Nod by Adrian Barnes Page B

have to enshrine you because your book makes sense. It makes sense to me, Paul. Christ, I was up all night reading it when I got it the other day. That’s not as impressive a statement as it once was, I’ll admit that into evidence, but still! There were other things I could have been doing. Lots of other things we need to do. So let’s talk turkey.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Turkey!’ He grinned wildly into my face.
    I laughed with no hope in my heart. Now I was seeing both the name of the game and my role in it. Forget Rice Christian, Charles planned to set me up as a Rice Jesus. He’d been a little cracked before all this, which presumably meant he was two steps ahead in this new reality. When the world stops its rotation and begins to spin backwards, I suppose, stragglers suddenly find themselves ahead of the pack. It must have been quite a feeling.
    ‘Okay. Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk what comes next. Next you need to go out there with me, tell those poor saps that you’ll guide them through these changes, help them to live in Nod.’
    ‘But I…’
    ‘Do you really think you ‘just’ wrote that book, Paul? Is your self-esteem really that low? Do you really think that, prior to seeing that burning bush in the desert, Moses thought he’d see a fucking burning bush in the desert? Or do you think that Moses was a fucking nutbar, Paul? And what about the civilizations that grew out of that encounter between that nutbar and that nutbush? Were they nutbar civilizations? Can you answer that? We won’t even go into Jesus. Christ! These things, they happen. Nobody knows who or why or where or when. Things just happen, Paul. I mean, can’t you see that, Paul?’ He threw his arms out. ‘Isn’t it obvious? So let’s just accept that things are happening. Okay? As a start.’
    Charles’ left foot tapped out a double time beat.
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘Good. Now, here’s what’s going to happen next. We’re going to go out there and do a meet and greet. I’ll do most of the talking. You just look mysterious and…and potent, okay? Impotent if you can swing it! Just kidding! All you need to know is this: being Awake is a gift from God. It’s the next step forward. It’s allowing us to see the bigger universe. And that expanded universe can be a scary place. Be compassionate. But we need to be worthy of this opportunity, right? Worthy. There have been reports of monsters already, Paul. Monsters on the edge of people’s vision. Bat creatures and walking trees. We can name them and that way we can own them like Adam did in Eden. Right? Nod, right? But some other reports, too. Of creatures making contact.
Bloody Bones
is out there. You remember him, right? And
Bloody Hands
. All in the streets, Paul, scraping around. And you and I are going to help the people out there deal with these demons, Paul. We’re going to get comfortable with the New World Order.’
    ‘I don’t know if I’ll know what to say, Charles.’
    But his words blazed right on past mine. I was reminded of firestorms that sucked all the oxygen out of a place. In a forest, after one of these, firefighters would find deer and other animals, still standing, burned to charcoal.
    ‘And then we’ll go to that apartment of yours and get you your girlies and bring them here to the school, which will be our cathedral for the next few days. Then bigger digs. And food. After all, little Zoe needs milk, right? Even shelf milk will do. Right, Paul?’
    My heart stopped.
    ‘Shelf milk. Ha. That’s right. We’ve been watching over you for the last two nights, Paul. If not for my sentries, you’d have been beaten to death in your sleep by some of the more confused people out there. They’re going from door to door, Paul, offering mischief. Doing crazy shit. Bat shit crazy. Chugging little nonsense factories, right? But we’ll straighten them out, don’t sweat it.’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I said