7.
COME WITH ME
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The War Boys were all on their positions on the War Rig, ready to start the next journey to Gas Town - probably more unpredictable and dangerous than ever because anything could happen that day. Dementus wasn't someone who would take a long time to negotiate.
Furiosa approached the Rig with a prevailing discontented expression on her face. However, when she wanted to mount the steps leading to the passenger's seat, she froze midstep, seeing Jack already sitting there. He slowly turned his head and looked at her, without saying a word. Their eyes met - his calm and resigned, hers surprised and mildly confused. The injustice Furiosa had felt after their conversation vanished, but she couldn't quite get rid of the feeling that Jack let her drive only not to cause any more arguments in the challenging situation they were about to face. She didn't voice her feelings, though, and made her way around to the driver's seat.
She slammed the door behind her and turned the ignition key. Jack was looking ahead as always.
"You'll stay in the Rig. I'll oversee the loading," he said in a colourless tone. "Time to go."
Furiosa glanced at him once more, but then fully focused on the task ahead and set the War Rig in motion.
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Things got tense even before they passed the gates of Gas Town. Men on motorbikes waited for them outside to lead them in. After the War Rig entered the town, the sight that presented itself to them was much different from the one they were used to: angry townspeople were lining the road, threatening to break the human barrier of men with weapons trying to hold them back.
The War Rig stopped in its usual spot, and Jack got off to supervise the work, leaving Furiosa alone. Suddenly a loud, gritty voice penetrated the displeased crowd.
"Stay back! Leave them!" someone shouted into an old-fashioned, oversized microphone.
Furiosa recognised the voice immediately, even though she couldn't see the face of its owner, only his body, as he continued speaking to the town's inhabitants. However, she felt her own fire of anger ignite within her.
"Citizens of Gas Town! I want what you want: a full belly and a fistful of bullets for a tank of gas!" Dementus stood in the back of a massive black jeep during his speech, having stopped right next to the front of the War Rig.
"We have to put things right! And today, we're gonna do something about it!"
He paused and dropped heavily to his seat, finally coming into Furiosa's full view.
"Are you in charge here?" Dementus asked her.
The rage reached Furiosa's eyes, turning into hatred as her hand slowly reached for her new weapon. She was ready to use it until Jack blocked her view. He suddenly appeared standing on the step leading to his seat.
"You can speak to me," he said calmly, putting a human wall between Dementus and Furiosa - her hand slowly retracted from her pistol.
"I've got a message for Immortan Joe," Dementus continued. "We're in a black spiral here. We can't keep up supply, everyone's saying they're being swindled and short-changed… Everyone's saying it's my fault, but it's everyone's fault!"
Furiosa stared ahead, breathing heavier than usual, attempting to contain the turmoil within her.
"I want a meeting of the War Lords," Dementus said. "Me, him, the People Eater, that idiot Bullet Farmer. High noon at the Citadel, three days from now!"
Jack nodded, a small smirk lingering on his face. "Right," he said.
"You better go!" Dementus advised, seeing the growing fury in the crowd.
"We're not leaving without our tankers full of gas!" Jack countered resolutely.
"Go now!"
Jack's head snapped to the side, seeing the first line of malcontent people being broken as some men from the crowd ran into collision with the men unloading the War Rig. Hearing shots being fired, Jack understood they had to get out of Gas Town immediately if they wanted to have a chance to escape.
"If you wanna get out of here, follow me!" Dementus seconded his thoughts.
The Praetorian watched him drive ahead while taking his place in the passenger's seat again. Furiosa didn't waste time and followed Dementus, even though not all the War Boys were back on the Rig or in the pursuit car yet. In her side mirror, she spotted the ones left behind being attacked and killed by the mob. Regardless, her foot remained firmly on the gas pedal, and her wide-open eyes followed the jeep in front of her. She was determined not to fail, and escape from danger.
They were just driving through a tunnel of metal pipes and poles when two masked men suddenly jumped on the Rig's hood. Like a ghost, one of them quickly appeared right behind Furiosa and stabbed her in the shoulder - only to be shot a second later by Jack, just as the other man, who tried to force his way through the open window on Furiosa's side.
The cold and sharp feel of the steel blade stunned Furiosa for a moment, making her face freeze in shock. She had seen torture with her own eyes but had never felt it on her own flesh. And yet at the same time, she didn't dare to even blink, desperately clutching the steering wheel to keep the Rig on the right track. Her brain went into survival mode, temporarily numbing the pain.
I must get the Rig back to the Citadel!
"High noon, the Citadel, three days from now!" Dementus repeated when his jeep stopped to let the War Rig pass. "Be punctual!"
Neither Jack nor Furiosa replied, their faces rock-hard as the Rig moved forward again.
The tension on Furiosa's face eased mildly only once they passed the main gate, leaving Gas Town to Dementus and the raging mob.
Fury Road and the vast landscape before them seemed suddenly a welcome change after the drama they left behind. They drove in silence, and Jack was finally able to focus on Furiosa's injury. His hand carefully took a grip on the knife sticking out of Furiosa's shoulder, while his other hand softly landed next to it. With a swift move, he pulled the knife out, making Furiosa jerk from pain but not eliciting a sound. She moved her shoulder in a circle, to ease the tension in the hurt muscles.
Jack took a clean handkerchief out from his jacket pocket and gently pushed it under her shoulder pad to stop the bleeding. The thick pad on her jacket very probably prevented a much deeper and more serious injury. His silent, soft and careful handling of her wound surprised Furiosa a little, and her eyes met Jack's gaze.
There was no trace of saying I told you this was a bad idea. The only emotions she could read in his eyes were worry and deep care. He kept looking at her, his hand still on her shoulder as if wishing to take some of the pain away. Furiosa couldn't stand his gaze anymore, suddenly feeling ashamed for having been so stingy before. However, she also knew she defended her stand and proved that she could handle the pressure of a highly dangerous situation more than sufficiently enough. Nevertheless, she decided not to comment on it and focused on the road. A sigh escaped her throat as the final traces of her anger disappeared.
Jack was aware that there was no reason for his hand to remain on Furiosa's shoulder and moved it to the back of her seat. He finally averted his eyes from her face and concentrated on the road as well. He knew she had passed the test but it didn't make him feel better about her being injured. Of course, he acknowledged the fact that it could have happened to him if he was driving. Even so, he hated that he couldn't keep his promise to himself to keep her safe from harm.
"Good job," he said after a beat without looking at her. "You did really well."
Furiosa's eyes travelled to his face but couldn't read his expression. On the outside, Jack looked cool and composed, but there was something slightly off in his eyes, something that had visibly rattled his emotional cage.
"Thank you," she replied quietly, making it the last words spoken until their return to the Citadel.
※※※
Reporting about the incident to Immortan Joe was anything but fun. Jack and Furiosa stood firmly rooted to their spots with their heads up as they had to endure the People Eater's reproach and listen to his argument with the Citadel ruler and his sons. The unsuccessful mission to Gas Town and the news about Dementus's demand for a meeting were highly disturbing to them.
„At first light, leave for Bullet Farm with all your tankers empty. Then return with every ammunition you can load," Immortan Joe ordered the Praetorians before turning to the Bullet Farmer. „I want every bullet and firearm, every calibre and size, your entire inventory ready to pick up."
Jack and Furiosa exchanged aknowing look and left the assembly. Both knew what Immortan Joe's words meant – the Citadel was about to start awar against Dementus. However unpredictable their lives had been so far, the next days would get even worse, and no one could know if they'd live to see another day. However, they also meant one more thing – areal chance for Furiosa to escape, pretending to have been killed incombat...
Furiosa was deep in thought when Jack's voice reached her in the middle of acorridor.
„Your wound needs looking at," he said and took the nearest turn.
The young woman looked at him slightly confused – among all the drama, she almost forgot she was injured. Asudden sting in her shoulder reminded her of the reality, and she followed Jack wordlessly.
They stopped by asmall, dark room, almost like alarger recess with adoor. It was the medical supplies storage room, humble in quantity but reliable and sufficiently equipped. Jack opened one of the non-descript boxes and grabbed asmall kit containing needles, thread and some pieces of cleaning cloth. Then he closed the door to the room and turned to Furiosa.
„We need water. The Hydroponic Garden," he said, and they walked on.
Furiosa remembered the place but wasn't prepared for how powerful the memory of her first time visiting it would hit her. In her mind, she saw herself sitting at the pool ledge, cooling off after atraining session with Jack. The memory of the gentle touch of his hands while he was cleaning her bruised hands made her swallow hard. She blinked and followed Jack to the pool.
„Take off your jacket," Jack said, placed the modest first aid kit on the ledge and opened it.
Furiosa did as he said, suddenly very self-conscious as she sat there only in her undershirt. She felt almost naked when she had to pull down the sleeve on her left arm to reveal the shoulder wound. Lowering her eyes to the shimmering pool surface, she waited for her mentor to treat her injury.
Jack lifted his eyes to Furiosa. He couldn't help noticing how unusually small and fragile her slender body looked without her uniform. Yet when he looked at her face, he saw the same dignity and strength he had admired right from their first meeting. The only minor difference was the slight shyness radiating from her. He longingly studied her profile as her eyes observed the soft ripples on the water, created by the gentle breeze, and his inner voice whispered one word: beautiful...
He let out asigh, regaining his composure. He examined the wound, finding with relief it wasn't too deep; the bleeding wasn't heavy either.
„It needs some stitches but it's not serious."
Jack wetted apiece of cloth in the pool and cleaned the wound and the area around it. Then he pulled apiece of thread through one of the small needles.
„This will probably hurt," he remarked, glancing at Furiosa. Her face remained seemingly unchanged as she patiently waited for his next action.
Before Jack pierced her smooth skin for the first time, he hesitated, his natural protective instinct almost overwhelming him. However, he took adeep breath and went on with the procedure as he had done many times in the past with other members of his convoy on various occasions. This time it was different though as something else was involved in it – his heart.
At the first oppressive contact of the needle with her skin, Furiosa involuntarily winced, but then she gritted her teeth and managed to remain unmoving until Jack finished the sewing. Her face relaxed when he cut the end of the thread off and put away the needle.
Jack, impressed by the quiet and strong way she held on through the sewing, lifted his eyes to her face again. Her position hadn't changed; she was still looking at the water, unmoving, reminding him of adelicate marble statue, the likes of which Jack saw in one of the old books his parents used to keep from the old times.
And then his eyes fell on her exposed forearm. He had only seen it once but remembered it very well – the long stars constellation tattoo on her skin. He couldn't resist and gently reached for her arm, carefully turning it so he could see the image clearly. She let him without resisting.
„This place... at the end of your map of secrets... where is it?" Jack asked, with genuine and innocent curiosity.
Furiosa's first instinct was to shut herself off, and she did by pulling her arm away from Jack's hand and looking away from him. Immediately afterwards, she felt ashamed – he had never been anything but respectful to her and didn't deserve such acold reaction...
If Furiosa had seen Jack's eyes at that very moment, she would have seen the pain in them, reflecting the sadness caused by her seeming lack of trust in him. He could understand it, though. Her life in the harsh man's world where almost everybody was at each other's throats in the war for survival, trust was a luxury.
He turned away from her face, lowering his eyes, then stared into the Wasteland lying open before them.
„My mother and father... were soldiers..." Jack said, suddenly transported back into his childhood days. „Even as the world fell, they yearned to be warriors for avirtuous cause."
Furiosa lifted her eyes back to his face, surprised, and transfixed equally by his openness and the tenderness of his voice.
„For them, it never happened," Jack continued before his warm eyes found hers again. „I wanna help you find this place, wherever it may be."
Furiosa saw the honesty and truth in his gaze, qualities she always connected with him, but now they shone even brighter. The decision she took the next moment was easy to make: maintaining eye contact, her hands reached to the place where afew strands of her hair were tied at the back of her head and fished out something small. She outstretched one arm toward Jack and opened her hand – there, on the palm lay asmall dry pit.
Jack incredulously watched the precious seed of green in her hand, then lifted his eyes to her. The next words were out before Furiosa even properly thought about them but she meant them with all her heart.
„Come with me..."
The surprise on Jack's face turned into sadness, and alittle sigh escaped his throat before he gently but firmly closed her hand with the pit still in it.
Furiosa watched his warm hand safely enclosing her small one holding the pit, realising he refused the offer. Even though she understood why, the thought of leaving the Citadel without him was a painful one, more than ever before.
Her face finally showed ahint of emotion, asmall wince, before her hand quickly went to the back of his head and pulled it close, forehead to forehead. Her thin, long fingers cradled his skull as she took adeep breath, then exhaled loudly. She didn't dare to open her eyes; the fear of surrendering to her emotions and shedding atear was too strong.
And then she felt Jack's hand gently cradling her own skull, as he couldn't resist his own calling and expressing his feelings in her way.
„I can't..." he whispered helplessly. „You will never escape without them chasing after you if Idon't back you up by telling them Isaw and buried your dead body..."
Furiosa swallowed hard, taking another deep breath. Breathing suddenly became quite difficult with the onslaught of so-long suppressed emotions washing over her. She desperately searched for words that would persuade Jack but struggled to find the appropriate ones. She realised there was only one thing she could say.
„I don't want to go without you, Jack... Ican't..." she whispered back, her forehead still pressed to his, her fingers still playing with his hair. The touch of his hands felt even warmer than she remembered, making it impossible for her to physically part with him.
For the first time since the loss of his home many years ago, Jack didn't know what to do. His heart was crying to leave with Furiosa, while his head tried to reason with him based on the danger it would present to her. He felt afew drops of sweat forming on his temples; Furiosa's closeness was intoxicating, making him break every barrier he had built around himself over the past few months. It wasn't just desire, it was the sheer need to be with the woman who had become the other part of his soul, the person who reminded him of the human being he once used to be and could be again. The person who showed him what's possible in aworld full of impossibilities...
„Together, Jack," Furiosa quietly repeated her plea.
He sighed, then reluctantly pulled slightly back to see her eyes. She finally opened them and Jack saw them glistening, shimmering like two big diamonds. That sight broke him. He sighed and nodded.
„Together..."
This time, Furiosa couldn't fight back the tear that escaped from her eye. She exhaled loudly, the relief and joy pushing away her usual restraint on emotions as she let herself get carried away and slowly put her arms around Jack's neck. She breathed in his scent, amix of motor oil, gasoline and dust, and felt astrange thrill running through her veins.
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