"Today we're headed to Gas Town!"

"Gas town!"

"Today we're haulin' aqua cola!"

"Aqua cola!"

"And today we carry Mother's Milk!"

"Mother's Milk!"

"Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!" the call and response faded to chants as the war boys hooked up the rig. The sun was hot, and below the Citadel, the wretched all stood watching, waiting, as Joe appeared. To them, he was a distant, pale white figure in the sky, practically a god who supplied them with water. When they looked up at the towering rocks of the Citadel, they saw salvation and everything they needed to survive. But what Warbird saw was entirely different.

She still hadn't come up with a good plan when Rictus appeared before her earlier that day and demanded she go with him to where Joe and Corpus sat and kept watch over the Citadel. Rictus dragged her to them held her still until his brother glanced back at them.

"Shove off, Rictus. She ain't going nowhere, same as me."

He gave a loud grunt and loosened his grip slightly. "She stays."

"She will, oaf!"

"Quiet!" Joe snarled as his respirator was hooked on. He approached the edge of the cavern and rested his hands on the levers that controlled the water and, by extension, everyone in the Citadel.

"Give it up! For the Immortan! JOE!"

The Wretched grew quiet when he appeared, knowing what was coming and watching in awe as he began to address them.

"Once again, we send off my war rig to bring back guzzoline from Gas Town and bullets from the Bullet Farm!"

Warbird looked down. She was really beginning to wish she had been given a chance to see Nux before this, because now, what with her being forced to stay right next to Joe and his sons, she was starting to doubt that she would live to see the next day.

"Once again, I salute my Imperator Furiosa, and I salute my half life war boys who will ride with me, eternal, on the highways of Valhalla."

"V8! V8! V8!" the boys chanted in the distance.

"I AM YOUR REDEEMER!" Joe bellowed. "It is by MY hand you will rise from the ashes of this world!"

The Wretched waited impatiently, eagerly watching for a sign that he was about to pull the switches. When he finally did, they all ran forward, just as desperate as Warbird remembered when she was down there.

"Do not, my friends, become addicted to water." Joe shouted over their clamoring. "It will take hold of you…and you will resent its absence"

They didn't listen. Why would they? Water was all they had. The water rations were the only reason they were there in the relative safety of Joe's kingdom, and it was their only hope. They didn't even pay attention as Furiosa left, but then again, there was no real reason for them to care. They cheered whenever anything important happened, because they knew they should, and because they knew it meant water would be coming soon. They all believed Joe's stories of Valhalla, but they knew they wouldn't be going there unless they were on the Fury Road, which they never were. They just knew that they needed water, and they needed Joe's protection.

Warbird watched the rig leave and felt her heart rate speed up slightly. Corpus would be watching, and she needed to be gone by the time he noticed Furiosa go off road.

She cleared her throat. "I've got boys to attend to and cars to work on."

Joe whipped around and Rictus tightened his grip on her arm. The Immortan just watched her for a moment, his eyes narrowed over his mask. "You will stay here if you want your own sleeping place."

She scoffed quietly. "I don't think-"

"Excuse me?" he snarled, rushing toward her. She cringed back slightly, and she would have gone further if Rictus weren't holding her so tightly.

Joe leaned in close and she found herself staring him straight in the eyes. "I make the decisions," he hissed in a deeply threatening voice. "And I have decided that you will stay here."

"I-I need to go see Organic Mechanic!" she stammered as he whirled back around to inspect the mother's milk that was being produced. She pulled against Rictus's grip, straining as she lost her balance. He yanked her back up against him and held both her arms, his grip stronger than ever. It felt like he was going to break her bones, and he kept tightening his fingers until it elicited a shout of pain.

"RICTUS!" Joe roared at his son. "Stop-"

"Hey pa!" Corpus interrupted from his swing. "You know about this?"

"What?" the Immortan moved to stand next to him.

"Your produce ain't going to Gas Town." He moved to let his father look through his telescope. "She's gone off road. Into hostile territory."

Warbird swallowed hard. This was bad. She hadn't expected him to spot her this quickly…then again, she hadn't expected her to be moving this quickly with the rig.

"Why would she do that?" he asked himself. Then he turned and ran, grabbing Warbird from Rictus as he did so. "You're coming with me."

"Let me GO!" she screeched, dragging her heels and pulling against his grip. He began running and didn't slow down when she lost her footing and couldn't keep up, instead charging on as if she wasn't even there.

She was really starting to get tired of this sort of thing.

"I don't know what you think you're going to-"

"SHUT UP!" he screeched to a halt outside the vault door and she was allowed to collapse on the ground for a moment before he grabbed her again and pulled her inside. "Splendid?"

As he slowed again, Warbird finally had a chance to look around. The wives had not been subtle about how they felt. The walls and floor were covered in writing, and while she couldn't entirely read it, she knew it meant something important.

"Angharad?" Joe called. "Where are they?" he said to himself again, mostly in thought. He spotted Miss Giddy standing near their beds and ran toward her, letting Warbird go for the moment.

She collapsed on the floor, her hip feeling like it was on fire and her entire body filled with shooting pain. She wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and she knew it, but she still rolled onto her stomach and began trying to drag herself away, breathing hard as she strained.

"They are not your property!" the old woman said, holding a gun up to Joe as Warbird clawed against the floor.

"MISS GIDDY!"

"You cannot own a human being. Sooner or later, someone pushes back!"

"WHERE IS SHE TAKING THEM?!"

"She didn't take them, they begged her to go!" she pulled the trigger as Joe reached her but judging by the lack of scream, Warbird assumed the shot hit anywhere but where it was intended.

"Where is she taking them?!"

"A long way from YOU!"

He yelled in frustration just as a pair of boots appeared in front of Warbird. Rictus grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her up rather gently considering his strength, watching his father curiously.

"R-Rictus," she panted, her breaths sharp and painful. "Please-"

"Shh!" he said roughly.

"READY MY WAR BOYS!" Joe shouted as he rushed out. "ALL OF THEM!"

"This one too?"

He paused and looked over his shoulder. "She's coming with us."