That uncomfortable, nagging feeling quickly turned to fear, churning in his stomach, and he started taking hesitant steps back in the direction of the trees. As soon as Barry could make out the approaching silhouette, he turned around, eyes wide, sprinting as fast as he could across the sand-covered rock. He could already hear it thundering behind him, quickly gaining ground and all he could think of was to run. Get away. There was only the feeling of panic and his damn legs, already burning, not wanting to move faster. He stumbled as the rocky underground gave way to a patch of deeper sand and twisted around, knees bent, ready to leap to the side, when the creature suddenly stopped.

An impossibly massive creature stood facing him, about 15 yards away. On instinct, Barry’s entire body had gone stiff, staring at it in wide eyed horror. His mouth had gone dry and he was sweating heavily, his breathing coming fast and shallow. He tried to keep still and quiet. It was all he could do not to scream or puke.

It looked closer to a tank than an animal, covered in thick, pocked slats of gray hide, overlapping at its joints like medieval armor. There was some similarity to a rhino, if you added steroids and mutations and a few millennia of evolution. It was about twice as tall and wide as a rhino, and did not have a horn. Its muzzle was instead long and flat, reminiscent of a crocodile’s. Through his panic, the unwanted thought popped into his head that this was clearly not a herbivore.

It felt like time stood still as he stood there, gaping at the beast in front of him. He was going to die. Any moment now, this monstrous bull would shoot forward and kill him. He felt sick with fear, but it was somewhat muted by this surreal, dissonant feeling he’d been experiencing since coming here. No matter how real things felt, there was still a part of him that believed he was about to wake up. The beast would bullrush him at that ridiculous speed, all would go black and he’d just wake up in his small studio. Possibly having wet the bed, and definitely never wanting to go to sleep again. Would he have to go through the agony of being torn to shreds first? The pain at least was very real here. His fear spiked again and he tried to control his breathing, desperately thinking of a way out of this. Should he go back to running away? Why had it stopped moving? Was it just savoring his fear before pouncing on him?

Barry couldn’t help but feel some awe as he continued looking the creature over. This bull was absolutely massive. The more he observed it, he had to discard any comparisons to a rhino, or in fact any other animal he knew. Where its eyes and nose should be, there were tiny slits, looking undeveloped and barely functional. There was also something about the shape of its joints and the way it stood on bent knees, as if ready to leap at him, that didn’t add up given the sheer mass of the creature. He assumed that it would probably have high speed and acceleration, but poor agility. Most bizarre of all were its huge feet.

Most people didn’t realize how important foot posture and weight distribution were in evolutionary history. Rhinos and elephants may look similar, but their feet are entirely different. Rhinos have hooves and walk on the balls of their feet, elephants being flat-footed, putting their weight on their heels instead. This bull seemed to be in a category of its own, its feet a lot thicker than the leg, splitting down into 4 triangular, hoove-like parts with a broad underside. There were fleshy protrusions in the gaps between each of the large toes, that he couldn’t make sense of. Its large ears were clearly better developed than its other senses, pointed in his general direction, twitching attentively. It might not be able to see him, which might explain why it had stopped, but it would definitely pick up on any noise. He had to keep quiet. That would soon become a problem as his quadriceps were starting to cramp from the awkward position he’d stopped in.

He’d managed to get his breathing somewhat under control, but sweat was starting to run down the side of his face. Still no ideas. His legs were really burning by now, and he realized he’d have to change his stance. Slowly, carefully, he straightened his legs and torso to an upright position. No reaction. Thank God. He just might turn to religion after this. Then, as he went back to studying the behemoth in front of him, a drop of sweat rolled down his chin and landed on his foot with a barely audible plop.

He nearly jolted in fear as the bull suddenly made a step towards him, ears perking up, but he managed to keep still. His heart was pounding in his ears, so loudly he thought it would surely be able to hear it. It was just a matter of time until it would rush him. He had to think of something.

He noticed some slight movement by the foot the bull had just lifted to step closer. It was barely visible, so small that he wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t already been staring at it. It looked like a tiny gray needle was now protruding from the unidentified bulge between the toes, stabbing through the sand until it touched the rock beneath. It reminded him of an old fashioned seismometer he'd seen in a museum one time.

Barry’s eyes widened with realization. It must be able to sense vibrations from movement through the ground. That might explain how it had been able to locate him from so far away in the first place. Looking down, he now noticed that he was standing on a deeper pile of sand, where previously there had only been a thin layer of it covering the rocky ground underneath. Intuitively, it made sense to him that this would dampen the vibrations.

Barry’s mind finally snapped into action at that last piece of information. The information was limited, but he could form a few hypotheses now. First, there was a high probability that the bull had terrible vision, which was probably the only reason he was still alive. Second, he thought that this creature was built not just for sustained high speeds, but also fast acceleration. The shape of its joints suggested that it would however only be capable of limited movement from side to side. It would move very quickly in a straight line towards its target, but it would have to slow down to turn around. Third, it likely has good hearing, but so far it hadn’t committed to movements based on its hearing alone. So, finally, its main sense should come from those needles, tracking movements through vibrations in the ground.

That gave him some ideas, which he had no choice but to test. Moving slowly and carefully, he slid his hand into his pocket to take his phone out. As quietly as possible, he tapped the screen to set the alarm to go off in a minute, then, still holding it in his right hand, he slowly moved his arm back, getting it in position for a throw. He pinched the phone between his thumb and index finger to be able to throw it spinning on its side, which should reduce wind resistance. With a short snap of motion, using mostly his wrist, he then tossed the phone as far away from him and the creature as he could, which unfortunately wasn’t very far. Still, as soon as it hit the sand, the creature snapped its head around and repositioned its body in that direction. As expected, it reacted to the sound but did not rush over yet, still waiting for its main sense to pick up the exact location. Looking at it from the side, he noticed there was something very strange about its neck, but he didn’t have time to analyze it right now.

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Ever so slowly, using all the careful control he had over his body, he moved his leg back and rolled his foot onto the sand, toes first. In a slow, controlled sliding motion, he then moved back his other leg and repeated the movement, keeping a close eye on the creature. It was still keeping its attention on the phone. Muscles tensed, sweat dripping from his face under the burning sun, Barry carefully continued in the direction of the incline, performing the world's slowest and strangest moonwalk. He hoped that this way, he could slide across the sand without any tremors traveling to the rocky ground.

Then, his phone started vibrating and the creature immediately rushed for it. Though he was waiting for it, its sudden speed still shocked him. How much force would it take for something that large to accelerate so quickly? It should be impossible for the cartilage in its joints to survive the stress. But still, it dumbly rushed forward, over the phone and past it, snapping its teeth in the air. One of its giant hooves had pushed the phone into the sand, but the device was resilient and kept buzzing. Enraged, the bull turned back and started wildly digging and biting into the sand until it finally caught and crushed the phone between its teeth. It looked confused, moving its head around, ears twitching, looking for sound.

Barry hadn’t wasted the distraction, moving steadily back, creating ever more distance between himself and the bull. He still didn’t have a plan for dealing with it, but at least when he reached the trees he would have some meager protection from the sun and a way to get a better view of the area. If he was lucky, there might be a lake or something out there. The massive creature didn’t look like it would be able to swim.

He got into a steady flow and lost sense of time, focused only on repeating the now familiar sliding motions. Then, his foot suddenly hit something harder, a layer of rock where he’d expected sand. His stomach sank and fear gripped him again, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He prayed that the bull wouldn't have noticed, but still bent his knees to get ready for a jump. But no, he was out lock, the bull already turning and then rushing at him without any delay. Despite the increased distance, there was no time for thoughts or calculations. As soon as it started moving, he leapt as fast and far as he could, directly to his left, keeping his eyes on the bull. He could see it coming closer and instinctually, he felt it would pass him by. But then suddenly, impossibly, its neck elongated and that massive maw snapped out at him. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as he saw the wrinkled folds of skin around its neck stretch out as its head shot towards him. He had a moment to wonder about its skeletal structure, when its muzzle hit him.

Unable to rely on vibrations while Barry was airborne, the blind creature had aimed too high and deep, so instead of catching him between its teeth, its bottom jaw just crashed into Barry’s torso, sending him flying as the bull passed him by. Breath knocked out of him, Barry flew away, landing hard and tumbling across the sand. He immediately got up, disoriented, panting in short, rushed breaths, spitting out sand. In a snap decision, he quickly unhooked his backpack as he scanned for the creature through the sand in his eyes, faintly wondering whether it was a bad sign that he wasn’t feeling any pain. Then, spotting the bull already turning his way again, he threw the backpack towards a patch of rocky ground. Not waiting to see the result, Barry was already turning back to the trees in front of him as his bag tumbled across the ground a few times before coming to a stop.

Luckily, the bull went for it. Undoubtedly, this would just be a delay of execution, except he’d spotted something while he was spinning through the air. One last chance. Right behind the row of dead trees, the ground sloped downwards and then abruptly broke off into a massive canyon. Thanks to the beast’s push, he’d landed closer to the dead trees, now just a short sprint away. That cursed bull certainly wouldn’t be able to climb, but also, hopefully, it wouldn’t be able to come to a quick stop. He glanced at the closest tree and felt he should just be able to make it to the lowest branch and pull himself up.

There was a stab of pain in his side with each short, labored breath now. No time to think any longer, he gritted his teeth against the pain and sprinted to the trees, exiting the patch of sand he landed in. His feet slapping on the cracked rock, he couldn't help but let out a short cry as the pain in his ribs intensified, but he kept moving.

Barry could already hear the bull crunching on his backpack. It would be turning around any second now. He had to move faster. Push through the pain. With only a few more strides left to the tree ahead of him, he heard and felt the rumble of the creature launching itself straight at him. Taking one long step with his left leg, then a final lunge with his right, he used everything he had to leap up and forward. The ravine he'd seen before showed up in front of him again as he flew through the air, willing himself to make it. If this didn’t work, he was dead for sure.

Thanks to his extensive training, Barry could leap long distances and he'd judged his ability well. He’d planned to climb onto the large branch which was now in reach, but then, on instinct, remembering the bull's snapping maw, he decided to use his arms to push off it instead, launching himself back down towards the ground. It felt like time slowed down as he flew to the branch, hands smacking against the inky black wood as he shoved himself down and away.

As he fell back down, he pulled his arms back and drew his legs to his chest to make himself as small as possible. It wasn’t a second too soon as the creature was flashing over him, its neck snapping out towards the branch. Barry felt a flash of relief as he saw its jaws closing over the dark wood, splinters flying. The bull kept moving forward, hurtling straight towards the canyon with unstoppable momentum, pulling the entire branch along with it. Right as Barry was about to hit the ground, its back left hoof clipped his shoulder and then he was tumbling again, vision a blurry mess. He forced out his arms and legs to stop himself, scrabbling at the ground desperately. His right hand caught on something and there was a stab of pain in his shoulder as he came to a halt right at the edge of the cliff. From the corner of his eye he still caught a massive blob of gray going over the edge and falling down into the abyss. A wave of relief and euphoria washed over him, allowing him to forget his pain for a precious few seconds. He breathed out and smiled for the first time since appearing here.

“Yes! Take that, you stupid-”

His delight was cut short by a wave of nausea and once again, he had to roll over to empty his stomach. Barry desperately gasped for breath with each heave leading to stabbing pain in his sides, until he was finally done being sick. He tried to get up on hands and knees but his right shoulder gave out with a stab of pain, dropping him down into his own vomit. Only now did he realize his arm had been dislocated. Using his left arm, he pushed himself up to his knees instead, short wheezing breaths coming out through clenched teeth, right arm hanging limply by his side. His eyes were pressed shut, face contorted in pain.

“Stupid.. Roid-Bull-”

Barry was squeezing the words out between breaths, when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a cheerful female voice.

“Congratulations! You’ve unlocked the use of your PE container. We’re very proud of you!”