Botanicaust

move on her own.
    She nodded.
    He slipped his hands beneath her like a baby and carried her to the water ’ s edge. Lowering one arm, he allowed her to slide to her feet, but the change to an upright position nearly made her pass out. She sagged against him like a rag.
    “ I can ’ t, ” she tried to say.
    “ It ’ s okay. ” He swung her into his arms again and strode into the pond until waist deep.
    Every blister on her body cried out as he lowered her into the tepid water. Whimpering, she buried her face against his chest. After the initial shock, she laid back, allowing the water to swirl around her ears and rinse the grime from her hair. The sulfurous, wet smell of the pond reminded her of a protein drink gone bad .
    She stared past him to the pale sky leached of color by the sunset, but not yet dark. The first and brightest stars glimmered like jewels and she thought of Vitus. Was he still searching? She couldn ’ t believe Mo had been ordered to kill her. Her entire life had been destroyed in the wink of an eye. Where could she go? Live in the sun forever?
    Without the nuvoplast housing, she ’ d have to acclimate to a perpetual high. Burn Operatives did it, but UV storms drove them back to the city. Plus, they received yearly telomerase treatments to regenerate the damage to their organs. She no longer had a city. And Levi was as alien to her as she was to him.
    She tilted her head farther back into the water to let the pool hide her tears.

A s he had many times over the last three days, Levi climbed the rock bluff next to the pond to scan the surrounding desert for cannibals or Blattvolk. The sunrise bloomed red, bathing the desert the color of blood. To the east, the pond grew boggy, the vegetation thick, and past that, a dry creek bed led away, probably an outlet for an overfilled pool in the rainy season. Several hunks of rock and boulders jutted from the nearby desert floor, several larger than the rock he stood on. Along the northern plain, in front of the mountains in the horizon, a line of rough greenery snaked a path from west to east.
    Green meant water. Was that line the river where he ’ d been captured? He thought perhaps the jagged teeth of the ruins he had passed through could be seen on the other side of the trees.
    He stared at the shadows across the plain. So far the view was clear of people. But cannibals hid better than he beneath the blanket with Tula. He cringed at the memory. Focus on survival.
    While Tula healed, he wove himself coarse clothing from cattail fibers, and a wide hat to keep the sun off. Other plants — any plants — seemed to cause Tula pain, so he left her the robe and blanket. But she often didn ’ t want to cover herself, and only wore the robe during the sun ’ s high points. He ’ d finally accepted that, as a plant, she had to expose her skin to sunlight for food. The fact she didn ’ t have to eat made him jealous as he gnawed on cattail roots and pulled insect legs from between his teeth. What he wouldn ’ t give for a tender pork loin.
    But her nakedness was a thing between them. His lustful thoughts over her exposed curves caused him to spend more time away from her than with her. They spoke in simple gestures and one word sentences full of deeper meanings, often misunderstood. She pressed him to talk, learning words in his language more quickly than he learned hers.
    Josef ’ s plight pressed on him, but he couldn ’ t leave Tula helpless. The time had come to form a plan, and he dreaded the outcome. What if she expected to come with him? He couldn ’ t tell her no. Yet he had no place for her in his world.
    He looked west to the mountains. The Fosselites were there. With the cure for Josef. Levi had no idea what to expect when he found them. If he could find them. The salt trader sometimes talked of the men-in-the-mountain, claiming they could cure all ills. The trader was the reason Levi sought the strange scientists who had supposedly lived through the Botanicaust. Did they consider the Blattvolk abominations? If Tula were with him, would they agree to see him?
    Unable to resist, he crossed to the opposite edge of the bluff to peek down at the camp. Although he couldn ’ t see her through the lean-to roof, he imagined Tula sleeping, robe draped over her for warmth in the harsh night. He ’ d lain awake many times, knowing she was shivering as he shivered, knowing if they shared body heat, they could both sleep. But he would not open