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

“Where did it come from come?”

Everyone looked at the trees. “Over there…or maybe over there?” Carter pointed in different directions, which wasn’t very helpful.

Ryder’s hands went to her knives. “I heard it.”

“Something’s out there watching us. Waiting for us.” Koda sounded a little nervous, which worried the others even more.

They glanced around, not sure what or who they were looking for. Was it a Mad, one of Afana’s men, or someone else?

Ryder walked backward, and her leg brushed against something which felt like a tree at first. She jerked away and looked to see what had touched her. It wasn’t a tree trunk, but a boot. There was a body floating face-down in the water.

That scared the shit out of me.

Ryder grabbed Leandro and turned him around so he could see the body. “We need to see if it’s a Mad, and make sure he’s been two-tapped.”

Leandro agreed. Carter had stopped to look at the body. The others were checking out the nearby tree line to see what else was out there.

Ryder counted them down when they had a hold on the body. “After three… One, two, three!”

The three of them flipped over the body. It was bloated like Carter after one of Leandro’s breakfasts, except not only in the stomach area. It was all over, like he’d drunk all the water in the swamp. His skin mottled and chunks of flesh were missing from his neck. He’d been bitten by something.

There were signs of the Madness on him. “Should we two-tap him?” Ryder asked.

Leandro put his hand on Ryder’s shoulder and turned her to the others, who were looking at the trees again. “Once we know what’s out there.”

The sound in the trees died down. The eerie silence that followed didn’t put anyone at ease.

Then out of nowhere, a naked Mad came at them.

His eyes glowed red, and he had sores covering every inch of his exposed skin. He reached out for Clint with one and a quarter arms, the ragged stump of his missing arm moved as though its owner had no clue the limb was missing

Ryder quickly swung her bow off her shoulder and grabbed an arrow. Without conscious thought, she nocked the arrow, took a breath, and released it.

Her arrow found its mark in the Mad’s eyeball. He fell back into the water with a splash, Ryder’s arrow pointing to the sky.

The gang didn’t move. They stayed alert, straining their senses in case there were any more Mad out there.

Their fears were soon confirmed.

Growls came from the trees. They got louder, and there were high-pitched shrieks. The Mad were alerting all the other Mad in the area that there were living beings for the taking.

Everyone readied their weapons. The shrieks came from all around them. The gang was surrounded. They closed in to stand back to back.

The first Mad ran out of the trees, making waves in the water as he advanced. It looked as though he was being chased. There were more Mad behind him, all wanting the same thing—to sink their teeth into them.

A Mad snarled at Ryder like a wild animal. She released an arrow before he could get close. He fell backward into the water, and another Mad trampled his body without a second thought. This man had a chunk of flesh missing from his face, revealing a sliver of cheekbone.

Ryder planted an arrow in that man, too. He fell on top of the first, giving Ryder a clear view. There were so many of them. Motherfuckers! She fired arrow after arrow at the oncoming Mad. The bodies were piling up around her, and her quiver was running empty.

When Ryder’s next-to-last arrow was in the air, the woman she’d aimed for lost her footing on the uneven ground, making it Ryder’s first miss. Ryder’s fingers instantly found her last arrow and she fired again.

Ryder’s second arrow landed in the Mad’s shoulder. It didn’t even register; she just jolted backward from the movement. Her arms wheeled when slipped on the muck. “What the hell! Guys, look! Mine looks like she’s dancing,”

One of the Mad climbed the pile of the dead and used it as a springboard to leap at Ryder. Leandro was there before the Mad could reach her. He slammed into the Mad with all his Were strength. They fell into the swamp and Leandro pinned the Mad under the water, drowning it.

The dancing Mad was now within arm’s reach of Ryder, but her knives were ready. Ryder made short work of killing the Mad, but as soon as she was done there was another Mad in front of her. One of his arms hung awkwardly, and the other had been sliced off. This one had been through one hell of a battle before it got here.

Time to end his pain. She slit his throat, killing him.

There weren’t any more Mad heading toward Ryder. She’d taken care of hers, but a Mad man was about to leap onto Leandro’s back. I don’t think so! Time to karate-kick the flesh-chomping monster.

Ryder ran up the body pile and drop-kicked the Mad. Her boots landed square in the Mad’s gut and knocked him off his feet, but his outstretched hands grabbed her foot and brought her down with him.

Ryder went under and the Mad’s hands reached out for her, trying to drag her down.

She kicked wildly until she was free and broke the surface of the swamp. She arched her head upward, gasping for air as she flailed for the path.

She dragged herself out, but Ryder wasn’t done with this battle just yet. The Mad crawled out behind her, getting to its feet and resuming its shambling attack.

She quickly got to her feet. Mad or not, he’s still getting a kick in the nuts! She slammed her boot between the Mad’s legs. Ryder didn’t get the normal response. He didn’t double up in pain, only moved back a little awkwardly and came in for the second round.