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

Level One. The men were out of breath since they’d run up six flights of stairs. When they arrived, Afana was already waiting for them, with his thick arms crossed in front of him.

“It’s about fucking time!” Afana snapped. Afana had jumped through the holes in the glass floors, sealing each after him, rather than climbing the stairs. Now he stood in the security area, surrounded by advisors.

Tank and Knuckles hadn’t fought their captors, even though they knew they could have. It wouldn’t have been worth it. If they’d resisted, Afana would have come after them himself.

“We’re sorry,” Robert said. “Thank you for keeping the stairs open for us.”

“Close them now,” Afana commanded, and instantly, the advisors got to work.

Alarms sounded throughout the bunker, and an announcement came over the speakers. “Everyone in the bunker, stop what you’re doing. Go to your sleeping area immediately!”

Afana saw the chaos begin on the monitors as everyone did as they’d been ordered. They ran to their sleeping areas, which were in the tunnels off the social area of each level.

Afana had quarantined them.

Afana pointed at Tank and Knuckles. “Begin your work on these two. I want to know everything about this virus. I will not have an outbreak like last time. Do you understand?”

After the Ebola breakout, Afana had wanted to find the cause, how it had spread, and how to stop it. With Ebola, there was no cure, only preventative measures to keep it from spreading, although Afana remembered that there had been the occasional experimental vaccine before the WWDE.

The scientists had found out a lot of different things from studying the brains of people with the Ebola virus. Afana hoped that his scientists would find out a way to stop this virus before it spread. Otherwise, after two centuries, the bunker might be in its final days.

Terrier didn’t get far down the tunnel because he was distracted by the sound of a door slamming and boots running, followed by banging and yelling.

The door to the stairway out of Level Six had been locked.

Terrier looked through the glass floor of Level Five above him and saw the guards that had locked them in. Everyone was trapped on Level Six now. Why had they been sequestered down here?

He stood behind a wall and watched what was happening. The guards on Level Six were yelling at the men on the other side of the door to let them out. The glass was soundproof, but they didn’t need to hear to understand what the men were saying. After a while, the guards on Level Five turned their backs and walked away.

Other men on Level Five looked through the glass floor at the chaos, and Decso stared at Terrier. Of all the people! Terrier shook his head. Don’t be a dipstick.

Decso pointed at Terrier and smirked. That prick! He made a run for it down a tunnel and out of sight. Now that Decso knew he was down here, the whole bunker would know.

Mama Lou was quickly by Terrier’s side. She’d just come from leaving Peter to stand guard at Vera’s door since she didn’t want to risk her getting out.

“What do you think is going on?” Terrier asked.

“Afana didn’t come down here to look for you at first. It was to find the hunters who brought in Ivan’s head—Sergei, Pavel, Nestor, and Yegor. Afana knew that you and Ryder were part of that hunting group, and he wanted to know where you were. He made me search for you, and he sent the others out to hunt Ryder down.”

If Terrier’s face could have gone white, it would have. “I’ve got to help Ryder.” Terrier made his way to the stairs, and he pushed the guards away, knocking one to the floor. Terrier towered over the guard, but as he scurried away, another guard, Edgar, pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it at Terrier.

Mama Lou stepped between Terrier and the gun. “We can’t fight against ourselves. We need each other down here.”

Edgar didn’t protest, even though he should have. He was going against the general’s orders, but all of this was against orders. He shouldn’t have been locked on Level Six. He didn't belong down here. If Terrier the beast couldn’t get out of here, no one could.

Edgar lowered his gun. “Be my guest. Try to open the doors. I want to get the fuck out of here, too.”

Terrier battered the heavy metal doors. They bent inward from the force of his kicks, but he wasn’t strong enough to break the bolts on the other side. He was locked down here, and they were out there hunting Ryder.

Terrier couldn’t give up. He continued to bash at the door, sweat rolling down his face. His muscles felt like they were being ripped apart, but it was nothing compared to the way his heart broke when he imagined Sergei capturing Ryder.

Mama Lou placed her hand on his arm. She could feel the blood pumping. “It’s no good. You can’t open it. There’s nothing you can do.”

Terrier slumped on the stairs. Edgar had a defeated look on his face. If a monster like Terrier couldn’t open the door, there was no chance he could. Edgar motioned for the other guard to follow, and they left to find the other guards. They were a few more down on this level, and there was safety in numbers.

Mama Lou let Terrier catch his breath before she spoke. “You can’t help Ryder, but you can help us. I know why Afana was down here looking for you and the other hunters. It was about Ivan’s head. What was wrong with it?”

“Ivan looked the same as Vera before we chopped his head off. Nestor as well.”

She nodded. “I thought that was the case. It must be some sort of disease.”

Mama Lou paced a little by the staircase. Terrier remained seated.

“That would explain why everything has turned upside down,” Terrier said somberly. But he felt some relief. If that were the