ROOTS | MICHAEL LANGDON | AHS: APOCALYPSE

FOURTEEN: AFTERMATH

ONCE THE WITCHES WERE ERADICATED, save for Fiona and Dinah due to their alliance, the Langdon family brought back a select few of the original residents of Outpost 3. Eve and Michael carefully chose Timothy and Emily as their initial residents and then settled on bringing back Gallant and Andre along with reviving Stu. All memories of their lives at the Outpost were erased and replaced with false ones, giving them the belief that they had always resided in the Sanctuary.

Eventually, the International Outposts had regained contact with the Cooperative, and those deemed worthy enough were accepted in. Altogether, sans the Langdons, the Sanctuary held thirty accepted occupants – plus seventy some-odd Cooperative members who had been chosen for their skills and the Satanists who attended their Dark Lord's meeting all those years ago, hidden behind silver masks – but could easily hold more. Two of those Cooperative members, however, were the pair that annoyed Eve to the point where she contemplated burning their souls. They were Jeff and Mutt, who, somehow, were even more annoying when not coked out. But, Eve backed off, giving in once Michael reminded her that they were the brains of the Cooperative. They needed the two scientists to be able to accurately predict when the outside world would be safe again – whether it was them conducting the experiments alive with beating hearts or as robots like the ones they'd created before. With Cordelia dead, Michael was able to bring Miss Mead back from Hell. He hadn't needed her location, she was there in Hell by his father's side, waiting for him to come for her. He long accepted she'd never truly love him like a maternal figure should, but she had made progress in loving him as a friend and respecting him as almost a colleague.

Sanctuary didn't even begin to cover what this place was like. Everything was well thought out – the place large enough to cover everything necessary and then some. It had working internet, renewable energy, heating and air conditioning, and was self-sustaining.

The Sanctuary had been built shortly after the Antichrist came up with his plan to end all humanity. Large fallout resistant glass domes, reinforced and infused with lead, were interconnected by more fallout resistant glass tunnels built the network of the Sanctuary.

The largest of the domes held the forested area and gardens, which was filled with the normal wildlife of the pre-Apocalypse days, beautiful rose bushes and other flora and fauna, freshwater springs, and of course a community garden in which everyone could grow their own produce to share with the occupants. It also had a farm filled with livestock, managed by a family from the U.K. who made a living off of farming before the Apocalypse. It was there that Dinah, Fiona, and sometimes Michael or Eve used their powers to control the climate and weather in said dome. It was because of this that the vegetation and wildlife and whatnot managed to survive without the need for a stockpile of UVA and UVB lamps to allow for photosynthesis to take place.

Elsewhere there was a dome dedicated to the living quarters, which was then connected to another slightly larger dome that held rationed nonperishable food stock, other emergency supplies, hygiene products, and a hospital that was manned by pre-picked Cooperative members who practiced medicine. A dome connected to the latter two was where all education took place, consisting of a library with working internet and computers and a K-12 school, also managed by Cooperative members with the adequate skills. Another dome, just as large as the one that held rationed goods and the hospital, was the entry to the Sanctuary. It was turned into a decontamination and surveillance room, where anyone who left or entered had to be checked, along with whatever belongings they had brought, for radiation. Any trace amounts of radiation from outside belongings were then cleaned if possible, but tossed if they were too contaminated. Upon taking off one's Hazmat suit – or before putting one on if leaving the premises – occupants were ordered to shower following the guidelines posted inside every shower; gently wash body with soap as to not create abrasions in skin, shampoo hair but do not condition if you plan on leaving, change into clothes provided outside of your shower before entering the Sanctuary. Trained robotic security guards worked to watch security cameras that pointed to the outside perimeter of the Sanctuary to watch for any cannibals or survivors who attempted to pose as occupants and enter their safe place.

The sixth and final dome, connected only to the gardens, held a makeshift recreation area. Natural springs created pools perfect for swimming and fishing, and a children's park sat adjacent to it. A cabin converted into a rec room was filled with board games, a TV equipped with a VHS and DVD player with VHS tapes and DVDs on hand, a vinyl player with companion vinyls, various CDs that could be played through and old school Discman or stereo, and a radio for communication with the outside world.

-

By now, several years had passed since the defeat of the witches. Timothy and Emily had brought a baby girl into the New World eight months after being taken in to the Sanctuary. Gallant found love in a man who had been studying fashion in Paris when the bombs dropped. Andre and Stu were still happy together. Fiona and Dinah had taken to using their magic to protect the Sanctuary, having felt that they owed a great debt to Langdon and that this was how they would thank him.

Some occupants even decided to offer free services – Gallant provided hair care while his lover tailored and made clothes, Emily and Timothy nannied for those who had children when their services were needed, etc.

Two years after entering the Sanctuary, Eve had found out she was pregnant, and nine months later they welcomed their first born son into their kingdom.

"What should we name him, Darling?" Michael questioned, smiling through tears. He could never thank her enough for the gift of life she had brought into the world.

Still, he was apprehensive. How does one care for a child that is 3/4 demon and 1/4 human? Neither of them knew how to take care of children – the two of them were technically still children themselves, being only eight years old in human time measurements. Even so, they never expected themselves to become parents.

But Michael knew they'd figure it out. He wouldn't be like his biological father nor would he be like Ben who abandoned him when things got rough. And Eve wasn't his mother – she would never bring any harm to their child despite her demonic nature. She wasn't Constance either, who picked death over facing reality and getting the help her grandson so desperately needed. Nor was she Miss Mead, who Michael had come to realize did not love him, but loved what he was – worshipped what he was. He also knew that Eve's mother figure, Madame Voyait, who had spent the majority of the pregnancy with the couple, would be there to guide them through parenthood.

"I like Atom." his wife finally responded, smiling to herself.

"Adam? Darling..."

"No, my love, you misheard me," she laughed, understanding what he was silently insinuating. "Atom, like what brought us back together in the first place: nuclear war. Like the atom bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima."

Michael smiled, catching on, "It's perfect. Atom Langdon."

From time to time, Lucifer, Asmodeus, and Madame Voyait came to visit. The tension between the Demon of Lust and the Clairvoyant had finally hit its breaking point, bringing the two together as a couple. Lucifer remained alone but not lonely. He finally met his son formally, and though things were tense at first from the whole forest incident – and Eve's subsequent rampage thereafter – the two mended things.

Demons could love, both Asmodeus and Lucifer realized. With Asmodeus, it started with his daughter, but the moment he was absolutely sure was when Madame Voyait passed his newborn grandson over to him. And Lucifer? He always knew. It was the reason he fell from Heaven in the first place – he fell due to his fascination with humans. He loved his son, he loved Eve, and he loved his grandson.

All was well.