Well, here is an absurdly short chapter, more in the vein that I would call 'filler'.

Chapter 7: Ooops my bad.

Scott hammered the last of the wood into place and sighed in semi-accomplishment. The framework was finally done, but the bricks wouldn't be ready for some time. There was plenty of clay near the banks, and the small forest that thrived there was filled with pine trees and the occasional fruit tree. So finding pine needles and the like would help with making bricks.

They would be shoddy home made bricks, but they'd be better than nothing.

The three members of the human race in this island 'fortress' had arrived in an anticlimactic fashion in the mid morning of the day three weeks earlier. Scott, ever paranoid had done a thorough check of the island's every nook and cranny.

It wasn't a particularly large place, but with the trees and such it had taken him several hours to traverse the place and check for any signs of habitation, undead or otherwise.

Surprisingly all he found were a few startled deer that the former owners had bought off of people for their amusement, the squirrels that always managed to be anywhere there was a tree despite any logical way they could be in that location, and a multitude of birds.

This place was the perfect hideaway spot, and that's what worried him. It was all too easy. He had been living on adrenaline and narrow escapes for two solid days before they got here and his body was still dealing with the shock.

Ever present in his 'paranoid' mind was a need to fortify the place, so the very next day he raided the lumber mill six miles up river. He kept expecting some kind of horrible battle against impossible odds, but there had only been one family of rats that squealed indignantly when he opened the door to unleash daylight on their happily nocturnal world.

When he'd returned though, he saw the 'zombies'. They moaned and reached for him from the shore all around the lake, but made no real effort to come after him. He'd even witnessed a most disturbing sight.

One of the zombies got pushed in as they milled about and it started flailing and screaming. That in and of itself was strange. What really worried Scott was that he could swear he saw one of those monsters bend down and help it.

Snarling brain dead creatures ravening for his blood are one thing. Those creatures with the ability to reason or the capacity for teamwork are quite another. He was sure he'd imagined the scene, he had to have.

Still, he went to work on that first wall with a vengeance.

Maribeth looked after her friend in the house while Scott worked all through the day and early evening for close to three solid weeks to get the frame work done. Even now it was just for the first six feet.

He'd designed it sort of like a box. He was going to try and raid a few hardware stores after the 'brick boxes' were completed to get all the available concrete mixture he could find. Then he'd make a solid concrete barrier by planting some metal poles into the ground inside the boxes, to help add stability and filling in the boxes with concrete. It would be back breaking labor by himself, but it had to be done.

He had no true engineering experience, but it seemed like the best wall he was going to have without cutting down every tree on the island. Besides, it kept him busy. That was almost as important as defenses.

Scott gazed across the water at a thinner zombie population and quirked an eyebrow. Not as many today. He was sure of it now, not as many had come back after it rained. These things did seem to dislike water something fierce.

He glanced at the sky, then down at his watch and sighed. "Time to make some bricks.."

----

Maribeth flipped the spam-steaks over again and smiled at the little camp stove. They weren't as bad grilled and her Scott had said he'd go find some real meat when the wall was done. However, despite her happy exterior tears began to stream from her tiny little eyes. She missed her mummy and daddy and hoped they were alright. Her Scott hadn't seen anyone that looked like them among the bodies inside, or at least that's what he'd told her.

Chloe shifted in her sleep on the cot nearby. Maribeth had thought she might like a bit of fresh air, and decided to bring her outside. The poor girl's bruises were faded, and she looked a lot better overall on the outside after a good clean up, but she hadn't woken up yet.

After she'd gotten cleaned up the next day, Maribeth had recognized her as one of the other people that had been in the grocery store when the bad people came. That's really why Maribeth hoped she'd wake up. She'd been scared but really nice to her.

Hopefully she'd know something about her mummy and daddy when she woke up. Her Scott told her that Chloe would wake up, and she knew it was true. He was her Scott after all.

---

Scott took a quick 'bath' with a bucket of water and settled in to have a nice quiet family dinner with Maribeth and the girl she had called 'Chloe'. Chloe wasn't much of a conversationalist at the moment, but then at least she had an excuse.

He regarded the unconscious girl for a moment and then poured some more steak sauce on his spam. He detested spam, it wasn't that bad really, but he detested it all the same.

"Scott..?" began Maribeth.

The young-old man blinked and turned his gaze upon the little girl. She trembled a little so he probably had scared her again. He did that a lot without meaning too.

"Yeah, kid?"

The little girl blushed a little. "Um..well.. I was wondering..?"

Scott quirked an eyebrow and began to wonder himself. What was the little squirt on about now.

"Well.. ?" he asked.

Maribeth looked down at the table and played with her napkin. "Uhm... do.. do you think it'd be ok, if we got some more clothes soon? I mean.. Chloe's been naked for weeks.. and well...if that's ok with you?"

Scott blinked again trying to process that obvious statement. He looked down at the little girl still wearing his old pair of pants and a tee-shirt.. and then at the unconscious girl wrapped in a blanket and nearly smacked himself for his stupidity. He'd only packed a few sets of clothes, since he knew he didn't care if he stank in a crisis and he'd be wearing his currently repaired but badly worn armor.

He'd have to make another trip tomorrow. He might as well try to get the concrete now, other supplies and some new clothes. At least he'd have everything he needed for the wall already here when it's time to finish.

"I'll go find some tomorrow Maribeth." he said in a soft tone.

The little girl smiled cutely she knew her Scott would take care of it.

----

author's poorly written and grammatically incorrect notes.

and there you have it. a nice little chapter to tease you. There' s a lot going on in the next few chapters and I didn't want to shove it all into one big chapter like I would feel I had to if I added any more to this one. These next few chapters are the ones where you begin to notice some serious differences between the standard movie zombie and what the characters in this story will be dealing with.