***
She was furious.
It had finally happened. They had missed one, and a policeman, to boot. He would come back with many more, and now they would know exactly what to look for. And all because one of them had been overly anxious.
She had been afraid of this. There had been signs over the past several days that her control was starting to weaken slightly. The others were troublesome things, bitter and always fighting amongst themselves, and now that their bloodlust was growing, it was getting even worse. This was why she only brought twenty or so with her each time. Deep down, though she was their Queen, she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to handle the whole horde.
But now her hand had been forced. There would be no more time to pick them off one by one. Now she must rejoin the horde and somehow hold them together for one final march.
By dawn, they would bring the town of Shallow Springs to its knees.