Botanicaust (27 page)

“
You a flame runna.
”
He cocked his head and looked her over.

She swallowed. Her voice trembled.
“
No. I
’
m a doctor.
”

“
Get up.
”
He pulled the spear back gesturing her to gain her feet.
“
Osula!
”

Next to the fire, the woman rose in a single fluid motion, baby still attached to her breast, and looked toward them. She backed up a step when she saw Tula, her eyes going to the sky.
“
Flame runnas?
”

“
I have a
…
fish.
”
Tula pointed behind her, hoping to give the cannibals food to distract them. She didn
’
t know the word for fish in cannibal, only what Levi had told her in his language.

The man tensed at her movement and glanced where she pointed. He looked at her slime and dirt crusted hands and nodded.
“
Get it.
”

Backing up a few steps, Tula sidled toward where she
’
d dropped the fish. Red dirt covered the once gray sides. She kept her eye on the cannibal as she bent to retrieve her catch.

He twitched the spear back toward the fire, and Tula complied. At the camp, the leaves plastering Levi
’
s shoulder were gone, leaving the healing pink skin exposed.

Tula dropped the fish and rushed to his side. The ground was littered with peeled cattail shoots.
“
Levi, did they hurt you?
”

His eyes were closed tight in pain.
“
Run.
”

That one word evoked a wash of helpless memories, and her entire body trembled so violently she fell to her knees beside him. She wouldn
’
t leave him. Her brother
’
s screams echoed through her memory. She turned her head to face the cannibals.
“
Take the fish. Just leave us alone. Take whatever you want.
”

The woman looked between Tula and Levi. Ritually scarred over her face and down her pale breasts, her expression was fierce. But she wasn
’
t immediately hostile.
“
This your man?
”

“
Yes.
”
Tula whispered.
“
Please don
’
t hurt us.
”

The man snorted and handed a bundle of leaves to the woman.
“
He
already dying.
”

“
He is not dying!
”
Tula gritted.
“
He
’
s going to be fine.
”

“
Brin,
”
the woman clipped. She nodded at Tula.
“
You got the green.
You from the flame runnas.
How come you up here?
”

Tula met the woman
’
s eye.
“
I ran away. I saved him.
”

The cannibal man held his spear loosely toward Tula.
“
You a healer.
”

The technicality of a medical doctor versus a psychiatric doctor would be impossible to explain to a cannibal.
“
Yes.
”

“
You got no medicine bag.
”
His eyes scanned her near nakedness and Tula fought the urge to cover herself.

“
My things were in there.
”
She pointed to the basket, now overturned.

The woman shook her head. She plucked a small pouch from her waist, and Tula saw her entire belt hung with such bundles.
“
She ain
’
t
no healer.
He got fever in his blood. What you got to trade?
”

“
Trade?
”

“
I got fever tea. And medicine for infection.
”
The woman
’
s eyes slid to the fire, where a tightly woven basket steamed next to the coals.

Tula had never met a cannibal healer before. She didn
’
t know they existed. And they were willing to trade? What did cannibals want?
“
I brought fish.
”

Glancing down, the man toed the dirty carcass.

The woman acknowledged the catch with a nod.
“
Good. We talk trade while we eat.
”

The man scooped up the fish and carried it to the fire. With the knife Tula had left at camp, he deftly split the body and arranged it on sticks over the coals.

Tula
’
s attention wasn
’
t on the man or the fish. As the scent of cooking fish filled the camp, she watched the woman cover Levi
’
s burn with a clear salve and then plaster leaves over it. Even with the baby tied against her chest, the woman worked with such confidence, Tula didn
’
t say a word. All her days as a Conversion Psychiatrist, she
’
d never imagined witnessing such skill and compassion from a cannibal, especially for a stranger.

Taking the steaming basket from the fire, the woman stirred it. Then she removed the leaves binding Levi
’
s wrist. The pain must have roused Levi, because he struggled.
“
Run. Tula, go.
”

She leaned forward.
“
Shh, Levi. She is a doctor.
”
She put her mouth over his.

Red lines ran from the wound up his arm like small rivers from a lake. The woman clicked her tongue.
“
Takes strong medicine to fight fever once it in the blood. It gets to the heart, he dies.
”

“
Can you help him?
”
Tula knew the woman
’
s words were true. She was surprised the cannibal knew so much about infection. They were supposed to be ignorant.
Maybe not all of them
.
Their ancestors had been smart enough to survive the Botanicaust, after all.

“
I have astra root.
Very potent.
Very hard to find.
I use it on your man, you give good trade.
”

Relief flooded Tula.
“
If you save him, whatever I have is yours.
”

“
Eat.
”
Brin pointed to the fish in Tula
’
s hands. They sat near the fire, Osula and Brin sucking at the fine bones of the fish with relish. Even the baby, Heide, opened her mouth every time her mother lifted her hand to take a bite. Osula put a tiny flake on the child
’
s tongue, and the toddler smacked with pleasure.

They also roasted the cattail roots Tula had gathered, and Brin pulled them out of the fire with a pair of sticks. He pushed one over to Tula.
“
Hot.
”

The sweet smell rising from the crack in the blackened husk had a not unpleasant perfume about it.
“
I don
’
t eat plants,
”
she said.

They looked at her like she was insane. She was about to tell them she didn
’
t need to eat, but held back. Her differences were driving a wedge between them. Instead, she sniffed the bite of fish in her hand. Although she needed protein, she couldn
’
t make herself sample it. Prickles popped up all over her skin as Brin watched her suspiciously.

Between her thumb and forefinger she pinched off a nibble and put it on her tongue. Her gag reflex bent her forward, but she forced it to the back of her throat. Without chewing, she swallowed the fish. Her stomach churned.

“
You tell us about flame runnas.
”

Tula tried to explain genetic modification, and how her skin worked to make food out of sunlight. She found herself using the rhetoric she used on her patients, and some of her previous zeal re-ignited. What if she could be an emissary for change to the cannibals as well as Levi
’
s people? She could convince people to convert before the Burn Operatives reached them. Cannibals would make pilgrimages to the Protectorate and beg for conversion.

The idea of photosynthesis was fantastic to the couple, and Osula asked to touch her. She lifted Tula
’
s hand and sniffed, her strong fingers tracing knuckles and the softer flesh up Tula
’
s arm in curiosity.
“
Sweet. Like tamarisk flowers in spring.
”

Unsure of what tamarisk flowers smelled like, Tula pulled her hand back, nervous she smelled particularly delicious.
“
The Protectorate seeks to make things so no one needs to eat each other anymore.
”

Osula flicked some bones into the fire.
“
Then why do you destroy the land and waste the dead?
”

Embarrassed, Tula couldn
’
t meet their eyes. She was reminded of Bats on the Burn, holding his sister, and her plea to not be wasted. She thought of all the creatures she
’
d discovered living in the world, among the plants, creatures destroyed right along with the plants during a burn. Would the Burn Operatives even give Outsiders a chance to beg for conversion?

“
You don
’
t respect the
Knowing
,
”
Brin added.

Glad for the change of subject, Tula asked,
“
What
’
s the Knowing?
”

The couple exchanged a glance.
“
You don
’
t know the Knowing?
”

Shaking her head, Tula set the fish to one side. A frown from both the adults had her picking it back up and taking another bite before her stomach could protest again.

“
We are Knowing. These marks,
”
Brin pointed to the scars on his face and chest,
“
tell others we carry the knowledge of things. Osula is a healer. I am a
water finder
. Others are traders or metal shapers. All are marked. When a Knowing dies before passing to their children, the knowledge is lost. Your people don
’
t respect the Knowing.
”

“
We
…
were not aware of the Knowing.
”
She thought back to Jo Boy, his tattoo, and how he talked about how he was responsible for finding water. She
’
d assumed it was merely the thirst of the desert talking. Maybe he
’
d been one of those who kept the knowledge. She was an expert on Outsiders, and she hadn
’
t even known that.

Osula sucked pulp from a cattail root and spit a little mash onto her finger for Heide. The baby hummed and kicked her little legs in joy.

Repulsed and fascinated at the same time, Tula wondered what the root tasted like.

Brin leaned forward to catch Tula
’
s attention.
“
Go tell your people of the Knowing. Too many already been wasted.
”

“
I can
’
t go back.
”
Saying the words aloud made Tula
’
s entire body go cold. That life was over forever, and her future was dubious. She flung the remainder of her fish in the fire, uncaring how she might be reprimanded. The two bites in her stomach swam around like the fish had come back to life inside her.