The Exile — Darryl Young

Rick gripped the wheel as he pushed the car up to around a hundred and ten. He could do almost twice that but he didn't know the highway that well and a sudden curve or a rough patch in the road could make for a very short trip. He'd been running the events of the day through his mind as he drove, trying to figure out what he could have done better, or different, or whatever. As he let up for a curve, he started over for the third time.He'd been up for a couple of hours when Timmy showed up, watching the news about the supposedly alien ships flying around the planet. He'd listened with half an ear. True or not, it wasn't his problem. Hell, it wasn't anybody's problem as long as all they did was fly around.Even to him, that sounded wrong, but it was the truth. He'd noticed that for most people, it was almost business as usual. And that was how the trouble started.He glanced over at Cyn, then in the mirror at Timmy. She was asleep and Timmy was too fascinated by simply being in his car again to talk much, so he was left alone with his thoughts.Timmy came to tell him Bob Stuart, his father's brother was at the house. As soon as he'd heard that, he knew there was something wrong. He got there in time to screw up his plans, but he didn't believe that would be the end of it. Especially since his being in that house was enough to get him thrown in jail. So that had put them on the road. But even that wasn't the worst part. No, that came about an hour later when Timmy shouted he could see the ships from the news. Rick had pulled over, just to get a look at what the fuss was all about.He wished he'd kept going.As soon as he pulled over and got out, a wave of nausea hit him. His legs turned to rubber and his head felt like it would burst. It passed quickly, but they were back in the car as fast as they could and off again, this time with him pushing the Audi to its limit, even as another wave of nausea hit him. In the outside mirror, he could see one of the ships reversing its direction and dropping down, almost as if it was looking for something. He had no idea how, but he could feel it was looking for him. There was no logic to it, no reason for it, but the feeling was there and it was not leaving.All of which left him with three questions. Who the hell was on that ship? What would they want with him? And finally, what are Cyn's idiot in-laws going to do next?As he pulled into a little town on the Oklahoma border, he had no idea that the answers to all three questions were on their way to find him.