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

grass next to Ryder. “I’ve looked through Willard’s window, and he’s not here. Let’s give him till our socks have dried, and if he’s not here by then ,we’ll move on to the next people on our list.” Leandro liberated his soggy feet and fell backward onto the springy grass with a tired sigh.

Everyone lay back on the grass and enjoyed the sun and the warm breeze, both of which were a refreshing change from the swamp.

Ryder closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face. She luxuriated in the feeling of being free and surrounded by friends. She couldn’t wait for Terrier and the others to have this freedom. Ryder smiled at the thought of the kids seeing the sky, the ones born in the bunker had never seen the light of the sun.

What would they make of the wide open spaces to run around in? The trees and the animals? Her smile widened into a grin, and a happy laugh escaped her at the thought of Terrier having to horsey the kids across the fields.

Leandro smiled beside her. “What are you laughing at?”

“Just the thought of my friends being able to enjoy times like this.” Ryder wriggled her toes again. “Even my toes are free.”

Leandro wriggled his, then Carter and the others followed suit. If anyone had been watching them they would have wondered what the hell was going on—four men and a woman lying on the grass, all wriggling their toes and laughing until their ribs hurt.

Someone did see them.

“What are you doing, you twinkle toes? What is this, some kind of new dance?” an amused voice called from above them.

Everyone looked up at the house.

Leandro got up and craned his neck, shading his eyes from the glare of the sun on the second-floor window Willard was leaning out of. “Hey, Willard, did you not hear us knock?” Willard gave Leandro a bemused look. “I was napping,” he replied.

“Jeez, he’s a deep sleeper,” Carter whispered to Ryder.

“We’re here to ask for your help,” Leandro yelled.

“For what?”

“Come down, so we don’t have to shout,” Leandro replied.

“Good idea.” Willard disappeared from his window, then his head popped back out again. “I’ll be down in a minute,” he called. Then he vanished again.

Ryder and the others gathered their socks and shoes. “Are you going to put your pants on?” Ryder asked Carter.

He shrugged his shoulders in response. “I’ll stick them on when we leave—unless you prefer the boxer shorts?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her comically.

“I do prefer the boxer shorts.” Carter looked at Ryder in surprise. “So the Mad have more naked skin to bite.” Ryder grinned.

Carter’s eyes widened. “That’s mean.”

“So is making me look at those toes. You know they aren’t supposed to be green, right?” Ryder smirked as Carter looked down at his toes. One still had a bit of swamp grass on it.

Ryder winked. “Made you look.”

“You’re getting better at this,” Carter told her as he got to his feet. He grabbed his pants and had just begun to put them on when the front door opened.

Ryder went to stand by Leandro so she could study Willard. Willard was a small man, with almond eyes like Decso’s. She noticed that he’d taken time to tame his springy black hair on his way to the door.

He eyed them all suspiciously. “What do you want?”

Leandro explained. “We came to ask for your help to free Ryder’s people.” He indicated Ryder when he said her name.

Willard returned Ryder’s scrutiny, his eyes resting on her cattle brand. “That looks like Afana’s mark.”

Ryder nodded. “Yeah, that’s where we’re going, to rescue the women and kids in the bunker.”

Willard snorted. “Are you serious? No. No fucking way. I don’t know why you even came here to ask.”

Leandro frowned. “Why not?”

“They’re not my problem, are they? Why should I help them?” Willard shook his head. “No.”

This was more like the men Ryder knew. Cowards.

“We can pay you,” Massimo offered.

“I don’t need your money. Going there is a lost cause. Afana will kill you. If I were you, I wouldn’t do it. It’s a suicide mission.”

They weren’t going to change his mind.

“Whatever. Come on, guys. There are still more people on our list. We haven’t got time for yellow-bellies like him.” Ryder sat back down to pull her socks and boots on. She wasn’t going to force Willard into joining them, but she didn’t have to fake respect for someone who was happy to allow people to suffer. Still, they could have really used his blade skills in the bunker.

“I heard he’s shit anyway,” Carter catcalled as they left.

She saw Carter’s wink and returned it, raising her own voice to make sure it carried back to the house. “Who told you that?”

“In the bar last night they were saying he was a shit shot.”

Ryder laughed. “Oh. Leandro said Willard was good at knife throwing. I was hoping he could show you a trick or two.”

Carter put a hand to his chest. “You wound me! Who’s Willard, anyway?”

“Jeez, Carter, you really don’t pay any attention, do you? That was Willard.” Ryder turned Carter back toward Willard’s house, where he stood watching them leave with his arms folded.

A Mad came from around the back of the house. “Oh, shit. Who forgot to two-tap?” Ryder pulled out her bow, grabbed her arrows, and ran toward Willard. More Mad appeared. They must have followed them out of the swamp. The Mad locked on to Willard’s position and veered toward him. Willard hadn’t noticed, he was too busy reacting to the sight of Ryder running toward him with her bow raised.

Ryder drew her bow. “Willard, look out,” she yelled. Willard looked at the arrow pointed right at him with horror. The Mad was almost upon him. “Willard, duck!”

She released the arrow just as Willard realized that she wasn’t aiming at him and got the hell out of the way. The arrow took the Mad between the eyes, but Ryder was already focused on the next. Another Mad ran