Mild warning for sexual assault ahead.
-x-
Vex didn't have time alone with her thoughts because Angharad took her out of Miss Giddy's bedroom and back into the main chamber. "You'll need to meet the others," she explained. "They're going to be the only people you know."
Until her three chances were up.
In the main room, there were four chairs spread out by the opposite wall. They were of the color of the sky when the sun lit it up in the morning… was it orange? Was that the color she was thinking of?
The girls were still lounging around on the main floor. The girl with the long, dark hair was curled up on one of the chairs, the blonde at her side. The short-haired one sat on the stairs, watching them while the redhead sat on a black bench in front of a contraption with white and black teeth.
"Has she been told, the duty that is before us?" The blonde said when she spied them.
"She has. Vex, this is Cheedo the Fragile," she pointed at the dark-haired one and then the blonde, "and the Dag. Capable is the redhead and the last one is Toast the Knowing."
Vex nodded her head curtly at Cheedo and the Dag before walking over to the piles surrounding the black contraption and inspecting the objects. She picked one up. It was a hard object containing lots of light and thin materials with tattoos on them, similar to the ones on Miss Giddy's body.
"What is this?" Vex asked.
"It's called a book." Toast the Knowing walked down the stairs. She regarded Vex with a cool gaze. "They were used long ago… before the wars."
"What for?" Vex turned the 'book' over in her hands.
"Information, entertainment mostly," Toast said, leaning against the door frame. "Or recording down events that happened so people would not forget."
"Miss Giddy will teach you how to read," Cheedo piped up. "She taught us all. Immortan Joe likes us to have an education."
"Why?" Vex asked. "Knowing about books or words doesn't help you in this world. Knowing how to fix cars, ration water, and finding food will help you more."
"Out there those may have kept you alive," Toast said, "but in here, books, words, reading, and history are your keys for survival."
"He wants us to have an education to keep us from becoming sad," said Cheedo.
"Survival in here is different than survival out there." Capable looked up from the teeth.
"He will want you to read," Angharad spoke up from behind Vex. "He'll want you to learn music for his entertainment. Everything we do here is intended for his pleasure."
Vex's fist curled over the book. Survive at all costs. Become hard. She looked at Angharad. "Teach me."
"I will be the one who'll do that." Miss Giddy came out of her room, shuffling slowly. "And we should start right away."
But before anyone could say anything, the large door opened and they all jumped. Vex held her breath, believing that Joe had returned for her. But instead of Immortan Joe, it was a woman who came through the door.
She was tall and beautiful in a dangerous way. Her hair was shaved close to her head and her forehead was smeared with black grease. But the most peculiar thing about her was her left arm was missing from below her elbow. In place, she had a mechanical arm attached to her via straps around her shoulder and waist.
"It's just you, Furiosa," Angharad said in relief.
"I was needed for a meeting," she said. Her eyes rested on Vex's form. "I heard Immortan had found himself a new wife."
"Vex," Vex said curtly.
"Furiosa," the woman replied in the same tone. She turned away from them and sat in a chair placed next to the hole in the wall.
"Who is she?" Vex asked Capable.
"She's here to protect us from Rictus," Capable whispered. "He assaulted Cheedo a couple months ago, wanting babies of his own. But his father wouldn't stand for that. Now she watches over us to make sure Rictus doesn't try anything."
Miss Giddy came over to the pile of books. "Vex, take these books," she pointed at two books, both blue, "and come with me."
-x-
As Miss Giddy estimated, Vex had a week before Joe came for her and she had much to learn. The old woman set Vex to learning her letters and writing. Though Vex still believed it was a useless skill she did what Miss Giddy directed her to do with minimal complaint.
Her reading skills were slow and the books Miss Giddy had given her were more trouble than they were worth, Vex decided. The Dag laughed at her as she tried to read and Vex would retreat to the stairs to read while she and Cheedo took turns on the black contraption with teeth (the piano, Cheedo had said.)
Some of her books she found to be interesting. The one with a description of various types of food was one of her favorites. People back then had so many food options to pick from: grapes, watermelons, peaches, strawberries, and mangoes.
Back in Gas Town, Vex survived off lizards and beetles and water or learned how to go to bed hungry. In the Citadel, she was given green foods to eat: lettuce, spinach, beans, peppers, and broccoli, all of which left a bitter taste in her mouth. But they were much better than beetles, Vex had to admit after she ate a bean. She missed eating lizard meat though.
This time, she grabbed a different book, one that claimed to know the history of the world and sat in her place on the staircase. She knew she should read but she stared out the window at the desert before them. The room had been placed so they could gain a view of the Wretched down below them. Maybe he put them in this room so they'd be reminded of what lay in store for them if they failed him in their duty of producing a healthy heir.
She wondered if any of the others saw it as failure or if they were like her and saw it as freedom. What was to stop her from just leaving the Citadel forever once Joe released her? If he releases you, a nasty voice in the back of her mind said. You have a least a year here, maybe more. And what happens if the baby is healthy?
"Enjoying the view?"
It was Toast. She sat down on one of the lower stairs and looked out the window too. "I wouldn't dwell on being out there for long," she said finally.
"Why is that?"
"Because you'll be here for a long time. And yearning for the outside will drive you crazy."
"How long does he keep us?"
"Depends on how long you're pregnant," Toast said bluntly. "You can birth the baby, lose it, and then get pregnant all over again." Her hand moved down to her flat stomach.
"What happened to it?" Vex asked softly.
"Died moments after it was born." She looked up to Vex. "It was my first baby. I'm on my second chance."
"But you're not pregnant yet."
"Not yet," Toast admitted. "The past few times he's come for us… where he's been putting it in… well, you can't make babies in there."
A cold dread swept through Vex and settled in her stomach. The way Miss Giddy put it… it sounded like he just wanted them for procreation not his pleasure.
"Angharad was the only one who got pregnant last round. He's been focusing his energies on her to make sure she won't lose it."
"What about the others?"
"Capable miscarried in her third month. The Dag hasn't gotten pregnant yet. Angharad's on her first. And he hasn't touched Cheedo yet; says she's too young."
"How does he do it?"
"Have sex?" Toast gave her a weird look. "Do I have to have that talk with you?"
"I know how sex works," Vex hissed. Gobbler had talked about it in full detail when he used to have his chatty days. A wrench to the jaw always shut him up. "Does he take us one by one? All at once?" She wanted to be prepared the first time he came for her.
Toast shrugged. "He comes in, has us all prepare for him and then he takes us to our rooms up there one by one." Vex's eyes drifted to the balcony above the main room where their rooms were, hidden only by a thin cloth sheet. "But for the first time… it depends. He took Angharad to his room but that was because she's his favorite. Everyone else had it in their bedroom. I don't know what he's going to do with you."
Vex felt eyes on her and she noticed Furiosa was staring at her with an unreadable expression. Vex returned it with a cool gaze and turned away from her. "How often does he come?"
"When the Organic Mechanic examines us and tells him we're ovulating, he's here all the time. But the rest of the time, it's when he's in the mood for it."
Vex curled her toes. She could see him coming for her any time now, she knew. Her flow had trickled down to nothing over the past day.
Toast left her to join the girls at the piano.
Vex glanced down to her book. She knew she should read it, work on becoming educated. But she turned to look at the outside, her mind a whirl of thoughts.
-x-
"Vexation," Miss Giddy called the next day, "come down here. I have something for you."
Vex sighed and put her book down on the stairs and stood up. Below, Miss Giddy stood next to the piano with a stick of wood with holes in her hand.
"Here." The elderly woman handed the stick to Vex when she reached her. "He likes the girls to play music for him sometimes. This is an ancient instrument called a flute. You put it to your mouth and put your fingers on it like this." She corrected Vex's posture. "Now blow."
Vex did and a beautiful, airy sound came from the flute. She pulled it away from her mouth and stared at it, astonished.
"I want you to play it every so often. I'll teach you some songs and you'll learn notes. How is your reading come along?"
"Not bad," Vex lied. "I can understand most of the words put together. I just don't like reading."
"You'll learn," Miss Giddy said kindly. "But we'll put it away for now. He's not going to ask you to read to him. He'll ask you to play for him. Cheedo, come here and play a piece and we'll get started on Vex's music lessons."
The flute turned out to be harder than Vex originally thought. Most of her air didn't go into the flute and she found herself breathing harder and harder until she felt light-headed. Her fingers were clumsy and Cheedo's beautiful music was drowned out by squeaks from Vex.
"It takes time," Miss Giddy said gently as she took the flute back. "And no giggling, Capable. Need I remind you how you were when you first picked up the guitar?"
Capable's smile vanished from her face. Vex scowled at her.
Miss Giddy handed Vex a glass full of filtered, pure water and Vex took a small sip. Her habits from the desert were dying hard. She was unused to having all the water she could ever want at her fingertips. It came in from a hose at the far end of the room. If they left it unattended, it would enter the rivulet and fill the circle in the center of their room which served as their bath.
The first time Vex saw it, she had been shocked to learn the wives bathed almost daily. People outside were begging for water, even fighting to the death over it, and here they were, high above them, bathing in the precious liquid. But he liked them clean even if he barely came up to see them.
She raised the glass to her lips and downed the rest of the water.
Cheedo began to play a simple tune and Vex lifted the flute to her lips and blew. This time, she had a better idea of what to do and to her satisfaction, the flute sounded melodic instead of breath flying out of it.
"Much better." Miss Giddy smiled widely. "You'll become a great flutist yet."
Vex returned her smile, feeling proud of herself. This was much better than reading books.
The door opened and Furiosa leapt to her feet.
Vex's heart sank when she saw the Organic Mechanic enter pushing a metal table followed by Immortan Joe. Furiosa saluted him when she saw him but he ignored her and strode over to Vex. He lifted his hand and ran a finger down her cheek. Vex steeled herself to keep from flinching.
"Examine her," he ordered the other man and backed away.
"Hop on up, darling." The Organic Mechanic patted the metal table invitingly.
Vex looked to Miss Giddy helplessly but the old woman nodded encouragingly. Aware of every single eye on her, she slowly walked over to the table and climbed up.
Since her monthly blood had ended, she only had her small skirt to cover her up and her face flushed with the Organic Mechanic had her lay flat and spread her legs apart.
"No longer bleeding," he said to Immortan Joe. He turned to Miss Giddy. "When did she stop?"
"Two days ago," she replied. She moved closer to the table and took Vex's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"Three day cycle," he mused. "Not bad."
He took a tool off his belt and turned a little light on. He leaned in close to Vex's crotch and she squirmed, feeling more than exposed.
Vex jerked when she felt his fingers enter her and began to prod her. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and instead gripped Miss Giddy's hand tightly.
"She's healthy. All her parts seem to be in working condition." The fingers removed themselves. "Of course, chances of getting her pregnant are low right now. You can take that chance and have her now or wait until the other girls are at their peak and hope she's synced up to them by then. But they're two weeks ahead of her as of now. It could be awhile before she's ripe."
Vex sat up, righting her skirt and to her horror she heard, "Prepare her for me. I will return."
The Organic Mechanic grinned at her cheekily. "I'll be back for you in a little bit. Get her washed up, girls."
Vex's legs felt rubbery as she slid off the table. The two men left, shutting the door loudly.
All the woman stared at her. She saw pity in the other wives' faces, sadness in Miss Giddy, and nothing in Furiosa's.
Vex took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
It was time.
-x-
Vex has met the wives and seemed to have struck up some sort of friendship with Toast. So she has that.
I read the Furiosa comic when it came out and it shed a lot of light on what happened with the wives and their lives which I was glad for. So if any of you haven't read the comic, I suggest that you go read it. It's good.
That's also why Furiosa is there and Toast mentioned her abuse to Vex. In the comic, she confirms that Joe raped her anally which puts Joe in a whole new perspective and forced me to change direction with him. So it's going to be interesting trying to blend the movie version and the comic version of him. I'll try to do my best but it is possible this fic might take a darker turn than I intended. I will continue to post warnings at the beginning of the chapters.
Next chapter's going to be a tough one.
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter four!