While we waited for Yamato and Eriks' squads to catch up, Carrie and I discussed Armstrong. We kept him out of the loop and I had him move off to examine some of the cars to see if they were stopped because people climbed out and started running or if it had something to do with Scourge catching up to them.

"I really think he'll do fine," Carrie insisted. "He gives clear orders and doesn't use his position as an excuse for where he places himself in the formation."

"That's here and now when he has the highest ranking officers in the Nephilim with him," I said. "Having you and I here under his command, he knows he's being tested and wants to make a good impression."

"Are you saying he didn't?"

"No, I'm saying that it's easier to give orders that put yourself in danger when you know that the people on high are watching," I answered.

"And where did you see that stuff happen? You weren't a soldier before the Wardens grabbed you, you were a fast food worker," Carrie said.

"I saw it in my mother's company," I told her. "Managers and project leaders would put their asses on the line when they thought the higher ups were watching and thinking of promoting someone. They'd weasel out of any punishments if they didn't meet deadlines and they'd take all the credit when they met them ahead of schedule."

"I can't stop everyone like that from moving up in the Nephilim, but I can make it more difficult for them to get to the point where they're throwing lives away chasing a promotion they don't deserve."

"How do you know there will be people like that?" Carrie asked quietly.

"Because there's always someone who wants more control and power that won't let anything stop them. They don't care what happens to the people around them, and eventually they get a little power and they use it like a noose on anyone they can, because they think that the efficiency of people who can't speak about what they're doing is greater than the efficiency of people that get along with one another."

"Do you want us all to hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya?'" Carrie asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," I told her. "I just don't want the officers under me to be hated by everyone else because they don't care about the lives they lose in the fight. I know that they'll all have to give hard orders and that people will die, but I don't want them to spend their lives like coins at an arcade. That would be something I'd never be able to look myself in the eye about."

We stood there silence as we waited for the other squads to show up. Eventually, when Armstrong was on his way back to us and I could see Yamato and Eriks waving from the bottom of the hill, Carrie suggested an idea I actually liked.

"Why don't you send Vincent out with some of Kyouka's and Matt's squads?" she suggested. "That way he'd be giving orders to people that aren't us and we could evaluate him from their perspective."

Like I said, I liked this plan. We could give it a shot. I nodded to her and began making the teams that would be going into the city and the directions they'd all be coming from when they entered.

Another moment passed and all thirteen of my Nephilim were around me and waiting for orders. I didn't disappoint them.

"We'll divide into four teams," I said. "Yamato, Eriks, and Armstrong here will lead three others into the city and begin scouting for the Queen. If you find it, you must make radio contact with the others and wait until we're all there. It's thought that the Queen will have the Guardians from the old Queen with it. We don't know how many that is or what they are, so if you go in guns blazing you're liable to end up in a bad situation. Applewood and I will follow the main road here and make our way toward the city center. Eriks, you'll take your people and follow after us before splitting off to the right side and searching that residential area there. If you find survivors, contact me and we'll be there to help escort them out. Yamato, you and yours will go to the left with Armstrong and you'll start scouting that business area of the city. Same deal with survivors but Yamato you'll be the one in charge of escorting them out. Clear? Alright then, start picking your people to go with Armstrong."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Once the twelve of them were situated and divided up, we began to make our way toward the city and split into the areas I had assigned everyone. It was one of the worst things I'd seen since coming back to Earth. The cars deeper in the city were destroyed and showed signs of damage from Ghouls, Kamaitachi, and Kongs. There were rents and tears throughout the bodies and several of them had doors removed and thrown about carelessly. I really hoped they'd been empty, but I knew that the dark stains on the seats and ground weren't from oil. The further we went, the more I felt my anger rising.

This wasn't a city anymore, it didn't even deserve to be called a ghost town. This wasn't a ruin either. It was a Scourge Nest. That was made completely clear when Eriks' squad took care of a Hellhound that had dashed at them from one of the few intact alleys. Before they could kill it, there were even more Hellhounds charging at Carrie and I who had moved to help them.

"Carrie, don't let any of them by us," I told her as I drew an explosive hatchet and threw it at the charing Hellhounds.

"Yes sir, Commander," she said, meeting the first Hellhound with a heavy bash from her shield.

There wasn't any talking that we could do after that until it was over. I was too busy sending Scourge blood and guts flying as I worked to either disembowel them or thrust my sword through their hearts. Carrie used her shield to great effect by sending one or two Scourge off-balance with well-timed hits before following up with her axe to cleave their heads open or to chop an arm off. We fought for what felt like several minutes before Eriks and his squad were there working in pairs to engage and isolate the Hellhounds and giving us both a much needed respite from their claws and tentacle stingers that weren't able to penetrate our armor.

"Everything clear?" I asked as I pulled my sword out of the last Hellhound's throat while Eriks worked to remove his spear from its chest cavity.

"Marcus, what do you see?" Eriks demanded from one of his squad members.

"Clear, sir. Clear, Commander," the Knight he'd spoken to answered. "Don't see anything but the buildings and the cars. I'll try to keep a better eye out for next time."

"This wasn't something that you could have anticipated," I told him. "These Hellhounds were acting weird and there's too many of them to be typical for the packs they travel in whenever they're hunting."

Now that we had a free moment to examine them all, I counted more than fifteen Hellhounds when their hunting packs never went over six. If the Queen wasn't here, it'd left a powerful Guardian to keep order while it ran and hid.

"Shit," one of Eriks' Knights swore as he looked around at the bodies. "What do we do, Commander?"

"Keep your eyes moving and make sure to watch your asses," I told him. "Carrie, open a line to Yamato and Armstrong, make sure they know to be more careful than we've been so far."

With a nod, Carrie moved away and began to send my message to the other squads while I turned to Eriks.

"Don't trust any of what Scourge typically do to be what you see here," I told him. "If Hellhounds are travelling in large groups like this and leaving ambushes, then something is giving orders with similar authority to the Queen. That means whatever it is will most likely be extremely dangerous and won't let you escape. If it looks too good to be true, then triple-check everything before you think about committing to it. Get me?"

"Yes sir, Commander," Eriks said. "Let's go guys, we're breaking off here to check out our area. Good luck Commander."

"Good luck, Eriks," I responded as Carrie walked back to me.

"I sent the message out and they said they'd be careful," she told me. "Armstrong asked if you wanted him to hook up with Yamato and have her be in charge and I told him to just be careful and he'd do fine."

"Good, I don't like anything about this. The more careful our people are the better we'll be," I said. "Come on. This place won't give up its secrets without some sort of fight."