Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series by Hayley Lawson (pdf e book reader .TXT) 📗

He guided George to one of the rooms a couple of doors down from Vera’s. He found it strange how quickly they’d gotten used to the groans from Vera and the banging on the door as she tried to escape. It just became…well, another sound.

He opened the door, and George went inside meekly. “I am feeling a little tired. Wake me when it’s time to leave.” He walked to the bed, laid down, and closed his eyes.

“Good night, George.” Murray closed the door. There was no lock on the outside, but he needed to lock him in because everyone was at risk if he turned.

Peter arrived and walked over to Murray. “What are you doing?” he asked, raising his eyebrow, and then looking at the door. “Who’s behind the door?”

Peter went to the door and opened it. He saw George on the bed in the same position as Murray had left him. “Lazy ass, taking a nap. Fuck that.” Peter made to go in and drag George out of bed, but Murray stopped him.

“Don’t do it,” General Murray told him. Peter looked down at the hand on his shoulder, and Murray quickly removed it. Murray closed the door again. “He thinks he’s infected.”

Peter grimaced. “I can’t say I like the whiny little prick, but I wouldn’t wish that ending on anyone. Actually, that’s not true. I wish it on one person—Afana.”

Murray nodded in agreement. “Me too. I think we all do. I bet that bastard is the only one who can’t get it.”

Peter shrugged. “Too true. I bet no one could bite through his tough skin.” They both winced at the thought.

“His skin is like the bottom of an old man’s foot, all dry and crusty,” Peter added, and the men turned up their noses at the thought.

“I’m glad I’m done being his bitch,” Murray admitted.

Peter patted him on the back. “About time.” Both men nodded, sharing a moment. Finally, they could admit how they really thought about Afana without the fear of him killing someone they cared for and then them.

Murray didn’t know how long their newfound freedom would last, but he would enjoy it while he could.

Chapter Five

Everyone had gathered food from Massimo’s fridge and cupboards. The kitchen was going to be empty soon with all these hungry people to eat him out of house and home.

“We need to watch over the house. We can work on guard shifts,” Ryder informed the group. They all agreed.

“Willard and I can take the first watch,” Javier offered. “Then there will be less chance of him falling asleep and me getting attacked by a wolf again.” He looked pointedly at Fluffy.

Fluffy paid him no attention. He was too busy searching under the table for scraps of food that had been dropped. Ryder thought, I’ll have to make him a plate of food. It looked as though Fluffy had taken Leandro over while he was drunk. Ryder couldn’t imagine Leandro doing anything like that if he was himself since he was such a clean person.

Ryder remembered the two of them dancing in Koda’s kitchen while they were cooking for everyone, and the thought of Leandro’s hands on her waist warmed Ryder. She used to dance with the little kids in the bunker while Natalie would sing, and they would laugh, but this was different. She’d never danced with a man before, a man had never been that close.

“There’s enough of us for two-hour watches. That way everyone can get a decent amount of sleep.”

Everyone agreed with Ryder’s plan, and Javier closed the door behind him and Willard.

“Where do you think they came from?” Ryder pondered.

Everyone was silent for a moment, “I didn’t recognize any of those Mad,” Massimo admitted. “They weren’t from Pinewood.”

“They weren’t from the mountain settlement, either,” Carter added.

Dustin coughed. “I knew a few of them,” he informed the group soberly. “They were from Darkwell.” Darkwell had been overrun yesterday, but there had been a handful of people left. It appeared that the Madness had taken the rest of them.

Massimo rested his hand on Dustin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to clean up.” Ryder left the kitchen to shower once again.

When she returned, everyone was gathered in the kitchen. Carter hardly looked up from his food, just nodded and went back to eating. Ryder knew they were waiting for her. She had to figure out their next steps, and she was ready. She’d been waiting for this day for years. She couldn’t wait to pay Afana back for all the years he had stolen from her life and others.

Ryder sat down and pushed the chair under the table. The meeting was in session, and all eyes were on her. “Thank you all for agreeing to help. For too many years Afana has been free to destroy hundreds of people’s lives, but we are going to change that. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s not going to be easy. But Afana has never come up against determination like ours before!” Ryder paused to take a breath, and the group filled the gap with cheers.

“Graham, can we bring the horses to pull the cart for the weapons and other stuff?” Ryder asked Graham.

“Sure, as long as me and Carter can ride Black Beauty together,” Graham said, winking at Carter. Those two had quickly built a boy-crush on one another.

Carter winked back.

“Whatever floats your boat.” Ryder chuckled. “Okay, this is the plan.” Ryder paused to make sure that everyone was listening. “The bunker is made up of six levels. The top level is Level One, where Afana lives and the advisors work. First, we’ll need to get past the two guards, Tank and Knuckles, or possibly two others, who won’t have weapons. Then there will be the generals, who will have guns. Their job is to guard the bunker, mainly to make sure people don’t try to escape. They won’t be expecting an attack, so we