“Yeah,” she said slowly. And then her smile turned into a laugh. “All this time, we were trying to think how to stop them, and all we had to do was wait for them to run out of juice!” She let out a triumphant shriek. “What are they gonna do now? Plug themselves back in? I don’t think so!” She couldn’t stop smiling. “As smart as the little shits are, they need us to plug them back in.”

Archie wiped away some tears that hadn’t been blown away during their ride. “Guess they need arms.”

It was the first time it had been quiet enough for them to have a conversation since she had rescued him from the loading dock. Archie was almost afraid to ask, but he did:

“What about Katie?”

“Katie’s at home,” Sandra said. “Kinda shook up, though. Like you, she’s had quite a day.”

“I’m sorry,” Archie said. “I tricked her. I went to the mall.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sandra said. “With Nick and Rory. I got this bike at Rory’s. No sign of Nick yet.”

Archie’s face saddened. He told her.

“Oh my God,” Sandra said, and put her arms around him and squeezed.

“I saw it happen,” he said, his voice breaking.

Sandra gave him another squeeze. “We’re gonna be okay. It’s over. You’re okay, Katie’s okay. The cars are running out of juice. The only one I’m worried about now is Bruce.”

“Bruce?”

Sandra filled him in, briefly, about what had happened with Katie. It had to be brief, because she really didn’t know that much herself about what had happened.

“So he’s not a serial killer?” Archie asked.

“We need to get home, figure out what to do next.”

She got back into the driving position and revved the engine as Archie resumed his grip around her waist, a little opossum clinging to his mother’s back.

Sandra gave a wide berth to any further Arrivals they encountered but none showed much interest in running them down. All of them, it appeared, were heading home for supper.

She’d felt a tremendous sense of relief when she’d been reunited with Katie, and again when she’d scooped up Archie, but what she was feeling now was something more. A kind of weight being lifted from her. This nightmare was finally coming to an end.

Sandra turned down their street.

If, as it appeared, the worst was over, the islanders could start the process of putting their lives together. The first step would be to get rid of all these goddamn little cars. Load them up on the ferry and, as far as Sandra was concerned, dump them into the ocean before they reached the mainland. They couldn’t get their regular cars back fast enough.