Botanicaust (58 page)

Working next to his brother-in-law again felt strange. Hog butchering time was upon them, and the scalding pit needed to be readied. Levi was down in the hole when he heard the commotion. Screaming.
A subtle change in air pressure.
A familiar dull roar.

Heart thundering in his ears, he climbed out as one of the men hollered,
“
The devil followed you here!
”

About a quarter mile away, back at the houses, a duster hovered above the shade trees. A plume of black smoke boiled into the air. The Holdout siren began its frantic cycle as figures ran toward the houses. The fire would make the tunnels a death trap.
“
Stay out of the tunnels!
”
Levi yelled, pelting toward the chaos.
“
They
’
ll burn everything!
”
How could this have happened? The Holdout had been safe from Blattvolk for centuries. The pit of his stomach ached.

“
Dr. Sertularia Argentea Macoby. Show yourself.
”
Levi understood the words in cannibal from his time with the girls.
We led them here
.

“
Tula!
”
he screamed as he ran, his feet still in pain from the journey, his lungs dried by smoke and dust as the home next to the Ward erupted in flames.
“
Josef!
”
The occupants of the Ward would be completely helpless, too sick to flee. The nurses were likely helping the children into the tunnels, right now.

The autumn-dry pasture near the schoolhouse caught, and the horses panicked, screaming and raising tail to flee to the far fence and over. Children swarmed out of the school and stood gaping at the duster as their teacher urged them to run. The ancient fire truck maintained by the Holdout repeated the hoarse cry of its horn as it barreled toward the row of houses.

Beside him, Samuel and three others kept pace, shouting for loved ones above the siren as women and children fled the other direction. One man found his wife and swept their baby from her arms to lead her and another small child toward the gatehouse.

Levi reached the houses, craning his neck to watch the duster as the flame-tipped nozzle of its gun targeted old Mrs. Kuche tottering on the arm of her granddaughter as they exited the back door of a house.
“
Nooooo!
”
He waved his arms above his head, trying to gain the attention of the gunman. The old woman lifted a hand to make a sign against evil toward the duster. A rush of flame engulfed the women. Their dresses billowed around them as they screamed
,
then fell, curling in on themselves like dried leaves.

Horror gripped Levi
’
s soul. The Holdout was a death trap. The only way in or out was the gate, unless they shut down the electric. He hoped Peter
—
or someone
—
thought of that.

Just then, Tula appeared around the corner of the Ward. She carried Josef in one arm, another young child in the other. Eily and Beth followed close behind, arms full of children. Children able to walk trailed behind like ducklings. Behind them, two nurses and Brother John carried stragglers.

On the horizon, another duster sped their way. Levi rushed to take Josef and the second child. Tula
’
s blue eyes watered, from tears or dust or smoke, Levi couldn
’
t tell. His own vision burned and filmed as acrid clouds of grit filled the air.

“
Run to the gate,
”
Levi shouted at the children.

“
No!
”
Tula cried.
“
No, don
’
t run. Surrender! They burn those who run. Find an open spot and drop. Just stay still!
”

He clutched Josef against his hip.
Lord, deliver us from evil
. His pride, his belief that he could circumvent Gotte
’
s Wille, brought this horror. The entire Holdout would pay the consequences. Collapsing next to Josef, he hugged the wheezing boy tight.
“
Papa, are they the bad ones?
”

“
Yes, son.
”

The duster twisted in the air, and Levi saw the fierce green face of the gunman as he looked down the barrel at the children. Levi raised his hands in the air. Panting in panic, he met the stare of the Blattvolk, dark eyed and hungry as a cannibal. The Blattvolk shifted his attention to Tula and shouted gibberish over the roar of the flames.

Tula moved forward and shouted back, gesturing to the people around her.

The second duster arrived, kicking up swirls of fallen leaves and dirt. It circled the group and then settled to earth. Beyond, at the burning house, brave men manned the hoses of the fire truck to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby houses. Soot-stained faces kept checking back, but they continued dousing flames. Eily edged away from the group with the children.

Several figures leapt from the open sides of the newly arrived duster. Tula shouted,
“
Mo!
”
and ran toward the Blattvolk, tripping on her skirts before hiking the fabric to expose her slim, green legs. She flung herself into one of the men
’
s arms. His touch was far too familiar for Levi
’
s liking, pulling Tula
’
s body close to his. When he planted a kiss directly on Tula
’
s lips, Levi shot to his feet.
“
Tula!
”

“
No!
”
Tula
’
s heart leapt in fear. One overeager Burn Op turned his gun to Levi.
“
Stop flashing. These people are the ones Councilwoman Arnica ordered me to find. They
’
re peaceful.
”
She prayed invoking the Councilwoman would make the flashing cease.

The Burn Op hesitated and shouted,
“
We found her first, Mo. The bounty is ours.
”

“
I got Vitus onboard. He
’
ll call the shots.
”

Tula
’
s legs grew weak.
“
Mo?
”

“
Vitus offered a bounty on you. Thought I
’
d make sure you
’
re brought home alive.
”

She pressed her lips together. He was still protecting her.
“
Thank you. Can you have the other duster stand down?
”

His brows twitched and he glanced at a man behind him who Tula recognized as his boss, Panone.
“
Sir?
”

At the lip of the duster, Vitus, adorned in blue and copper beads and bangles, clung to the edge of the door. His skin had a coppery cast she
’
d never seen before. His eyes bored hatred into her, the sclera as red as Dr. Kaneka
’
s. Her skin tightened from head to toe under his stare.

Panone spoke into the micro headset wrapped around his ear.
“
Stand down, men. But keep alert.
”

Vitus blustered from his perch on the vehicle.
“
Ordinance eighty nine dictates all Outsiders not in compliance with
—
”

“
Excuse me, Dr. Dedecus, but Burn Ops is my division. Policy is to offer conversion to all non-resistant Outsiders. I see no resistance here.
”

Still staring at Tula, Vitus rasped,
“
You can
’
t bring back
all
these people for conversion.
”

That seemed to give Panone and the others pause.

Tula tried to still the trembling in her chest.
“
This is exactly what the Board wanted to find
—
a people still living a pre-Botanicaust way of life. This is what Councilwoman Arnica sent me to find.
”

Panone nodded.
“
Round up as many as you can. Bill, get on the
com
back to the Protectorate. Let them know what we found.
”

“
And take her into custody!
”
Vitus thrust a trembling, beringed finger at Tula.
“
Someone put her in cuffs!
”

Vitus tottered back to his seat in the duster. He grew weaker by the hour, it seemed. Damn that Kaneka, encrypting his notes so even his Fosselite assistants had trouble accessing the information. The spot where Vitus had banged his wrist this morning had blossomed into a flaming purple bruise. And to top it off, the brief exposure to the sun made his skin itch and his eyes burn. Again, he cursed the dead Fosselite.

But he had Tula now. The power was his.

He watched as they loaded her onto the duster. Her man refused to cuff her, and Vitus didn
’
t have the strength to argue. As long as he got her back to the lab for samples, he would leave well enough alone.

She looked healthy. What he could see of her in that horrible dress, anyway. And that made him furious as well as hopeful. The Fosselites were keeping what they
’
d deciphered of Kaneka
’
s notes from him, but they wanted Tula back badly. Rice had contacted him several times since their initial interaction. He was convinced Kaneka had given her the new strain of fungi in spite of Rice
’
s assurances to the contrary. Seeing her unharmed reinforced his belief.

Adjusting his necklaces to cover as much of his chest as possible, he settled back against the jump seat and watched them load the other mongrels into the hold. The duster would only hold eight or so prisoners, plus the Burn team in the cabin. The adults refused to let go of the children, and Tula convinced the Operatives to allow one adult per child on board. Not that it mattered. These kids were pale and coughing
—
obviously sick
—
and wouldn
’
t be fit for conversion anyway. Euthanize the whole lot of them.

He watched Tula with sharp eyes and resisted the urge to scratch. The healthy glow of her skin brought saliva to his mouth. He would have
that new fungi
. And then nothing would slow him down.