“Not yet,” I replied. “Just wait.”

“For what?”

I did not answer. I was too busy concentrating. I increased the volume on my audio settings as high as it would go. This is what I heard:

Click. Click. Click.

The noises were barely noises at all. They seemed to come from a great distance. I could not be sure what I was hearing. The rustle of ancient human trash? Acorns falling?

Or something else?

Click. Click. Click.

There it was again. Louder now. I ran an audio analysis. An instant later, I received the result. We were hearing a very specific sound.

The sharp impact of metal claws against concrete.

The sound of a HunterBot.

01001101

I had seen HunterBots in action many times over the years. Their sleek metal bodies stalking through the solar farm in search of prohibited LifeForms. Their ultrasensitive audio ports listening for even the slightest sound. Their sharp/silver/deadly teeth glistening.

But I never thought I would be the one they were hunting.

Click. Click. Click.

Claws stabbed the pavement. Each metallic click sent a chill vibrating through my circuitry.

I ran another audio analysis. Three HunterBots.

My memory drive flashed with the words Emma had used to describe them. Red-eyed wolf monsters. I had never thought of HunterBots that way. Until now.

The van’s back door was still hanging open. Any HunterBot that passed by the van would have a clear view inside. A clear view of us.

But closing the door was not an option. That would create too much sound, alert them to our hiding spot.

All we could do was wait. Remain silent. And hope the other robots did not walk past.

Click. Click. Click.

The HunterBots were getting closer.

I listened to their steady approach. Probabilities flickered through my mind like fireflies.

Probability of being discovered: 86.4 percent (and rising)

Probability of avoiding capture: 13.6 percent (and falling)

The math was against us.

The inside of the van echoed with the harsh sound of claws. One of the HunterBots was especially close. Only a few meters away.

I listened as it stalked closer.

Slowly/Steadily.

I anticipated what would happen next. A metal snout coming into view. A pair of blood-red eyes turning their deadly glare in our direction. Sharp teeth snapping together, a vicious warning not to move.

Except none of that happened.

Instead, the clicking suddenly stopped. A curtain of silence had fallen outside. In the sudden quiet, the van filled with questions.

What was going on? What were the HunterBots waiting for?

An instant later, a sound crashed through the brush. This was not the precise mechanical stride of a machine. This was the flurried dash of a fleeing animal.

The deer.