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

Carter had only been gone for a few days, but it felt like these kids had aged years since he’d been away.

“Not yet. We were on the way there, and I thought I’d pop in and say hi.” Carter smiled. They didn’t need to hear the real reason, even though they already knew.

“Is Ryder with you?” Tommy asked, looking past Carter. Tommy fired questions at Carter before he could give him a full answer.

“Yes.”

Tommy grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. “Is she your girlfriend now?”

“No.”

“Why? She’s pretty.” Tommy inquired, and the other kids nodded in agreement. “She is.”

“Carter and Ryder sitting in a tree…” the kids sang, giggling.

“Guys, stop it. Come on, let’s go see Ryder and my other friends. I’ll introduce you to them.”

A few of the kids looked wary. They were scared to leave the cave.

The kids ran to Maxwell and the others, but Jessica wasn’t there. Carter panicked and called for her, and after a few moments, Jessica stepped out of the cave.

As soon as Jessica saw Carter, she folded her hands over her chest. “Carter, where’s your yellow ribbon?”

Carter had been right. She was pissed. Really pissed.

“And your braids look a mess,” Jessica chided. She walked over to Carter and began to fix them. She was also checking whether he’d lost any more.

“Nice to see you too,” Carter said as he was getting told off.

Jessica stamped a tiny foot. “You know, you were only borrowing the ribbons. I thought I’d told you that.” Ryder couldn’t help but snigger and Jessica shot Ryder a look as if to say this wasn’t a laughing matter, which made Ryder laugh even harder. They were both being told off by a six-year-old, and she looked damn cute doing it.

Jessica waited until Ryder had contained herself. “Come on, we’ll have to get your braids sorted out.” Her tiny hand slid into Carter’s, and he was glad he’d cleaned them. She led him in the opposite direction from Maxwell and the others.

Ryder wondered where they were going, but didn’t want to ask in case she got another scolding from Jessica.

“Jessica, do you want a shoulder ride?” Carter asked. Jessica took him up on the offer, and he lifted her up. After a few minutes, they came to a stone house, which was about the same size as Leandro’s bedroom.

Carter put Jessica down, and they entered the tiny home. Ryder was shocked at what she saw. She thought nothing could be brighter than Tightwad’s jumper, but it turned out she was wrong. The house was bulging at the seams with bright and colorful items. From ribbons to toys, it was a treasure chest of color.

“What is all this stuff?” Ryder asked. Her eyes were wandering around, trying to take it all in.

“It’s the kids’ toy box,” Carter told her. Jessica headed straight for the ribbons.

This toy box made the toys Ryder and Terrier had made in the bunker look pathetic. This wasn’t a toy box, it was a toy house. “Where did you get all this stuff?” Ryder asked.

“We collected it.” Carter smiled and knelt for Jessica to fix is bows.

Jessica pointed a finger at Carter. “The rule is, we borrow things from the toy box, but we must bring them back,” she said shaking her head at Carter. “You are always breaking the rules.”

Carter shrugged and grinned. “You know me. Rule breaker.”

Ryder couldn’t help but think about Tightwad’s face if he ever got in here. “Oh, my goodness. Tightwad is going to shit a rainbow when he sees all this!” Ryder held up brightly colored yarn.

Carter cracked up. “Shit a rainbow?”

Shit! Ryder placed her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Jessica.”

Ryder didn’t need to be sorry. “Shit a rainbow.” Carter repeated it several times, and each time he did Jessica laughed louder. In the end, the three of them were laughing so hard Ryder’s ribs hurt.

Once Ryder, Carter, and Jessica had contained themselves, they headed back to the other kids. Carter looked a little better with his new neat bows.

Fluffy had come to walk by Ryder’s side, even though he’d been told by the others to wait behind for her. Ryder was happy he hadn’t listened, and so were the kids.

The kids looked around. “You didn’t say Fluffy was here.” They were joyful as they moved closer to Ryder.

Ryder remembered how she’d told them not to stroke him last time they were at the settlement. “You can stroke him if you want. He’s a soft furball.” Ryder smirked at Leandro, who just looked up at her and shook his head. Ryder smiled at the kids. “Take turns, though.” She smiled again when the kids did as she’d requested.

“Fluffy, watch them while I talk with Maxwell and the others,” Ryder told Fluffy.

The group moved away from the kids, who were still within sight but out of earshot so they couldn’t hear what the adults were saying.

“What are you going to do now?” Ryder asked the group. There was only a handful of people from the settlement left, and they all turned to Maxwell for an answer.

“I can’t take them back to the settlement after this. We’d need to do something with all the bodies.” Maxwell shook his head. “And there aren’t enough of us left to protect them if Afana’s men came on a raid.”

“There’s a town called Pinewood. They also just had a Mad breakout, but I’m sure they’d take you in. I can speak to Massimo and see if you can stay at his house until he gets back.” Ryder informed them.

“Would the kids be safe there?” he asked.

“They’d be safer there than here. To be honest, it’s hard to tell if anywhere is safe, with these random cases of the Madness. The people in Pinewood are good folks, and they’d help look after the kids.” That was one thing Ryder was sure of.

The kids made their way over to the group, “I want to go with you to the bunker,” Tommy declared, and a few of