The Lair was surrounded by a fresh concrete wall about ten feet high. That didn't seem quite tall enough to Roxanne, but maybe he'd run out of building material. Somewhere there was a smell of burning, though she couldn't see the source of it. Row upon row of brainbots lined the street, forming a nearly solid wall.

Megamind said, "Walk up to the gate. The brainbots need to recognize you as friends, and know that you're not zombies or looters." With that he strode through the gauntlet.

Roxanne hesitated for a moment, then squared her shoulders and followed him, under the red stares of hundreds of glowing red eyes. There were some really big brainbots that she hadn't seen before, as big as Volkwagen beetles. Through the shifting brainbots, she saw a metro bus with cracked windows and holes in the roof, parked by the gate.

Spider-Bot crawled along the top of the wall until it crouched right over the gate. Its multiple eyes quivered at them. A few people gasped. One of the kids started crying. Megamind half turned with a frown. "Spee-ider-Bot needs to get a look at you, too. Come, come, come!" He waved a hand impatiently. "Sun's going down."

Roxanne resisted the impulse to look over her shoulder to make sure the others were following. She had to show them that there was nothing to fear. She marched through the gate, right under Spider-Bot. Its servos whined softly and its eyes blinked at her. It made a little noise, as if it recognized her and was saying hello. She nodded at it. To her amusement, it shifted its legs around in an excited way and made the noise again, reminding her of a friendly dog so much that she smiled.

There was the Lair, a towering brown edifice. The wall made a courtyard around it, encompassing a few electrical poles. The hoverbikes were parked next to something that looked like a pontoon boat.

Agnes was suddenly at her elbow, trembling. "God, I hate spiders."

Pilar was a little wild eyed, too. "Rox, I don't know how you did that."

Agnes shuddered. "Thought it was going to eat us."

Roxanne put her arms around their shoulders. "It's a robot, guys. It doesn't eat."

Pilar exhaled heavily. "Well, it could have chewed us up and spit us out or whatever."

"Just think about how many zombies it can chew up," Roxanne said, giving them a quick squeeze and letting go.

Megamind's original fifty-seven refugees came over to take a look at them, and Roxanne examined them too, wondering if she'd see anyone she knew.

A man with frazzled graying hair came up to her. "I'm Kurt. Are you Roxanne Ritchi?" When she nodded, Kurt said, "My son Josh is an intern at KMCP. Do you know him?"

Roxanne's heart sank. "Yes, but I haven't been at the KMCP building since they announced the quarantine. I'm sorry, but I don't know what's happened there." Kurt looked away, and Roxanne put a hand on his arm. He forced out a smile and turned abruptly, marching back to the Lair with his shoulders hunched.

Around her, people introduced themselves, shook hands, and exchanged news.

"All right, newcomers, this way," Megamind said loudly. "I need to make a run into the city before it gets dark. I've been informed that all we have left are baked beans and corn flakes."

Roxanne and the others glanced at the sun, low enough that it just touched the tops of the buildings to the west of the Lair. All of them kept track of the daylight, dreading nightfall. The zombies were worse at night.

Dark stains were splattered on the cement slabs that covered the ground. Old blood. Remnants of the zombie attack Megamind had mentioned. Roxanne looked at the wall. Brainbots drifted by on patrol, and the Spider-Bot continued its circuit around the wall. A little of the tension left her shoulders. For the first time in a long time, she began to feel safe.

The Lair entrance was an open garage door set into a smaller brick wall covered with graffiti. Megamind turned to face them. "You will surrender all weapons before entering. Hank, you'll turn over your gun now." Hank silently gave the gun to Minion. Roxanne handed over the .38. Minion gave her a quick smile and a wink before taking all of their weapons, the guns, baseball bats, and the hockey stick into a large metal cabinet a little ways down the corridor.

"In the unlikely event of zombies breaching the wall and getting past the 'bots, your firearms will be returned to you," said Megamind. "I have a number of laser rifles if you want to learn how to use those. Next training session is tomorrow. A number of people have expressed interest in going into the city to search for family and friends. I conduct semi-regular expeditions. You don't have to go along, but if you do, I strongly recommend knowing how to use a gun."

It was the second time he'd talked about going 'into the city', as if the Lair was a separate unit, Roxanne noticed. She glanced at the wall again. Probably not such a bad distinction.

"Death faces us at every turn," he said, beginning to pace back and forth. "The city's darkest hour, consumed by unspeakable horror. Any one of us can be snatched away in the blink of an eye, devoured and left to rot. It is imperative we not let the hordes of hell prevail over..."

Minion coughed violently into his fist.

Megamind shot him a dark look, and made a visible effort at reining in whatever else he was going to say. His mouth worked as if chewing over his words. "That is," he said, talking through his teeth. "Best to be prepared for any eventuality. Hence... the..." He waved a hand around. "Training in firearms and hovercraft piloting. Just in case, simple precautions, nothing to worry about, I'm sure."

He glowered at Minion as if daring him to interrupt again, but the henchfish appeared to be interested in the sky at the moment.

Megamind clasped his hands behind his back and paced again. "Parts of the Lair are off limits. A conspicuous neon orange line marks the boundaries over which you may not cross, so don't come crying to me if a brainbot bites your leg off."

His brow furrowed as he looked at the three squirming toddlers in the group. Their parents hugged them defensively, but to Roxanne it just looked like Megamind was deep in thought.

"I may be able to rig up a safety fence to block off the restricted areas," he said. "Or I could program the brainbots to simply return wayward children to the main floor instead of taking aggressive action. Until then, keep your kids close. The kitchen, bathroom, washing machine, and TV area are available for your use, though I hope you don't expect much in the way of outside news or cable TV, since the feds have cut us off under their 'dome of silence'." He made air quotes with his fingers and his lip curled in a sneer.

His pace turned into a stalk, his head jutting forward like a bull's, and his face darkened. He chopped at the air, muttering to himself. "Barrage jamming, what a joke, I'll show you a barrage, once I get the right frequency we'll see who's laughing then, smart guy, dare cut me off, you wretched little trumped up..."

For a few moments he seemed to have forgotten he had an audience, then he looked around and cleared his throat.

"Stay out of my room," he said, raising his voice so it echoed off the wall. "If you must knock on my door, it had better be a real emergency. We've had some difficulty establishing what constitutes an actual, genuine, bona fie-dee emergency, so let me give you some examples. Zombies at the wall is an emergency. Fire is an emergency. Large amounts of blood is an emergency. Running out of hand lotion, needing a band-aid, and wanting a charger for your phone so you can play games is not. Same for Minion's room. So before you knock and disturb my hard-earned slumber, ask yourself, 'do I really want to spend the rest of my existence as a little blue cube?'"

He made an about-face and began pacing the other way. "Your sleeping area is on the main floor. This isn't a hotel. There are, however, a few private rooms for very specific purposes. These are only to be used if you need a short break from our close-quarters, all-out-in-the-open living. If you need time to yourself, go ahead and lock yourself in, but don't hog the place. I'm not insensitive to the fact that many have suffered trauma and may want a quiet place to have a good cry or private talk or whatever, but I must insist on a time limit of two hours.

"In addition, if any adults wish to pair off for that activity which is such a... for Pete's sake, Minion, go clear your throat somewhere else!... such a great reliever of stress and source of bonding, then by all means, make use of the rooms. There are beds in each one, but change the sheets. Do not, I repeat, do NOT go traipsing around the Lair looking for a quiet corner to get intimate."

Roxanne had to give him credit for being bluntly straightforward. She could feel the rising embarrasment around her as people shifted their weight and avoided looking at each other. An elderly lady in the original crowd of refugees crossed her arms with a frown, and said "Harrumph." Megamind's eye twitched, but otherwise he ignored her.

Roxanne bit her lip to hide her smile. The old lady was trouble. She wondered if Megamind banned her from the Lair, too.

"Chores!" he barked so suddenly that several people jumped, including Roxanne. "I'm not going to insist you slave away all the livelong day, but a couple of hours of busy work will keep everyone occupied and productive, and keep the living areas livable. Meals are served three times a day, but there will not be any snacks for anyone over the age of five, and only to keep the whining down. Minion's in charge of the kitchen. Anyone caught stealing food will be dehydrated for two weeks. Except for Irina," he said, nodding at a black woman in the crowd. "She's pregnant and gets a free pass."

Irina glanced around, alarmed at being singled out, and held a hand up to hide her face.

Megamind stopped pacing. "Anyone else pregnant? Breastfeeding? Medical problems? Well?"

People shot nervous glances at each other. Kailey turned beet red.

Megamind rocked up onto the balls of his feet, visibly annoyed that no one was volunteering their private information on the spot.

Roxanne said, "How about I find out, and get that information to you later?"

"Fine. Fine. We're in the middle of building new bathrooms, one for boys and one for girls, with shower stalls." He eyed them. "And maybe we'll need another one."

Minion spoke up. "Actually I think we can expand on..."

"No more delays! We're already stretched to the limit," Megamind snapped. "All of us using one toilet is getting extremely trying. Just get the facilities up and running, we'll figure out later if we need to expand.

"Finally, I must address crime and punishment. Crimes against your fellow refugees will not be tolerated. Minor stuff like constantly shirking your assigned chores will get you two weeks of dehydration. Theft, fistfights, and looking at anyone in a creepy way are all grounds for expulsion. Physical assault, rape, attempted rape, murder, and attempted murder will be punished with death by alligator."

"You feed anyone to the alligators yet?" asked Roxanne. She felt one of her eyebrows rise a little, almost of its own free will. He used to threaten her with alligators all the time, but she doubted that he'd ever actually thrown anyone into the pit.

The mention of the alligators had captured everyone's attention, even people who had been drifting off during the lengthy speech. Eighty pairs of eyes swivelled toward her, and then back to Megamind.

Megamind glanced at her, raising one of his own eyebrows, and for a moment it was as if they shared a private joke. Then something grim flickered behind his eyes, and suddenly she had no problem believing that he would do exactly as he said, if anyone was stupid enough to commit a crime in his Lair. "That's a negative, Miss Ritchi, I am happy to report."

"How about the other rules? Minor infringements?"

"Had a problem with one man who was spying on some of the women while they dressed. I generously gave him a second chance. He did it again. I had him collect his things and Minion escorted him out the gate."

Hank shook his head. "You kicked him out just for that? The zombies'll get him."

Megamind snorted. "Your concern for the peeping tom is commendable. He's still somewhere in the neighborhood, outside the wall, if you want to track him down and a have a little heart-to-heart. The brainbots patrol this entire area, and attack any zombies that wander in. Minion, who has a softer heart than I, leaves food by the gate. It disappears regularly, so I assume he's still alive."

"That's still kind of harsh, isn't it?" Hank asked. "For just looking?"

Roxanne crossed her arms, wishing he would shut up already. This from the guy who'd shot a man dead who'd tried breaking into their lobby.

Megamind strolled over and squared off in front of him. "What if this man had spied on your wife and daughter?"

"I'd beat the crap out of him."

Megamind smiled thinly. "Oh, that's physical assault, I'm afraid. I would've had to feed you to my alligators. Shame you weren't here last week. They're on half rations and could use the protein."

For a moment it looked like Hank would offer a retort, and Roxanne wondered if she should intervene again, but Hank lowered his eyes.

Megamind watched him for a moment longer. "If you have a problem with how I keep the peace, flatfoot, then just say the word and you're free to leave." He gestured toward the gate. "Yes? No? Maybe?"

Hank swallowed. "I don't have a problem," he mumbled.

"Fantastic. That goes for everyone," Megamind said, turning to the crowd. "No one is forced to stay. Living in my compound means being under my protection, and my rule. The gate is locked at sundown, but during the day, you may come and go as you wish."

He put his hands behind his back again, jiggling them together. "Did I miss anything, Minion?"

"I think you covered most of it, Sir."

"Make yourselves at home, newcomers." He glanced at the sun. "Find out if anyone has any useful skills to add to our little group, will you, Minion?"

People started trickling inside. Minion walked over to Megamind and they talked in a low murmur. Then Megamind put a hand on Minion's big shoulder and Minion laid his dome against Megamind's forehead.

Roxanne looked away. She hadn't expected such an intimate gesture and felt that she was intruding.

"You run into trouble, call me right away, Sir," said Minion, straightening up again.

Megamind nodded. "I know the drill, filet mignon."

About half the crowd had wandered inside but Roxanne hung back. She wondered if Megamind knew what she had wanted to talk to him about in private. She felt ashamed that she'd thought he would even consider taking advantage of her in a time of crisis, or at any other time, for that matter. In all the years of kidnappings and sometimes outrageous flirting, she'd never once gotten that kind of slimeball vibe off him.

Whether or not he'd suspected she'd been trying to trade sex for safety, she felt she ought to talk to him and come clean, especially in light of his impromptu rescue mission. It was a side to him she'd never seen, this willingness to help others in need. She never would have guessed that under that massive ego and villainous posturing he had a conscience.

She had misjudged him. She wouldn't feel easy in her mind until she confessed, no matter how embarrassing it was.

She steeled herself and began making her way through the people wandering around. The crowd had thinned quite a bit, but he was moving away from her across the courtyard. She'd better get his attention before he took off on the food run.

She was blocked, however. The elderly lady who'd 'harrumph-ed' during Megamind's speech marched up to him, lips set in a thin line, and whispered in his ear.

Megamind didn't bother to lower his voice, or slow down. "Evil gods, Doris, if I were any more discrete, no one would know what the hell I was talking about," he snapped.

Doris was not to be put off, and continued to trot along. "But what kind of example are you setting? Think of the children."

"I am thinking of the little dears. Do you want people giving a live demonstration on the facts of life in front of your grandkids? Besides, I don't want to find anyone fooling around in my car again."

He jabbed a finger at the remaining refugees going into the Lair. "Another thing," he shouted after them. "The next person who goes into my car, touches my car, or even thinks about touching my car, will not only clean it thoroughly, they will be joining Hank on probation. Got that?" He scowled at their surprised looks before whirling his ragged cape around and striding away across the courtyard. Doris glared after him and pursed her lips in disapproval.

Two grizzled old guys wearing baggy sweat suits cackled at him as he went by. The short white guy with the cane said, "Man, that never gets old. Never thought I'd see you get hassled by an old lady that..."

Megamind growled, "Watch it, or I'll tell her who ate the last of the fruit cocktail."

The man's grin was wiped off his face. "Hey, don't get crazy, kid," he muttered, shooting a nervous look at Doris. "I was only kiddin' around."

The other old man, who was black and once had been quite tall but now had stooped shoulders, chuckled deep in his chest.

The grizzled joker muttered, "Eh, shut up."

"Did I say anything? I didn't say nothin', man."

Kid? Roxanne's curiosity was piqued, but then Megamind was speaking again.

"All right, I want three volunteers," he said, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "Someone other than Nina, Tom, Sebastian, or Luis. At least one who can handle a firearm. Gabby, you feel up to driving?"

Gabby, who had bloodshot eyes and whose short hair stuck out from under a brown baseball cap, turned pale, but she gave a sort of nervous twitch of her shoulders that Megamind seemed to take for a yes.

"All right, who else?" Megamind hooked his thumbs in his belt.

There was a general shuffling, and eventually one man raised his hand.

"One more." Megamind said, but no one would meet his gaze.

Roxanne started to raise her hand, but Hank surprised her.

"I'll go," he said.

Megamind narrowed his eyes. "In a real hurry to get your gun back, aren't you?"

Hank spread his hands. "I'll go unarmed. I can haul and carry as good as the next guy."

Megamind thought it over a moment longer, then shrugged and nodded.

Noelle grabbed Hank's arm. "No! We just got here."

"I've got to do something, Noelle," he said. "All I can do here is sit on my butt. In a tent."

Noelle shot Megamind a nervous look.

Megamind rolled his eyes, "Relax, cop wife, if I wanted to kill your darling hubby he'd be dead already. All right, people, get aboard."

Noelle did not look reassured as her husband got on the hovercraft with the city's most notorious villain. Roxanne went to stand next to her. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Noelle."

Noelle looked at her with something like resentment, then marched into the Lair.

Roxanne stared after her, puzzled. What was that all about?

Gabby started up the hovercraft's engine and it rose into the air, dust surging out from under it as air was forced out of the slots, pummelling the ground.

Megamind glanced at Roxanne.

Roxanne hesitated, then lifted her hand in farewell, but she was too slow. He'd turned away and didn't see it.

The hovercraft floated over the wall. Roxanne could see Megamind's hand tighten on the railing. He was talking to Gabby, a few short, sharp words. Though his words were drowned out by the noise of the engine, he sounded exasperated. The hovercraft speeded up ever so slightly and drifted away down the street. A huge swarm of brainbots flew after it.

That made her feel better. With that many brainbots they should be pretty well protected from zombies. She hoped they made it back before dark. Maybe she'd get a chance to talk to him later.

She went into the Lair.

The coolness was a welcome relief after the heat outside. It felt like air conditioning. He'd mentioned TV. He must still have electricity.

Minion pointed out the laundry room and bathroom, outside of which a line had formed. "You can put your things here," he told her, indicating the wide open space of the main floor. "Pick a spot, any spot. We've got some extra clothes, if you want to change. Mostly sweatpants and stuff. Gotta get on the list, if you want to use the shower."

The clothes were stacked on a table, and were brand new. Many of them still had tags on them, clearly the result of scavenging missions. She selected an oversized t-shirt that had some sort of pink-haired anime character on it, and sweat pants. She hadn't changed clothes since she'd become a refugee in her own city. There was, however, no extra underwear. When she went on an expedition, that would be the first item on her list.

Sleeping bags and blankets marked the places where people had set up their personal spots. Outlines and oil stains on the floor showed that equipment had been shunted aside to make more room. Several huge, bulky objects sat under tarps along the walls.

"Minion, who are those men?" she asked, nodding at the two old men. They'd sat down on cots near the monitor station.

"Uncle Sid and Uncle Lenny. From the prison."

Minion's voice was curiously flat, but Roxanne didn't press him for details. There was plenty of time to share horror stories.

She nodded toward the other side of the Lair, at shadowy doorways. "Those the... private rooms?"

Minion grimaced. "Yeah," he muttered.

"And he really thinks they're going to catch on."

Minion's look became even more pained. He glanced around, then leaned close to her. "I tried to make 'em nice," he whispered. "Added a couple of homey touches, new bedspreads and stuff, but I don't think anyone wants to be seen going in there."

"And all because of an ...incident with the invisible car?"

Minion rolled his eyes. "He was not happy, catching those two in his car. He was so mad he didn't even yell. He just got really sarcastic." Minion shuddered. "People are still sneaking around to find quiet corners, but they're a lot more careful about it. Under the mechanical shark's a favorite." He waggled his eyebrows at one of the largest shapes along the wall. There was sort of a triangular cave opening made by the loose tarp which looked like it would provide pretty good cover for a couple who didn't mind a little dust.

Roxanne put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "A real love fest around here, huh?"

Minion waved his hands. "Eh, there's only like three or four couples who paired off. But watch out you don't step on somebody."

Laughter bubbled up inside her and she pressed both hands over her mouth, but Minion was snickering too, and she was overtired and stressed out, and it felt good to laugh again, even at something so juvenile. Her stomach hurt from holding it in. For a full minute they giggled in near silence until they got themselves under control.

Roxanne looked up. Noelle and a few of the others had been staring at them, but they looked away quickly. The humor she'd felt died away. Now she was irritated. If some people had a problem with her being friends with Minion, they could suck it.

She turned her back on the room. "Maybe you better tell him that people don't usually like to shout out their private information on the spot for all the world to hear."

Minion groaned and clapped his hands to his dome. "I know, I should, I've been meaning to talk to him about that. At least I got him to stop going on and on about how we all could get killed any second."

Roxanne grimaced. "Well, he does sort of have a point. Not exactly a morale booster, though, is it?"

"That's just what I said, Miss Ritchi!" Minion said, nodding vigorously. "You want to teach people how to swim, I said, you gotta be patient and start them in the shallow end, not chuck 'em off the pier! He's trying to make sure everyone's being taken care of, but he yells so much. So... is anyone in your group pregnant, or has a medical condition?"

Roxanne bit her lip, thinking of Kailey's blush. She'd have to tactfully broach the subject. "Well, I know Brenda is still nursing her little girl. And Martin has high blood pressure, but I think he still has some pills for it."

"We've got four diabetics, and Doris is taking eight different medications. We're getting pretty worried, actually. The diabetics could run out of supplies soon. Lucky they had extra insulin on them when they were rescued. We went to a couple of pharmacies, but they were completely trashed, nothing usable."

They stood there in sober thought for a moment. Minion brightened. "I'm sure it'll all work out somehow." He glanced around with a sly look. "Don't tell anyone, but the brainbots are programmed to bring people back to the main floor, if anyone wanders over the orange line. Nobody's gonna get their legs bitten off. He just says that to keep people out of the restricted areas. I'm gonna go see if there's any rice left."

Minion went off to the kitchen.

Roxanne set up her blankets next to Pilar and Agnes. It seemed to her that they were giving her covert glances.

"What?" she snapped.

Pilar shrugged. "Nothing. You just seem real friendly with these guys."

Roxanne crossed her arms. "If I wasn't, we'd still be sitting in that lobby in the dark, waiting for zombies to break in." Fighting off zombies by flashlight was everyone's least favorite way to spend an evening.

Pilar raised her hands in a conciliatory way. "It's just kind of surprising. You really not scared of him?" She nodded toward Minion, who had come out of the kitchen again. They watched as some of the kids hurried up to him, and one of them gave him a piece of paper with something scribbled on it in crayon.

"Is that me and Sir?" Minion said. "Aw, you shouldn't have."

"I drew the brains!" a small boy shouted.

"Nice," Minion chuckled. He held up his metal fist and exchanged fist bumps with them.

Agnes and Pilar exchanged looks, their eyebrows raised high.

"Wow, those kids seem to like Minion," Agnes said.

Roxanne smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. He may be a scary henchfish, but he's also one of the sweetest guys I know. Seriously. Once you get to know them, you'll see they're perfectly normal." She hesitated, and honesty compelled her to add, "Well, mostly normal. I mean, Megamind can be pretty overbearing, but he can be such a dork, too." She shook her head. "One time he got so excited telling me about his big plan for taking over the city, he almost landed in the alligator pit." She chuckled at the memory. "He...what?"

They were staring at her with girlish glee. Agnes leaned close, "Wouldn't have been too hard for you, would it, making a ...special deal with him?"

Roxanne felt a blush creeping up her neck and taking over her face.

Pilar whispered, "Ooo, girl, you've been holding out on us. You like him, don't you?"

"Oh, so it's not that degrading after all?" she hissed, but quietly. Noelle was busying herself with her kids's sleeping bags, but the stiffness in the other woman's back made Roxanne suspect she could hear them talking.

Pilar flapped her hand, unembarrassed. "I just didn't like thinking about you selling your ass."

"You don't care he's an alien?" Roxanne said.

Agnes and Pilar shook their heads, declared their complete unconcern about his alienness, and announced their undying loyalty and friendship to her.

The three of them put their heads together and lowered their voices even more. It was exciting, combing over the little details of her feelings and having a gossipy tell-all with her girlfriends, almost as if zombies weren't out there eating people.

Agnes hugged herself in excitement. "Is there anything going on between you two? You can tell us. We won't say anything."

"No, no, I swear there isn't."

"Bet there could be, if you wanted," Agnes said. "You made him give in on the Hank issue."

Roxanne clucked her tongue. "Yeah, I'm such a big influence, Hank's sleeping outside."

Pilar gave her a little swat. "Oh poor Hank. Don't sell yourself short, Rox." Her grin faded as she realized what she'd said and the other two looked at her. "Er, I didn't mean actually... you know... sell..."

Roxanne patted her arm. "Don't hurt yourself, Pilar. I know."

"He listens to you. And I think he likes you back. You should have seen his face when you hugged him. You hear him? 'That won't be necessary, Miss Ritchi.' That's respect." This was an important detail to Pilar, and to Agnes, who nodded in agreement.

Pilar brightened. "You think he's turned good? Going out rescuing people."

"Threatening to feed us to the alligators," Roxanne muttered.

Agnes sniffed. "I think he should have fed 'em that peeping tom."

"He's been giving Hank a pretty hard time," Roxanne said, and wondered what she was arguing about. Trying to argue herself out of something? Trying to find some additional excuse for her seedy assumptions about him, so she could stop feeling guilty about it?

She glanced at Noelle's back. Hell, at least Hank was safe, a lot safer than where they'd been before. They were all a lot safer. Noelle's attitude was starting to piss her off. They'd gotten along okay before. Was Noelle blaming her that her husband was outside? Angry that Roxanne had some influence over Megamind, and now Hank wasn't the group's leader anymore?

Roxanne recalled that Hank had been sneaking around with Jessica, and decided to cut Noelle a little slack. But not much.

Pilar snorted. "They're guys. They're supposed to give each other a hard time."

"He's rescuing people, that makes him a hero in my book," Agnes said. "Oh, look! The line's shorter." She got up. "I'm gonna go wait for the shower."

"Leave some hot water for us," said Pilar. She took a thin blanket out of the backpack and gave it to Roxanne. She, Roxanne, and Agnes had been taking turns carrying the backpack that held their possessions, which mainly consisted of three dirty blankets, three toothbrushes, and feminine napkins. Roxanne couldn't even remember the last time she'd had her period. If it had stopped because of hunger and extreme stress (it had stopped once before because of stress, back in her college days), that was all for the better, but she had a feeling it could start any day now, and was glad they had supplies.

She spread out her blanket next to Pilar's, lay down on her back with her hands under her head, and looked at the beams high in the Lair's ceiling.

Roxanne scratched her head. She felt pretty grimy from the cross-city trek. At least at the apartment building people had been able to shower, in between zombie attacks, even if she always changed back into her increasingly grimy clothes. She hadn't had the heart to rummage through other people's clothing in the abandoned apartments. Taking food was one thing, but stealing their clothes was too ghoulish for her taste.

She reached down to touch the t-shirt and pants she'd gotten with the tags still on, to reassure herself they were still there. At least these hadn't belonged to anyone. For the moment she just wanted to lie there and not have to worry about washing up or anything else.

People walked around the Lair chatting, or performed various errands. The relaxed attitude of the original refugees seemed to be helping her group settle in. She could feel some of the overall tension ease.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again. Something worried her. She hadn't let herself think about it, but it was in the back of her mind. What about a mini quarantine? Wasn't Megamind worried about contamination?

She really ought to bring that up. It was very kind of Megamind to let everyone in, her group included, but he really should have isolated them for a while, to make sure no one carried the virus in among them. She knew her group was clean, or probably clean, but he couldn't have known that.

Had he let them in freely because of her? Did he let in anyone who asked? He ought to set up a quarantine procedure.

Great. Now she felt guilty. Who was she to demand others get quarantined when she had gotten in so easily?