I headed to the front desk where a crowd of people had gathered.  The desk itself was a simple construction of unpainted, unvarnished wood.  The people were wet, dirty and didn’t look to be in the best of health.

This is really a case where the people reflect the city.

Just like how people from Las Vegas are covered in bright lights and casinos.

Lisa was at the end of the front desk furthest from the front doors, wearing the same orange vest and name tag the other staffer had been.  Her hair was in a french braid, with a few strands hanging free.

Hey! 😀

She was talking to a woman who might have been fifty or sixty.  A large black and white map of the city had been stapled to the wall behind the counter where Lisa was working.  Colored pins marked various spots on the map, and areas had been outlined and shaded in with markers and highlighters.

Hm, interesting. Used to show people where to go for other shelters, perhaps?

Words were written in the boundaries of these sections.  Many areas were marked with yellow highlighter, with the words ‘Merchant Territory: Very Dangerous!’, blue marker, with the words ‘Chosen Occupied: Avoid!’, or variations of such.

Nice. I was thinking the shaded areas could be areas difficult to traverse due to ruins and such, but this makes sense too.

“Works-here-Lisa or Staying-here-Lisa?” he asked.

Heh, neat distinction. I’m guessing our Lisa is Works-here-Lisa, but it could go either way, and I suspect Taylor might guess wrong if Lisa didn’t tell her.

“Both?” I guessed. 

Pfft.

Watch as there are two Lisas and this poor guy has to go fetch both of them, only for Taylor or our Lisa to have to dismiss the other one.

“Front desk.  If she’s not there, wait.  She’ll probably be in the back getting something for someone.”

Eh, fair enough. I suppose Works-here-Lisa does count as both, given that she stays here too.

Way things were these days, cops were letting things slide as far as concealed and openly displayed weaponry went.

As I was saying.

People needed protection, and so long as the armed didn’t break the rules about using the weapons on people who didn’t attack them first, most people wouldn’t give them much trouble.

Yeah, makes sense.

Some shelters wouldn’t let you in with a weapon, of course, but some did, and others disallowed firearms but let other weapons slide.

Seems reasonable enough, I suppose.

The second building was a sort I’d seen often enough as of late.  I’d stayed in similar places for nearly two weeks before rejoining the Undersiders.  The structure stood in the center of the area, surrounded by tents and communal areas that were sheltered by tarps set over metal frameworks – a dining hall, a medical bay, portable washrooms.

Sounds like a decent enough shelter. So does Tattletale live inside this now? I doubt Coil would place her in a gas station.

Each of these outdoor stations had dozens of people gathered around them.  It was a shelter.

It does sound like it’s actually running as a shelter, though.

She’d told me not to dress up, so I hadn’t.  She’d also told me not to wash my hair today, but it was too late for that. 

I guess that would help blend in with the shelter crowd.

I’d donned a brown spaghetti-strap top, rain boots and a pair of lightweight black pants that were a little worn from the past few weeks, but had the benefit of drying quickly.

I guess that would be why they’re so worn. Quick-drying pants sound good to have, the way Brockton Bay is right now.

My knife was tucked inside the waistband of my pants, at my back.  Not obvious, not entirely hidden either.

Honestly, I guess no one’s gonna question a civilian carrying a partially-concealed knife these days.

The city block that hosted Tattletale’s hideout was a short distance from Lord street, and it sported only two intact buildings.  The first building was a gas station that was currently hosting more than a dozen wrecked or flooded cars that had been dragged off the road.

Ah, sounds like it’s not really out of the way of Leviathan, but still downtown or close to it. Maybe it’s near Parian’s territory. Possibly even overlapping, which could get interesting.

The rest of the area had lots where buildings had once stood, each bulldozed clear of the rubble that had been left in the wave’s wake and surrounded with sandbags to keep the water from pouring in.

And apparently somewhat close to the coast, though with the size of the waves and their parapowered momentum, they could easily go quite a way in.