Botanicaust

head on.
    “ You bring us abominations! ” Brother Abe spit at his feet to punctuate his disgust.
    “ Cannibals. ” Levi pointed to the men ducking behind the amarantox. Standing as near the fence as he could without touching, he called each man by name. “ Brother Abe. Brother Marcus. Brother John. By leaving us out here, you condemn us to die. ”
    Peter shouted. Tula screamed. Levi spun to face her. The cannibal on the left darted in and grappled with her. Levi threw his arms around her to keep her from being pulled away. A collective gasp from the men inside the fence frightened off the attacker, and he retreated into the amarantox.
    “ Please. ” Levi didn ’ t let go of Tula. The twins crowded close, cowering against his sides. “ Abe. ” He looked his former schoolmate in the eye.
    “ You are in the Bann . ” Slowly, the men turned their backs. The dogs continued barking. Peter stared agape a moment longer before Brother John bumped him with his elbow. He shook his head and went back inside his house.
    Shunned.
    His own people refused to help him. Hope was lost. He looked down at Tula, loosed his grip about her. Only one way left to save her. “ When they take me, you and the girls run. As far and fast as you can. ”
    He took a long, purposeful step backward toward the amarantox. Toward the hunters. He raised his chin to glare at his brethren beyond the fence and balled his hands into fists. “ May God have mercy on your souls! ”
    “ Levi, no! ” Tula grabbed his hand and pulled. Her gaze widened and she screamed as the sound of thundering footsteps approached. The next thing he knew, he was airborne, headed face first into the electric fence.

    Tula clutched Levi ’ s hand as a cannibal burst from the amarantox and tackled him. The force of the impact yanked her to the ground and tore Levi ’ s hand from hers. Both men tumbled into the fence. The pop of electric current, followed by the smell of seared flesh, filled the air as both men jerked and flew back off the grid.
    Scrambling on all fours to Levi ’ s side, she felt for a pulse. There. He was alive. But the other two cannibals were creeping forward from opposite angles. The third cannibal lay prone within an arm ’ s length. Ana and Eily grabbed Levi ’ s feet and dragged him toward the gate. They stopped shy of the wire and bounced on the balls of their feet anxiously. “ They not let us in, ” one of the girls said.
    “ No, ” Tula said on a breath. Tears filled her eyes, fell onto burn lines on Levi ’ s cheek.
    She traced the pink scar on her arm. No mercy for abominations.
    The men kept their backs to the fence. Across rigid shoulder blades, suspenders crossed each man like an X, barring supplicants from access. The vicious dogs drooled and barked, drowning out the twins as they clumsily recited the Lord ’ s Prayer. The older man, the one Levi called Brother John, adjusted his black brimmed hat and glanced over his shoulder without making eye contact. He leaned close to one of the other men and muttered.
    The girls finished their prayer and then Ana flung her arms about Tula ’ s waist and squeezed. Turning to her sister, she pulled her close. She looked Tula in the eye over Eily ’ s shoulder. “ They wants a Spirit Healer. You gots to run. ”
    With that, she released her sister and spun. In the blink of an eye, she lowered her head and plowed right into an oncoming cannibal. He snatched her up like a prize and tilted her upside down in a bear hug. “ Gots one! ” The other cannibal veered to join his partner. Together they disappeared into the amarantox, leaving their fallen comrade behind.
    “ Ana!!! ” Tula and Eily screamed together. They both lurched forward. Tula stopped shy of the crushed amarantox, holding tight to Eily ’ s hand.
    “ Ana! Ana! Ana! ” The child stretched toward the trail, sobbing.
    Up until now, Tula ’ s losses had been her own. Her job, Mo, her home. Levi ’ s son still had hope, in spite of the Fosselite fiasco. But losing Ana was real. Final. Tula remembered her own ordeal with the cannibals, the way Brother Eli screamed as they ate him. Her life had come full circle. The little girl she used to be flooded her mind, and her final song welled up in her chest. “ Jesus loves me, this I know … ”
    The music rose from her heart, her protection song, her acceptance song, her song of hope. As her tears cascaded down her face, she let the words soar to Heaven.
    A clatter of