AN: Well, the first of the year has come and gone and I haven't finished Ashes of Eden which means, of course, no new updates here. I feel incredibly guilty, but school and work have just eaten up my time, especially as I am getting closer and closer to being done with school completely.

But I wanted to let you all who have read and so kindly reviewed that I still fully intend to complete Where Devils Dare to Tread and so here is a briefinterlude with insights into Meg.

I also wish I could respond to each and every review, but to do so would take pages. So let me first extend my gratitude to everyone who had reviewed and continued to review even though I have not updated in ages. Next, I am very pleased to see some other Mad Max stories popping up- lovely to see. And lastly, there are a few issues in the reviews I'd like to address.

Meg may seem very cardboard at the moment, but give she will flesh out much more later one- after all she's only just been introduced and what fun is a character who's entire person and life is exposed in the first few chapters? Though I do know exactly who she is, what she will become, and what her relationship to Max will become, that's all something you will have to discover along with Max. ;c) Oh, and if she seems too good to be true... well, few are who are they seem to be at first glance. Perhaps Max might like to look at this one a bit a harder...

Romance? Yes... No... Maybe so... lol ;c)

Sex? Sorry, I don't delve into that in my stories. Suggestions of? If relevant and necessary to the plot- see Pretender: The World is Not Enough: Ashes of Eden for more detail.

My inspiration is definitely The Road Warrior and its mood is one I hope to continue here. Themes, places, and people from all the movies in the trilogy will be revisited.

I see some of you caught the Lethal Weapon reference... hehe... Look for more non- Mad Max Mel Gibson references in the future.

To the one who signed in under Koolishcutie112092: Thanks, lovey. You're a sweetheart.

Final Note: There is a forum available for this story and fandom.

Interlude: Vagabond

In a time not so long ago as you might think, my children, the world was a beautiful place...

A cool breeze swept the flat lands and encompassing the area where Meg kept watch over the strange man called Max. He had fallen into a fitful slumber hours ago, but Meg could not sleep.

The cities filled with grand building that reached to the heavens bustled with life and energy. Men and women had jobs that they could make a decent living from. There were stores where food and drink lined the shelves and you could buy as much as you wanted and had money for. Children could play outside in the green grass beneath blue skies without fear...

The breeze kicked up and carried her mother's voice and the story it told away from. Meg sighed as her gaze drifted skyward.

How long had it been since she left home? How long had it been since she had last seen her brothers and sisters standing along the side of the road with tears streaming down their grubby faces as they waved her farewell?

So long ago... They seemed little more than figments of a weary imagination.

I'm afraid we don't have much more information than this, Megara, my girl. It's what we've pieced together from stories that have been brought to us by the Drifters. You'll just have to use your head to find 'im. We're desperate, Megara- this is our last chance...

Though her siblings were but distant memories, her father's words seared her brain and reverberated within her mind as though spoken minutes ago. Rumors and urban legends of some great deliver and the murmurings of old men had brought her to this wasted, forsaken place.

Great deliverer, she harumphed. They sent me on a ghost hunt because of the rambling of a bunch of crazy old men.

The breeze was no longer gentle, but pushy and cold. Meg shivered, glaring darkly at the night sky. A growling in distance caused her to sit up a bit straighter and bring her sight back to the earth. It was an ominous sound, grim and pestilent- one she knew she had heard before, but could not place.

As the sound grew louder, the sense of danger in the air increased to insurmountable levels. It was nearly upon them when Meg identified the noise and grabbed the sleeping man beside her, shaking him violently.

"Max!"