast with her pale skin, but her eyes held a hard edge in them. I could tell she was feeling the same anger.

  I moved forward, my pistol in my hand. Heading up the stairwell, I saw a man’s bald head come into view. His eyes widened as he saw me, his mouth opening to warn the others, but I pointed and pulled the trigger, ending his warning before he could even draw breath. Red spattered on the wall behind him, and I kept moving. I heard something drop in the hall to the left, but I kept my eye on the partially open door in the corner and the muzzle flashes coming from it. I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  Two men were at either side of the room, one kneeling, the other standing. Both were firing their guns out the window, and I noticed the night vision goggles strapped to both of their heads.

  I shot the one standing first, in the back, before he could even turn, and he dropped. The man opposite him started to turn, and I squeezed the trigger again, feeling no remorse as he dropped lifelessly to the ground. These men weren’t men, and didn’t deserve to be recognized as such.

  I moved back toward the hall, where Cruz was waiting for me, his gun trained down the hallway. I waved April over from where she was perched a few steps short of the landing, and made room for her as she moved over to us. Gunfire came from the four other doors down the hall, two on the left, and two more facing the street.

  Holding up four fingers, I used hand signals to explain that I wanted two people to a door. They partnered up, and as a unit, we crept down the hall. Cruz and Carl peeled off first, stopping by the door on the left, just past the stairwell. Then April and Harry stopped, this time on the right. Alejandro and Marna held up just shy of the right, and I took the corner apartment on the left. I squatted in front of it and counted down on my fingers, starting at three.

  On one, I threw the door open and quickly fired two rounds. One man dropped, but a second squeezed the trigger as he turned, his gun going off loudly as it fired into the wall. I dropped to my belly, shouting “Duck!” as the bullets tore overhead, and I squeezed the trigger twice.

  The man cried out as my bullet struck him in the chest, his arms spreading as he tumbled forward. His weapon continued to fire as he fell, coming to a stop only after he hit the floor and it skidded away a few feet. I held my gun up and searched the room.

  “Clear!” I shouted.

  A chorus of ‘clear’ met my ears, revealing the apartment building had thin walls. I slowly got up on my feet, looking around, searching for injuries. “Everyone okay?” I asked.

  Cruz gazed about, and then nodded, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “We are fine, my friend,” he said with a smile.

  “Any enemy left alive?”

  April wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shook her head, her eyes unremorseful. “No.”

  “Excellent. Everyone pick a room and get ready—we’re going to give Mags a little overdue backup. April, take a rifle and cover the stairs from the top landing. Alejandro and Cruz, get in the windows and fire a few shots, just to make sure everyone below thinks their people are still up there. Just don’t aim for our people. I’ll let Mags know the same. Carl, Marna, go downstairs and get us as much ammo as you can carry for the rifles left in this room, then get back up here. I’ll be in the corner apartment.”

  I gave the orders rapidly, feeling the familiarity of it return. We didn’t have much time before the rest of the Porteque gang was in place for their ambush on the streets, and I wanted to make sure to flip this little trap on its head.

  I moved up to the window that had a view of the street below. Looking around, I found the car Tim had sheltered behind, and though I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t see anybody else in that area either—definitely no sprawled bodies. That was a good sign. Hopefully, he was still hunkered down beneath his cover, waiting for the right moment to escape.

  “We’re in their roost,” I transmitted to Mags as I set up my position, using the wall next to the window as cover. “There are no more enemies up here at this time. Don’t shoot at us; we’re going to hit their men once they start moving toward you. I want you and your teams to start pulling back to the stairs. Come around the opposite building through the alley and then come right for us. Use the park for cover, and we’ll give you cover from above.”

  “Roger,” she said, as gunshots sounded from Alejandro and Cruz’s room. I picked up the rifle lying over the floor, next to the man I’d killed, and cradled it against my shoulder, taking a moment to check the magazines. There were a few more on the table next to the window, so I checked them too.

  I took a few shots, but then noticed a large group below as they began to move out, heading for the park in low, crouching runs. “Get ready,” I transmitted, pulling the rifle up. “Fire on them and break them up. Shoot to kill—we don’t need any of these guys running around.” I thought of the woman in that room and gritted my teeth. “Ever.”

  The men below began to creep farther into the park, spreading out and moving silently. I saw another group of men break away and head right, cutting across the street and using cars for cover. They were closest to me, so I angled my sights toward them.

  “Everyone ready?”

  “Ready,” announced Cruz.

  “More than ready,” added Alejandro, his voice grim.

  “Good—fire.”

  28

  Violet

  “Amber, hold up. I got a big group emerging from the building just around the corner from your position.”

  I tracked the small crowd silently from above, watching as it continued to grow, their heat signature becoming larger and stronger. The steady stream of bodies leaving the building stopped—I had lost count at about fifty people, as the bodies blended together on the scanner, but it was probably between that and a hundred—and I held my breath. The orange blobs at the head of the group turned right, and I cursed.

  “Amber, they are heading your way,” I said, swinging the drone around and heading back toward her. “You’ve got maybe a minute to hide.”

  “You want us to go into the buildings?” she asked, her mic popping.

  “No,” I said, remembering Henrik’s warning. It had worked for Viggo’s group, but I didn’t want to take any more chances. I ground my teeth, thinking. “Up the fire escapes,” I said. “As fast as you can until my mark, then slowly.”

  “Roger,” she replied with a grunt, and I pulled the drone to a stop above the intersection, watching.

  I tilted the nose of the drone up some, exposing more of the street to the sensors, and watched as the crowd grew closer, marking their speed closely. I waited until the last second, trying to buy Amber’s team time to get as high off the ground as possible. I hoped she hadn’t put her entire team on one single fire escape.

  “Now,” I transmitted, swinging the drone around and heading down Amber’s street, the mob of people just reaching the corner. I maneuvered the craft higher as I moved, and slowed to a stop when I caught sight of Amber’s team spread out on the fire escapes, slowly climbing up. They were on the same side of the str
eet, but split between two different fire escapes, a narrow alley separating them.

  Amber was squatting in the corner of the third-floor balcony, her gun trained on the street below, while her team crept by her, heading straight for the fifth story. “I’m thinking I’m just going to do this Violet-style,” Amber whispered softly, and I smiled nervously.

  “What’s Violet-style?” I asked, rotating the drone around to do another sweep of the buildings across the street.

  “Running pell-mell across the rooftops in order to escape a mob.”

  I chuckled ruefully and shook my head, switching from the thermal scan to the night vision and maneuvering the drone around so I could peer through the windows of the buildings her team clambered on. Maybe I was being too thorough, but with the thermal scanner unable to reliably read through building walls, I was not taking any chances.

  “Owen really loves to exaggerate that story,” I replied, my eyes searching the green image on the screen for anything out of the ordinary.

  “Hey, you aren’t the only one suffering in that story,” she said testily, then affected a deeper, dramatic voice. “‘Amber was barely conscious, her life slowly draining out of her with every step we took. We were surrounded by the enemy, and I knew that if we were caught, she would surely die.’”

  I bit back a laugh as I shifted to the next building to repeat the process. Then we fell silent, and I didn’t say anything, in case she was moving or doing something that required her concentration. After a moment, she asked, “How’s he doing?”

  My eyes flicked over to where Owen was sitting on the stairs, his back pressed against the wall, and frowned. “He’s… He’s here.”