I dreamed of Valhalla. It was so vivid and real that I was sure I was really there. Everything was sprinkled with a fine layer of silvery dust, chrome. It was not so much of it that it was displeasing to the eye, but enough that it made the land around me sparkle. There wasn't just silver, but a spectrum of color that my eyes have not seen in years. Dazzling purples, greens, and blues appeared from all around me. The ground under my feet was soft and springy, making want to take my boots off just to feel the grass between my toes. Cars of all shapes and sizes were lined up neatly at one side of this valley, all brand-new and rumbling with their massive engines. Mothers were there, as well as my own. She welcomed me with a tight embrace, her familiar scent filling my senses. It was beautiful, and so very shine.
The pleasant fantasy was ripped away from me with a jolt. I sucked in a deep and wheezy breath, my eyelids sleepily forcing themselves open. I expected to wake to hot sand under my back, and an even hotter sun beating down on my front. I was ready to drag my mangled body up and start to get moving.
But there was no need. I was already in the Citadel. Air cooler and sweeter than that of outside filled the space around me. I was laying atop a startlingly soft bed. My eyes scanned over the other beds, then onto the next room which held a pool of water under a mesh ceiling. I was in the vault. My heart lurched with dread for a split second, but then remembered that Immortan was dead. I was safe. My body still ached and throbbed, but it wasn't as intense as before. My brain felt much more clear without my limbs screaming with the agony of moving. How did I get here? Where was Nux? Or Furiosa?
I looked down at myself to find that my broken arm was wrapped up with something I couldn't name. All I could see was I was unable to move it from the stiff and right-angle position it was in. The gash on my thigh was also bandaged up, as was my shoulder and upper arm. My free hand slid up to my eye, which was still dark and useless, to find that there was a patch of cotton-y feeling stuff attached there. My twisted ankle was also wrapped so tightly in some sort of cloth that I could not bend it. How long had I been asleep? Confusion wrinkled my brows as I swung my legs over the bed and threw the clean blanket off of my body. I was dressed in fresh clothing as well, an off-white t-shirt and shorts made of the same material of the wives' clothing. I cringed down at my exposed legs, deciding that the first thing to do was to find my cargo pants.
Before I could stand up, I heard the loud clang of someone opening the vault's door. I froze, fear pulsating through my veins on instinct as memories flashed behind my eyelids. I forced the panic down, Immortan Joe was not here to terrorize me any longer, but it was hard to let go of the ghosts.
The elegant figure of The Dag appeared at the doorway, her body now fully dressed in a dark gray tank top and a long skirt the color of Mother's milk. She still sported the combat boots she wore on our journey, but her face and body was not smeared with dirt or sweat anymore. She looked like a whole new person.
"You're awake!" She gasped, dropping the roll of bandages she had clutched in her long fingers. She rushed to my side, fiddling with the eye-patch on my face, "How are you feeling?" She asked quietly, her mystic eyes glowing with pride.
I bobbed my head slowly, trying to duck away from her fussy hands, "A lot better. How did I get here?" I questioned, my eyes absently flicking about the room.
"We sent a search party to look for you, found you and the war boy half way between the pass and the Citadel." She answered almost at once, as if she had expected me to ask that.
"Is Nux okay?" I demanded, trying to get to my feet.
She put her slim hands on my shoulders and forced me to sit back down, "He's fine. He woke up a little bit before you." She lowered her voice, "His hearing damaged, though." She admitted sadly, obviously upset she couldn't fix it.
I blinked at her, my expression blank. I suppose that made sense, the initial explosion must have really messed up his ears, I just didn't think about it before. I moved to stand up again, "Where is he?"
The Dag gave a little snort, gesturing with a tip of her head towards my left. My head snapped to one side to find Nux's bare back facing me from the bed next to mine. He had been so quiet that I didn't even know he was there.
Before The Dag could stop me, I jumped to my bare feet and limped around to the side of the bed he was facing. His eyes were half lidded and had an ashamed glint to them. The cut on his face was bandaged, and I could see a dark purple bruise forming around his right eye. His broken hand was all wrapped up like my arm was. I couldn't see his legs as they were hidden under a blanket, but I guessed they were bandaged as well.
"Feral?" He said a little too loudly, his head perking up at the sight of me, "Your eye..." he said almost to himself, his two working eyes trained on my disabled one.
"Its nothing," I told him, making sure to speak clearer so he could hear me, "are you good?" I asked him, stiffly crouching down to his level.
His gaze slid away from mine, locking onto his hands, "Can't walk, can't hear things, and can't drive. Valhalla didn't want me." He said with fatigue and self-pity edging his voice.
"Valhalla didn't want you yet," I corrected him, my mind pulling up the image of flowers dusted with sparkling chrome.
He grunted, indicating he didn't believe me.
I sighed, "Comon' Nux! You were willing to die so Furiosa, Bloodbag, and the wives could live! That, my friend, is something Valhalla will not forget." I gave him a grin, gently punching him on his unburned shoulder.
He was silent for a few moments, then nodded to himself again. Then he flashed me a smile back, and I noticed he was missing a tooth now, "I bet you will be awaited in Valhalla as well, for distracting Rictus for me."
I laughed a little, my heart lifting from its distressed state. It was all over, we were free.
A streak of bright hair poked into the corner of my eye. I turned to find Capable framed in the doorway, her deep brown eyes shining with tears. Cheedo and Toast stood behind her, poised on their toes to see over their sister. I immediately stood, causing my ankle to yelp with pain, and stepped away from Nux's bedside. She must want to welcome him home too.
Capable ran to the bed, dropping to her knees and pressing her goggled forehead to Nux's, "I'm so glad you're okay." She whispered, her voice tight with relief.
I felt like I was intruding, but a warm smile ghosted at the edge of my mouth. Nux lightly touched her hand with his fingers, as if to test if she was real. He didn't seem to have heard what she said at all. Capable laughed, her voice full of joy and her eyes leaking tears. She pulled back from Nux and rose to her full height again, facing me. She took a few steps in my direction until we were face to face, then pulled me in for a hug. I froze, still not used to this type of physical contact. My arm and shoulder wound send shock waves of pain through my body, but I said nothing.
"I was so sure you were dead..." She mumbled sadly, "then we found you both in the desert all bloddy and..." she she trailed off, and I could sense the dread in her shaking voice.
I lifted my good arm and gave her an awkward pat on the back, "We still wanted to see the Green Place." I said, remembering my mother's words. I was very glad I didn't go into the black trench now.
She let go of me and stepped back, settling at the edge of Nux's bed. I scanned over the faces of the wives as I clumsily hobbled over to my own bed, "So you guys had no trouble takin' over the Citadel?" I asked them with a raise to my eyebrow that wasn't covered.
"All we had to do was show them Immortan's corpse and they let us right up." Toast said, with a triumphant air to her posture, "Furiosa's our leader now."
It felt so strange to be back at the Citadel and feel relaxed. Knowing that we had a good and strong leader to watch over us. My ears distantly picked up the rumble of running water. How long has that been going on? Did they turn it on as soon as they got here? I decided not to ask, as another question popped into my head, "What happened to Bloodbag?"
Capable shrugged, "You mean Max? He didn't come with us when we got onto the platform, he just left." She stated simply.
Max? That was his name? I pursed my lips to take in what I was told. He just...left? After everything he went through with us? He was still a wild man, and didn't want to stick around too long I suppose. I hoped I would cross paths with him again, to thank him for all he did. It is likely we would not have made it without his help.
My head moved from side to side, searching for my regular clothes, "Where the hell did you guys put my stuff?"
Cheedo wrinkled her nose, "You mean those old pants? They were covered in blood and were ripped to shreds!"
I pouted, "Well, what am I supposed to wear? This flimsy little things can't carry tools for me." I protested, jabbing a finger down at the silky cloth covering my waist and legs.
"You won't be needing to carry tools for a while, Feral. I've already had to explain that to the war boy." The Dag said with an exasperated sigh, "You both need rest."
Nux and I both let out annoyed groan, and I flopped down onto the soft bed grudgingly. What did they expect me to do? Just lay around all day? The very thought made me squirm with restlessness. Surly I wouldn't hurt anything just to go down to the caves and check over things, right? But without my boots or pants...I grumbled things under my breath as the wives filed out of the room quietly. Not a very glorious ending to our journey.
~~
The wives were some of the most resilient people I have ever met. They never failed to foil my plans every time I tried to sneak out of the vault. It didn't feel natural to be given this much time to heal. With the war boys, I would have gotten two days tops, then I would be expected to be back in the black thumb's cave. This was torture, watching the days tick by me without a single thing getting done. Sure, I was told that the Citadel was making great progress, but it killed me not to be able to help. The idleness was taking its toll on Nux as well, he was trying to tinker with anything he could get his hands, I mean- Hand on. He so far has fashioned a sort of blade out of a piece of the floorboard I managed to rip off, and he used that blade to carve his name into the bedpost. He let me use it to carve my name into my bedpost as well. We also took it upon ourselves to mark each passing day as a little tally on the floor between the two beds. The wives didn't like that we were marking up everything, but were glad that we have found something to keep ourselves busy. They, after all, had painted messages all over the walls. I often gazed at them, as if I could see the anger and rebellion in the shakily scrawled words, but I could never understand what they said. I was never taught to read in the caverns or the Green Place.
Nightmares were a frequent occurrence in the vault. If I didn't wake up screaming about fire and blood, Nux did. It was just very difficult to forget everything we went through. Nux's very way of life was disrupted and damaged, and the man he once worshiped like a god was dead and his name lower than dirt. I know it must be hard to get past everything he has ever known, so I never mentioned it when he moaned out things about Valhalla and the word 'mediocre' in his slumber.
I on the other hand, could not stop seeing the dark haired woman die, or the war rig exploding into oblivion. I dreamed of the faces of the war boys I had murdered, their eyes angry and their teeth as sharp as knives. I couldn't get over the guilt of all of the events I could have prevented. I felt as if I could have done more, so much more. I could have spared more of the war boys to be turned to our side, or I could have fought harder to save the remaining mothers. Time just would not stop for me, or go back so I could try again. It didn't care that I was suffering.
My eye did not get any better, but it slowly stopped sending stabbing pain through my skull every time I tried to blink. I was really hoping that I would regain my sight, because I missed being able to take in the colors and textures as they were meant to be. I disliked having to turn my head all the way around to look at something to my left. I felt like everyone had to slow down to let me catch up, the half blind war girl. Eventually I was able to remove the bandages from my eye, and I could close it properly and move it around. I just hated it when other peolpe stared at it, with its milky whiteness clouding the old emerald green. On the bright side, Nux's hearing was returning in small portions. I was having to shout to get his attention less and less every day. He was ecstatic, and it fueled his desire to get out and start driving again, even though both of his legs were still broken.
~~
Capable burst into the room one day, her face bright with excitement. She was carrying a large stack of rectangular objects and a little bundle of cloth at the top. The strange objects triggered a faint memory in the back of my brain. One that I could not quite grasp. I was sitting on the floor between the beds, with my back leaning up against my bed. Nux was propped up against the headboard with his legs sticking out straight as car axles, all wrapped in a clean white cloth.
I've got some things to pass the time for you!" Capable chirped, letting the pile of unknown objects drop to the floor with a clap. I squinted my eyes with confusion, creeping towards them with my head swirling with curiosity. I poked the one at the top with my good hand, knocking it over. The rectangular object landed on its side and split open, revealing pieces of paper with little symbols in covering it. I touched one of the pages with the tip of my finger, raising an eyebrow, "What are these?" I asked. Nux was craning his neck to catch a glimpse, giving Capable a questioning blink.
Capable giggled at us, reaching down and flipping the odd thing closed. I jumped back a little at the sound it made. How was this little thing with paper supposed to entertain us?
"We're going to teach you two how to read." Capable explained as if she heard my thoughts. She plopped down onto the floor beside me, then plucking the cloth bundle into her palm, "and this is for you, Feral. Toast made it." She unrolled a black piece of leather from the cloth, one that had a thin strap attached to either side. I scooped it into my hand, examining it. Then it dawned on me, it was an eyepatch. I flipped it over so the outside was facing me, and I found that there was an X painted onto the front with the chrome spray the war boys used to stain their teeth.
"Thank you! It's so shine!" I squealed, trying to put it on with an clumsy, one-handed swipe. The strap caught on my stripe of hair, and I winced, my face flushing with embarrassment. Now that my paint was scrubbed away, you could see my cheeks blush red when I was embarrassed or angry. It made me feel exposed and bare, but at the same time, clean.
Capable helped me put it on, I saw little difference in my blind eye, but I felt a hundred times better. My wound has just graduated from a liability to a battle scar. I looked back and forth from the faces of my two friends, my lip wedged between my teeth with anticipation, "Does it look cool?" I asked excitedly.
Nux nodded, a grin spreading across his bruised face, "Ya look like someone who could drive the war rig." he admitted with a thumbs up.
I twisted my face into a mock snarl, my teeth bared and my fist up, "Damn straight! Don't go messin' with me!" I barked, my voice softened at the edges with laughter.
~~
Reading wasn't something I particularly enoyed at first. The books, as Capable called them, displayed neatly placed words that jumbled around in my brain but gave no meaning. I admit it, I am not a patient person. Especially when I knew a smoothly running engine was not going to be waiting for me at the end of this slow progress. She showed us what each individual letter sounded like. It was strange giving names to the noises rolling off of our tongues. I didn't like it, but it was something to do while our bodies repaired themselves. With a pace matching a V8 running out of guzzaline, we started to turn those markings into meaning. Words strung together into sentances, then into paragraphs, then stories. Before we knew it Nux and I were reading each other pages and poems that we managed to scrape from the pages of Capable's books. Some were more interesting than others. But all were fascinating.
It was a regular afternoon, with Nux and I settled by the edge of the pool. Only one of Nux's legs were wrapped , the one that had the bone sticking out of it. He was much more mobile now, and always instisted on dragging his useless foot around the vault like a caged and broken bird. I only got him- and me- to sit still to read stories. I was currently reciting a tale about a man and a black cat, by a person named Edgar Allen...Something. The last name was faded out from its long days in the scorching sun.
The clunk and clicks of the vault door opening cut me short mid sentance. I twisted myself around to see Furiosa's strong figure step into the light. Her face was smeared with black paint from her eyes up like usual, and her metal arm flashing in the sun.
I gave a little bow to Furiosa, as did Nux. He, however, lifted his hands above his head and locked his fingers together as he dipped his head to her, showing off his newly healed hand.
Furiosa waved her mechanical hand, as if to say "at ease". We both straightened up, our eyes locked on her questioninly.
She swept her stern gaze from me to Nux, "Since I am the new leader of the Citadel," she began, nodding back towards the door, "I need someone to help me with the war boys." Then she paused, for what I guessed was for effect. "So, once you've both healed, I have decided to hand over my old duties as Imerators to the two of you."
The news hit me like an engine block to my head. My jaw fell open, but no sound came out. Nux and I...Imerators? An image of us both standing tall and proud before an army of war boys, all covered in fresh war paint and with our names billowing up from their throats flashed behind my eyes. A surge of pleasure filled my chest like aqua-cola at the idea.
I looked back to Nux with my eye wide and my mouth still parted slightly, trying to read his reaction. He looked uncertain, and uncomfortable. His eyes lowered and searched the floor, but he seemed to be at loss for words. Then he looked up to meet Furiosa's gaze.
"I'm sorry, Furiosa...But no." Nux said, shaking his hairless head.
Furiosa seemed taken aback, but not at all angry as I thought she would have been, "What do you mean 'no'?" She demanded.
He just shrugged, "Not meant to be an Imperator." he stated bluntly, as if that was an obvious fact.
She blinked at him, then turned to me, asking me with her eyes to explain this. I echoed Nux and shrugged. I'd have thought he would have adored the idea of being an Imperator. He always talked about leaving his mark and being remembered, so I thought leading his fellow comrades would have been ideal for him.
On second thought, I suppose his answer made some sense. He was more of a driver, a rule breaker. He would much rather be at the front line than hanging back to give orders. I was the thinking type between the two of us. His adventures were fueled with last minute decisions and dangerous plans. He was a soldier, and that was something that would never be able to be lured out of him, for it was weaved into the very thread of his existence.
"Well, will you do it, Feral?" Furiosa asked me, her hard line of a mouth pursed even tighter.
I glanced at Nux, my confidence wavering. I felt like if he thought he couldn't do it, how could I? He gave me the smallest of nods, as if to tell me he thought it was a good idea. I looked back up at Furiosa and nodded once, "Yes, I will."