The car had been stripped down to the metal bone by the time she found it. It wouldn't be long before someone came to take that to the caravan that will head to the Citadel in order to trade for water and mother's milk.
She carefully scoured the metal but found next to nothing. Grumbling to herself because her trip had been all for nothing, she scampered away from the wreck. She couldn't linger lest someone find her.
The young woman kicked at the dirt woefully and watched some stones land in a puddle of oil.
There was oil everywhere in Gas Town, where she lived. The pumps and refineries ran all the time. Alongside that, the smell of burning oil permeated the air thanks to the burning oil fields to the south. And then there was the oil lake. A mixture of oil runoff and sand surrounded the entire town making escape impossible save for the heavily guarded drawbridge.
The lake was the only thing preventing her from leaving Gas Town. She wasn't stupid enough to try leaving via the drawbridge. She'd be caught immediately.
For the rest of the morning, she patrolled the refinery area, looking for any scrap she could find. But there was nothing. Everything was locked up good and tight. It had been for the past twenty days or so.
She sat at the edge of the town, looking over the oil lake. Ever since she lived on her own, she wondered what the world outside of Gas Town was like. She hoped she could one day barter her way out of the town but where would she go? Her choices would be the Citadel or the Bullet Farm.
At the very edge of the lake she spied the sunken cars from enemies who tried to invade. It was stupid of them to believe they could traverse the lake. They would have been better off setting it on fire and killing them all from smoke inhalation or hoping the refineries would explode.
With a sigh, she stood up, not bothering to dust herself off and headed for the shanty town.
She ducked into the cool shade of the shanty town and made her way to her own dwelling: a hut made from metal sheets. It was small enough to avoid curious eyes and she liked it that way. The more eyes off her, the better.
She entered her hut and lowered her hood, shaking out her long mane of ash brown hair. The dusty living conditions made her hair even more dusty, dulling the color but she didn't care. Her hair was hot and stuck to her neck on the hottest of days.
But she lived with it. The only clothes she could get her hands on were dark in color but made with light materials that kept her body as cool as possible in the heat. Everything she wore was meant to keep attention off her: her large, baggy black hooded shirt that hid her hair and her chest; dusty, gray pants and thick, brown boots; and she dealt with the dust and chemical air but wrapping a black piece of cloth around her lower face and large, thick goggles over her eyes.
A corner of her hut stirred and an elderly man gazed at her sleepily. "Is that you, Vexation? Come back with nibbles for old Gobbler?"
Vexation, or Vex as she preferred, merely snorted and shook her head. "Entire thing was stripped down to the bone before I got there. Have to find something else to barter with."
Gobbler tilted his head to the side. He grunted and gripped at his walking stick like he was going to hit her. And Vex immediately kept her distance. She wrinkled her nose as she did so; he smelt like urine and sweat.
"You know what you can barter with," he said bluntly, scratching at his bald head with a long fingernail.
"No," Vex said back, equally as blunt. "Who will take care of you, old man?"
"You certainly aren't."
"I let you into my home, didn't I?" She challenged. "Don't think I won't hesitate to throw you out."
She would too; both of them knew it. If there had been anything her father had ingrained to her before he died in a refinery explosion it was: survive at all costs.
This was her home first. She was younger and stronger than him and she was more than capable of throwing him into the streets. Gobbler was old, wrinkly, and dying.
But a small part nagged at her in the back of her mind. If she threw Gobbler out, she'd lose protection. When she allowed him to stay in the first place, she gave him one condition: if anyone came knocking, he would answer and say this was his place while she hid.
Vex had grown up hearing stories of what happened to healthy women in these parts. They'd be snatched up and sold for water or mother's milk. In an age where everyone was sick, those who were not were highly sought after commodities.
Gobbler himself was sick. His neck and chest were riddled with lumps and Vex knew he could die at any time. And good riddance too; she hated him with a passion.
She settled down in the farthest spot away from the door and pulled out a small engine from under a blanket. With the tips and tricks her father had showed her, she managed to make herself into a decent mechanic. Repairing car parts could get her some water from traders on their way to the Citadel.
"You've been working on that forever," Gobbler complained and shifted on his mat. "When are you going to trade it? I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Vex replied.
She set the engine down in her lap and pulled out a canteen. There were only a few mouthfuls left, she noted as she shook it. She took a small swig before shutting it and tossing it over to Gobbler. "Take only a little," Vex warned. "There isn't much left."
Gobbler regarded her for a moment with his black eyes before lifting the canteen to his lips and draining the entire thing. He grinned smugly at her as he tossed the empty canteen at her.
"Now you'll have to barter that thing."
Fury ripped through her and Vex grabbed a screwdriver and whipped it at him. It sliced his arm and he gave a startled yell.
"It's not even done yet, you fool!" she hissed at him venomously, her green eyes narrowed into slits. "It won't even get twice what we had as it is now!"
He blinked at her sourly. "I'm hungry," he said again as if everything was her fault.
Vex gritted her teeth, sorely tempted to march over there and stick her screwdriver right in his thin neck.
"I hope the day your lumps kills you come soon," she snarled and went back to her engine.
Gobbler, in turn, threw the screwdriver back at her.
-x-
With all their water gone, Vex had no choice but to put double effort into her engine. A convoy would be heading for the Citadel soon. If she could find a trader to look at her engine and give her a price before they left, then she could sooner be on her way to look for another project to find food.
She risked sneaking into an oil rig and stealing some machinery and got away with a handful of small parts.
Gobbler complained of thirst and hunger all through the nigh while she worked and she ended up throwing her wrench at him. She hit him square in the face and was pleased to hear a cracking sound; she broke his nose.
"MY NOBE!" He howled in pain and collapsed to the floor.
"Then don't bother me while I'm working if you don't want broken bones," Vex snapped.
She marched over to him and took her wrench back, kicking him in the ribs for good measure.
A few minutes later and she regretted hurting the old man as he started to complain about his injuries.
"It's done now you old fool," she finally said. "We'll have our water tomorrow evening. Now will you shut up?"
The look Gobbler gave her was murderous but he knew better than to try attacking her. Vex would have no qualms about stabbing him with a screwdriver. More water for her with his death anyway.
The next day, Vex pulled her hood up and made sure her face was securely hidden before making the trek to the main drag where riders would be busy getting ready to leave.
"I'm leaving to trade," she said to Gobbler who was snoozing on his pallet. "With luck, I'll come back with a promise of a gallon of water."
"You that confident in that little engine?" Gobbler asked sourly.
"I am," she said curtly and left.
But had she looked back, she would have seen Gobbler stand up and hobble out of the hut after her.
And as she suspected, it was busier than when the shifts changed in the refineries. Atop of large building, overlooking them all, was the People Eater himself; a gross, obese man. But he was a trusted ally of the Citadel.
She weaved through the people, looking for someone by their lonesome. She found one towards the back and approached him.
He looked at her. "What do you want?" he asked irritably.
"Trade agreement," she said gruffly, purposefully making her voice lower. She pulled out the engine. "Made it from scratch. It's small but it'll utilize the guzzolene to make a bike go faster."
As much as she hated to, she handed the engine over to the man. She knew he had to examine it for it's worth before he could come to any sort of agreement with her. But she'd had men take her bargaining items from her and keep them for themselves.
He examined it closely. "It's good," he said, surprised. Much to her delight, he handed it back to her. "What do you want for it?"
"One gallon of water," she said.
"Half."
"One gallon or I go find someone else," she said firmly. She wasn't in the mood to haggle. Not when she was out of water.
"One gallon," he relented. "The convoy will be back later today. I will have your water." He held his hand out.
Vex took his hand and shook. "Agreed." She handed the engine over and turned away.
Sudden movement caught her eye. A group of men, dressed in black with a skull motif burned into their skin were looking at her. Fear seized her heart when one pointed at her. Her eyes zeroed in on an old man, his neck and chest riddled with lumps, hobbling away from the group.
It was Gobbler. He sold her out.
Vex bolted.
Shouts behind her told her the men were giving chase. She had seen them enough times to know who they were: a group of kidnappers working for the People Eater. They'd round up anyone healthy and take them to the Citadel for precious water.
She ran for the shanties, hoping to lose them amongst the huts. With any luck, she'd shake them off her tail before heading to her home and sticking her screwdriver right in Gobbler's throat—
There was a whistling sound in the air before something wrapped around Vex's ankles and she face-planted in the dirt. She barely had time to look at her legs to see a cord twisted around them before she heard pounding footsteps.
She was roughly yanked up by a pair of hands. Vex thrashed their grip, trying to break free but with the cord around her ankles, she knew she was going nowhere.
"Let go!" She snarled but another person approached and grabbed her legs.
Vex put up a fight as they dragged her back towards the convoy. She smashed her head into the face of one man who promptly let her go, clutching at his nose. But another took his place, grabbing her by the shoulders.
She screeched angrily and flailed her hands, trying scratch anyone she could. But someone grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back.
People stared at the group and Vex's face burned when she saw the trader she had been speaking with openly staring and smiling. Her engine was all his now.
"What is the meaning of this?" The People Eater had come down from his balcony. His large frame towered before them. He played with one of his nipple clamps idly.
"I led them to her," Gobbler came forward from the crowd eagerly. "The bounty on healthy humans. I get ten gallons of water for turning her in."
Vex let out a feral hiss and thrashed once more.
The People Eater squinted at Gobbler before turning to the men. "Take off that hood."
The scarf was pulled down, her goggles ripped off her face, and hood pulled back allowing her hair to tumble down.
"Oho!" The People Eater exclaimed when he got a good look at her, smiling in delight.
"She's young and healthy," Gobbler said eagerly. "Easily worth ten gallons, maybe more!"
But the People Eater paid no attention to him. "Tie her up and take her straight to Immortan Joe. Bring the water back as soon as the deal is done. We shall conclude our business on your return," he said to his men. "The division of the water shall be half and half."
"But I turned her in!" Gobbler protested. "The water's mine!"
That was a fatal mistake. The People Eater motioned to one of his men who pulled out a pistol and shot Gobbler in the chest. Vex was satisfied to see Gobbler's mouth drop open as he fell to the ground, clawing at the bullet wound his chest, blooding staining his sodden shirt.
Her happiness evaporated quickly when the men holding her dragged her over to a car at the very front. "No!" She shouted and bucked in their grip.
But it was to no avail and her hands were bound behind her back and a leather strip was forced into her mouth as a gag. They threw her into the trunk and shut the door.
Only moments later did she feel the car start and lurch forwards. She let out a whine and kicked at the door but to no avail. You will not cry Vexation, she said to herself. Survive at all costs.
The drive was long and at times, Vex drifted off into a stupor as she thought back to her life. While she hated Gas Town, she preferred it over the Citadel. She heard stories about that place and about Immortan Joe. He was the leader over everything. He controlled the water and mother's milk. And she knew he took women as breeders to give him mother's milk.
Fear spiked through her when she thought of that. Was her destiny to become a breeder in the Citadel until she was all dried up?
Was that what they did to healthy women?
Against her wishes, a few tears leaked out her eyes at the thought.
-x-
I couldn't get this story idea out of my head even though I have my hands full with various stories. I loved Mad Max too much.
This starts before the movie and builds up to the events. This fic will deal with some explicit materials such as sexual assault, slavery, and rape. I will caution the beginning of each chapter if it contains possibly triggering material.
Vex is on her way to the Citadel. What is in store for her in Immortan Joe's stronghold?
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter two!