I watch him leave, scratching at my arms nervously, he hasn't left my side since I got shot. I pull my knees up to my chest, hugging them. Ariadne and Furiosa couldn't take their eyes off each other, they were closer, maybe closer than Ariadne and myself. I thought back to Max, he seemed so off since we returned, did I do something wrong? I sighed, knowing that the only way to get it settled was to go and talk to him.
I silently made my way out of my vault and down the corridor to what I hoped was Max's vault, I hesitated, not knowing if I should knock or just leave it alone. My heart was racing, I was so scared and I didn't understand why. The vault door opened, and Max froze as he saw me directly in front of him. He looked at me for a second, nodded and then began walking away.
"Max...?" I called quietly, he stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly to see me out of the corner of his eye. "Max did I do something wrong?" He turned around and marched right up to me, he looked so ready to say something but when his eyes met mine he turned away almost immediately.
"No" he spoke, his voice harsh and rough, not the voice I heard only moments ago.
"Well why are you acting like this?" I whispered, my voice shaking. He scratched his head aggressively, like he was trying to get the thoughts out but he couldn't, he just growled to himself. We stood there in silence for a few moments, "Please, talk, you scare me when you don't talk..." He turned around, looking almost hurt, but I couldn't tell, his eyes were shrouded, like he put a wall up.
I watched him walk away again. My body shook, I felt anger and sadness and confusion. If he was just going to shut me out why did he even let me in in the first place?! I stormed back into our vault, Furiosa was gone and the lights were out. I could see Ariadne's silhouette slowly breathing. I tried as best as I could to subdue my raging emotions, but found myself throwing shit around.
Ariadne sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking over at me. "Phoenix?" She mumbled tiredly, and I felt bad for waking her up. I sat down on my bed, my head in my hands. "What's wrong?" She whispered, turning on the light to see my face.
"Ariadne... I... I think we should leave" her face went cold and stern.
"Did Max say something?" It was like she could read my fucking mind.
"No, Max didn't say shit" I growled, but she looked at me confused. "Look if you're happy here and you want to stay then go ahead, I see you and Furiosa"
"What you're just gonna up and leave me alone here?!" She whispered loudly, almost a yell "isn't that EXACTLY why you were pissed at Max?"
"We're not talking about Max. There's nothing for me here, Ariadne!" Her hard face softened, she looked hurt.
"So I'm nothing? Freeing gas town from Scrotus is NOTHING?!"
"Oh don't pull that shit!" My voice rose "don't you dare say you're nothing to me I took a fucking bullet for you!" Ariadne just stared at me in disbelief, shaking her head and crawling back into her bed.
"You wanna fucking leave Phoenix? Then go, but I'm not going with you"