Live Free Or Die™ Complete Series Boxed Set(Books 1-3)
Hayley Lawson Michael Anderle
This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2018, 2021 Hayley Lawson and Michael Anderle
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A Michael Anderle Production
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First US Edition January 2021
The Kurtherian Gambit (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are copyright © 2015-2021 by Michael T. Anderle.
Contents
Madness Unleashed
Madness Rising
Escaping Madness
Madness Unleashed
Live Free Or Die™ Book One
Prologue
If you don’t know the Madness, you can’t truly know the Age of Magic.
Sweden, One Hundred and Fifty Five Years after the World’s Worst Day Ever
Arthur Drake had brought his friend Howard to his lab to run some tests using the scanners and computers he had recently located in his facility’s basement.
At that moment Stuart, a younger scientist who was always spying on Arthur, walked into the basement.
“I told you Arthur was down here. He brought someone who doesn’t even work here. Didn’t you—” Felix cut him off, then took Arthur's elbow and led him to the corner of the room.
“What are you doing down here?” Felix demanded.
“It’s my best friend Howard. There’s something wrong with him, and I’ve noticed it in others too. It’s like they are on drugs, but they aren’t. Well, he’s not, anyway, and he needs my help.”
Felix glanced at Howard. “I have noticed people in town acting unusual. What are you planning to do?”
Arthur told Felix that his plan had been to run Howard’s blood through the computer and perform a scan on him.
“I don’t think this computer works. In all the years I’ve been here we’ve never even turned it on.”
Arthur shrugged. “Do you know why? Isn’t it worth a try? What harm could it do?”
“I think people forgot about it. I know I did.”
“Thanks, Felix.”
Arthur flicked on the switch and everyone stared at the monitor, but it was a moment before the screen came to life.
He typed his name at the text prompt and numbers started scrolling across the screen, then dashes and more numbers. Ten minutes later Felix rested his hand on Arthur's shoulder, making him jump a little since he was lost in the numbers. “You can use the computers upstairs.”
Stuart made his way to the computer, his eyes locked on the screen. “Why are you sending messages around the world?”
“I’m not.”
“Well, someone is. A message has gone out to all the satellites around the world.”
The numbers stopped scrolling just then; apparently the routine was complete. Arthur awkwardly smiled at Stuart. “What did the message say?” Stuart's eyes were locked on the screen. “Stuart, what did it say?”
Felix looked at Stuart. “Stuart, answer Arthur.”
Stuart and Howard looked at Felix, their eyes glowing red.
It was as if the computer message had triggered their nanocytes.
Arthur pulled Felix away from Stuart as screams rang throughout the building. Apparently others had gotten the message as well.
“We have to turn it off.” But before he did, he typed in a new message at the prompt with trembling fingers.
I released the Madness. Please forgive me. Arthur Drake.
Chapter One
The Day the Madness Began
Siberia, World’s Worst Day Ever +200 years
It wasn’t every day that someone lost both their mind and their head.
Ivan stalked through the forest, gripping the hunting bow in his meaty fist. The forest floor was littered with dead branches and brittle pine needles. No matter how softly he tried to move his flabby body, the downed branches crunched under his boots. Each step sounded like a firecracker in the silence, scaring away the animals.
He was a fucking terrible hunter.
Out here, he felt like he was all alone in the world, even though he was only about a twenty-minute walk from home. Admittedly, the word “home” might be too affectionate for the two-hundred-year-old underground bunker he lived in. It had been built to protect people from events like the World’s Worst Day Ever.
Now it served a different purpose—to keep Afana’s property secure.
As alone as he was, the taunting voices of the guards outside the bunker that morning still echoed in his head. Tank and Knuckles had given Ivan shit as he left. They told him they knew he wouldn’t run away because he’d be too damned hungry before he got to the edge of the forest.
Ivan had responded with brash bravado, claiming he would bring back enough meat to fill their bellies for a week. He was regretting his words now.
I should have waited for that prick, Ryder to show me how to catch an animal, Ivan thought.
He cursed under his breath and pushed on.
Sometime later, he walked around a thick patch of undergrowth and saw the first animal of the day. A dozen yards away, a black bear sniffed at something on the ground. Despite Ivan’s clumsy gait, the animal hadn’t noticed him.
He notched an arrow and let it fly. A feeling of triumph surged through him at the thought of returning to the bunker with his prize. He would show them all how badly they’d underestimated him.
The arrow clattered harmlessly against a tree, ten feet to the left of the creature.
Fuck!
Ivan watched as the animal ran off, and he realized it hadn’t been a black bear at all. It was a brown deer. The two looked nothing alike. How could he have gotten the two of them confused?
He rubbed
