Plagued: The Ironville Zombie Quarantine Retraction Experiment (Plagued States of America Book 3) by Better Hero Army

together , she sounds like the perfect date,” Jones said.
    “Ah, stuff it, soldier boy. I’m not running over any children, and if you shoot one, you’re walking home.”
    Tom put a hand up to fend off anymore banter. “How many more tunnels will we be going through?”
    Houston continued to glare at Jones, who stared back with steady stoicism.
    “How many tunnels?” Tom asked, stepping between the two.
    “This is the only one we’ll have trouble with,” Houston said.
    “ I asked how many,” Tom told him. “They’re all trouble.”
    “A few more, but this is the Duncan Tunnel.”
    Tom shrugged and shook his head.
    “It’s the Duncan Tunnel . A mile long with vent shafts for limited light and aeration. All the other tunnels are short. They don’t make good hiding places. I always have trouble coming through here because it’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Funny, though. It used to be only adults. A few hits of the air horn ran them off.”
    “A few hits of the shotgun will do the same,” Jones interjected.
    “No guns,” Houston snapped. “Those are people in there. Children!”
    “They’re biters ,” Jones replied.
    “Not by choice,” Houston said slowly.
    “Then what are you proposing?” Tom asked. “Drag them out behind us? They’ll just come up behind us when we’re not looking.”
    “No,” Houston said. “We’ll put them in the cargo holds like I was saying.” Houston pointed toward the middle car, the one with the berths Tom and Penelope saw the other zombies in.
    “Up in those nice living quarters? With your cover models?”
    “What the hell were you doing in there?” Houston growled at Tom.
    “We were heading for the kitchen, but ran into your harem.”
    “You didn’t hurt them, did you?” Houston asked. He was angrily concerned, stepping closer to Tom.
    Penelope growled by Tom’s side.
    “They’re in their rooms,” Tom replied evenly. “What are you carrying biters on board for, anyway?”
    “You work at the kennels,” Houston snapped. “Would you put my girls in there?”
    “Can we stop arguing and get this over with?” Hank yelled. “Catch and contain.”
    “Fine,” Jones said.
    “And don’t worry about room,” Houston added. “There are eight deep cargo bays on each side. Two can fit in each compartment. I’m going to go move the train up closer to the first clutch. You boys do the rest.”
    No one argued. Houston nodded and started back toward the engine.
    “Why do I get the feeling he forgot to mention something is going to be inside one of those cages?” Jones asked.
    “Seriously,” Tom agreed.
    “No one works alone,” Hank put in. “We all catch and carry back down the same side, together. Ladies, we’ll need your eyes both ways while we do it. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
    A light on the engine came on, enough for them to see the length of the train front to back. Hank led them all out in front of the snowblower. With its headlights on, its mouth appeared even more sinister, as though it were alive, and craving for them to step in its way. The children stood clustered together a few hundred feet further into the tunnel, at the edge of the train’s light. It looked like a small clutch of only five or six, but they were so close together Penelope couldn’t tell. They did that when they were frightened or cold, clutching each other for comfort and warmth.
    O’Farrell knelt down to take photographs of their advance. Penelope stood behind her, watching front and back as the train began to creep up the tunnel behind them.
    “Here,” Tom said, handing the shotgun to Penelope. “Shoot it in the air if anything comes sneaking up behind us.”
    They nodded to one another and Tom followed Hank and Jones.
    “Just grab one and pull it out,” Hank yelled. “They’re blind in the headlights.”
    “Yeah, well so am I,” Jones shouted.
    The train chirped and lurched forward behind Penelope and O’Farrell. They began