Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series Hayley Lawson (ebook reader play store .TXT) 📖

Mama Lou knew she hadn’t. Mia and Mama Lou had spoken a few hours ago. She wouldn’t have killed herself. She had been murdered.

Freddie looked over his shoulder at Mama Lou as he sprinted to the kids’ room. His filthy arms were wrapped around Kari like she was his protective shield.

Mama Lou’s breath caught in her throat as she put two and two together. It was him. He was the killer.

Mama Lou had sent the murderer to the children’s room.

“Terrier, Peter, Freddie’s the killer,” Mama Lou screamed frantically.

As soon as the words reached the men they stopped in their tracks, spinning in the other direction. They had to get to Kari.

Terrier ran past Mama Lou so fast he was almost a blur. The children’s door began to open.

“Don’t open the door,” Terrier yelled, but it was too late. Freddie shoved the door open and threw Kari into the room. Terrier could see that Natalie had been knocked backward as the door closed behind Freddie. The killer was in the room with Natalie and the kids.

No fucking way! Terrier dived at the children’s room door with all his weight. Freddie wasn’t able to lock it in time, and Terrier barged through, pinning Freddie between the door and the wall. Terrier didn’t move.

“Peter, check on Natalie and get the kids out of here,” Terrier ordered as Peter came in.

Peter helped a shaking Natalie get up from the ground, then lifted Kari into his arms, where she sobbed on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to come back?” Peter asked.

“No, I will take care of him,” Terrier told him. Natalie scowled at Freddie as Peter led her and the kids out of the room.

Terrier released the pressure on the door and stepped back, and Freddie slid down the wall to the floor.

Terrier closed the door and locked it, leaving him and Freddie inside.

Freddie spat blood. His nose was busted. “Are you going to kill me now?”

“How many did you murder?” Terrier asked as he moved closer to Freddie.

“Not enough,” Freddie sneered, showing no remorse.

“Why?”

“Because they’re whores. They’ll sleep with anyone.”

Terrier was confused by Freddie’s logic. “They’re not whores. Afana made that their job. Do you think they wanted to do it?”

“You guys down here have given them too many rights. They have a choice of who they fuck.”

“You’re pissed because they turned you down? That doesn’t give you the right to kill them!”

“She didn’t turn me down.” Freddie looked confused. “She wouldn’t turn the other men down. She was a whore. They are all whores.”

“It was because you were jealous? Fucking hell, you’re a sick fucker!”

Freddie got to his feet. “I wasn’t jealous!” he ground out through gritted teeth, and repeated, “She was a whore. They were all whores.”

Terrier’ had heard all he could stomach from Freddie, so he knocked him out. Freddie was no match for a brick shithouse like Terrier.

A sick bastard like him couldn’t be allowed to live down here. Terrier unlocked the door and dragged Freddie out of the room and into the main area, where everyone looked at him. They’d heard the argument.

“What do you want me to do with the murdering bastard?” he asked Mama Lou, the women, and the men who worked down the tunnels.

Peter, Natalie, and the kids weren’t there, which was a good thing because he didn’t want them to see what would happen next.

“Kill him!” the women yelled. “Feed him to Vera,” a few jeered.

The thought had crossed his mind. It would be poetic justice. The men looked at the women, fearful, and so they should be. They were outnumbered here, and they knew it.

Mama Lou stepped forward and faced Freddie.

“Your sentence for killing the women is death,” Mama Lou pronounced.

The women cheered. The men huddled together like a flock of scared sheep. General Murray and Martin nodded in agreement at the man’s sentence.

There was fear in Shane’s eyes. His history of coming down to Level Six and taking whatever he wanted could easily make him their next target.

George was outraged. Women shouldn’t have the power to kill a man. He wanted to say that, but Shane wrapped his hand around his mouth to stop anything from coming out. He wasn’t going to let George get him killed.

“Ladies, get the poles that support your bunks,” Mama Lou ordered, to general agreement from the women. The women on Level Six had been waiting for this day, a day when they could rise against the restrictions of the bunker and the men who controlled it.

Now was their chance to break free!

“Terrier, please throw our unwelcome guest down Tunnel Four,” Mama Lou requested, and Terrier did just that. He dragged Freddie to Tunnel Four, which was instantly invaded by the women and their metal poles.

Freddie’s screams didn’t last long. The women took their years of pain and frustration out on him.

The revolution on Level Six had begun.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Has there been an outbreak down here?” General Murray asked as women with bloody metal poles left Tunnel Four.

“Only Vera, and she’s been contained.”

“I should have guessed that dirty whore Vera would become infected first. Are you sure she’s actually got it, or just her normal self?” Shane laughed as he jokingly nudged General Murray. Only Shane found it amusing.

“I can drag him down Tunnel Four now if you’d like,” Terrier soberly offered, which was greeted with acclaim by the pole-wielding women.

Shane leaned back, pushing his chest out. “Fucking hell, have you all had a sense-of-humor transplant or something? Can’t a man make a joke?”

“Clearly not. I don’t see anyone laughing,” Murray stated. He wished Shane were still on Level Five. Murray wanted to be his true self, but Shane wasn’t even trying to be a better person—maybe because Shane was being himself.

“You’re welcome to pay Vera a visit and see for yourself,” Mama Lou offered. Her joke was much better than Shane’s. Vera would literally eat Shane alive.

“I’m good,” Shane demurred, waving his hands.

“If