We stood still in that moment of silent intent. No longer hurried, no longer fearful. The sound of the barley brushing against each other in the westerly breeze captured both our ears and our minds. I have never known since such malefecence, and yet such harmony in the one second we took to glance behind us. The fields seemed to have been parted by our fleeing tracks, and as the hills began their rolling descent once again, it was possible to detect our pursuers, the black, roving specks that they were, ever hot on our heels no matter how far in the distance they might have seemed.

I grabbed my roomate Jenna by the arm, and whispered into her ear, "Is it safe?" But she turned back to me with moist lashes and a trembling shake of her head, too uncertain to reply. We had come this far, I thought. Traversed so many miles of trecherous terain. I glaced beside me to my nine year old brother, Zack, who was doubled over in exhaustion. To go back now...

A bumble bee bumped against the back of my neck, buzzing in my ear until its flight path was redirected by the wind. The hair on my arms bristled as I stared out over the sweeping planes of golden wheat, transfixed by its whispering advances, as though it were beckoning us to enter into its complete embrace.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of air to my left as Zack went hurtling forward. He dove into the long field, and though I tried to reach out and grab him, his sodden t-shirt just barely slipped through my fingers. I called to Jenna to remain where she was, not knowing if she had heard me, or even understood my warning.

The heads of the wheat brushed up against my neck as I struggled through, groping for the feel of Zachary's warm body in my arms, when I suddenly tripped on something hidden in the ground, and went flying forwards onto my stomach.

The face of a masked man appeared before me amongst the stems, and he placed a gloved hand over my mouth to muffle my screams. The last thing I remember is the same toxic purple vapour, before the world seemed to melt around me.