3.

THE STARS COLLIDE

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I felt it in my gut that it was gonna be a damned day today…

Jack turned the steering wheel of the War Rig sharply to the left, then right, knocking away a few persistent motorbikers in black, who had been chasing the Rig for several minutes now. It was the maiden drive for the newest Citadel convoy truck, the largest and heaviest one yet, equipped with contraptions especially designed to ward off attackers. When Jack first saw it a few days earlier, as he sat down and started its roaring engine to test it, a sudden wave of thrill ran through his veins. Driving was still the only time he felt truly free, even if he was mostly exposed to dangerous situations. However, today, when the members of his convoy were dropping off like flies, he momentarily wished they would have never left the Citadel that morning.

What is taking Black Thumb so long?!
The mechanic went down to fix the leak in the gas tank a few minutes ago, and although it seemed the leak had been repaired, he still hadn't returned. Jack kept his foot rock-solid on the gas pedal and his eyes ahead, registering with his peripheral vision his War Boys being decimated one by one by the enemy both on the ground and from the air.

It wasn't the first attack on the convoy he had ever experienced; raiders from various small gangs were a regular occasion, but this one seemed to have reached a new level and was significant in size. The contraptions the rogues were using were far more sophisticated than what he was used to over the years from regular road looters, and although he always looked after and trusted his War Boys, he had always been aware of their mental and physical limits. They were prepared to die in an act of self-sacrifice anytime if something absurdly dangerous or suicidal was required to ward off an enemy, but there was always an off-chance they might not need to go that far. However, today, Jack knew many of them wouldn't return to the Citadel. Perhaps he wouldn't return himself either…

The grip of his hands on the steering wheel got even tighter, his eyes simultaneously watching the road ahead and the enemies all around him.

"Prae-Jack! Prae-Jack!" one of the War Boys shouted at his commander. He managed to get a wire grip on one of the men in black following the Rig in the air on something resembling a parachute, attached to a metal circle with a small engine, making it fly.
Jack didn't even blink as he quickly looked to the right and shot the man, who immediately dropped and landed roughly on the Rig's hood. The living legend of Fury Road had nerves of steel, developed in his very early days in the Citadel. Like many times before, his reactions were fast, effective and deadly for the opponent. And yet, it seemed that these rogues were extremely resilient – despite many already having been killed, there were still not a few trying to break into the Rig by any means possible.

The dead man on the hood was suddenly dragged away by his own flying contraption, taking off the radiator cap in the process. A stream of hot steam shot into the air immediately, partially obscuring Jack's view but mainly, endangering the engine. Black Thumb was still nowhere in sight.

"Pissboy! Pissboy!" Jack shouted toward the back of the truck. "We've got a busted radiator!"
"Coming, Prae-Jack! On my way!" came the reply.
Immediately, one of the last remaining War Boys jumped onto the hood and tried to deal with the emergency. At the same time, one of the looters gang in a black car in front of the Rig stood up and pointed a shotgun at it. Pissboy threw the bottle he was holding at him, deferring only for a moment the, what seemed to be, inevitable. Jack's determined look was fixed ahead even though he was fully aware of the fact that they were slowly nearing their doom. His foot hit the gas pedal as hard as possible, and the truck crashed into the car with all power, without getting as much as a scratch. Just when two more men in the black car stood up to finish the business, Jack saw Pissboy grabbing something from behind him – a defused explosive.

The Rig commander hardly managed to blink before the boy leapt into the air with an ecstatic scream, throwing himself onto the enemy car in front of the War Rig into his inevitable demise - he was swallowed by the flames of a big explosion as soon as his body made contact with the car.

The next moment, the remains of the black car turned over and crashed on the Rig with a deafening bang. Jack didn't move a facial muscle, though. His hands turned the steering wheel sharply to the side, making the unwanted load slide off the Rig and fall to the ground.

His brain was furiously trying to figure out if any of his convoy members were still alive, but then the vision that appeared in front of him completely changed the course of his thoughts and made his eyes widen: someone not belonging to his convoy put the radiator cap back in its place and suddenly lifted their big blue eyes to him. Long brown hair was floating around the face in front of him - he was looking at a young woman…

For a moment, they gazed at each other, momentarily freezing time and space, unexpectedly being carried away by some unique connection unbeknown to either of them.

Those eyes… I've seen those eyes before…

A memory from a few days earlier flashed in Jack's mind: he had just stepped up toward the driver's seat to test the War Rig's engine for the first time when he glanced at the group of mechanics nearby. One face particularly made him stop and focus – a face partially obscured by a mask but one with extremely large and bright eyes, shining like diamonds in the semidarkness of the servicing room and watching him intently. Even on his spot, those eyes had a strong pull on him, so strong that he almost didn't hear someone calling his name…

Now, seeing the whole face, albeit covered with dust and dirt, the hair flying in the wind, resembling a mermaid from the ancient stories, and those eyes burning so strangely into his, something moved in Jack's chest, something he couldn't identify. However, he didn't have time to dwell on it or process the fact that he had a woman hiding on his War Rig, because she suddenly pointed a gun above his head, shooting one of the looters standing on the roof and intending to attack Jack. She shot one more man in black sneaking up from the back of the Rig, before pointing at one floating in the air. However, she ran out of ammunition and slid inside the Rig, landing on the passenger seat next to Jack. Their eyes met again - Jack's curious and calm, the woman's unusually large, untamed and seemingly untrusting.

It took a few more minutes of shooting more enemies, avoiding gunfire and fire canons before they finally shook off the gang. The woman even defended herself from one of the gang members who tried to drag her out of the Rig – Jack tried to pull her in without success, but at the last minute, she grabbed his half-knife-half-shotgun from his sleeve and stabbed the enemy furiously before regaining her position, fires blazing from her eyes as her and Jack's eyes met again.

Jack wasn't sure what he was most impressed by – the woman's shooting and defence skills, or her smart use of two large and extremely effective contraptions on the War Rig to get rid of the gang members in the air. He had had some quick-thinking War Boys in his convoy throughout the years, but none as smart, instinctive and full of initiative. This woman may have been a little rough around the edges but she had some serious skills, physical strength and the brain to become a truly great road warrior.

As the cannonade ceased at last, and all he could hear was the soothing rumbling of the Rig's engine, his eyes were fixed on the road again as he waited for his unexpected battle companion to return to her seat. And then something unexpected happened again; this time it was his own gun pointed at his temple.

"Pull over," the woman commanded.
Jack didn't reply, although this was not a situation he had anticipated.
"You're going to pull over and get out," the woman demanded again, but to no avail; Jack kept stubbornly looking ahead, unmoving. "Stop!"

Fulfilling her wish, the Rig suddenly came to a sharp halt as Jack hit the brake pedal, without blinking. The woman flew over the seat crashing on the dashboard, Jack pushed her out of the truck with one strong move without even looking at her, then changed the gear and continued driving, leaving her lying beside the road in shock.

He drove for about a minute before sighing heavily and then bringing the Rig to a halt. He wasn't proud of how he treated the woman. Jack wasn't a brute; he never treated anyone violently unless it was for self-defence or defending his convoy members or the weak ones. What bugged him more was the gnawing feeling that she might have been a great asset to the new team he would have to assemble once back in the Citadel. The fact that she was a woman wasn't relevant as long as she would be up to every task needed for a smooth run of the War Rig convoy, and Jack was convinced she would be more than up to the task.

He finally made the decision and jumped out of the Rig. He knew she wouldn't have made it far, especially after the physical shock. True enough, not long after, he spotted her slender silhouette limping in the distance before him.

"Where did you think you were going?" Jack called after her, making her slowly turn around to face him.
"If you're running away from the Citadel, believe me, Bullet Farm is a whole lot worse," he continued while still walking toward her. "The only other place is Gastown. It's in the hands of Dementus, a mug who can't even keep his gangs together. And that's it. There is nowhere else. This is the Wasteland."

The closer he was to the woman, the clearer he saw her face – the expression on it was a mixture of distrust, surprise, confusion and relentlessness.
"Wherever you thought you were going does not exist."
At those words, the woman pointed his gun at him again. The look of her eyes hardened with defiance.

Jack stopped, then sighed.
"It's been a hard day," he remarked calmly. "I lost my convoy, I lost my crew. I'm gonna have to start again. And I'm driving off thinking I ought to start with you."
There was a slight change in the woman's face, a tiny hint of hesitation, which disappeared as Jack started walking again, unafraid, to stand only a few steps away from her. She kept the gun pointed at him.

"You got good vision. You read the play, you keep your head," Jack spoke again. "You may be raw but you have about you a purposeful savagery." However rough it sounded, he meant it as a compliment. "You give me the chance and I'll teach you everything you need to know about Road War. If you survive everything we take on together, you'll have all the skills you need to get wherever you wanna go." The woman, listening intently up until then, raised the gun a bit up, as if ready to use it. "No questions asked," Jack concluded quietly.

The tough expression on the woman's face began to soften; it seemed she began to think that he might not be the same brute she must have encountered in her life previously. She didn't let his eyes off him, trying to read the absolutely calm and composed look of his green eyes. And then, she slowly turned the gun in her hand, indicating to him to take it back. A small, amused smile appeared on his face.
"Keep it. You'll need it," he said, then turned around and started walking back toward the War Rig.

The woman dropped her hand with the gun, letting out a little sigh. She didn't dare to wait, though, and followed the man who had just taken on a chance with her.

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They were driving back to the Citadel, sitting side by side in silence for a long while. The War Rig was damaged in places and needed repair before setting out on another journey. Jack kept his eyes on the road, mentally prepared for a new attack which might have come anytime from anywhere.

"I'm sorry about pushing you out so hard," he spoke at last. "I had to do it but didn't mean to hurt you. We better have your foot checked."
The woman turned her head to look incredulously at him, her eyes reflecting another surprise, mixed with a touch of suspicion. He obviously noticed her limp.
"I'm not gonna ask you how did you manage to hide in the War Rig, nor anything about your past. Your life is yours. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen, but if you don't, no problem." The Praetorian paused, letting his words sink in. His instinct was telling him that this woman didn't have an exactly easy life so far.

"You were that service boy the other day, weren't you?" Jack asked suddenly.
She remained silent, although his observation skills impressed her, but when he glanced at her, she nodded.
"I'm Jack. What's your name?"
She averted her eyes, unwilling to utter a word.
"You're a Praetorian now, a part of my team. If we are to co-exist and cooperate, I have to call you somehow," Jack tried to reason with her.
There was a moment of silence, but he could feel the woman thinking feverishly, deciding whether he was worthy of her trust or not. He could feel it in the air that she was surprised by his non-aggressive behaviour.
"Furiosa," she spoke at last for the first time, her voice surprisingly deep, not exactly matching her delicate figure. However, it was fitting to her character, just like her name - resilient and feisty.

Jack smiled.
"You're a hell of a fighter, Furiosa," he remarked.
Her eyes found his face again, and as he glanced at her, her expression seemed unchanged, but her look reflected a ghost of amusement.

※※※

Jack entered the greatly-sized sleeping room of the War Rig convoy team, Furiosa shadowing him and cautiously looking around at the row of old metal-framed folding beds with shabby mattresses, blankets and pillows on each of them. The new convoy members had already been chosen by their leader earlier that day; there was no time for wasting, the Citadel constantly needed new gasoline and bullet supplies. Jack's reputation proved beneficial as he stood before Immortan Joe, explaining why he was taking on a woman in his new team. Luckily, Furiosa's dusty face and rather boyish posture deterred Immortan Joe from any thoughts about getting a new wife. Jack noticed his new recruit seemed a bit on the edge when standing in front of the Citadel leader, but didn't remark on it once they had finally left to return to their new convoy. Whatever her secret was, and however curious Jack was to learn more about her, he decided he would respect her right to privacy and not push questions on her she might not want to answer.

The sleeping room was still empty, though – Jack wanted his first-ever female recruit to settle in a more comfortable atmosphere, without the War Boys' stares unnerving her. They would get used to the fact that she was a woman, after all, but since it was her first day, the air of strangeness and unpredictability heavily permeated the air. Jack led her to the middle of the non-descript room, resembling a large cave and bathing in orange light, then stopped, pointing at one of the beds.

"You will sleep here," he said. "Next to me."
Furiosa's large eyes looked at him suspiciously from under the eyebrows.
"I won't tolerate any crudeness in my team, but I can't put my hand into the fire for the new members before I get to know them better. Should anything happen, you'll be safer with me."

The young woman's intense gaze studied him for a beat; she was trying to read his eyes. If she was looking for some traces of malice, indecency or brittleness, she found none, and she seemed to have relaxed slightly. She put her modest belongings under the assigned bed, then stood up and kept watching her new commander.

"The boys will be here soon. Rest now," Jack remarked. "You'll need it. We have a week until the next drive on Fury Road. We'll start with the training tomorrow."
He took off his padded leather vest, sat down on his bed and with a sigh, he stretched on it, pulling the blanket up to his chest.
Furiosa finally averted her eyes from him and slowly sat down on her bed. After a little pondering, she laid down as well – so that they laid head to toe. She knew it made no difference, but mentally, it was like a shield, protecting her from being too close to him. She didn't know why but imagining it made her strangely uneasy.

Barely a minute later, the new War Boys arrived and eagerly picked their sleeping spots for the unforeseeable future. A few of them glanced towards the strange woman in their team, but since the commander was lying right by her side, they turned away from her and got fully invested in their own rest.

An hour had passed, and although the whole room appeared to be sleeping, Furiosa couldn't settle. Slowly, she sat up and after scanning the area around her and making sure no one was awake, she pulled back the sleeve of her shirt. Her eyes studied the tattooed star map on her forearm like a hundred times before throughout the years of her stay in the Citadel. However, today, she finally felt, the map could soon finally be useful to her. Praetorian Jack said he would help her to master Road War so she could leave, no questions asked. He might have still been a stranger to her, but remembering the look in his deep green eyes, Furiosa knew he wouldn't lie to her.

Her thumb ran across the star constellation drawn on her skin. She sighed, then pulled the sleep back down and lay down again. And then she noticed it – Jack's eyes were open as he watched her with interest. It wasn't the look of a predator or a man looking for the first excuse to violate a woman. The look in his eyes was curious but unobtrusive. Furiosa froze for a moment, unable to do or say anything. Her worries were put to rest for good when Jack spoke eventually.

"You should really sleep now. If today was a hard day, we never know what tomorrow brings," he said quietly. "You'll need to be strong and resilient. And that requires energy."

Furiosa watched him intently, a seed of insecurity about fully trusting this man still present somewhere deep inside her. He was true to his word, though – whatever her secret was, he would respect it, no questions asked. At last, silently agreeing with him, she resumed her lying position. Her piercing gaze didn't stray from Jack's calm face for a long beat before she finally closed her eyes and tired, she slowly drifted away.

Jack watched her resting for a long moment after, his eyes suddenly filled with strange pain. His final thoughts before he fell asleep belonged to the woman lying by his side. His heart was stirred by an ache he didn't understand.

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