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

She slashed him with the knife and blood gushed from the rend she opened across his face, but he came at her again like he didn’t feel it.

Ryder leapt onto the body pile, making sure not to fall as she clambered up the slick pile. Before the Mad could get its teeth on her, the knife was in his neck. With all her strength Ryder dragged the blade across his neck, parting its throat in a gush of hot blood.

She spun around to check on the guys. Leandro had taken care of the other Mad around him. The others had also killed all their Mad.

Ryder bent at the waist, resting her hands on her knees to support herself as the adrenaline left her body with the same speed it had arrived. Ryder hadn’t been the only one to end up in the water. She snickered at the bedraggled men, who were all in a similar state to her. Everyone was wet through and covered in mud, blood and slimy vegetation.

Something brushed against Ryder’s leg. She jerked around and kicked out, and her foot connected with the arm of a floating corpse. She retrieved her arrow from its head, then went around collecting all the others she saw sticking out of the bodies around her.

“Thank fuck that’s over,” Carter huffed. He looked the worst of all of them. “Ugh!” He raked his fingers through his long hair and beard, pulling out globs of slimy gunk.

A headless body floated toward them. Ryder poked it with her foot as it passed. “’I don’t think this one needs two taps, there’s not much chance he’s coming back to life. Come on. Let’s get out of here before any more Mad decide to come out of hiding.”

Chapter Seventeen

They made it out of the swamp without any more surprise attacks.

Ryder’s boots squeaked and squelched as she walked. Her socks were soaking wet so she was going to have soggy feet for the rest of the journey, and probably a blister or two by the time they got back to Massimo and Leandro’s house.

“I can’t wait to get back and have a nice hot shower,” she thought aloud. “I want to smell like lavender again.”

Massimo’s nose crinkled. “Yes, that would be much preferable to our current odor of eau-de-swamp.”

There was a murmur of agreement from the others, but it was subdued. By the looks on everyone’s faces and the squeaks coming from their boots, their toes were also swimming. Ryder could see that she needed to lift morale.

She put a hand to her ear. “Are we being followed by ducks?”

Everyone looked a little confused except for Massimo, who started to laugh. “Very funny, Ryder—because of our boots. I hope Willard has a fire lit, so we can dry our socks.”

Carter agreed. “Me too, my feet are pickled!”

They reached Willard’s house and knocked on his door, but there was no answer.

Carter knocked again impatiently. “Come on, I’m soaking here!”

“Give him a minute. He may be busy,” Leandro told Carter.

“I don’t think he’s here.” Carter dropped onto the ground outside of the house, took off his boots and peeled off his filthy socks. “My feet have been marinating in that muck for ages, and I’d like my socks to be warm and toasty.’” He twisted his socks in his hands and the smelly swamp water gushed out.

“Ewww,” Ryder complained. “Don’t you ever wash those?”

Carter just laughed at her and gave the socks a shake in her direction. He laid them out on some nearby stones to dry in the sun. He wiggled his toes in the grass and sighed. “That’s better.”

Then Carter undid his pants. He almost fell when he tried to pull them down, and they adhered to his legs like a second skin, making them all laugh at his flailing dance as he tried to avoid faceplanting in the dirt. When he finally got them off his boxers were stuck to his junk.

Ryder didn’t know whether to laugh or hide her face. Was he going to completely strip? What if Willard came to the door? That would be awkward.

“Free at last,” Carter declared as he lay back on the grass to let the sun dry him. He stretched and sighed, then began to roll in the grass like a horse.

Clint looked askance Ryder. “Where did you find him?”

Ryder snickered. “Mountain settlement. He actually found me.”

Carter rolled off his stomach and sat up. He laughed. “Yeah, she got captured by the kids from my settlement. They’d dug a shallow pit, and I didn’t think they’d catch anything in it but there was Ryder, her head poking over the edge like a furious little chipmunk.”

Ryder narrowed her eyes at Carter. “Well, at least I wasn’t almost naked when we met. You’re going to make a great first impression on Willard.”

Koda took a seat next to Carter and began undoing his bootlaces. “Carter is actually being wise for once, Ryder. We are useless if our tools don’t work.”

Thankfully, Koda stopped at his socks. It would have been very awkward if everyone had stripped down as far as Carter had.

“You’re right. We have a lot of walking to do before the end of the day, and my feet are already killing me.” Ryder sat down and removed her boots. Her socks were sopping wet, and they didn’t look any cleaner than Carter’s. She wrung them out and wriggled her toes in the grass to dry them.

The grass felt wonderful. “You’re right, Carter. It does feel better.” She smiled at him, savoring the warmth of the sun on her feet. They couldn’t stay there long, but she would enjoy the moment while it lasted.

“Aren’t you going to take your pants off?” Carter asked. Ryder raised her eyebrow. She was about to fire off a snarky reply when she realized that he had been talking to Leandro.

Leandro chuckled dryly. “I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want you to get embarrassed about your chicken legs.” He grinned and took a seat on the