The Zombie Wars: The Enemy Within (White Flag Of The Dead Book 8) by Joseph Talluto Page A

the towns along that route.  The way we worked it, the army spread out after a major offensive, casting themselves in a wide but travelling net thrown in the same direction.  The goal was to clear out as much real estate as possible. One hundred four-man teams searched out every farmhouse and small towns as they made their way to a single goal:  kill every zombie they find. For our part, we led a five hundred man team straight toward the objective to scout it out and see what resources we needed.  We hit the bigger towns as well, which was why we were headed to Springfield. We’d then swing the entire army north to Kansas City and see what we could kill there.
    Along the way, we picked up and lost parts of our army.  It was the way I had wanted it when we started this campaign.  I wanted to clear out the dead and replace them with living people to bring back the country as much as possible.  If we came across a nice town that looked like it might have weathered the storm fairly well, some people elected to stay behind and rebuild.  They knew they were on their own, but I wasn’t too worried.  Everywhere we went we left seasoned fighters that could stop an outbreak before it started. The people we picked up were survivors and fighters, usually looking to contribute to the new world we were building, but sometimes they were just looking for a change of scenery.
    “Why up north?’”
    “What?  Did you say something?” I looked back from watching the forty millionth tree go by to refocus on something that was being said in my direction.
    Duncan shook his head.  “Why, yes, John, I did.  Please pay attention next time.” Duncan really played up the sarcasm, and it took a great deal of self-control not to kick the back of his chair.
    “I’d listen more if you were more interesting,” I said, trying to match his sarcasm.  I must have succeeded, because Tommy chuckled.
    “Anyway. What I said was why did you send nearly a quarter of our army north when winter is nearly upon us?  We’re heading south, and the zombies won’t be frozen until much later,” Duncan asked.
    “Good question,” I said. “It’s a matter of timing.  I am hoping that because the winter is already going on heavy up there, they can move much more quickly clearing out the zombies.  The idea is to have them go through Minnesota, clear the Dakotas, and be through Montana before spring.  By the time the snows are melting, they should be heading south. If all goes well, we should be moving up from the southwest at that time and meet them in the middle for the push across the middle states on our way back home.”
    Duncan looked back at me, and even Tommy took a quick look back. 
    “What?” I asked.
    “I dunno, John.  That’s a hell of a lot of planning. Not exactly your strong suit. Wow!” Duncan said, lurching forward.
    That time I did kick his seat.
    “Hmm? Are we there yet?” Charlie murmured from his chair.
    Tommy chimed in from the front.  “Not yet.  You just missed Climax Springs, which I’m sad to say wasn’t, and we are having a hard time keeping the van on a road that refuses to stay a proper road.”
    Charlie took a look outside. “It will become road again on the other side of the creek.  Keep going until you hit Macks Creek. Wake me then.” With that, Charlie was out again.
    I shook my head and looked back out the window.  The trees were stripped bare of leaves, getting ready for the winter. The pine trees were green as always, and that kind of threw the whole picture off.  I knew the southern states that made up the border between the north and the true south didn’t get as much snow as the northern states did, but they got cold, and ice storms were frequent. Of course, we didn’t have weathermen anymore.  Nowadays weather forecasting consisted of looking out the window. Remarkably, we were right more often than the old weathermen seemed to be.
    We left Charlie sleeping as we passed through Macks