He needed to get a hold of himself.

If there was something truly dangerous in this area, would a farmer be able to keep his cows here?  It didn’t seem likely.  And a quick glance at his phone revealed that he still had a signal.  He wasn’t in that other world right now.

He stood in the middle of the road, as still as possible, forcing himself to breathe slowly and listen.

Seconds ticked away.  Nothing moved in the nearby corn.  The cows settled across the field and returned to their grazing.

It was okay.

He was fine.

He looked back out across the field and saw a dark shape standing by the fence, watching him.

Chapter Sixteen

His eyes fixed on the shape at the far side of the pasture, Eric began to move again.

It wasn’t fair.  He was still in Wisconsin.  (Or at least on Earth.)  The corn was tall and healthy, not at all stunted, the shadows beneath them still soft and shallow.  Nothing should be here.

But of course, he knew no such thing.  He was likely only a short distance from the fissure, as he’d been since he first arrived at Annette’s house.  And those curious coyote-deer creatures had followed him right up to the abandoned cabins of Gold Sunshine Resort, where a clear signal allowed him to send their picture to Karen.

The shadowy thing moved along the far fence, keeping pace with him.

It was difficult to make out.  It was a solid shape against the corn, but was the same shades of green.  It walked on two feet, upright like a man, but was at least seven feet tall.  It dwarfed the fence posts in front of it and stood an entire head above the tops of the corn stalks behind it.

Eric swore under his breath.  He was tired.  He didn’t want to keep running.  He needed a break.

But he wasn’t going to get one.

Something moved behind him.  He turned, startled, and glimpsed a green head ducking back down into the corn.

Another one.

He swore again.  Glancing forward quickly, he saw that the pasture came to an end a short distance ahead and he would soon have the blinding corn on both sides, his vision further reduced.

Across the field, the first figure was now moving faster toward the corner of the pasture.

He heard the one on his right moving through the corn, creeping closer.

He decided to run for it.

Immediately, the shape across the field broke into a run as well and the corn rustled violently as another rushed between the stalks somewhere behind it.

Scanning the fields around him, he saw several more green shapes rise up and peer over the corn at him, some of them already moving to track him.

From every direction, crows took frenzied flight as the corn came alive with predators.  He was surrounded.

Stringing together a few of his favorite obscenities, Eric ran as fast as his legs would carry him, which, it seemed, was not all that fast in comparison to the things that would happily chase him down and devour him.

The creature on the other side of the pasture reached the end of the fence and passed into the corn.  Its head and shoulders remained visible over the stalks for only a moment before it lowered itself out of sight, vanishing like a diving submarine.

A few seconds later the pasture was behind him.  Tall corn obscured his view on both sides.  He could hear large things moving among the leaves.

He recalled passing through here in his dream.  He also recalled hearing things in the corn.  He recalled being afraid.  But he did not remember seeing the creature across the pasture.  He did not remember being surrounded and chased.

He tried to recall what was different between then and now.  The conversation with his brother…  He’d raised his voice a little, angered and afraid to hear that Paul had wandered into this mess against his wishes.  Had that extra noise drawn them?

Ahead of him, a tall shape streaked with shades of green to match the colors of the summer corn darted into his path and he came to an abrupt halt only a few paces away.

Feet apart, long, sinewy arms held tensely out at its sides, its body lean, but powerful, it was at least as terrifying as the resort monster.  It had no neck, only a muscular bulge attaching the lower half of the head directly to the torso.  An insect-like mass of glistening eyes took up most of its face and a huge, gaping maw extended almost to its swollen belly.  He saw no teeth.  Instead, it seemed to have row after row of fine, bony ridges, as if this thing did not tear and chew its food, but rather shaved meaty morsels from its victims, all the better to leave its prey alive and squirming while it feasted.

Eric didn’t know for certain that this was true, but it came easily enough to his maddeningly vivid imagination in the split second before he cried out in a shrill and embarrassingly un-masculine voice and bolted into the field.

This seemed like a stupid move, even as he shoved blindly through the first of the leafy stalks.  Clearly, the cornfield was their domain.  They used its cover for stealth, careful to keep their heads down whenever they moved.  It was a dangerous gamble, but he was sure he couldn’t outrun these things on the road.  His only chance was to hope that the corn would allow him the same cover it lent them, evening the playing field a little.

Of course, these creatures probably had a much better sense of direction than he did.  After only a few seconds of pushing through the stiff cornstalks, he was already uncertain which way was which.

Leaves rustled all around him.  He could hear heavy footfalls on the dry soil.  Once, he even saw something green and black streak by in a nearby row.  But for now, he seemed to have bought himself another moment of life, though he had absolutely no idea how he was going to make the most of it.

He came to a stop between two rows of corn and crouched there silently, listening.

They were all around him, moving through the corn, searching for him.

There must be a way out of this.  He remembered the lake.  That second boat.  And before that, the scaffolding that bought him the extra few seconds to escape the resort monster.  The universe had so far appeared to be stacked in his favor.

So what was he supposed to do now?

He tried to remember his dream.  He was walking down the road between the corn, frightened by the strange movement in the field and a cold certainty that something was watching him.  But he didn’t recall seeing one.  They remained out of sight.

One came too close.  A darkling shape in the shifting stalks spooked him.  He ran.  Around him, things ran with him.

But he couldn’t yet remember what happened next.

Far to his left, one of the creatures emerged from the corn and stood with its back to him, searching.  Stretching its body to its full height, it peered out over the corn, likely searching for the telltale movement of cornstalks.

As quietly as possible, Eric slipped between the stalks and into the next row before it could turn and see him.

His gamble seemed to have paid off.  The very same thing that gave them their stealth was now hiding him from them.  If he hadn’t still been utterly terrified, he might have smiled at the justice of it all.

But it was far too early to celebrate.

At that moment, his cell phone rang.  Its eager buzzing sounded at least as loud as a chainsaw motor to his startled ears, and it was more than loud enough to draw the attention of the gruesome pack of creatures he was hoping to escape.  He could see the one he’d just avoided turn and look right at him.

Shit.

Eric shot to his feet and ran.

A huge, groping hand snatched at him.  He cried out and leaped out of the way, changing directions, only to catch sight of something tearing through the corn directly toward him.