Prologue:
Die Trying

Dirt and dust and fire filled Nux's lungs. With a great heaving breath, he lifted himself from the pile of sand that had accumulated on his body while he laid there unconscious. Larry and Barry gnawed at his throat painfully. Nux glanced about, his piercing blue pools straining to see anything alive besides himself. All there was, though, were the destroyed war rigs, still playing the stage for fires, and pieces of body parts strewn across the ground in puddles of blood and metal. If this was Valhalla, he no longer wanted any part of it.

Setting himself on his feet, Nux curled his cracked hands over his mouth and bellowed, "Capable!" His voice, rough and ragged, echoed off the canyons surrounding him. The sound of silence forced a twinge of panic into his gut. Capable, having been the last person he saw before making his choice, was the only one he wanted to see now. He wanted to touch her soft skin again, smell the scent coming from her hair that he'd described as "leafy," and hear her laugh just once more. "Capable!" he shouted once more, and as his own voice answered him with the name, he prayed to whatever was out there now that she'd made it out alive.

The thought that maybe Capable didn't make it out struck Nux hard like an iron fist to the head. If she hadn't, everything he'd done – sacrificing himself for the one thing he truly believed to be good, going days without forcing bugs into his mouth so that the redhead could eat, turning his back to the only man who had been even somewhat of a father to him – would be for naught. He couldn't wrap his mind around the thought. He couldn't picture her lying there like the bodies around him – pale, mutilated, lifeless. He couldn't and absolutely refused to.

"Capab – Argh!" he tried calling out once more. Unfortunately, Larry and Barry cut him off before he could finish her name. Nux crumpled onto his knees, shielding the two lumps on the crook of his neck from the harsh sun, and closed his eyes tight.

Counting down from seven in his head – seven had always been the magic number to ease the pain and Nux had never found out why – he pictured her face. A perfectly round head, embraced with a wild, fiery mane. A pair of symmetrical eyes, often set between a fading emerald and a cerulean deeper – yet somehow much more beautiful – than his own that glistened when she curled her full, pink lips into smiles that sent a strange, frightening flutter about his often empty stomach. Barely there freckles spotting her cheeks and nose that could only be seen if one got close enough, which Nux had the pleasure of doing only once.

Finally, the seizing feeling inside his chest and throat disappeared, allowing dirty air to his lungs once more. He took yet another struggled breath and forced himself onto all fours, then his knees, then ultimately his feet again, this time taking extra care to remain in this stance for more than a minute. Taking a tiny step, he staggered at the sharp pain inside his left thigh. Only then did he notice the warm, sticky blood dying his pants crimson.

"Lovely," Nix hissed to himself bitterly, squinting his eyes in the direction he hoped the Citadel would be. Every direction seemed the same. "Just lovely."

Cupping his attached mates with one hand and his flesh wound with the other, Nux began to limp toward the trail of destruction and mayhem, hoping that somehow, someway, he'd find her again. That, or he swore he'd die trying.


Hello everyone! So, this is my first Mad Max fic. I watched the movie a few weeks ago and fell head over heels with the entire thing, mostly Nux. After reading countless "Nuxable" fics, I've decided to write my own based on how I wanted the movie to end. Considering I'm accustomed to using my own OCs as the love interest, I'm probably going to make a billion mistakes with this story. If you have constructive criticism to offer, by all means, please do!

I hope you all enjoy reading this story as much as I know I'll enjoy writing it!