Scavengers: Collection - Books 1-4 (Zombie Gentlemen) (m/m zombie steampunk erotic romance) Read Free Page B

move with it. “Tell your father ‘bye-bye’”, she said gently, hugging the blond boy, who'd fixed his huge eyes on James and mimicked the move on his own.
    “Bye-bye papa!”
    Katherine covered her mouth nervously, keeping her eyes moving between James and the man he hired. “Be careful, darling!”
    “I will be, my love. Take care of mommy, Henry,” he laughed softly, before making his way towards the train. “Follow me, please,” he said to Ira, who immediately started walking next to him, without the proper distance.
    “Nice young catch, I must say!” he whistled appreciatively.
    James almost instantly moved away by a few inches, a bit intimidated by the closeness. “Yes... but I wouldn’t speak of her in such a manner. We have a deep respect for each other.”
    “Charming,” was Ira’s only comment as they entered the VIP lounge. Someone like James could not afford being seen in a lower class train compartment. The room was spacious, but thanks to warm colors, seemed quite cozy, with a mahogany bar to the left and oriental carpet underneath the sitting places. Apart from them and the uniformed crew, there was only a middle-aged lady with three children in the room.
    “So...” started James, sitting in an armchair and looking up at Ira. “The trip should only take until next morning.”
    “Mind if I get us something from the bar?” said Ira, after he dropped his rucksack on the chair next to James’.
    “Not at all!” James actually thought he could use a good brandy to continue any conversation with this threatening sailor. For some reason, his presence made him jumpy.
    Ira shifted his weight to one side, casually gripping his thick belt.
    “You want anything?” he asked, looking at the elegant bar. Its back shelves were lavishly carved to look a bit like a clockwork mechanism, which was in fact present on one of the walls. The three children watched with fascination as all the small mechanical bits worked in perfect harmony to put the large station clock in motion.
    “Brandy,” said James, biting his lip. “I have not been on a train since the Plague began...”
    “Well, you ‘aven’t missed much,” laughed Ira. “It’s fuckin' awful,” he added, strolling over to the bar. The lady to James’ side looked at the aristocrat with anger, apparently thinking it was his responsibility to deal with Ira’s choice of words. James decided to pretend he didn’t hear anything and let his gaze follow his companion instead. In a standing position and without the rucksack, Ira’s undoubtedly masculine shape was especially well pronounced.
    “It’s because of all those gates on the way, isn’t it?” James asked.
    The man turned around slightly to look at him. “Huh?”
    “That it takes so long...” James continued. “Kent is not that far away, yet, we have to wait in front of many gates, to pass security checks. Eh... traveling used to be so much easier,” he sighed.
    “True.” Ira nodded, licking his lower lip. “Wouldn’t ‘ad taken more than half a day before the Plague,” he said before turning to the bartender.
    James slowly looked down Ira’s back and held back a sigh. He needed to loosen his tie.
     
    *
     
     
    July 7th, 1893
     
    James was surprised at how well he slept, taking what they were supposed to be doing today into account. When they got off the train, the sun was still only rising with a warm, orange glow. Being the only people on the remote station was already quite unnerving. There were rarely any questions asked. These deserted places gave passengers a chance to leave the train wherever they wanted. But no one took responsibility if they chose to climb over the tall, strong walls surrounding the railway tracks. Most of the time, getting off at a station like this, would mean waiting for a train that came from a different part of the country.
    “So after looking at the blueprints...” started James, “What do you think is the best course of action?”
    Ira