Once Gallant leaves, I look around. "What is it?" Michael runs a hand down my forearm.

"Someone around here is doing something Ms. Venable wouldn't approve of."

"What do you mean?"

I chuckle, "I mean, someone has sparked up a relationship, when the headmistress has forbidden it."

"How do you know?"

"Are you kidding me?" I look over to Michael, "This place reeks of sexual frustration, but two people in this place are rather happy at the moment."

"Who?"

I shake my head, "I'm not sure, I'm not close enough to tell."

"Why don't you find out who, while I pay our little friend a visit?" Michael smiles over to me, as I play pout, knowing what that means, "now, now, my pet. Remember it is to break his sanity. Nothing more."

I walk around the school looking for the two less depressed souls, but they disappear as quickly as they appeared. But I do see Mr. Gallant Grandmother Evie quickly walking through the halls, as if she is about to burst with information. I follow her and listen against the door as she disappears into a room. "I am so sorry, I… I ever thought I would have to do this, but I am truly at a loss."

"You got something to say?" Mead asks.

"Well, I know that blood is thicker than water, but… oh, the things I have just seen." Evie sighs loudly, "I'm terribly conflicted."

I shake my head, tired of this old bird's attempt to act as though she doesn't wish to sell out her grandson to secure a place in The Sanctuary. I open the door and step in, "Because it could destroy someone else's chance of going to The Sanctuary. Please, Evie, stop pretending to care and tell her what you saw."

Evie looks over to me, "maybe if you would act and dress more ladylike, your male companion wouldn't be in there screwing my grandson, right now."

I cross my arms and chuckle, "You say that as if I don't know what Michael enjoys. I know he's with your grandson, he told me where he was going."

Evie sighs, "I suppose I can console myself with the fact that his absence will leave an empty place for someone more deserving."

"That a girl, Evie." I smile over to her.

Mead scoffs as she stands, "What did your grandson do?"

Evie looks between the two of us a bit confused, "shouldn't the question be what did my grandson and her companion do?"

Mead shakes her head, "Mr. Langdon and Ms. Sinclair are here on behalf of The Cooperative and therefore are not held to the same standards and responsibilities as those who live here permanently. Now what did he do?"

Evie takes a deep breath, "I catch my grandson being intimate with Mr. Langdon."

I chuckle and turn to leave the room, "ta ta, ladies. I must be on my way." I head out of the room and back to the room Michael and I share.

When I get closer to the room, I notice the door is open slightly, but before I can enter Michael comes up to me, "I think we should talk to Venable again."

I nod and smile up to him, "so do I."

Michael and I head down to Venable's office and quietly enter, seeing Venable fixing the pillows on one of the chairs, "You have a gift for making the ugly look presentable." Michael leans against the stairs we had to descend in order to get into the office, while I sit, I'm not sure how she didn't hear us.

Venerable chuckles softly, "Order on the outside does wonder to keep the chaos safely on the inside."

Michael begins to slowly walk over to Venable. "We're onto you."

"What do you mean."

I chuckle and stand on the stairs, "You've created your own rules here."

Michael shrugs, "I understand why. I'm sure it was impossible to resist the temptation of making this place over in your image, especially when you thought that no one who knew any better would ever be around to notice."

Venable shakes her head, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

I chuckle, "come on, Vena, complete abstinence? Punishable by death?"

"I received my orders in an encrypted communique from The Co-op before all communication lines went down."

"Do you have it?" Michael steps forward.

"No, I do not. The orders were to destroy it after I read it."

I clear my throat, "tell how is it that this is the only out post that got these set of orders."

"I don't know why or how other outposts were given different orders but I have followed mine."

"It's just a bit odd, since Michael and I were instrumental in drafting all the directives in regards to the running of the outposts."

"And nothing would be more humiliating to a pair such as yourselves than to learn that one woman had more information than you did."

"A pair such as ourselves?"

"You and the others. Masters of the universe, titans of industry… the men swinging their dicks around so much that they managed to blow the whole world to hell and the women who were too busy kissing their feet to notice."

"you're a fighter." Michael walks around Venable and sits in one of the arm chairs next to the fireplace. "I like that about you."

"I'm just doing my best with the mess men made of things." Venable turns to Michael.

"Maybe that's what was needed around here, hmm? Some improvisation." Michael leans forward a bit, "i'm gonna give you some important information instead. You're the leader in here. You need to understand what's at stake, what's really going on out there." Michael gestures for Venable to sit in the chair next to him, "on the way here, we came across a woman. A young mother with two children. They were some of the unlucky ones who were far enough from the blast radius to survive the fireball but… not the radiation." Venable shakes her head and moves a hand up to mess with her earring. "They were covered in… tumors. Sores. Their lungs were burnt from the toxic air. After a few moments, I realized that the child she was carrying in her arms was already dead. She was begging for us to murder her other child out of pity. Mercy. She didn't have the strength to do it herself, so she prayed for someone to come along and do it for her." Michael leans back in the chair.

"Did you?"

"Of course, not." I scoff, "we aren't monsters like you would like to believe."

"So." Michael stands, "who deserves a shot at salvation?" Michael takes some rather large and joyous steps toward the desk, "let's start with… Coco Saint Pierre Canderbilt." Michael tosses Coco's file on the desk as he sits.

Venable stands and walks over to the desk as well, "the Vanderbilt girl is a vacuous abomination of inbreeding. She'd be my last choice to propagate the human race. The hairdresser is a cowardly homosexual. His grandmother is a festering pustule who just will not die. And the talk show host… well, actually, I don't know that much about that one."

"At this rate, it sounds like you, Rose and I will have the Sanctuary all to ourselves." Michael

sighs, "come." he stands and steps toward Venable, "there's no need for us to be adversaries, Ms. Venable." Michael takes a deep breath, "take off your dress."

"I will not." Venable chuckles, looking over to me, "are you going to just stand there and watch?"

I shrug, "the process is different for everyone, part of your cooperation includes a physical examination."

"Then you two can read my file."

Michael shakes his head, "your file won't show us what we need to see."

I nod, "your shame."

Michael steps around Venable, "we want to see that part of you that humiliates you the most." As Michael's hand reaches Venable's shoulder, she grabs it, stopping him from touching her back. "You won't get a second chance." she releases Michael's hand and he looks up to me. I nod and walk over to the two of them, running my hand up Venable's back to the zipper of her dress. Unzipping it and opening the dress to reveal her scoliosis. Michael runs a hand down her spine, "does it hurt?"

Venable shudders, "no."

"But does it bring you great pain?"

"Yes…" Venable looks over to Michael, her breathing shaky and on the brink of tears, "is this part of my test?"

"Isn't everything?"

"So, then… do I pass?"

Michael inches closer to Venable, "... no…" Someone knocks on the door, "yes."

Mead opens the door, "i'm sorry to interrupt. I need Ms. Venable."

I zip Venable's dress back up as she sighs, "good evening, Mr. Langdon, Ms. Sinclair."