Chapter 6: Taken
The Junk-Punks had separated Max and Nausicaa from Ace, who was fighting and trying to break free. In order to stop him from struggling, Finger, who was holding Ace's arms, ordered Neck-Bone to knock him out. Neck-Bone hesitated at first, but still did it anyway, hitting Ace in the jaw with the butt of his rifle, which knocked him out.
"I'll ko and dag tis boy away." said Finger, holding the knocked out form of Ace. "You and your boys take ta princess and ta thief to ta Gigahorse."
"Right, I'll do that." Neck-Bone replied.
He then watched as Finger began dragging Ace away, and then turned back to Max and Nausicaa. The two had chains wrapped around their wrists, and their arms were behind their backs, preventing them from doing anything. Not only that, but there were two Junk-Punks guarding them, and King Meatus had informed the two that if they tried to do anything, the Junk-Punks would make things worse for the people of the Valley of the Wind.
"Okay, I guess I have to take you two to the Gigahorse." said Neck-Bone, his tone oddly polite. "That's the name of Immortan Joe's truck, which is parked outside the valley."
Nausicaa, sensing that there was some good in Neck-Bone, then asked, "Why do you take part in these acts of violence? Why not try to do what's right?"
Neck-Bone let out a sad sigh and replied, "I've got nowhere else to go, little lady; none of us do. If any us try to leave, we'll face the wrath of King Meatus. And if he can't get us, then Immortan Joe will."
"Can you at least tell us what happened to a mongrel dog, and a small fox squirrel?"
"A mongrel dog and a fox squirrel? Oh yeah, some of the villagers escaped into the fields, and we couldn't find them; they took a dog and a fox squirrel with them."
Upon hearing that, Nausicaa let out a small sigh of relief; Teto and Ghost were safe. But, she and Max weren't out of danger, as they were going to be taken away by the Junk-Punks. Away from the peaceful visage of the Valley of the Wind, and into the hardcore world of the endless desert.
To make sure Max and Nausicaa didn't escape, they were to be put into the back of the Gigahorse. Immortan Joe would drive, and one of his men would ride in the seat beside him. Under orders from King Meatus, Finger and Neck-bone were assigned to accompany Immortan Joe back to the citadel, where they would be promptly rewarded for their efforts in taking the Valley of the Wind.
Max and Nausicaa were then hauled out of the valley, passing by the V8 Interceptor, which was now being looted by the Junk-Punks, much to Max's anger and annoyance. He would've broken free and attacked the Junk-Punks, if it wasn't for the gun barrel that Finger kept placed at his head. They, along with Immortan Joe, Finger, Neck-bone, and a battalion of Immortan Joe's 'War Boys', headed to the vehicles, which were parked outside the valley.
The two prisoners were loaded into the back of the Gigahorse, while Immortan Joe and one of his men climbed in. Finger and Neck-bone got in their motorcycle and sidecar, while other 'War Boys' got in their own vehicles. Then they started them up, and began driving away. As they drove away, both Max and Nausicaa looked out the window of the back, watching the valley as it disappeared from their sight.
Day turned to night, and night turned to day once again; they were now deep in the desert, and who knows how long it would take them to get to the citadel. It could take them a full-blown week in order to get there, a week in which the Junk-Punks would have a firm hold over the valley.
"I'm not going back to the citadel." Max spoke, his tone low. "I've been there before, and its not a good place."
"How bad is it?" Nausicaa asked, her tone quiet and worried.
"I'm guessing that after Immortan Joe was supposedly killed, all of his workforce left." Max replied. "He's probably furious about that, which means more trouble for us. The citadel is three rock towers, plus an aquifer of fresh water; Joe used that to keep his people under control. Because Joe decided to make you one of his wives, you'll probably be placed in the first tower, which is his headquarters."
"I don't want to become a wife to him…" Nausicaa spoke. "I try to find the best in people, but him… there is no best in this Immortan Joe; he's a monster."
"I told you before, humanity and innocence are no longer qualities that people have. The more you accept this, the easier it is to process destroying these people. Aside from you becoming a wife, I'm going to become one of their blood-bags again. Or, I'm going to be tortured to death, and then brought back to life, just so they torture me to death again."
"Okay, so what's our plan of escape?"
"We have to wait till night, or find an opening at some point, and then we'll have to find a way to get out of the Gigahorse. Once we do, we'll make a mad dash for it, and find a way to hide from these War Boys."
"Then what?"
"We find a way back to the Valley of the Wind, kill Meatus and his Junk-Punks, and free the people."
"If we weren't far away from the country of Pejite, we could've gotten a ride back to the valley; I have friends there who would be glad to help us."
"That's nice and all, but I think its best just to head back to the valley." Max replied. "Once we get there, we'll work something out. For now, let's focus on our escape."
"Got it." said Nausicaa.
The two then quieted down, as Max began planning out a way for the two of them to escape. Fortunately, since the Gigahorse's engine was loud up front, and because one of Immortan Joe's men had loud rock music cranked up on his loudspeakers, their conversation was not heard by Immortan Joe, or his fellow rider.
It was now five days since they had left the Valley of the Wind, and the convoy was now passing through a sandstorm. With Immortan Joe and his driver focusing on maneuvering safely through the blinding haze of orange sand, the opportunity to escape was in clear sight for Nausicaa and Max. Fortunately, one of Immortan Joe's men was blasting loud heavy metal music, which provided a good noise cover.
Keeping an eye on Immortan Joe and his driver, Max leaned over to Nausicaa and said, "Show me your back; I'll untie the chains from your wrists, and then you do the same to me."
Nausicaa obeyed, and turned over to her side, while Max turned around so he could his use his arms, which were behind his back. Still keeping his eyes on Immortan Joe, Max worked to unhook the chains, and after a couple of minutes of feeling around, he succeeded! Nausicaa wrenched her hands free from the chains, rubbed her wrists for a brief few seconds, and she went to work on untying Max. A few seconds passed, and Max was free from the chains as well; now all they needed was to get out of the Gigahorse.
"One problem down, one more to go." Max spoke, looking around. "Any ideas how to get off this thing without splattering ourselves open?"
"Why don't we use the chains to lower ourselves down to ground-level?" asked Nausicaa. "We can hook them onto the seats, and then go out through the hole in the top."
"Good idea. I'll hook the chains, while you keep an eye on Immortan Joe; if he turns around, nudge me, and I'll drop back down."
Nausicaa nodded in reply, and positioned herself so that it looked like her arms were still chained. While she did that, Max went to work on tying the chain to the backseat, and then throwing it out of the top of the Gigahorse.
At one point, Immortan Joe did turn and look, which caused Nausicaa to quickly nudge Max's leg, and he dropped back down. He then put his arms behind his back, like he was still chained, and Immortan Joe turn to look at them, a menacing look on his face. He then looked back, having not noticed the chain that was dangling out of the Gigahorse. Once he looked back, Max got back up and continued his work, and soon, the escape was ready.
Max tapped Nausicaa on the shoulder, and motioned for her to get ready. Nausicaa quickly got to her feet, the two of them standing on the backseats, and they started climbing out of the Gigahorse, and onto it's back. Immediately, the two were blasted with sand, and they really had to hold on to avoid sliding off! With both holding onto the chain, they began climbing down the back of the Gigahorse, until they were right near the swiftly moving ground, and it's large tires!
"Get ready to run and dodge!" Max yelled. "We go left!"
"Got it!" Nausicaa replied.
Suddenly, the two let go of the chain! Since they were only two feet off of the ground, they spent only a few seconds of dropping and barrel rolling across the desert ground! Max and Nausicaa quickly scrambled to their feet, running left through the sandstorm, and dodging the deadly traffic of War Boys and Junk-Punks! But, once the War Boys and Junk-Punks realized that the two had escaped, they began trying to turn around and get them!
Max and Nausicaa quickly ran across the desert ground and through the sandstorm, hoping to find some place to hide and weather out the storm! Eventually, they came across a group of large rocks, and quickly hid underneath them! Half an hour of waiting, the sandstorm died down, and there was no sound of the vehicles that the Junk-Punks, War Boys, and Immortan Joe rode. All that was out there was the clear blue sky, the endless desert, and soft sound of wind blowing.
"Is it safe to go out there?" Nausicaa asked.
"Wait here." Max replied, before crawling out from under the rock. "I'll check."
Max got up and out, and began looking around. The good news was that Immortan Joe and his cronies were long gone, but the bad news was that Max and Nausicaa were now stranded. Not only that, but they didn't have any food, water, supplies, or weapons to help them get through the desert, so the journey back was going to be difficult. Hopefully, they could find some abandoned buildings, or some dead travelers, and scavenge some supplies from off of them.
"Okay, it's safe." Max called. "You can come on out, Nausicaa."
Nausicaa came out from the under the rock; aside from her clothes being covered in a thin layer of sand, she was perfectly fine. The same could be said for Max, as he was covered in a thin layer of sand as well, but he was alright.
"Tell me, you know anything about desert survival?" Max asked, as they looked around the barren landscape.
"I know that after three days of no food or water, the body will start to eat and drink itself." Nausicaa replied, her tone grim.
"Splendid." said Max, his tone equally grim. "Well, here's the problem; we're in the middle of the desert, we don't know how far away we are from the Valley of the Wind, and we don't have any supplies: no food, no water, no weapons. The desert's also full of many different obstacles: thieves, animals, the burning sun, traps, endless heat, the possibility of the toxic jungle, and the possibility of Immortan Joe sending his goons to find and capture us. However, aside from all that, we have each other, and there's a good chance we might stumble upon some supplies that can sustain us. What do you think?"
"I think we should do it." Nausicaa replied, her tone calm, yet confident. "I know which way that'll take us back to the valley."
"Which way?" Max asked.
"That way." Nausicaa spoke, pointing east.
"How do you know?"
"Just call it faith; I know the way without knowing the way."
"Alright, whatever you say, Nausicaa; I'm not going to argue when it's only the two of us. Lead the way…"
Nausicaa began walking east, with Max following behind her. While the two walked, they both brushed the sand off themselves, and then focused on the journey before them. In Max's mind, a war of decisions was being fought; one decision was to listen to Nausicaa's intuition, while he other was to rely on his own intellect. But, after all he experienced so far, he was willing to listen to the princess…
Hopefully, she was right about where she was going, and it wasn't going to lead them deeper into the desert…
Having lost the prisoners, Immortan Joe made the convoy stop, and he sent Finger and Neck-Bone to look for the escapees. With the threat of getting their necks crushed if they came back empty handed, Finger and Neck-Bone departed, and began riding along the dunes in their motorcycle and sidecar.
"Any sign of them?" Neck-Bone asked, his tone somewhat worried.
Finger, who was looking through the pair of binoculars, replied, "Cope, there's no skind of dem. We'd vetter patrol around de area where we last cur."
"Got it." said Neck-Bone. "I hope we find them; I don't want to go back to Immortan Joe and get my neck crushed."
"We'll kind dem, we'll kind dem; don't curry vout it."
Neck-Bone then revved up the engine of the motorcycle, and the two drove off again, in pursuit of capturing Max and Nausicaa, and bringing them back to Immortan Joe!
Author's Notes: I'M BACK! Sorry about taking so long to post a new chapter, but I was taking a hiatus for the summer. However, now that it's September, I'm returning back to FanFiction!
R&R,
Heroboy005