Botanicaust

undeniable Mark of the Beast. The salt trader still brought news of them, and they were not supposed to range that far north.
    He ran a hand over his bald head and face. The first thing the Blattvolk had done was strip him and put him into a stinging shower. When he emerged, he was as hairless as a newly picked apple. Even the mustache he ’ d allowed to grow over the course of his journey was gone, like a reminder from God of his disobedience.
    Mercifully, they ’ d given him a blanket with which to cover himself. The abominations wore next to nothing, their shameful display of bare skin a distraction in and of itself. The fact that they were green only added to the atrocity.
    Night and day were the same in this basement prison. The large cement-brick room held eight cages, three of which housed prisoners. Two children in the other cages slept, but the ugly fluorescent lighting hadn ’ t dimmed. The cages were accessible from all four sides, containing prisoners like animals on display.
    A thin, green man emerged from the hall carrying a tray with metallic cylinders. The abomination was unclothed except for a thin loop of fabric around the waist that barely covered the genitals, and a shameful amount of jewelry at the wrists and ankles. Even the man ’ s short hair glinted with shiny, green glass beads.
    Levi averted his eyes to a spot above the creature ’ s head to avoid looking at his nudity. “ You have to let me go. My child is in danger. ”
    The Blattvolk didn ’ t respond. He set a container into the cage and said a word the woman seemed to understand. Rousing from the bed, she kept a wary eye on the visitor and edged toward the cylinder.
    “ Please! ” Levi approached the bars and the Blattvolk shook his head and backed a few steps from the cage.
    Extending a hand holding a cylinder, the creature offered it to Levi. He said a word Levi didn ’ t understand.
    Levi shook his head.
    In the far corner of the cage, the woman lifted the metal container to her nose and sniffed. Before Levi could stop her, she put her lips to the edge and tipped it. “ No, wait! ” Too late, he saw her throat moving as she swallowed.
    The Blattvolk nodded toward her, and Levi backed to the center of the cage. Was this how they transformed their captives? Surely it couldn ’ t be that easy? He watched the woman with concern.
    With a sigh, the green man set Levi ’ s cylinder inside the cage bars. Again, he spoke some words Levi didn ’ t understand, turned, and placed cylinders into the other cages before disappearing down the hallway. The children in the other cells scrambled forward and drank with gusto.
    The baby started crying and the woman offered a breast. She seemed unconcerned for her nakedness. But then, she was a cannibal. To keep his eyes averted as she cared for the child, Levi picked up his own cup. Inside was a milky substance without much of a smell. His stomach rumbled, but he set the cup down unsampled.
    He didn ’ t want to sleep, especially caged with a cannibal. But between his travels and all the excitement of being captured, he was exhausted. If she wanted to eat him, she had nothing but her hands and teeth to do it. Sitting on the floor facing the cot, he propped himself against the bars and arranged the blanket to cover as much of his body as possible. If he remained sitting, perhaps he would not sleep. He longed for his paper and pencil. Something to help him focus his mind on anything but his fate.
    The woman approached his rejected cylinder, her focus on him shrewd. He shrugged and gestured for her to take it. She grabbed it and returned to the cot to slurp noisily. At least her belly should be full. His eyes closed, just for a moment.
    He woke to the baby crying. The woman couldn ’ t quiet the infant, and she frantically paced the cage. She had the child wrapped in the other blanket, leaving herself bare, and Levi couldn ’ t help but notice how young she was. She was barely more than a child herself. The calluses on her feet made scuffing noises along the cement as she paced.
    “ Try singing, ” he said. He remembered Sarah ’ s sweet voice as she sang to Josef in those few days she ’ d been alive to hold him. His heart ached.
    The mother met his gaze and he was struck by her fierce eyes . He ’ d never seen a full-blooded cannibal up close. The feral intellect in her stare made him aware of just how different she was from his people.
    Still, she did seem to be trying to be a