Botanicaust (20 page)

Heaving a great breath, he lifted her in his arms and headed north.

The Reaches

After two days of grueling travel they reached an outcropping. And God blessed them with an oasis of water and cattails for food. Even a muskrat den gave Levi hope for more than bugs and roots. But Tula remained unconscious.

Two more days Levi watched over her, trickling water into her slack mouth every little while in hope some was getting into her system. Blisters dotted her jade skin in what Levi assumed was
a sunburn
and not some horrible disease. The thought of a plant person sunburning seemed odd, but it was his only explanation. To protect her, he built a shade tent out of cattails and kept her cool with leaf compresses.

Still, she slept.

This morning he woke, filled his water bottles, and gathered a few roots to resume his journey. He couldn
’
t stay here forever. Signs of abandoned cannibal camps dotted the waterside. The Blattvolk were looking for him. And he had to save Josef.

Yet, he couldn
’
t leave Tula here unconscious. What if she never woke up? He didn
’
t think he could carry her and enough supplies to get to the next water source. The morning waxed into afternoon and he still hadn
’
t left, with or without her. He sat in the shade with his knees drawn up, looking out over the scraggly tamarisks surrounding the pool. The first few bits of cattail fluff drifted in the breeze; fall would be here soon. A turkey buzzard circled the sky in the distance, mimicking a Blattvolk aircraft. Or maybe it was the other way around. Perhaps tomorrow was a better day to leave.

He waded out to catch water beetles for supper. Most of his days were spent searching for food for the journey, and he rationed what he found, even now. Today, a muskrat was caught in one of his traps, and he thanked God for keeping him here another day to find it. He gathered more of the pale leaves from the trees Tula had pointed to in the desert. The plant was only familiar to him as a weed they rooted out of the fields, but the leaves were large and made nice compresses. He wetted them and piled them into the lab coat sling before sloshing back to camp.

Turning to Tula to apply new compresses, his heart leapt when he saw her eyes open.
“
Tula!
”
he cried, kneeling to see if her fever had broken.

Her skin still burned. He raised a water bottle to her lips, but she barely managed one swallow before coughing wracked her and she again fell unconscious. Vivid memories of Josef
’
s sickness opened
a hollowness
inside Levi. He focused on changing her leaf compresses, but the cattail jelly didn
’
t seem to be helping. A fire was his next priority, or he
’
d be eating raw muskrat tonight.

He donned his blanket around his waist and skinned the muskrat, staking the hide in the sun to dry. He didn
’
t know much about tanning, but the hide might come in handy later.

Starting a fire with what looked like a miniature flame gun from the emergency kit, he spitted and roasted the tiny carcass. The scent of real meat, after so many days of the bland drink the Blattvolk gave him, was like manna. The meat would barely be a meal for one. Did Tula eat meat? She drank the Blattvolk drink with him. Maybe that was out of politeness. Plant people shouldn
’
t need to eat.

But they also shouldn
’
t sunburn.

He looked from the feast to the unconscious Tula. His stomach rumbled. If she was awake, he should share. With a sigh, he went to her side and urged her awake.
“
Tula.
”
He didn
’
t touch her. The oozing blisters looked painful. Instead, he stroked her hair, once silky between his fingers, now caked with sweat and grime.

Her lids flickered open and his heart lifted. He hadn
’
t realized how alone he felt. Lifting her head again, he offered the water bottle. She looked past the bottle at her leaf-covered body and whimpered. Her hands fluttered like dying birds as she attempted to push the leaves away.

“
What is it?
”
Levi grabbed her wrists.
“
Tula?
”

“
Bad.
”
She croaked, and her head fell back against the pillow robe.

He looked at the wide, palmate leaves he
’
d dampened and placed on her body. Were these poisonous? He
’
d had no skin reaction picking them. But maybe her blisters weren
’
t
a sunburn
. He picked the leaves from her skin as quickly as he could. Had he made her sick this whole time?

The thought worried him. He washed her oozing skin with clean water and debated putting the robe over her. The poultices kept the flies away as well as treated the blisters. Deciding to give the sores time to dry out, he left her uncovered and hoped the smoke from the tamarisk fire would be enough for the flies. As he turned the cooking muskrat over the flames, he couldn
’
t keep his eyes off her nakedness in spite of the blisters.

Out of darkness, Tula became aware of shivers twitching up and down her body. Even though chemical euphoria coursed through her bloodstream, the effects weren
’
t enough to overpower the pain. Her head ached. Her bones shot fire out her fingers and toes. Breathing hurt, her throat and lungs dry and tight.

The sound of splashing water nearby drew her starchy eyes open. Through the filmy haze over her corneas, she saw slatted light. Although it hurt to move, she twitched her head left to see a solid rock wall. Directly above, some sort of plant matter had been woven into a shelter. Thankfully it wasn
’
t touching her. On her abdomen, she ran weak fingers over blistered skin. The poisons running through her system could have killed her. They still could, if her organs were damaged from the sudden shock of so many alkaloids. How could he cover her in leaves like that? And how long had she been unconscious?

Memories of her flight with Levi crept into her consciousness. The last thing she fully recollected was the duster on the horizon. She squinted at the leafy roof, yearning for a drop of water on her parched lips. Fortunately the Protectorate hadn
’
t found them, or they
’
d be in prison. Or worse.

Splashing again drew her attention, and she forced her head the other way. Knee deep in water, Levi placed the cap on a dripping water bottle. He limped up the slope toward her, water sluicing from his muscular legs. The sunlight made the blond re-growth of hair glint like flecks of topaz against his tawny skin. Flashes of remembered sensation tickled the pit of her stomach.
Had they?
The taste of his skin, the broad expanse of his back under her fingertips, the powerful feel of him between her legs couldn
’
t have been a dream.

Guilt churned her already roiling stomach. To have sex with a patient
—
an unconverted patient, at that
—
went against all her training.

But then, so did helping one escape.

And what about Mo? Aching sadness squeezed her eyes shut, but she was too dry for tears. Mo had saved her life. What was he doing right now? What did he think of her? What would he think
,
if he knew about this?

She opened her eyes, struck by the beauty of the big man crouching next to a fire. The muscles of his broad back flexed as he stirred the coals, flames shooting to life along with her lust. She shoved it down. The damn alkaloids would not control her.

She focused on the familiar smoky scent of the fire, like Mo after a day of work. No, Mo after a day at work meant more alkaloid sharing fun. She needed to clear her head. Riding through the pungent smoke was another smell. A saliferous tang that called to mind the emergency with Bats. And the time before…

Charred flesh.

Turning to retch on the stone beside her, all thoughts of a lascivious nature disappeared.

“
Tula!
”
Levi scrambled toward her, leaning over her to press a palm to her forehead. His skin reeked of death. He lifted her head to press a water bottle to her lips and she strained to swallow. The fluid burned as it washed over her parched membranes, and she started coughing.

“
Okay, okay.
”
He held her steady until she settled.

Coughing fit over, she lay back, unable to do more than lie there. But she was awake and alive.

“
Hungry?
”
he asked.

“
No,
”
she croaked. How could he think of eating with that stench all around?

The tightness in his face eased. Moving back to the fire, he pulled something from the coals and gnawed at it. The smell of burned flesh grew stronger. In fascinated revulsion, she watched him chew and swallow bits of meat from some small creature. Reddish muscles and blackened little paws dripped juice down his chin. She
’
d never considered what a non-cannibal might eat in the desert. Beetles like Mo brought couldn
’
t be the only
thing
. But to eat another living creature seemed like such a shame.

At least it isn
’
t human.

He fished black globs from the coals and set them aside. Steam from the lumps released a strangely sweet and spicy scent, not unlike the agave candy she gave her patients. He held up a water bottle to the light and she saw several thumbnail sized beetles crawling around in it. Tilting it onto the fire
’
s hot rocks, he shook the skittering bugs out. They crackled and popped before he twitched them away from the fire with a long stick.

He looked up and met her gaze.
“
…
hungry
?
”
a string of words as he asked again.

She shook her head minutely. Beetles she could stomach, but the overpowering stench of the dead animal eradicated the desire to put anything in her mouth. Besides, she could go for days or even weeks without ingesting food, as long as she could photosynthesize. Eventually, she would need to replenish amino acids, proteins, and some minerals and vitamins.
But not for a long time.

Levi finished his meal and retreated to the lake, rinsing water over his hands. The trees on one side of the water cast long shadows over the surface. Sunset tinted Levi orange as he waded out to an immense stand of spiky foliage. The water churned muddy as he reached in up to his shoulders and jerked a few fronds from the bottom of the pond.

Greenery in hand, he squatted at her side. If she could have cringed any farther away, she would have, but her muscles wouldn
’
t respond to her brain
’
s commands.

He peeled the base of the leaves, layers sloughing in rings, revealing a sticky little center core he lifted toward her.
“
Medizin.
”