Botanicaust (18 page)

Levi strode up the dry creek bed with as much haste as his body could muster. He needed to make some distance.
Not only from the incoming Blattvolk, but also from her.
What was it about her that made him want to protect her, even from her own people?

As green as she was, her scar served as a visual reminder that she was still human. Her actions were human.
He wondered what was in store for her after saving him
,
sure it wasn
’
t good
. That evil man, Vitus, would likely try to hurt her.

When he thought of Vitus pushing her on the stairs, his steps faltered.

You can
’
t go back.

Should he have invited her along?

To where?
His people would never accept her into the fold. He had nowhere to harbor an abomination, even if she was more human than he
’
d expected.

He continued hiking through the dim light, made dimmer by the high sides of the gully and the dust-clogged air, glad for the mask she
’
d made him. Squinting against the grit, he trudged on, eyes watering. He
’
d get his bearings later. For now, he had to get far away. Following the cut through the plains was probably not the best way to hide, but the storm still raged above and, until it died back, there was no way he could fight the scouring wind.

Sunrise pierced the darkness and, as if on cue, the gale eased into an unsteady sigh. The air seemed cooler without the burning wind, like the welcome arrival of a rainstorm after a heat wave. But the sky remained hazy blue. Scrabbling up the side, he scanned the horizon, turning a full circle. He had no idea which direction the city lay in. Nor the direction of home, or the Fosselite scientists he sought. To the northwest, a bank of thunderclouds blackened the horizon.

Should he go back into the ravine, or keep walking in hope of finding shelter? Topside, he would be exposed to the Blattvolk flying machines. Yet the gulch was a direct connection to the car. He fished a water bottle from the bundle at his shoulder and sipped while squinting into the sunrise.

The longer he waited, the more likely he was to be spotted if the Blattvolk came looking for him. The air pressed sweat against his dust-caked skin. A few sparse, wind-tattered shrubs dotted the land, but nothing significant enough to give shelter. He worried about Tula. Would she be all right until her people found her? The thought of her going back to the malice of that Vitus fellow made his jaw tighten. His fist crushed the empty water bottle as regret engulfed him,
then
engulfed him again for ruining the bottle. He was supposed to offer salvation. Tula deserved to be saved.

A gust of wind sent his crushed water bottle scurrying north and lodged it against the base of an amarantox. As he bent to retrieve it, the earth began to vibrate, and small drifts of silt sifted into the ravine. A sound like grinding rock rolled in from the west, and he leapt away from the edge of the cut as muddy water churned down the gully, a jumble of debris riding at the fore. The flood shot past his feet, filling the channel almost to the top, taking anything in its path for a ride. Within a few heartbeats, the front edge disappeared around a bend, headed straight toward Tula.

Tula leaned into the dented skimmer and looked at the engine with despair. Why had she thought she might be able to nudge it into life? The only part she recognized was the battery, and it seemed fine.

Coughing, she trudged to the passenger seat and picked up the half-used roll of gauze. Wrapping the makeshift mask around her face, she leaned back in the seat. The rescue team would find her soon. Levi was long gone. Why should she be in a hurry to face her punishment? Closing her eyes, she found herself on the verge of tears.

Don
’
t cry. You have no water, and they may be hours away from finding you.
She could only hope.

The day dawned gray, and soon the heat and the ultraviolet would be unbearable. She was glad for the shade of the gully, but regretted not pulling the allelopathic suppression pills from the first aid kit before Levi left. How long before a duster found her? She wondered if Mo might be on the team to rescue her.

As if thinking of him could conjure his voice, the
com
hissed to life and Mo
’
s voice crackled into the stillness.
“
Coordinates verified. All Burn Operatives are ordered to flash on sight.
Repeat
,
take no prisoners
. All Burn Operatives are ordered to flash on sight. Dr. Macoby is considered armed and dangerous.
”
The
com
clicked into silence.

Tula sat straight in the seat, not daring to breathe. Were they talking about her? Was
Mo
talking about her? Her heart raced as if it could scramble out of the ravine without her. Flash on sight?

This had to be a mistake. They only killed reversions, and then only if the reversion refused to comply. Did they think she
’
d reverted?

She leapt out of the skimmer, legs trembling. She wouldn
’
t have a chance to explain herself. There would be no going to the mines for her. No working the protein production unit with Bats. Why did Mo broadcast Burn Ops directives to her
com
unit, if they intended to kill her and Levi on sight?

Her chest tightened. He
’
d warned her. Or hoped to warn her. If they knew he
’
d transmitted to her, they
’
d punish him, too.

She had to get away from here.
Run
.

Without thinking, she tried to scramble up the side of the ravine, but only succeeded in pulling more dirt into the gully. Turning in the direction Levi had disappeared, she ran until she found a section where the earth wall had sloughed to create a natural ramp. Once out of the gulch, she looked across the desert, wondering if Levi had climbed out here, too. Silt hazed the air, but the dusters would be able to lift soon. Levi would be hiding, of course. She had no way to find him.

Fear paralyzed her. The insides of her nostrils stung with dry dust. She had no supplies. No protection from the sun. She might as well let them find her. But burning to death sounded so horrible.

With no options, she scanned the gully, keeping an eye on the horizon for Levi. If he
’
d come out here, the wind had scoured any trace of his footsteps.

A vibration in her feet caught her attention at the same moment a wave of red mud slammed through the ravine from the west. The flow crashed into the skimmer with a horrific crack. The vehicle flipped up and over and rushed down stream, open doors catching the flow of water like a kite in the wind.

She watched it disappear, unable to move. What if she
’
d been inside? A shiver seized her and she had to sit down a moment until it passed. Then another thought came to her. What if Levi had still been in the gulch?

She jumped to her feet and looked up and down the muddy line. The water had eased its violence to a solid flow. Twigs and leaves swirled and passed quickly from sight. Covering her face, she gulped air. Maybe he climbed out in time. She had to hope.

And she had to keep moving. Even if the flash flood had carried the skimmer far away, the Burn Teams would keep looking. She hoped they might give her a chance to explain herself if they found her. But she knew Burn Op mentality. She lived with an Op. Well,
had
lived with one.

Tears filled her eyes and she fought them down. Mo. He
’
d be forced to betray her if he found her. Would they send him against his own woman? Did he believe she
’
d reverted? That thought caused more tears to escape, no matter how hard she struggled. His feelings about reversions and cannibals had always been clear.

She wiped her cheeks. She couldn
’
t afford to cry. She had no water. How did the cannibals find water on this forsaken wasteland?

The thought of cannibals made her freeze. She squinted at the sparse vegetation. What if she ran into them? Flashes of repressed memory made her bile rise and blinded her. She tripped and fell to her knees.

A brother, screaming as a knife flashed in the sun.
The smell of blood and wood smoke
.
Her stomach knotted as she recalled the sharpness of real hunger, the desire for the meat she was offered.
The acceptance of the meat…

Curling into a fetal position, she stared at the hard dirt under her, afraid to close her eyes lest the visions completely overtake her. Pebbles and cracked earth bit into her forehead. She focused on that pain. Forgetting the past.

She had to stay in the
now
.
To survive.
Thanks to conversion, she
’
d never have to resort to … that … again.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up. With bleary vision, she scanned the sky, the horizon. Danger lunged at her from every angle.
Dusters above, cannibals behind every rock and shrub.
Flash floods. The sun alone could kill her by nightfall if the air cleared of dust; right now, the haze filtered some of the ultraviolet.

And she was alone.

Her life had come full circle.

A pity party won
’
t save your skin.

She pulled her legs under her and peered over her shoulder at the sky. No sign of dusters. Had they found the skimmer? Would they give up?

Not if Vitus was in charge.

She didn
’
t want Vitus to win. But how could she beat him? She kept moving, keeping the gully to her left, scanning the skyline for any sign of Levi, giving tumbleweeds and yuvee trees a wide berth where they sprung from the crackled ground at irregular intervals. Her real enemy would be the sun. She could already feel the effects of the chemicals in her bloodstream. The euphoric high might not be a bad way to die.

Sliding her gauze mask aside, she raised her face to the sky. She welcomed the mind-numbing rays. Digging into her memory, she brought up evenings with Mo, when he
’
d kissed her silly, sharing the chemicals from his day on the Burn.
No, not a bad way to go at all.

Something tore at her naked leg and she flinched. She
’
d run into
a tumbleweed
. Welts popped up on her skin where beads of
blood oozed along scratches.
Pay attention
.
But the sun felt so good.
Find Levi.

Focusing on the rocky edge of the ravine, she placed careful steps. She was far from drunk, but her usual reaction to the chemicals was to give in to the pleasure. She
’
d never had to keep a straight head before. Not until the children disappeared.

That thought sobered her. She continued, but couldn
’
t help thinking she would be another casualty of the desert.
Fit punishment for failing the children.

Blinking, she wondered if the green yuvee trees had leached toward white. A UV storm would take her down, for sure. Maybe her vision was failing in all this sun.

A glint under the low branches of a tattered amarantox caught her attention. She squatted and lowered her head to the ground to get a better look.
A crushed nuvoplast water bottle.
Droplets of moisture clung to the inside.

She rose, her head spinning.
“
Levi!
”
she yelled, but her voice emerged hoarse and raw. She hadn
’
t realized she was so thirsty.
“
Levi!
”
A desperate shriek.

She hoped the human figure in the distance wasn
’
t a hallucination.
Or a cannibal.