“If we did . . .” Rubio nosed into the circle. “They’d think twice before they took us on.”

Rousseau rubbed his eyes. “Where would we put everybody?

Irv and Rubio traded a glance.

“It was your find,” Rubio prodded.

Irv’s flush deepened. “Okay. Here it is. We think we’ve found the place to do it.”

“Do what?”

“Live together. One den home.”

“All of us in the same den?” Will shook his head, like he’d misheard. “All the time?”

Rousseau’s chin tucked uneasily. “Who thinks that’s a good idea?”

“We’d kill each other before sunrise,” R.J. muttered.

“Wait. Think it out,” Rubio urged. “Give it a chance. After all, it’s worked out here, taking in Ladysmith’s.”

“But we’re each looking for a new den of our own,” said Rousseau. “Aren’t we?”

“That was before Macy’s. Now we really need the strength of numbers. But we’re already jam-packed, and if we keep taking in survivors . . .”

“Gimme Shelter won’t last long on their own,” Irv said. “They’re sitting ducks and sure to be next.” He glanced down the room at the gathering of children and caretakers, noise and motion quieting as the kids found courage to drink, eat, lie down, even to sleep. “And they have a cow! We could share our resources and build on them, instead of keeping everything secret.”

“Easy for you to say,” said R.J. “Since you have nothing left to share.”

I lifted my head from my bench. Hadn’t paid the third Empire much mind till I heard that edge in his voice. He was slight and brisk, all business, wasting little on diplomacy.

Irv drew back, stung, but Rubio dug his feet in. “They have their weapons. Don’t reject an idea just because it isn’t yours.”

Glancing down the room, I saw Daniel had switched to listening mode. Now the terrorized boy couldn’t stop talking. I wanted to hear his story, but getting up now would call attention to myself, and I might be asked to leave. I really didn’t belong in this company.

Rousseau turned away, then back again, stood a moment in indecision, then dropped into a chair beside the tables. “Okay. Let’s give this some thought.”

To my surprise, Will settled opposite him, leaning forward on his elbows. “Really? You think it could work? We’d need a lot of space.”

“No way,” growled R.J. “I’m not shacking up with the likes of Doyle, having to prove my manhood every five minutes!”

“That’s why it’ll work!” Rubio drew up a chair, sketching curves and ovals in the air above the table. “The place we’ve got in mind is big enough for each den to run its own sector. Before, we’d rejected it as too big for two dens to handle, but . . .”

“One and a half,” muttered Irv.

“But with all of us . . .”