a blind panic, wills her heart to stop beating but her legs answer the call instead and shudder under her. She closes her eyes, which pour tears down her face, and wishes for it to end. What she would have to endure, what was coming next, terrifies her beyond words. Beyond reason. And her legs buckle as she awaits her fate.

The pack turn suddenly as a commotion at the rear of their ranks draws their attention. The drones there have begun falling forward onto their comrades causing a disruption in their otherwise synchronised march. As each drone falls, a strange sound is heard. She knows she heard it somewhere before. But she can’t concentrate enough right now to place it.

Watching on confused as, after a few seconds, when the numbers have been reduced