Botanicaust

where the earth wall had sloughed to create a natural ramp. Once out of the gulch, she looked across the desert, wondering if Levi had climbed out here, too. Silt hazed the air, but the dusters would be able to lift soon. Levi would be hiding, of course. She had no way to find him.
    Fear paralyzed her. The insides of her nostrils stung with dry dust. She had no supplies. No protection from the sun. She might as well let them find her. But burning to death sounded so horrible.
    With no options, she scanned the gully, keeping an eye on the horizon for Levi. If he ’ d come out here, the wind had scoured any trace of his footsteps.
    A vibration in her feet caught her attention at the same moment a wave of red mud slammed through the ravine from the west. The flow crashed into the skimmer with a horrific crack. The vehicle flipped up and over and rushed down stream, open doors catching the flow of water like a kite in the wind.
    She watched it disappear, unable to move. What if she ’ d been inside? A shiver seized her and she had to sit down a moment until it passed. Then another thought came to her. What if Levi had still been in the gulch?
    She jumped to her feet and looked up and down the muddy line. The water had eased its violence to a solid flow. Twigs and leaves swirled and passed quickly from sight. Covering her face, she gulped air. Maybe he climbed out in time. She had to hope.
    And she had to keep moving. Even if the flash flood had carried the skimmer far away, the Burn Teams would keep looking. She hoped they might give her a chance to explain herself if they found her. But she knew Burn Op mentality. She lived with an Op. Well, had lived with one.
    Tears filled her eyes and she fought them down. Mo. He ’ d be forced to betray her if he found her. Would they send him against his own woman? Did he believe she ’ d reverted? That thought caused more tears to escape, no matter how hard she struggled. His feelings about reversions and cannibals had always been clear.
    She wiped her cheeks. She couldn ’ t afford to cry. She had no water. How did the cannibals find water on this forsaken wasteland?
    The thought of cannibals made her freeze. She squinted at the sparse vegetation. What if she ran into them? Flashes of repressed memory made her bile rise and blinded her. She tripped and fell to her knees.
    A brother, screaming as a knife flashed in the sun. The smell of blood and wood smoke . Her stomach knotted as she recalled the sharpness of real hunger, the desire for the meat she was offered. The acceptance of the meat…
    Curling into a fetal position, she stared at the hard dirt under her, afraid to close her eyes lest the visions completely overtake her. Pebbles and cracked earth bit into her forehead. She focused on that pain. Forgetting the past.
    She had to stay in the now . To survive. Thanks to conversion, she ’ d never have to resort to … that … again.
    Taking a deep breath, she sat up. With bleary vision, she scanned the sky, the horizon. Danger lunged at her from every angle. Dusters above, cannibals behind every rock and shrub. Flash floods. The sun alone could kill her by nightfall if the air cleared of dust; right now, the haze filtered some of the ultraviolet.
    And she was alone.
    Her life had come full circle.
    A pity party won ’ t save your skin.
    She pulled her legs under her and peered over her shoulder at the sky. No sign of dusters. Had they found the skimmer? Would they give up?
    Not if Vitus was in charge.
    She didn ’ t want Vitus to win. But how could she beat him? She kept moving, keeping the gully to her left, scanning the skyline for any sign of Levi, giving tumbleweeds and yuvee trees a wide berth where they sprung from the crackled ground at irregular intervals. Her real enemy would be the sun. She could already feel the effects of the chemicals in her bloodstream. The euphoric high might not be a bad way to die.
    Sliding her gauze mask aside, she raised her face to the sky. She welcomed the mind-numbing rays. Digging into her memory, she brought up evenings with Mo, when he ’ d kissed her silly, sharing the chemicals from his day on the Burn. No, not a bad way to go at all.
    Something tore at her naked leg and she flinched. She ’ d run into a tumbleweed . Welts popped up on her skin where beads of blood oozed along scratches. Pay attention . But the sun felt so good. Find Levi.
    Focusing on the rocky edge of the ravine, she placed careful steps. She was far