She was dying.
Max could see her life slipping away as easily as water through the sand.
She was dying.
"She's hurt real bad."
Back in the race to the pass, the girl, Cheedo, had leaned out and called to him. Because she must have known that he would kill every last person who stood in his way in order to get back to her. And then there had been screaming metal and screaming voices, and he had reached her in the end. Taking hold of her and feeling his chest flood with relief, because she wasn't dead yet. She had killed the man who chased them, the one Max didn't know as anything but a name. And she had killed him, the one the desperate boys called a god.
And now they were driving, safe for a time. Because the boy who had taken his blood had died for them, spinning metal and fire. And she was dying.
If he believed in a God he would have prayed. He would have prayed for her to live. But he believed in nothing but fire and blood and screeching engines, and so he gave her what he could give. He gave his blood, and he gave his name. He gave his name for the first time since he could remember. Because he didn't know much anymore, but he knew that he trusted her, and he knew that he would die for her. And he didn't know why, but he thought that might not matter all too much in the end. His name was Max, and he was mad, and he was feral, and he should be dead 20 times over. And she would not die today.
Furiosa. He hadn't known her name until moments ago. When the girl with the red hair, the one called Capable, had whispered it like a prayer when he told them to keep her awake. They had fought side by side like they had known each other for years, and he hadn't known her name, or she his. So it was only fair that he tell her who he was.
"Will she live?" Cheedo looked at him with wide eyes, clinging to the one called Dag like her life depended on it. He tried to answer, but he had run the last of his words dry. He closed his eyes, grunted, and forced his mouth to form words.
"Maybe. Done all I can."
"She'll live. She's strong. She's strong like the canyons. She's going to live." The girl with the short hair and the sharp eyes spoke in a low voice, an angry voice. Angry at death for trying to take even more from them. He searched for her name in his head. He wasnlt good with names. He had heard her sisters call her Toast. He tried to file the name away, to remember it. He didn't know why.
"That's our Furiosa. She's fighter." The old woman who was driving shook her head. "She's a fighter. And she'll have his blood. Good strong blood."
"High octane crazy blood. That's what Nux said." Capable looked at him. "They took your blood from you, and now you're giving it to her willingly."
He shrugged, still holding Furiosa. She felt so light in his arms. All of the rage and hardness and fire flickering as her body struggled to live. Without thinking he pressed his forehead to hers again, trying to will life back into her body along with his blood.
At some point sleep took him, although it shouldn't have. But his body was tired, and his blood was going to another, and he fell asleep leaning on the wall, still holing Furiosa like he was afraid that she's disappear if he let go.
"She's breathing easy now yeah Ringer?" Dag looked at the Vuvalini who was leaned up against the wall watching the sleeping pair closely.
"Yes."
"We're almost there…" Cheedo pointed to the silhouette of the citadel against the sky, shuttering slightly. "What will happen when we get back?"
"Let's hope it involved adoring masses and an easy change of power. I'm sure they'll just roll over and welcome us gladly." Dag gave a low laugh, like she didn't expect that to happen.
"He's dead. Their god is dead. Who knows what they'll do. Maybe they'll call Furiosa the new god…" Cheedo bit her lip. Capable shook her head.
"She won't like that. She won't let them call her a god…if she lives."
"She'll live." Toast crossed her arms. "She already looks better. His blood will keep her alive for now."
"He loves her." Cheedo looked out the window, watching the desert passing by outside.
"Maybe. Don't know if you could call it love though. I think it's something more primal then that." Ringer gave a small, sad smile.
"He loves her." Cheedo said again.
Capable touched Cheedo's hair and smiled, staring at the horizon with eyes that were holding tears. Tears for Angharad and the Vuvalini who had died in the pass, and tears for Nux. Witness me.
"We're going back. I never thought we'd go back. How can we go back? The place is poison…" Toast looked at her hands.
"We'll make it ours. We'll take the poison away, and we'll make it like the green place we imagined." Cheedo set her jaw, determination etched on her young face. "We'll make it a safe place, where people can grow up and grow old in peace."
The Vuvalini exchanged a brief glance and smiled. Hope was a rare thing out here. But it wasn't lost forever.