Botanicaust

squinted into the sunrise. A smudge of white hovered across the horizon. Clouds? Or the exhaust steam from the methane stack at the Holdout? “ We ’ re not far, now. Can you keep going? ” He made walking motions with two fingers. They all seemed to get along best using a mish-mash of languages, and he wanted to be sure he was understood.
    Mute nods all around.
    Everyone drank, and gulped down the desiccated chokecherries and raw insects the girls had gathered. Leaving the pack where it lay, Levi set a stride he thought they could sustain for another few hours, but his feet ached, and his eyelids drooped with exhaustion. As they drew farther east, the cloudbank on the horizon clarified into an artificial plume.
    Home .
    Levi pointed ahead. “ That ’ s where we ’ re going. The gate is on the south side. No matter what, don ’ t touch the fence. ”
    Tula reiterated it in Cannibal for the twins.
    The sun hovered directly overhead when they crested a swell, and Levi spied movement on the plain behind them — three male figures moving at a trot in spite of the limp of one man. The cannibals spotted Levi and the injured man raised an arm menacingly toward him.
    “ They see us. ” Tula said near his side, her voice quavering in fear.
    “ Run. ” Past the point of panic, he spoke low, without inflection. How could they hope to beat hardened cannibals in a sprint for the Holdout?
    Tula and the girls picked up and ran. Levi stayed a heartbeat longer, watching as the hunters descended into a swale five hundred yards away. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned and loped after the girls. The Holdout was a quarter mile away. If the cannibals caught up, he wanted to be the first to confront them. Violence be damned. Peace had a different set of rules out here.
    On the other hand, the Holdout wouldn ’ t let Tula or the twins inside without his presence. They may not let the Blattvolk inside at all, with or without him. But he had no other options. He kept close behind Tula.
    As they approached, the fence solidified against the pale blue sky. The metal links rose fifteen feet into the air, topped by coils of barbed wire. Inside, a gleaming white water tower marked where a cluster of houses squatted in the center of the fields. The Elders must have finally approved re-painting. How long had he been gone?
    The faint hum of electric current grew louder as they neared the perimeter. Freshly burned weeds drooped at the base of the fence line. Inside, a tractor turned a field in preparation for planting winter wheat. Levi waved furiously.
    The tractor stopped and the driver stood on the running board facing Levi ’ s direction. Too far to pick out features, Levi tried to remember which family claimed this portion of co-op land. A glance over his shoulder showed him the determined faces of the pursuers. From the Holdout, a bell struck its first chord of warning. Levi knew the drill. Everyone would abandon chores and retreat to the tunnels. The only ones left outside would be old Peter the Gatekeeper, and a few volunteer handlers for the dogs.
    Ahead, Tula and the twins reached the gate. Peter stood outside his stone house a hundred paces in, mouth agape.
    “ Peter! It ’ s Levi! ”
    The old man couldn ’ t take his eyes off Tula and the girls. Several men charged up from the village, restraining the dogs on leashes. Among them Levi saw Brother John, an Elder who had been willing to listen to Levi ’ s request to search for a cure, and Abe, one of Levi ’ s playmates in youth. The dogs lunged against their restraints, barking and yowling in anticipation.
    “ Levi? ” John let the dogs pull him forward a few steps.
    “ Cannibals are after us! Let us in! I ’ ll explain later. ”
    “ Blattvolk! ” one of the handlers yelled. In his panic, he lost hold of the beast he ’ d been restraining. The creature leaped forward, facing off with Levi without touching the fence. The hackles between its shoulder blades looked like the edge of a serrated knife.
    “ Platz! ” Levi commanded the dog to stand down. Every child in the Holdout was taught dog commands as soon as they could speak. Trained to fight cannibals, the canines could be indiscriminate in who they attacked. The dog trembled but moved back, hackles lowering a fraction. Levi peered back over his shoulder to see the pursuers huddled about twenty yards back. The hunters strafed apart, flanking the gate on both sides with the remaining cannibal facing