'American Horror Story': How the Apocalypse Happens

American Horror Story: Apocalypse began with a bang, quite literally.

The end of the world does not come silently in the season premiere of American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the FX horror anthology's eighth installment. There are sirens blaring, people screaming, and the sounds of bombs exploding. In the world of AHS, a universe where the Anti-Christ has now grown into his powers, the end of the world comes in the form of ballistic missiles headed for the most populated cities in the world at the start of World War III.

One of those cities is Los Angeles where billionaire Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt (Leslie Grossman) goes from getting her hair done by Mr. Gallant (Evan Peters) to having her life upturned when she is forced to board a plane headed to an unknown location when an emergency alert sounds stating that ballistic missiles will destroy the city.

According to a news anchor, Los Angeles is not the only city in harm's way, as the ballistic missiles are also headed to London, Tokyo, and various cities across the globe, not only marking the beginning of World War III, but also marking the end of the world.

Fortunately for a few lucky souls (Billy Eichner's character not among them), a number of fallout shelters, dubbed Outposts, have been built to survive the end of the world and the proceeding nuclear winter. Not so fortunate for the main characters, who have been whisked to the safety of Outpost 3, their fallout shelter is run by a woman keen on overthrowing The Cooperative.

Her name is Ms. Venable (Sarah Paulson), and yes, you better call her exactly that. Along with the strict rule of what she prefers to be called by those under her care, she also has several more rules that must be strictly obeyed. For the residents of Outpost 3, there is no unauthorized copulation and no going outside, not that there is much of the world left to see.

Above ground, where raspers now roam, the earth is covered is ash, the air so radioactive that those who do venture outside must wear special gear.

This doomsday had been prophesized all the way back in season one's Murder House when medium Billie Dean Howard claimed that "a child born of human and spirit will usher in the end of times." That child was Michael Langdon, now portrayed by Cody Fern, though it remains to be seen his exact involvement in the apocalypse and the subsequent Outpost shelters headed by The Cooperative.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on FX.