Cruel World(86)

Quinn tried again to roll over, but something struck him hard in the back of his head and the sun winked out into darkness.

~

“Wake up.”

The words filtered down to him from a great height. A thudding ache pulsed at the base of his neck. Silence roared in his ears. Quinn blinked, a wood-paneled ceiling coming into focus. He turned his head. He was on a bed. Wide straps ran across his chest, hips, and shins. A fire burned low behind the glass doors of a stove in the corner of the room.

“Over here, handsome.”

Quinn turned his head the opposite way.

The bullish man in the black shirt sat in a chair that looked like a throne beside the bed. His sunglasses were gone, and Quinn saw that his eyes were brown and deep set, piggish and watery. A peppering of whiskers covered his jowly face.

The man smiled.

“Where am I?” Quinn said. The words were too large for his mouth, his tongue thick and dry.

“My home.” He sprung from his chair, moving like a much lighter man, and grasped Quinn’s hand pinned beneath the strap. “Archer Tigmund, at your service. Although I should say you’re at mine at the moment.” He grinned again and released Quinn’s fingers before re-seating himself on the velvet-covered chair. “May I have the pleasure of your name?”

“Quinn.”

“Quinn, you know, I like that. Much better than Ralph. That was my given name. But I changed it. Archer is so much more distinguished and pleasant to say, don’t you think?”

“What do you want with me?”

“Ah, right to the meat of it. I like you, Quinn. You’re a Godsend.” Archer laughed and clapped his hands, lacing his fingers together before bowing his head. “Dear Lord Almighty in the highest, we, your faithful servants of the physical world, come to you this day to offer up a tribute in representation of our loyalty to your grace. This harbinger of the apocalypse, we do now lay waste to in your name just as you cast out the most beautiful of all angels by the name of Lucifer. Lord hear our prayer.”

Archer looked up from his clasped hands and smiled.

“What a load of shit; am I right?”

Quinn gazed at him and then licked his lips. “I don’t understand.”

Archer stood and began to pace around the bed. “Do you know where you are, Quinn?”

“Somewhere in Pennsylvania.”

“Actually it’s Ohio, not that it matters anymore whatsoever. Everything’s gone. The government, the military, the media, everything. But not here. Here we have sanctity and preservation. It’s like a damn game reserve of human beings.” Archer paused and studied him. “But it’s my game reserve. See, I created all this fifteen years ago. The First Church of Eternal Salvation. Has a nice ring to it, right? My father was a Lutheran minister, and he made me learn the bible front to back, cover to cover, when I was only ten. I got picked on a lot growing up, wasn’t easy to be a preacher’s son. That and I was a fat little f*cker. But you know what I learned, Quinn?” Archer bent over him, close enough to smell the man’s cologne, something sharp and tangy. “People are always looking for someone stronger than they are.” He straightened and went to the stove, warming his hands above its top.

“What does this have to do with me?” Quinn asked.

“Everything, my friend, everything.” Archer made his way back to the chair and dropped his girth into it. “When I started this church, I had three followers. We’d go into Cleveland, stand on the street corner, and hand out flyers. Our congregation grew over the years, but it wasn’t until my good old daddy died that things really took off. See, he invested enough money to leave me a sizeable chunk with which I bought this land, built these buildings, and began to preach full-time. Now you might be thinking, where’s he going with this. Well, I’ll tell you, Quinn.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “People are stupid. They’re sheep. They follow anyone with a plan. But if that plan takes even the slightest detour, well, they start to look elsewhere.

“I have a sweet deal here, my friend. I’m looked to as the supreme leader in all respects. I have all the money and food that I want. And the women…” Archer shook his head and whistled between his teeth. “…there’s five that share my bed right now, all of them trying to get a taste of the divine.” He chuckled and his stomach jiggled.

“So you’re a phony,” Quinn said, slowly trying to work his hands from beneath the straps, but they were too tight.