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

just been in. Murray didn’t want to go back down there since it was a dead end, but the mob was fast approaching and there was no other way for them to go.

“How are they coming back to life?” George demanded shrilly.

“They’re not. They weren’t dead. Some shots weren’t kill shots,” he explained.

Martin hung his head in shame. “Sorry, Dad.” This was the first time he’d had to shoot at a person, and he’d failed.

Murray patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, son. They’re coming, so get ready.”

Murray fired another round of bullets at the mob, taking care to aim for headshots. He didn’t think they were getting back up this time, but he hadn’t taken them all out. His gun was out of bullets and he needed to reload, but there wasn’t time.

He dropped the gun into his holster. “Don’t let them bite you,” he told his son.

There was a strangled shriek behind them. It was George. The advisor had lost his nerve and bolted off. He scurried down the tunnel, leaving Murray and Martin to fight alone.

General Murray swung the first one around and pushed him face first into the large metal wall fan. The blades made short work of his head, the sharp edges cleaved through his skull, spraying blood and brain matter everywhere.

General Murray made sure his mouth was closed. He didn’t want to get any blood in there.

Martin swung at another man, knocking him clean off his feet, but he got back up as another approached, and another. They were surrounded.

Father and son, they fought like their lives depended on it—because they did.

Shane came barreling through the mob in a berserker rage. He looked deadlier than the men with glowing red eyes. He swung the machete, taking their heads off while their backs were turned. They didn’t stand a chance. They wouldn’t have even if they knew he was coming.

Martin and Murray took care of the last few, and all that was left was a pile of bloody bodies on the ground and a handful of severed heads with glowing eyes.

They watched the eyes warily until the red glow faded.

“Thanks, Shane. You found us at just the right time.” General Murray’s voice broke Shane’s trance.

Shane shook his head like he was trying to clear whatever he was thinking out of his mind. “Were you leaving me?” he asked, looking down at his bloody machete.

“No,” General Murray said quickly. “I just came for my son and George.”

Shane wiped the blood from his knife onto his pants, “What, and then you were coming to get me? And take me away from the crazies?” Shane shook his head. “Don’t play me for a fool!”

“Shit, Shane, let’s just get the hell out of here, all right?” General Murray told him, partly admitting he hadn’t been coming to get him and offering for him to go with them this time.

Shane pointed the bloody machete at Murray. “All right. But don’t fuck me over again.”

Chapter Nineteen

Willard’s home wasn’t far from the road to Darkwell.

Massimo halted when they reached the road. “We should drive.”

“What, a car?” Ryder asked in surprise. She’d not seen a working car for years. Ryder had seen cars when Afana’s men had forced her from her home to the bunker. She wished they had a working car today—they would have been able to round up everyone quickly—but the one next to her wasn’t going anywhere as long as it was missing its wheels. The seats were ripped out, there was no steering wheel, and there were no doors. It had been stripped bare.

The other choices weren’t any better. The road was lined with the rusted-out shells of abandoned cars. Ryder imagined what it might have been like, seeing the roads with the cars flowing on them. She thought it would be fun to race fast in a car like she was riding a horse.

“Cool, aren’t they?” Leandro remarked.

Carter was shocked. He’d never seen anything like them before. He ran from vehicle to vehicle to inspect the insides.

Massimo patted Carter on his shoulder, and he bumped his head. Carter backed out of the truck, rubbing the sore spot.

The vampire grimaced. “Sorry. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve got some car magazines at home. You can look at them to see what cars were like before WWDE. And you’ll love Fast and Furious!” Massimo grinned.

“What’s Fast and Furious?” Carter asked.

“Oh, you’re in for a treat! I’ll tell you all about it on the way to Darkwell.”

They walked on for a while. Massimo sang as they walked, and there was a nice breeze to make the journey pleasant. Massimo’s singing was suddenly interrupted by a screech.

Everyone gave Massimo the eye and he stopped singing. “It wasn’t me,” he grumbled.

There was another screech. It was coming from behind them, and it wasn’t anybody singing. It sounded like a trapped animal.

Time slowed as they turned as one in the direction of the noise. It wasn’t an animal, yet it looked and sounded like one. There was a Mad dashing toward them, and it wasn’t alone. The horizon was filled with them, and they were moving toward them at a fast clip.

The gang were easy prey. There was nowhere to defend from, and no buildings around them in which to hide.

Ryder looked at Leandro and he looked back at her, eyes wide. He didn’t know what the hell they were going to do. They needed to think fast.

Panic was on everyone’s faces as they got into position with their weapons out, ready to fight.

Carter didn’t have his axes in his hands. Instead, he had chosen to use a leather slingshot and was gathering stones to use as ammunition. “Everything is close range,” he explained as he spotted Ryder looking at him.

Ryder leapt onto a car. The hood creaked a little from her weight, and dusty flakes flew down into the place where the seats should have been. This would hold her weight. Carter did the same on a rusty old car next to