"Commander!" Armstrong waved towards us as we rounded a corner. "Over here, sir!"

The cafe that he led us into had seen better days even before the Scourge showed up. Paint was peeling from some spots on the walls, the tables and chairs looked older than I felt, and the floor was tiled in a horrible pattern. I'd never been into interior decorating, but even I could see that none of this matched.

"Where is he, Armstrong?" I asked as we entered and looked around.

"Upstairs," he answered. "He brought a few more people with him, looks like they're the ones in charge."

"Alright, good work Paladin," I told him as I made my way to the stairs. "Come on Carrie. I'm not doing this alone."

I heard her sigh as she started following me. Teenagers.

When we stepped onto the second floor, I noticed several people scattered throughout the disordered furniture, many of them pointing guns at us.

"No need for those," I said, waving at them. "I'm Rickshaw James, Demigod of the Nephilim. I'm in charge of them and you wanted to speak to me. So, what's up?"

My nonchalance at having them all pointing guns at me seemed to make them pause before one of the men stepped forward and spoke.

"My people heard that you could get us out of here," the man, Eric, said. "They wanted to talk with you about where you send us."

"Okay. You have anything in mind? Or do you want to go with us back to our ship until we've got more of the planet cleaned up?" I asked.

"Can you send me to Washington State?" a younger man asked. "I've got family there."

"Never mind all that," a woman snapped. "What can you tell us about the way things are out there? We know it's bad, we just don't want to be the last ones left."

"I could have you sent to Washington," I answered the kid, "but when you hear what I've got to say, you'll probably want to stay with your friends here. Things are bad. North America is almost totally under Scourge control. Just past Panama in Central America, they're being held back by whatever armies or people are in South America, and Russia has been fighting over in Asia to keep more of them from jumping from the islands in Alaska over to their lands. I don't know about casualties, but most people still alive are holed up together in the cities and any military power that's left is trying to hold the Scourge back from entering them. It sounds bad, I know, but I've sent more Scourge to the problem areas with people still alive, and they're working to push the Scourge back and give everyone else more breathing room."

Silence greeted my words before one of the women started to sob, the man next to her reached out to comfort her, but I could see how he wanted to do the same thing she was.

"What about the government?" someone else asked. "Did you speak to them?"

"No, I was too focused on sending my Nephilim to the places I thought they could do the most good," I told him. "Can't exactly stop and ask for permission from people that spend all day arguing and hope to get a fast answer. Now that we've probably stablized a lot of the cities, I'm likely going to have time to get in touch with whatever's left."

"You mentioned going with you back to your ship," Eric said, "is that offer still on the table?"

Some of the people there looked upset by what he was implying with his question but no one spoke up.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Yes the offer is still available," I told him. "You'll all be sent to the Tadpole's Pool, that's where other civilian people have been placed. They were in transit back to Earth and wanted to come with us even after we'd gotten the report that the Scourge were here. Having all of you there might be difficult for them but I don't have time to worry about that."

"How many people are on the uhm, Tadpole's Pool?" the woman who'd spoken before asked.

"Nearly seven thousand," I told her. I could see some of them were confused by the number and others were stunned by it.

"Does that mean that you've saved that many people?" the young man asked hopefully.

"Not exactly," Carrie spoke this time. "They were all taken by the aliens that changed Rickshaw and I into Nephilim. They made a mistake and Rickshaw helped them pick a different path."

"I knew aliens were responsible for all this mess," an older man grumbled. "So what, did they probe ya wrong?"

"I don't want to answer that Commander," Carrie sighed as I tried not to laugh.

"No one was probed and no one will be probed," I tried to reassure the man. "The real story of why they took us is both sad and funny in a way. I just don't have time to go over it with you all. Are you coming with us or are you going to try your luck here still? And don't forget, if you want I can probably send you to a different city and let you try your luck with the people there."

"We need a minute to talk," Eric said after sharing a look with the woman that was clearly in charge of everything. "Give us some privacy?"

"No problem," I said before turning and making my way down the stairs.

"Commander, what are we doing with them?" Armstrong asked when I'd stepped out of the cafe.

"We're probably sending them to the Tadpole's Pool," I told him. "They want somewhere safe instead of here, and that's the best place for them. I just hope they don't ask to be sent to the cities that are still standing. I've got no idea how they're all doing."

"I think they'll go with us to the ship just to say they've been somewhere else," Eriks said. "I know before all this, I wanted to see the stars up close, so I guess they'll all pick the same."

"They might want to see their families sooner than you think," Carrie pointed out. "I'm dying to find my sister; the only reason I haven't gone looking is because I know it'll be easier to find her after the Scourge are gone."

"Whatever they choose to do, it's up to them," I said. "Armstrong, where's Yamato?"

"She's deeper in the city, said she saw something small running away with a Cerberous following after it," he answered. "Though it might be the Queen."

"I hope she's right about that," I said. "If it's a kid, then they'll have nightmares the rest of their life."

We all stood there another moment before I spoke again.

"Eriks, we've cleared the inner part of the city and if these are the last people to get out of here, then I think we're going to send a Screecher down about twenty miles out. That'll clean out any Scourge left I think. I want you and Yamato to work together with fifty from the reserves to make sure the area's clear before and after the Screecher goes off."

"Yes, Commander," he said. "Can I grab some food first?"

"You and your squad will have the chance to resupply," I told him. "If you don't grab food then, that's on you."

"Thank you sir."

"Carrie, Armstrong, I want the two of you to make sure any new guests we bring up are settled in without any issues," I told them.

"And if there are issues?" Carrie asked.

"Use your best judgement," I told her.

"We'll do our best sir," Armstrong swore.

"Cai, open a line to Yamato for me," I said, the damn tone sounded in my ear again. I thought I'd asked him not to do that.

"Yamato, you there?" I asked.

"Here, Commander," she answered. "How can I help you?"

"Just wanted to let you know that we're leaving the city soon enough," I told her. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"And more," she said. "I managed to catch the Queen alive and kill the Guardian that was with her. After that I ran across a child; she claims to not know where her parents are."

"You said 'alive?'" I asked incredulously. "How?"

"I simply removed its little wings and the legs. Now it can't run away," she said in a matter of fact tone. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nope, not a damn bit," I smiled. "You definitely earned that promotion though. Congratulations, Principality Yamato."

"Thank you Commander. I was just doing my job," she said quietly before cutting the line.

"So I'm not the only Principality now?" Carrie asked after a moment. "Does that mean that I can slack off now?"

"Keep dreaming," I told her. "Yamato has just put herself in charge of Earth Nephilim for the forseeable future. That means that you'll have to take care of everything you've been doing up til now and you can add helping her settle into her position on top of that."

"Dammit," she sighed.

"Language," Eriks admonished her.