Nick looked upward, rolled his eyes, and sighed with exasperation the way he might have had a teacher assigned homework just as the bell rang.

“Pamela, the fucking destination is the mall. The Garrett Mall.” He tipped his head toward the massive building next to the car. “Right there.”

“The Garrett Mall. Calculating the shortest route.”

Rory said, “Uh, you think she’s got PMS or something?”

Archie shot him a look. “Do you even know what that—”

The car was starting to move.

“Pamela!” Nick said. “Just stop and open the—”

Pamela turned sharply and sped out into the parking lot. As the car gained speed and momentum, it circled back, making a wide turn, finally straightening out when the main doors to the mall were dead ahead.

“Stop!” Nick shouted. “Pamela, stop!”

The car accelerated, adjusting its aim slightly, so that it would not connect with the right-angled curb, and very possibly put the front wheels out of commission. It was aiming for the ramped edge designed for wheelchair access.

The Arrival mounted the sidewalk and was now closing in on the mall entrance.

“Holy shit!” Archie cried. “Holy shit! Holy shit!”

The motion detectors above the doors picked up the car’s approach and the double glass doors parted.

The Arrival raced through the opening.

Nick continued to scream. “Stop! Pamela, stop!”

Pamela did not stop.

As the car barreled into the shopping center, right past Cinnabon and Aunt Annie’s Pretzels and the Best Buy Mobile outlet, shoppers dived out of the way. At least, they dived out of the way if they saw the car coming. Its electric drive system meant it did not make a lot more noise than a golf cart.

But an Arrival was considerably heavier than a golf cart. There was significantly more mass. And a hell of a lot more speed.

“Look out!” the three of them, waving their arms frantically, screamed from inside. But the windows were up—they were effectively cocooned—and no one was going to hear them any more than they were going to hear the car.

Sixty feet ahead, a man in his seventies, sneakers on, arms pumping, his back to them, was doing his mall walk. Trailing down from his ears were two white wires.

“No no no no!” Nick screamed as Pamela closed in on him.

And then she hit him.

The man flew up onto the hood, crashed into the windshield, bounced over the top of the car, hit the rear deck, and then dropped onto the mall’s glistening marble floor.

The boys shrieked.