As she neared the entrance she smelled the flamethrower fuel a scent that to her mind meant one thing, death. She slowly edged in her body stiffened. It was all gone. She walked among the bodies that littered the ground and some caused her to pause. Drones that had been with her the longest lay in the front and she gently nudged each with her great nose looking for life. None of them responded to her touch or her vain calls.
Had she been some other creature she may have sat and mourned or even cried as the emotions that caused tears were in her mind. She made her way to the heart of the hive and worked among the hundreds of eggs. She leaned down and brushed her cheeks against each waiting to hear the chitter that spoke of life within but they all stood silent.
She glanced about one last time in desperate hope that they had failed in their task. She again moved through the eggs checking them. In the darkest corner she found hope. The egg was small and she knew it may not hatch. She looked it over and found no damage and to her relief the chittering echoed under her touch.
"Life" was the word that stuck in her mind as she flew into a run. It would hatch and need a host soon if the hive were to continue. She raced to the highway and laid prone in the ditch. The traffic was too heavy still to cross so she waited. Hours passed and her perseverance paid off as the highway became empty. Cautiously she crossed to the other ditch and examined the terrain. Cows lay in the field before her but the yellow coils on the fence spoke of warning. Gracefully she pounced over the fence and began her search for a suitably large host.
She past many large cows on instinct because of the small forms that huddled near them. She knew that was what kept her host population large enough to support the hive and so moved on. The host she chose was quickly incapacitated. Its dark hide would be good camouflage should the enemies return. Satisfied with her choice she hefts the beast into her arms. It was heavy, almost too heavy but she labored faithfully.
She could no longer clear the fence and so sought the gate which she had learned bore no burn to the touch. She climbed wearily over the gate, crossed the highway and headed to the devastation. The Queen pulled the host to the egg and laid waiting and resting it would be days before she could seek food and she needed her energy.
The vibrations woke her later in the night and she watched expectantly as the egg burst open, the tentative legs pulling it out of the egg that had sheltered it. The queen gently nudged the cow's head to encourage the hugger to take the host. Content that it was bound to the host she laid her enormous head on the cow protectively and again rested.
The morning brought the second phase of her offspring forth from the host. Its small eyes looked to her and she knew it could sense her anxiety. It sought safety beneath her bulk and she gently peeled strips from the cow to feed it. This was not normal behavior for her kind but it was what she felt had become necessary for survival. The burster built its cocoon beneath her and she waited for it to come forth soothed by its faint sounds.
Days passed and she was hungry but she dare not leave. The queen knew she could hold out, go many more days without food. She had in the past under less dire circumstances. She waited days passed and soon the cocoon stirred. She moved to the side waiting. The slender form emerged wobbling like all creatures on its newly found legs. It would soon pass. The new one was reddish and lanky. Its long legs and even longer tail marked it as a runner; it would be fast but not strong. She had hoped it to be a drone but this one was all she had. She stood allowing it to briefly cling to her leg steadying itself for the first time on its own spindly legs.
The queen watched intently its first moments alone on its feet. It quickly mastered walking and running though it had yet to make an effective jump. It would learn. She started to move on and its tiny cry followed her. It could not walk far without a meal but there was no time to stop in the daylight that waited outside for them. She looked back at her single offspring and felt an instinct older then time one that pulled her to do whatever was necessary. She paused and then lowered her massive frame down next to it. With a gentle push of her tail she felt it clamber up onto her back. It settled in place and its warmth gave her a new found courage as she again set out to find a new hive space.