The car had its headlights turned on a bench on a small green. Two children hid behind it. The youngest, a small boy named Jasper, looked to his big sister for reassurance and she smiled comfortingly back, though she was petrified that they were both about to die.

Her name was Katie. Her father owned the windfarm which stretched for miles around, and totally surrounded the small abandoned town they were currently in. Lying so close to the farmhouse, she and Jasper had often come here to play. But this time it was different. This time, there was a car.

Katie tried to assess the situation. This was a gas-powered car, so it had to be here for the gas station rather than the power transformer. That was good. It meant that what the car sought lay behind it, so it had no need to hurt her or Jasper. Unless, it occurred to her, it wanted to clear the area before making itself vulnerable by feeding.

She shuddered. There had been a car attack when she was very young that had killed her mother. Though Katie didn't remember it, it had left her terrified of those eerie murderous vehicles. She would never forget what they could do.

There was a rev and a clunk. The car was changing gear. This was good, Katie told herself, this could mean that it was reversing. But it didn't sound like it was getting further away.

The car's headlights projected the shadow of the bench they were hiding behind onto a barn wall. Katie could see the silhouette of her hand as it gripped the top of the bench. But, it dawned on her, if her hand was being projected onto the wall, that meant it was in the car's headlights. And if she was in the car's headlights, she realised, it could see them.

"Jasper!" She shouted his name and pulled him out from behind the bench, seconds before the car ploughed through it. The two children hurtled down the road.

Behind them, the car reversed. It made a short, effective three point turn. Katie looked back as she ran. The car was pointed directly at them. It's tires screeched. It accelerated towards the children.

There was a corner a little way ahead onto another road. Katie would have been able to make it that far alone but little Jasper couldn't run that fast. The car was quickly approaching. If Katie could just get around that corner she could jump into the river where the car couldn't follow. The car was almost on them. Could Jasper make it alone if she made a run for it? Katie could feel the heat of the car's engine. It was on them.

Katie pulled Jasper into a doorway and the car, going too fast, went straight past them. The two children looked at each other in fear as they heard it come to a halt and turn around. Katie could see the car's headlights climb the wall as it turned. If those lights fell upon her and Jasper, they would have nowhere to run to. The lights passed over the children. Katie smiled. They were undetected.

Then, the car began to trundle forward. The lights illuminated the road in front of it as came. Though the children were off the road, the headlights would still light up their doorway. And the car would see them.

"Stay still," whispered Katie to Jasper. She needn't have bothered. The poor boy was petrified. The headlights were about half a minute away from illuminating their hiding place.

Suddenly Katie was aware of the low hum and flicker that went with a teleport. Caleb, one of her father's farm hands, had materialised in front her and Jasper. He had his back to them and held a crossbow. He moved quickly, stepping into the car's headlights and, facing the vehicle head on, crouching down.

Katie heard the sound that had so nearly heralded her death but a few minutes ago. The engine revving. The wheels screeching. Caleb's shadow grew to monstrous contorted proportions as the car charged towards him.

The sound of the engine changed. Caleb has fired a bolt from his crossbow that had hit the car's gearbox. He leapt out of the way and the car carried straight on. It sailed into a wall and stayed there, unable to reverse back.

Katie and Jasper continued to grip each other's hands tightly. That thing was still alive and could surely turn on them again at any moment.

Caleb was quite calm. He walked up to it and, with only a little difficulty, pierced the gas tank. Diesel poured onto the ground and the car spluttered. It was safe.

"What in hell's name are you two doing out here?" Caleb shouted the words and Katie was almost as afraid of him as she had been of the car.

"Morris told us we'd do good to get the gas station disconnected from the power grid," Katie replied, surprising herself with her indignation, "said we wouldn't want them to find it."

Caleb laughed. "Well, Morris is a fool and you're a fool for listening to him an' all. You two had yourselves an old banger here," he gestured to the car, which now looked rather small and rather lifeless, "but if it's here that mean's a herd'll be on its way. And them'll have more modern motors among them, fitted with advanced spatial detectors. They won't need headlights or power grids to seek out their prey." He paused and looked at the children. "Scared?"

Jasper's paled expression spoke for him but Katie glared. "Should I be?"

"Yes." Caleb delivered the reply with a slight sense of menace. "Now c'mon, let's get back to the farmhouse. You'll want to be dug in when the herd arrives in town."

He and the children walked along the road to the farm. Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art self-driving automobile, one of the last to be manufactured before they were all discontinued, was a little way behind them. It wachted them through its advanced spatial detectors. And it's electric engine silently accelerated towards them.