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

The cars wouldn’t be the only things squealing in pain.

Ryder waited until the Mad were within reach. She had a clear field, and every arrow had to count.

She lined up on the Mad bounding toward them on all fours, and when the Mad lifted his head, Ryder let out a breath and fired her first arrow. It sank into the Mad’s head, and he tumbled sideways into the mud.

The Mad behind him didn’t even look at him, just clambered over him like he wasn’t even there. Their need for flesh was too strong for them to care about anything else but obtaining it.

Carter’s stone whizzed through the air and landed right in front of the Mad. “Bad light,” Carter bitched.

Ryder prepared her next shot. “Sure, blame the sunlight for your crappy shot.”

“You’ll see,” he told her. He loosed another stone, and this one hit a Mad on the cheek. The Mad frowned and looked even angrier.

“You’re just pissing them off” Leandro laughed.

“You’re pissing me off,” Carter replied as he fired more stones, which bounced off them like apples, and with as much effect.

One of Carter’s stones hit a Mad in the head, making him wobble off course. He bumped into the Mad that Ryder was aiming for and she missed his head, the arrow going through his shoulder instead. The Mad jolted back but recovered quickly and sprinted at them again.

Carter fired stone after stone at a Mad who was almost right in front of him. He decided Leandro was right. All he was achieving was pissing them off even more. “Fuck this.” Carter stowed his slingshot and went for his axes. He leapt off the car and chopped the Mad up like he’d done with the stag.

Ryder glanced toward Leandro. There were a lot of Mad heading toward him and Massimo. Massimo had gone all vampy, his eyes glowing red as he prepared to attack.

Leandro’s nostrils flared as he grew angry. He leapt forward, and as his feet left the ground, he transformed into a beautiful white wolf.

He dove for the first Mad, tossing him against a car with enough force to snap his spine. The Mad crumpled to the road. He’d stood no chance against Fluffy.

The battle was in full swing. Ryder whooped as she fired her bow over and over. Any Mad who got close enough to her perch caught her boot in their face. Ryder danced circles on top of the car, thinning out the Mad who were farther away from them while the others took care of the ones which had closed in.

Ryder was alarmed at first when she saw the small group of Mad stalking Koda. He was backing away from them, which surprised Ryder. She’d thought he’d be more of a fighter. Ryder fired at the Mad who were chasing him, hitting one in the neck and another in the head.

Then Koda did something she wasn’t expecting. He opened one of the car doors, climbed into the car, and then opened the opposite door just a fraction. The Mad dived in after Koda with their hands outstretched in front of them. What was he doing?

Koda slid out of the other side of the car and quickly slammed the door closed, trapping the Mad in the car. Ryder leapt off the car hood and planted her foot squarely in the ass of the Mad which was half in and half out of the car. Her kick pushed him right in, and she slammed the door behind him. They now had a car filled with growling Mad.

The others had killed the rest of the Mad, and came over to join them by the car.

“It’s like, how many clowns can you get in a car? Instead, it’s how many Mad can you get in a car?” Massimo smiled.

As he waited for his fangs to recede, he counted the Mad jammed in the car. There were at least eight of them, all extending their arms through the glassless windows in an attempt to grab hold of one of the gang

“They’re not very smart, are they?” Carter snarked. He was only saying what everyone was thinking, The Mad clawed at one another in their desperation to get out of the car, but none had the wherewithal to try the handle. They could have easily gotten out, but their lust for flesh was so strong it had taken over any rational thoughts.

The gang watched the trapped Mad for a moment. They were missing chunks of flesh from where they had been bitten, and some even lacked a glowing red eye. These looked like they had already been through one war and survived to fight the next. These things didn’t look like they were living, though the disease had not taken over their bodies. The bodies were merely a shell to house the Madness.

Massimo stepped a little closer to the car. “Malcolm Rice, is that you?” he asked one of the Mad, but it didn’t answer.

Willard looked at the Mad Massimo was speaking to. “Yep, that’s him all right. He’s got the same scar as Malcolm,” Willard confirmed. The Mad to whom they were referring had an old scar running right over his eyelid from forehead to chin, which, with his glowing red eyes, made him look eviler than the others.

“Looks like we can cross him off the list,” Massimo said, disappointed.

“Is there anyone else on the list in the car?” Ryder asked as she looked in, not sure who she was looking for.

Massimo peered into the car. “I can’t see Dustin Duncan or Johnny Garner.”

Ryder looked around, her grin turning to a look of panic. “Where’s Fluffy?”

The fear on her face was mirrored on Massimo’s. “I don’t know.”

Chapter Twenty

Leandro could hear everyone calling for him—and that damn Carter was shouting for Fluffy. Every time he thought he was going to turn back into Leandro he heard Carter, which blocked out all thoughts other than the desire to rip out Carter’s throat just as