Botanicaust

from drunk, but her usual reaction to the chemicals was to give in to the pleasure. She ’ d never had to keep a straight head before. Not until the children disappeared.
    That thought sobered her. She continued, but couldn ’ t help thinking she would be another casualty of the desert. Fit punishment for failing the children.
    Blinking, she wondered if the green yuvee trees had leached toward white. A UV storm would take her down, for sure. Maybe her vision was failing in all this sun.
    A glint under the low branches of a tattered amarantox caught her attention. She squatted and lowered her head to the ground to get a better look. A crushed nuvoplast water bottle. Droplets of moisture clung to the inside.
    She rose, her head spinning. “ Levi! ” she yelled, but her voice emerged hoarse and raw. She hadn ’ t realized she was so thirsty. “ Levi! ” A desperate shriek.
    She hoped the human figure in the distance wasn ’ t a hallucination. Or a cannibal.

T here was no way he could get to Tula in time to help, even if he tried. If she was in the ravine when the water hit, she was gone. A shudder rolled through him. “ Lord have mercy on her soul. ”
    The water eventually lowered to a muddy trickle, leaving behind scoured clay walls and muddy debris. Removing the bright yellow robe, he scrubbed it against the edge of the ravine to disguise the color. Orange streaks of mud hid the yellow, but it still felt glaring to his eyes. He did the same with the gray blanket around his waist. The welcome cool of the damp fabric against his skin didn ’ t last long in the drying wind.
    The dust could take all day to settle. He looked at the sun again and decided he might as well choose a direction, wrong or not. God would lead him. Clambering to his feet, he followed the wind north. But he kept looking over his shoulder at the ravine.
    Why did he feel like he was abandoning Tula? There was nothing he could do. To the left, a pinprick flashed and disappeared on the horizon. One of the Blattvolk flying machines? Was that a figure waving? Tula . His feet moved a step that direction, then froze. What if it was a search party?
    But it was a single person. Definitely waving. She stumbled and went down, disappearing from his sight. Without thinking, he ran toward her.
    She collapsed into his arms, her breathing ragged. Strips of gauze tangled about her head but didn ’ t cover her mouth and nose. In one hand she held a crumpled water bottle.
    “ Tula, what happened? ”
    “ Vitus, ” she said, “ wants me dead. ” Her blue eyes were dilated in spite of the bright sun.
    He squeezed her tighter, his attention going to the southern horizon. A dark spot marred the hazy sky. Settling her upright, he pointed that direction. She followed his finger and gasped, drawing closer against him. “ Duster. ”
    He grasped her hand. They had to hide. But the expanse of the plain in all directions didn ’ t lend itself to hiding.
    In spite of his hopelessness, he tugged her west. The sky had a faded, dusty cast, but he thought he saw mountains that direction. Leading up to mountains would be foothills. And foothills meant a possible place to hide.
    Tula faltered, coughing, and he realized he ’ d been nearly dragging her. Her lips were pale and cracked with blood. Concern overwhelmed him. “ You need water. ”
    She gulped the offered water bottle desperately.
    Returning the empty container to his carry-sack, he glanced into the distance. The pinprick had gained definition, forming the snubbed nose and long sweep of a tail fin. The flyer followed the line of the ravine. His gut clenched and his legs shook. “ We ’ re out of time. ”
    She swayed. Her attention shifted to one of the umbrella trees with pale, almost white leaves. Sobbing, she babbled as she pointed. The frightened look on her face was worse than the sight of the flyer. He tried to keep her moving, but she collapsed to her knees, a tiny wail rising from her lips like a ghost. Dry air filled his mouth and nose and he realized he was panting as he scoured the area for ideas. They couldn ’ t outrun the flying machine. Was that what she was saying? Why had she pointed to the leaves? She must want to camouflage them with leaves.
    “ Good idea, ” he said. But to hide them both, he ’ d have to use the blanket as well as the robe. No time for modesty . He jerked the blanket free and plucked some pale branches from the tree. Funny. He ’ d never seen the leaves so