Luke was the only one who was able to sleep entirely soundly after they moved the logs, and he slept the least anyway. Of course, that was because he trusted Eve to handle guard duty, and there wasn't a chance she would sleep after so much excitement during the day. They had been attacked by four separate groups of zombies. In actuality, it wasn't fair to call them groups, because only one of them had had more than one of the creatures, and that one had only had two. But Eve had knocked both of their heads off in one blow, so that had been pretty neat.
Zoe, despite her protests, slept as soon as Kane settled her against him, because of course she did, but even she stirred numerous times during the night, unable to completely relax herself. The hard work of the day would have tired nearly anyone out, and it had tired Luke, enough that he was actually able to fall asleep sooner than usual. Or maybe that was just the fatigue. Even he wasn't quite used to so much activity. He very much preferred to be the mastermind, but he could, if necessary, sacrifice his comfort.
Luke spent the entire next day setting out boundaries. The night before, after finding a couple of sturdy trees near each other close to the main stream running through the park to sleep between, they had set up a plan. Obviously, the first goal would be to set up a basic perimeter, which they did quite handily after the uncertain night of rest. Or, rather, the night of restlessness. Despite the futility of a couple logs draped around them, they had certainly helped the group to calm their fears.
After that would be serious fortifications. To truly reach the minimal level of safety that Luke though they should aim above, they would need tools, and Zoe adamantly refused to use her weapons to that effect. Although that didn't surprise Luke whatsoever, it was quite annoying. She practically worshiped a hunk of metal. Though even Luke wasn't brave enough to say that out loud, because he knew how furious she would become if he did.
Eve took down a few more trees, and while two of them splintered completely, the other five were enough to make them all feel like they were making progress.
As Zoe, Eve, and Kane gathered them, Luke took Michael aside to discuss with him where to put them. Unsurprisingly, he looked like he had expected it.
"Where to put them, right?" Michael blurted out once the others were out of hearing range, although only barely. Luke nodded.
"Here's the thing. We need to clear a good killing field, because at some point we'll want it," Luke began.
"Of course," Michael agreed. "We'll even need it before this is all over, unless I miss my guess. This place, the park, may hold them back for a while, but it won't hold forever."
Luke recalled how Zoe had said that they didn't use any of their five senses. It was a strange conclusion, but he trusted her enough to believe it. Or, at least, he trusted Kane's analysis, and he was probably the one who had told Zoe.
"So where do we put all that wood?" Luke asked the big question. If he was right, Michael likely had a pretty solid idea.
Sure enough, a grin spread across his face. And he said one simple thing.
"Post-apocalyptic tree house."
Luke chuckled softly.
"Going with the cliche?"
Michael shrugged.
"It actually is one of the best places to live. Off the ground, so little to no risk of random zombies stumbling over you when you're sleeping, plus it's a decently permanent structure that's pretty safe," he explained. "And even if a horde does find you, they're unlikely to be able to actually get to you until they start climbing on top of each other. And that isn't exactly unlikely to happen, but it's nowhere near as smooth as the movies make it seem."
"Really? And that's just a fact?" Luke asked, genuinely intrigued now.
"Well, think about it," Michael responded with a shrug. "The ones at the bottom aren't exactly going to just let themselves be piled up on. They're going to claw their way up. As soon as they realize that there's something in front of them that's blocking them, they're going to try to remove it. So it isn't perfect, and they'll probably reach the top eventually anyway, but every time one gets on top of another one, they'll be shoved off pretty quickly. Theoretically."
"So..." Luke said slowly, drawing the word out to take some more time to consider it. "Post-apocalyptic tree house?"
Michael grinned.
"Post-apocalyptic tree house."