Botanicaust

answer was the wind.

    At a switchback in the road, they decided to set up camp. Tula sagged next to an ancient pipe jutting from the rock where some long ago builder had diverted a spring. Multi-colored spots swam before her eyes as she watched the fresh, cold water splash into a gully and cut down the mountain. The sun had fallen behind the peaks in the west, but the cool evening breeze couldn ’ t relieve the heat racing through her skin.
    She lowered her head beneath the stream and allowed the water to sluice down her hair and spine. Symbiotic fungi, Dr. Kaneka had said. Experimental. The technology would be groundbreaking. It could possibly allow her to live without the protection of nuvoplast UV screens. If the fungi didn ’ t kill her first.
    The other converts seemed to be recuperating. The second man had disappeared earlier this afternoon, and Tula knew Greta would leave them, too, if not for the bullet hole in her leg. The twins stayed close, possibly remembering Tula from their conversion. She tried to remember their names, but couldn ’ t. They ’ d remained silent during the walk, but now they mumbled to each other behind their hands. “ It ’ s all right, ” Tula reassured them. “ You ’ re free now. ”
    Where would they go? Although he continued to keep the group moving, Levi had remained silent on the issue. With the adult converts going their own ways, it might be of less concern than he imagined. She let her gaze travel to where he stood at the downward edge of the bend in the road, looking out over the plains. The bulging backpack rested at his feet, and the green, form-fitting , Fosselite clothing parodied the skin of the rest of the group.
    Tula approached him from behind, scuffing her bare, abraded feet to alert him. He didn ’ t turn or acknowledge her. The wind skittered leaves and dust over her toes. He bent and reached into the backpack, removing the palm-sized box Dr. Kaneka had given him. After staring at the object briefly, Levi hooked his arm back and hurled the beacon over the edge of the mountain. In the orange reflection of the setting sun, the box sailed straight out toward the plains, then plummeted to the red rocks far below, exploding into a hundred pieces.
    His hope for Josef. Gone.
    She wanted to comfort him. But there was no comfort. She wished she believed in his God so she could offer the platitudes of his religion. The little song she often sang to herself came to her mind, but her vocal cords were too tight to emit a sound. It wouldn ’ t mean anything to him, anyway. After a long period of silence, she turned to leave him alone, but he reached out an arm and pulled her against him to rest his chin on her head.
    In spite of her exhaustion, of the nearly unbearable heat in her skin, the sadness in him overwhelmed her. “ My heart hurts, ” she said against his chest, not knowing the word for sad.
    He only nodded against her hair and squeezed her tighter.

    A strange repetitive sound made Levi ’ s eyes spring open to darkness. Clouds had rolled in with the sunset, obliterating any light from the stars and moon. The evening breeze had grown into a nighttime howl, forcing the travelers to hunker in the lee of some rocks and shrubs near the spring. But the sound of branches rattling was not what had awakened him.
    Thwok thwok thwok thwok … Dust and leaves pelted the camp from the op posite direction of the wind. Thwok thwok … He sat up. Above them, a beam of light wandered through the airborne debris, following the road.
    “ Levi, ” Tula clutched him beneath the blanket they shared. She struggled to sit up, weak and frail.
    The beam meandered over the curve of the switchback and caught the edge of the yellow robe where the twins slept. The children clutched each other in terror, faces raised to the sky. The light wavered, halted, returned to focus on the helpless figures of the girls.
    The unmistakable sound of a gunshot ricocheted through the air.
    Levi lurched for the children, lifting each around the waist. He twisted and rolled into the ditch. Landing on his feet, he pelted down the ravine. Behind him, the searchlight panned over the camp again. He heard Tula shouting to the other woman. Where were they?
    Glancing over his shoulder into the darkness, he yelled, “ Tula! ” The uneven ditch fell out beneath him, sending him flying. The girls tumbled from his grasp as his face slammed into the rock wall of the gully.
    Blinking dirt from his eyes, he