ROOTS | MICHAEL LANGDON | AHS: APOCALYPSE

EIGHT: THE RETURNED

GALLANT HAD BEEN WRONG A YEAR AND A HALF AGO BUT EVE KNEW IT WAS DUE TO COME SOON SEVERAL NIGHTS AGO WHEN she had a vision of him arriving outside the Outpost and ordered Mead to take care of his pus-ridden horses. In the fog of her dream state she admired who he'd become: he was more man than before. Alluring icy eyes enhanced with red pigmented shadow, tailored suit, and long, honey hair.

She woke up that morning and knew today he'd return to her the moment she heard hisses and slithering coming from under her bed. When the first of many snakes came out from under her bed, she picked it up and let it curls itself around her shoulders. She cooed at the reptile, spoke to it. Oh how I missed my children, she had said, it's been too long.

-

They sat at the dining room table, waiting for breakfast. Venable opened the doors and walked in and automatically began to speak.

"I have an announcement." she said. "This will be our last breakfast. We'll be cutting back to one meal a day."

"You can't be serious." Coco spoke, eyes wide.

"An effective dieting technique." Evie commented.

Hell, Eve hated the old bat.

"Yeah, so is starving to death!" Coco shot back.

"How are we supposed to survive on half a cube?" Gallant asked, growing angry.

"It's not optimal," Venable admitted, "but also not impossible. Either way we have no choice, not if we want to keep eating at all."

"I fucking can't do this anymore!" Gallant shook his head.

"We don't know how strong we are until we have to face adversity. This can be an opportunity for us to grow." Dinah reasoned.

"You finish that bumper sticker shit you used to say on your show and I'm strong enough to shove this fork in your neck!" Gallant raged.

I'll gladly help, Eve thought to herself.

"What is the point to all of this?" Coco started, "Starving, killing each other, getting shot? All we're doing is waiting around to find out how we die."

"I say we take our chances outside." Mallory urged.

Eve snorted and began cutting her half-cube into thin slices. She wouldn't stop them, she'd much rather them rot on the outside of the bunker anyway.

"She's right!" Gallant yelled, standing up. "We have to get out of here!"

"Nobody's going anywhere." Mead said from her place.

Gallant picked up his plate and threw it at the wall. The porcelain broke and fell to the floor. "What are you gonna do?! Shoot us all?!What are you going to do?!"

A Grey was about to restrain him when red lights suddenly flashed and an alarm went off. Eve smirked. It was time. Michael was here. She could feel him.

-

"I have a rule against eating things with no legs or too many legs." Coco spoke upon seeing their dinner.