Chapter 131

1835 hours, local time,
Friday, 25 July, 2014
The Mackey Residence
Beckley, WV

“Well, this apple cobbler and ice cream is certainly a terrific dessert, no doubt of that!” I now complimented Wanda Mackey on that, just as I had with her cooking of supper.

“Oh, that was my daughters’ work. Naomi and Ruth outdid themselves, didn’t they?” Wanda gave credit to the girls, both of whom blushed at the praise, if not the universal nudity.

By now, I had my mouth full of dessert, being fed to me by Penny, of all people, one of my Undead minions who worshiped me completely. I had resurrected her, after all. She clearly viewed me as almost a deity or at least a demigod, which was heady wine indeed. Then again, Lorraine and Loretta von Krieg seemed to echo that attitude, which was evidently popular, even outside of my formerly deceased companions in the tribe. Avoiding a swollen head could be a tricky business for an immortal Prophet who was half-angel, which was admittedly something that I never dreamt of being even two years ago.

“Well, they did an excellent job!” I caused the Mackey girls to blush even more, even as I noticed how Chandra and Taissa sat together on Vera’s lap.

“Thank you, Prophet!” Naomi rushed to hug and kiss me, quickly being joined by her sister in the embrace.

“We wanted to please you! You’re the Prophet!” Ruth now kissed me with exuberance.

“We want to have your baby, too!” Naomi added.

“Well, you already got your wish, in case you wondered. That little orgy in which you partook ... you got pregnant in it ... to the Prophet, to Till, to Ryan, to Yitzhak, and to Barry. Quintuplets, both of you! Don’t worry ... you and your babies will be protected and preserved throughout the pregnancies. They will be carried to term and you will have plenty of help raising them, as well as your future offspring,” God informed everyone now.

“See, honey, you’re siring even more babies! You make me very proud!” Raquel told Till, her smile giving no lie to her words.

Their evolving marriage was interesting to watch. It began with femdom, hotwife, soft cuckold, uxorious overtones, but as Schumacher Syndrome took hold and Till shared in the breeding operations of our caravan, it became less matriarchal and shifted toward patriarchy. As it should, I thought. The new, nascent, post-apocalyptic society had plenty of respect for women and their contributions, but little to no use for gynocracy. More and more over the past year, Till became one of the five patriarchs of the tribe. While Raquel was his sentimental favorite, she was also one of the wives of the collective, tribal harem.

“Thanks, baby. That means a lot to me,” Till proved that, whatever else, he still adored his gorgeous Latin bride, his first wife.

“Well, you’ll all have plenty of spawn to produce as you procreate, no doubt of that, but I think that I have other work to do for now. Before I go, though, know the following things. One, the prophetic timetable is set. Richmond will fall on August the Third. Salem will be captured on August Eighth. The last Nazi forces will not surrender, but be annihilated on August Eleventh. That will be the last stand for National Socialism in all of human history. That sick, twisted ideology will never rise again. The example of its destruction will be remembered for once and for all time. That is a large part of your legacy, among others who had a hand in its doom.

“Two, it is essential that you not reach and cross the Mississippi River prior to August Eleventh, nor after it. That is the date that you must cross that river. After that, you must arrive in Haven, the capital of the Commonwealth of Haven on Halloween, which is the Lawgiver’s birthday, not before or after that. You must adjust your travels, as necessary, to achieve that schedule. You must meet the Lawgiver, Mark Schumacher, on that date as well. You will be the first of the traveling Prophets to confer with him.

“Three, you will tarry with him for a time, but must set forth for British Columbia on the twenty-second day of January, 2015. Your first base of operations will be Vancouver, where you will spend the rest of winter and prepare for your next mission. After that, you will head for Victoria and begin your real political and religious task, that of converting any locals to Havenism, spreading Schumacher Syndrome, and helping to integrate them harmoniously into the Havenite community. You will have a certain amount of leeway and autonomy at first, but that will fade as you succeed in your objective.

“Four, then, I have decided, you must proceed into Alberta and help convert more and more of the people there into Havenism as well as ‘infect’ them with Schumacher Syndrome. Bit by bit, you will become the greatest Prophet of the former provinces of Canada. Your legacy will be that Havenism takes a firm hold in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, etc. You are immortal, so while it will take a good while to achieve this, you can accomplish it easily in your lifetime. You will thus also protect the northern flank of the Havenite march eastward from Haven itself. By the time that you finish this work and you’re in Newfoundland, it might well be decades later, but you will have converted all of former Canada. You will be the apostle, as it were, to the Canadians.

“Five, then you must depart with your party to Iceland and Greenland, there to spread the truth of Havenism there. You will, at various points, of course, have both spiritual and temporal authority, in these places as you work to incorporate them into Haven. You will, of course, also benefit from some unique traditions, particularly in Iceland. As in Canada, you will be expected to spread Schumacher Syndrome and breed many local women. You will not dissolve the Althing, naturally, but it will eventually be full of Havenites who trust you and your teachings implicity.

“Six, your great missionary work will terminate in Ireland, where you will convert as many of my fellow Irish to Havenism as possible. Now, some of them might already be converts, which would help a great deal, but anyone unconvinced ... you will convince and convert them, ‘infect’ them with Schumacher Syndrome, and ultimately annex Ireland into the Commonwealth of Haven. You will spend a good while there, so get comfortable, enjoy the pub life, the craic, the food, the lasses, etc. You’re playing for keeps in God’s birthplace, so do right by Erin.

“Seven, at the end of your many journeys, you may choose your final destination, for your retirement, the place for you and your tribe to retire. The only caveat is that you must settle within the national frontiers of Haven. No more wars and missions for you at that point. It’s a retirement, a pension. You will be granted some kind of estate or residence or whatever, where you and your tribe please, within the borders of the Commonwealth of Haven.

“Finally, in time, after my reign, and then after that of the Lawgiver, who will indeed become God in his own time, and then any successor that he chooses after him, probably his sister Rachel, knowing him, it will eventually be your turn. Every God will have a retirement package, including you, I don’t doubt, and the precedent has been set of one hundred forty-four thousand colonists to found a new community on another world. That is likely where you will spend the rest of eternity, out of the way of the new God.

“So, what are your thoughts on this plan, Adam? This is your eternal destiny. By then, you will have millions upon millions of descendants, too. Do you have any questions? Do you have any concerns? I’m listening,” God announced now.

“Well, one ... what about the angels? Will they ever get the chance to reign over Heaven? What about Satan? Does he get a retirement package, maybe get to take his demons somewhere else in the Cosmos and found a colony? Also, will there ever be peace in the Middle East? I mean, before it is annexed into the Commonwealth of Haven, that is. Will Arab and Jew ever get to co-exist, peacefully and as equals, Israeli and Palestinian, alike?” I dared to ask the more awkward questions, “other than that, it sounds pretty sweet.”

“Well, if you want an angel as your successor, you have plenty to choose from. Your father, the Archangel Raphael, for instance. Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Ramiel, Ariel, Lavelle, Marcy, and Jeanette ... even Jared, just to name some names. You can even pick a living human as your successor, of course. Or you could choose Satan, as you indicated. You can’t bring back past Gods, though. They retired for a reason. I like the retirement package for Satan idea, anyway. It sounds fair to him, in any case.