Pyjamas and Prophecy

The Portal spits Greta, Noah, and Jerome into a world of blinding light and ochre dust, still wearing their nightclothes and carrying nothing but confusion. Paul is there — real, solid, alive — and the relief of holding him nearly undoes her. But the reunion is cut short by Luke's reappearance, his maddening calm, and the revelation that Charles was left behind at seminary. Jerome asks if they can go home. Nobody answers him.

Luke introduces a woman named Karen — sunhat, cargo trousers, pushing a garden trolley through the desert — with the breezy familiarity of someone who has been here long enough to forget how insane it all looks. Greta hugs her on instinct and gets a fencepost in return. Luke vanishes back through the Portal, leaving Paul to lead the family toward the settlement.

When they crest the hill and see Bixbus for the first time, it is not spires and pearl gates but patched canvas, corrugated iron, and chain-link fencing. A severed beast head hangs above the entrance, jaw frozen in a snarl. Paul explains they were attacked. Inside, workers on crutches head out to finish sheds while curious strangers stare at the family in their dressing gowns. Greta asks the question that has been building since she arrived — is this the New Jerusalem? — and Karen's blunt, profane reply tells her everything she needs to know.

The grand promises have crumbled. What faith delivered them to is not a holy city but a dusty camp full of strangers, danger, and no way back.