Fic: Darkest Before Dawn (5/?)
Title: Darkest Before Dawn (5/?)
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: War Boys/Capable, War Boys/Toast, War Boys/Cheedo, Nux/Capable, Slit/Toast, Morsov/Cheedo, The Dag/Cheedo
Word Count: ?
Summary: AU. The escape fails and Immortan Joe punishes the Five Wives by giving Capable, Toast, and Cheedo to the Citadel's War Boys. In the aftermath, Capable tries to induce Lima Syndrome in the War Boys, Morsov begins to understand the horror of what he's done, and Toast is just angry.
Warnings: Non-con, gang rape, forced pregnancy, knifeplay, Lima Syndrome, Stockholm Syndrome
Morsov IX
Morsov was very proud of being the lead lancer of the war rig crew. It was a post that went to the lancer considered the very best in the Citadel, and Imperator Furiosa had chosen him for it. His driver was the best too. Nux might be more kamicrazy, but Elvis was more consistently reliable and had once circled around the whole convoy so Morsov could grab a fallen Boy’s body and still managed to race back ahead so they could intercept an enemy driver who’d been trying to collide head-on with the rig.
So he was very disappointed that Cheedo wouldn’t come see the new heavy machine guns the Immortan had given the crew. As soon as he’d finished mounting his on Elvis’s car, he’d gone to the Blood Shed to invite Cheedo to see it.
Her cell was left unlocked now and she could leave whenever she wanted and go wherever she wanted, but Cheedo only ever left the Blood Shed to go bathe with Capable. She’d told him that she hadn’t heard of anything interesting enough to be worth the danger.
“What danger?” Morsov had asked, puzzled. “No one will hurt you. Not even Slit would harm a pregnant breeder.”
She’d given him a look he didn’t understand or like. “They might not think they were hurting me, but they would hurt me.”
He hadn’t understood that, but he’d accepted that she felt safest and most comfortable within the confines of the Blood Shed. Since she wouldn’t come visit him, he continued to come see her every day.
Morsov had been certain, though, that she would make an exception for him today. His new .50 cal was beautiful, no rust at all on it. She had to see it.
“Angharad doesn’t like guns.”
Morsov stared at her, confused. He didn’t care that the Splendid Angharad didn’t like guns; it wasn’t her he wanted to show his to. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t think I like them either.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re only for killing people.”
Of course they were. Morsov couldn’t comprehend her reasoning, until he realized it wasn’t actually the guns she disliked, it was the killing of ferals and enemies of the Immortan. But that didn’t make much sense either.
“If we didn’t kill them, people would steal our stuff. And the Buzzards would eat us.”
“Did you eat people when you were a little Buzzard?”
Morsov recoiled. He felt like she’d slapped him. No, worse, like she’d kicked him in the balls.
But she looked as if she was waiting for an answer, not like she’d just been insulting him for no reason.
“I don’t remember,” he replied.
Most War Boys had either forgotten that he’d been taken from Buzzards as a pup, or they didn’t care because he’d proven himself as a War Boy. But there were some who thought he was tainted, who refused to be friends with him or fight beside him. Those War Boys - and some Repair Boys, who weren’t even good enough to be War Boys themselves - called him Buzzard to his face still whenever they were feeling brave enough to have their teeth knocked out.
Cheedo was sitting on her cot with her knees drawn up, hugging her legs. The way she was looking at him wasn’t a look he’d seen from her before. It was almost hostile.
He crouched before the cot. “Why are you mad at me?”
She shook her head. “I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are. You won’t come see my new crew-serve weapon and you called me a Buzzard. Did I do something you didn’t like? Or did you want me to do something that I didn’t do?”
He couldn’t think of anything he’d done or failed to do that would make her mad at him, but he must have.
“I’m not mad at you,” she said. But she didn’t sound very convincing.
Morsov raised his eyebrows skeptically.
“Well, I am a little mad at you for calling your gun beautiful, though, but only calling me ‘shiny’ or ‘chrome’.”
“You’re jealous of my gun?” he asked doubtfully. That made even less sense than hating guns.
“Of course not. I just wish… never mind.”
Morsov didn’t understand why she was acting so strange lately. He supposed it had to be because of the pup growing inside her, it was the only explanation. He put a hand on her leg, because he needed to touch her. “Are you okay?”
Instead of answering, she asked, “Are you mad at me for not going to see your new gun?”
“No, just hurt that you won’t. It’s the most shine thing I’ve ever had - except for you - and I want all my friends to witness it.”
She smiled suddenly, and there was something strange and almost sad about the smile. “I’m sure all your other friends will be impressed enough to make up for me.”
“It won’t be the same; you’re special.” He planted a kiss on her knee, and then rose to leave.
“You can kiss me before you go. If you want.”
Of course he wanted to kiss her. He always wanted to kiss her. Kissing her was so different from kissing anyone else. It made him feel weird feelings. She just made him feel weird feelings in general. She made him want to take care of her like he tried to help take care of the very young pups, but he also liked speaking with her and fucking her as much as he liked his driver. And he also hoped that it was his pup she was having. It was a weird mix of feelings to have for one person.
He stopped kissing her while it was still easy to stop. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
She pressed one last kiss to his mouth. “Okay.”
Capable XI
“He’s an old man and he’s sick,” Capable said quietly to Toast. “He isn’t going to last long enough to see his heir reach adulthood.”
“No,” Toast agreed. “Although he’s spiteful enough to outlive us all.”
The significance of the name Joe had chosen for Angharad’s son was lost on most of the Citadel, but not on his ex-wives. Adam was the name of the first man, according to the beliefs of the culture Joe had been born and raised in, a god’s perfect creation. Joe intended to pass the mantle of his false godhood down to Adam along with the Citadel and the rest of his fiefdom.
“When he dies, it’ll be the Imperators ruling until Adam is old enough.”
Toast nodded and sighed. “Maybe instead of convincing Furiosa to take us away, we should have waited until Angharad gave birth, and convinced her to arrange to have Joe and the Prime Imperator assassinated. She could have taken control of the Citadel on the baby’s behalf.”
“Angharad wouldn’t have agreed to it, and I wouldn’t have either, back then.”
Toast arched an eyebrow at her. “And now?”
Trying to flee without hurting anyone hadn’t worked. And if there was anyone whose untimely death was deserved, it was Joe. “Now I think it’s necessary. But even if we could arrange it, Furiosa is gone, and the imperators would just keep things the way they are now.”
They were both quiet for a long time. Then Capable said, “Toast, this is it for us, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Toast looked brittle.
The only time Capable had ever seen Toast cry was the day their escape was foiled and Furiosa was killed. She was strong, but no one could remain strong forever without hope, and Toast had lost all hope on Fury Road.
Capable reached through the bars and took her hand and squeezed it. “But it doesn’t have to be like this for our children. Adam doesn’t have to be like Joe.”
“He will be. Joe will make sure he is.”
“Joe isn’t his only parent.”
Capable gave Toast’s hand one last squeeze, and regretfully left her alone. She began checking on the sick War Boys lying around the Blood Shed. There was nothing anyone could do for them, but her attention seemed to comfort them, so she’d made it her duty to speak to each of them every day and give them a hug or a kiss on the forehead.
Once that was done, she began the next stage of her daily rounds. She went through every part of the Citadel that wasn’t restricted by guards or locks, observing the daily life of its people and allowing War Boys to see her and speak to her.
Her belly had begun to grow round, and the War Boys seemed utterly fascinated. Her skin still crawled whenever one of them touched her belly and asked about the well-being of ‘his’ pup. They didn’t seem to realize that they were admitting to having brutally raped her. She wanted to scream at them, sometimes, and demand to know how they could act so friendly, after what they’d done to her. But it would do no good. All she could do was encourage their affection, so that when - not if, but when - the time came for them to rape her again, they’d be less brutal.
She was tired by the time she returned to the Blood Shed. She consumed the meal Riker gave her, and went to sit on her cot. She needed to figure out a way to get to visit Angharad again. If Angharad hadn’t yet realized how important it was that she play the role of supportive wife and doting mother to Joe and his son, Capable needed to let her know.
If Angharad knew how badly Capable needed to speak with her, she’d do whatever it took to get Joe to agree to let them see each other. But how could Capable get a message to her?
“Capable?”
Cheedo was standing outside Capable’s cell, looking like she needed her. Capable gestured to her to come sit next to her.
“Capable, I like Morsov.”
“I like him too. He’s decent for a War Boy.”
Cheedo gave her a look Capable couldn’t read. “I used to only pretend I liked him so he’d be nice to me and protect me from the really mean War Boys. But, Capable, I like him. I like him the way I like the Dag.”
Capable wasn’t entirely surprised. Cheedo was used to having someone take care of her, of being coddled and treated as though she was fragile and precious. And she was very young. It was only natural that she would develop feelings for the person who made an effort to spend time with her every day and who seemed willing to simply hold her when she wanted to be held.
She hugged her. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“I wish his whole crew had died on Fury Road before they discovered us, but not him. I can’t make myself wish he’d died - it makes me sad to think of him dying.”
She didn’t doubt that Morsov loved Cheedo, too, but he was still a War Boy and he loved Immortan Joe more. War Boys loved Joe more than they loved even themselves. If Joe issued an order to harm the ex-wives, they would obey it. Cheedo knew that as well as Capable did. No matter how much any War Boy liked them, none of them would help them in what they really needed help with.
At least not knowingly...
Capable XII
Toast was smart. All of Joe’s wives had been educated, but Toast had a special passion for gathering knowledge. She’d voraciously consumed all the books and papers they were given to read, and she’d asked questions of Miss Giddy that Capable and the others hadn’t thought to ask. Joe called them idealists and said they knew nothing of the real world, but Toast’s idealism was tempered by her experiences in the wasteland and even Joe respected her intellect, giving her the moniker ‘the knowing.’
Keeping her locked in that cell wasn’t just cruel, it was wasteful. Capable tried to convince the Organic Mechanic of this. “She can be useful. You can find something for her to do. You’re always complaining about the War Boys and Pups the Imperators assign to help you - so train Toast! She can be your assistant.”
The Organic Mechanic threw back his head and laughed long and loud. Every time he seemed to be stopping, he broke out into another fit of laughter.
Capable was tempted to seize a thunderstick from a passing War Boy and whack him with it. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to stop.
“Help?” the Organic Mechanic gasped. “You mean, help War Boys into even earlier graves.”
“There was an oath healers used to take. Toast will swear the oath.” Capable hadn’t discussed it with her, but she was certain Toast would do what she had to.
“Even if I decided what the hell and let bygones be bygones, even if Joe gave the okay, you think any War Boy would trust his life in her hands?”
“She wouldn’t necessarily have to tend to them. She could care for the rest of the people in the Citadel, like the treadmill climbers and the grub diggers. I know neither you or Joe care about those people, and they’re easily replaceable, but you’d get more work out of them if they got some basic care.”
“So you’ve appointed yourself play school teacher to the Pups and priest to the deathbed Boys, and you want me to make Toasty a nurse.” He gestured with his thumb towards Cheedo, who was listening - or pretending to listen - to a trio of War Boys who were excitedly telling her some story about their narrow escape from Buzzards. “What about her? How’s she going to earn her keep? Entertaining the troops?”
“Leave her alone.”
“No, no, Capable. You’re the one who persuaded me you breeders ought to be making yourselves useful.”
“She could help Angharad with Adam.”
The Organic Mechanic snorted. “Nice try. She gave up the life of luxury when you girls decided to run away. She’ll have to work for a living now.”
Capable gritted her teeth. She should have foreseen that the Organic Mechanic would find a way to turn this around on them. “She can help me with the Pups and the deathly sick Boys.”
“Eh. I suppose so. I still think her true calling is servicing the Boys.”
She wanted to slap him, but Capable made herself say, “Thank you.”
She went to Cheedo and dispersed the War Boys by gently implying that they needed to go spend more time training so that their future encounters with Buzzards would yield more impressive results.
“Come with me,” she told Cheedo.
She explained the latest development in their situation to her while they exited the Blood Shed. Cheedo was cautiously optimistic for Toast, but she didn’t seem enthused about taking care of Pups. Capable couldn’t fault her for it. She was still a kid herself, scarcely older than the oldest War Pups.
Capable called a halt to the day’s storytime and told the Pups she’d see them at the bathing pool at sunset. She decided to take Cheedo on a tour of the Citadel and introduce her to everyone she knew. This was life for the foreseeable future, and the more they could adjust and carve a role for themselves, the less awful it would be.
The tour didn’t get off to a good start, however. Because they’d only had brief glimpses of her before, the Repair Boys were too interested in Cheedo, and their interest frightened her. They didn’t try to touch her, but they stared openly and made comments about her to each other, causing Cheedo to cling to Capable fearfully.
“It’s okay,” Capable whispered. “They wouldn’t dare touch you, they’re only Repair Boys. Joe gave us to his War Boys specifically.”
“That’s the war rig over there,” Cheedo said, pointing. “Let’s find Morsov.”
Morsov wasn’t at the war rig, but a War Boy named Sprockets told them where they could find him.
They located Morsov and his driver Elvis working on their car, and when Morsov spotted them, he shouted Cheedo’s name and seized her in an embrace.
Capable was concerned about the way Cheedo hugged him back and kissed him in front of everyone. She herself was careful to avoid doing anything that made it seem like she favored some War Boys but not others, aware of the potential dangers. However, every War Boy was already aware that Morsov was Cheedo’s favorite. The only reason it hadn’t caused conflict among them so far was because the war rig crew was considered to have a greater share of ownership of Cheedo than the average War Boy, and within the crew, they ranked Morsov the best of them and were therefore okay with him being favored by her.
“Will you walk with me when I’m ready to go back to the Blood Shed?” Cheedo asked him.
“Whatever you want,” Morsov replied. He slung his arm around her shoulder, and Cheedo molded herself against his side.
Capable raised an eyebrow at Cheedo pointedly.
“I can stay here, Capable,” Cheedo said to her. “So you don’t have to spend all day looking after me.”
“All right.”
She wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about her entirely, but it was a relief not to be the only person responsible for keeping her safe. Cheedo would be okay for now. She, on the other hand, felt frustration rise quickly as she turned her mind back to the biggest problem she had at the moment.
How was she to get a message to Angharad?
“Capable!”
She tried to pretend she hadn’t heard, and walked faster, but Nux chased after her and easily caught up.
“Hello, Nux.”
“Capable, come look at my car.”
“Perhaps another day.”
His expression changed from happy and eager to utterly crushed. “But you looked at Elvis’s car.”
“I scarcely noticed it,” she said, struggling to keep the impatience out of her voice. “I was helping Cheedo find Morsov, not looking at cars.”
He dropped to his knees suddenly and threw his arms around her hips. “Capable, tell me what to do so you’ll love me more. I tried going to see you every day, like Morsov does with Cheedo, but you actually spent less time talking to me the more I was with you. What do I need to do?”
He was looking up at her with those big, blue eyes filled with worry and neediness. Capable clasped his face between her hands, her thumbs caressing the scars on his high-boned cheeks. He’d sweated off most of the ghastly white paint, exposing pink skin and red lips. He was beautiful. If he’d been born female and healthy, he would have ended up in the vault for sure.
It was getting harder to be caring to War Boys, not easier. The better she got to know them, the more painful it became. It hurt that they wanted affection from her but that not one of them had said he was sorry for what he’d done to her.
“I see your eyes in my nightmares,” she told him, for his ears only. “I don’t love you at all.”
He looked confused. “But…”
“I only had sex with you to keep you from raping Cheedo. I’m kind to you because it’s the only way I have of trying to keep you from tearing me apart. Do you understand?”
He still only looked confused. “I wouldn’t harm you, Capable. I love you.”
“But you did harm me, Nux. I’ve told you before and you wouldn’t admit it.”
“You were a gift from the Immortan.”
“A person can’t be a gift. A person can’t be a treasure, or a prize. Joe can give you a car or a gun - those things don’t care, they don’t have feelings, they’re things. I’m not a thing, I have feelings. Joe might have given you and the others my body, but he can’t give you me. And I won’t give you me.”
She watched his confusion give way to devastation, and she felt devastated herself because she could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was devastated not to have what he wanted from her, not because he’d realized the magnitude of what they’d done to her.
She decided to make one last attempt to reach him. “Imagine yourself trapped with a hundred Organic Mechanics who do whatever they want to you and you can’t stop them.”
He made an expression of distaste, but that was all.
Inspiration struck her. No War Boy was the least bothered by the fate awaiting his unborn children; sons destined to become War Boys themselves and daughters destined to become Joe’s son’s wives. To them, that was the best possible fate anyone could have.
Capable caressed the back of Nux’s neck and stroked the sensitive skin behind his ears. “Imagine how happy the Organic Mechanic will be if I have a boy and he’s as beautiful as you.”
She brushed a finger across his lips. They must have been so soft before he’d scarified them. “He’ll grow up to be Organic’s favorite for sure.”
Nux flung himself away from her, falling backwards into an ungainly sprawl. He was staring at her with utter horror on his face.
Capable gave him a falsely cheery smile. “It was nice chatting with you, Nux.”
Morsov X
The hall of hanging green things wasn’t off-limits, but War Boys didn’t have a reason to be there and Morsov had a feeling that Cheedo shouldn’t be there either. But she’d asked him to escort her and he couldn’t refuse.
“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” she said. “Occasionally he’d let us out to walk here if he was in a really good mood. I’d pretend I was in a forest, though Miss Giddy said this isn’t anything like a forest.”
“What’s a forest?”
As he listened to her tell him about giant green things that once covered the land as far as the eye could see, he tried to imagine it. But he just couldn’t. He’d seen the occasional skeletons of trees out in the wasteland, but he couldn’t quite picture even one living tree. He wished he could see the photos the Immortan had shown to his wives.
He spotted Rictus Erectus at the other end of the hall, and Morsov again wondered if he and Cheedo should be there. But he wasn’t too worried. Rictus was all right, as different from Scabrous Scrotus as day from night.
Even Cheedo wasn’t afraid as Rictus headed straight for them, calling her name.
“I heard you were hurt. I asked Dad to forgive you - it couldn’t have been your idea to traitor him - but he was real mad and he forbid me from looking for you.” Rictus was staring at her and his huge hands were hovering in the air between them, as if he wanted to touch her but knew he wasn’t supposed to.
“I’m okay now, Rictus,” Cheedo said. She was still holding Morsov’s hand, and she squeezed it tight. He didn’t know whether she was lying or not.
“Have you seen the Dag lately? How is she?”
Rictus shook his head. “Only Betty, this old breeder Dad got to replace Miss Giddy - ‘cept she’s real mean - sees her. Her and Organic. Dad doesn’t even go ‘cause he says he might do something he’d regret.”
Rictus lowered his voice to a whisper, though it was still ridiculously loud. “She still says bad things about Dad. Why does she do that, Cheedo? Why does she make him mad?”
Morsov could feel Cheedo’s fingernails digging into his palm, and he was sure she wanted to say more than what she eventually said, which was simply, “Because she’s very brave.”
Cheedo put her other hand on Rictus’s arm. “Will you tell Angharad something for me?”
Rictus looked dubious. “I’m not supposed to talk to her. She hates me. She yelled at me, and then Dad yelled at me and told me not to aggravate her.”
Cheedo patted his arm. “She won’t mind this. It won’t make her mad and she won’t complain to Joe and make him yell at you, I promise. Just tell her that I said that Capable misses her very, very much. Will you do that for me, Rictus?”
Rictus nodded.
Cheedo sighed when he’d gone and she and Morsov were alone. She turned to Morsov and leaned in against him.
Morsov hugged her and stroked her hair, hoping she wouldn’t cry. He was sorry about her friend the Dag. It was too bad she didn’t have the Ace to tell her not to say aloud every thought she had.
“We should go before the Immortan comes by.”
It was the Immortan himself who’d given Cheedo to Morsov and the other War Boys, but it was clear now that he’d wanted them to hurt her and Capable and Toast, and Morsov was afraid that he’d be mad that they weren’t doing it anymore. He was afraid, too, that if the Immortan saw Cheedo, he would decide to take her back. Surely he regretted divorcing her now, no matter how mad he’d been at the time. She was the most precious thing in the wasteland.
They were crossing one of the bridges between towers when Cheedo stopped in the middle and just stared at the sky.
“You okay?” Morsov asked her. She’d been very nervous the first few times he’d taken her over the narrow rope bridges instead of through the underground tunnels, but he’d thought she’d gotten used to it.
“I think I know why you prefer this way even though it’d be very easy to fall. It feels free.”
“I guess so,” he said. “But it’s just a lot quicker.”
She let go of the ropes and put her arms around his neck. He thought she was going to kiss him, but she just stared at him strangely.
He stared back at her, trying to figure out why she was looking at him like that and why here and now. What she said wasn’t always what she meant, so he’d learned to look into her eyes to try to understand her.
She pressed her lips to his briefly, then she said, “Take me somewhere private. Somewhere we can be alone. Really alone.”
Morsov had to think hard. There were always Boys and Pups everywhere. He couldn’t remember ever being truly alone and he never wanted to be. But he wouldn’t mind being alone with Cheedo.
There was a cavern where a rusted water main had burst and flooded hundreds of days ago. The Repair Boys hadn’t been able to drain it completely, so they’d just closed it off. Morsov shoved the barrier out of the way. It was only there to remind the littlest Pups that they shouldn’t play here. He lifted Cheedo up, mindful of her bare feet and not wanting her to have to walk through cold water. He carried her into a side cave where the ground sloped higher and it was dry.
“Now we’re alone,” he said.
The light from the nearest lantern didn’t really reach in here. It was almost pitch-black. He couldn’t see Cheedo, but he heard the shy tone in her voice when she said, “Do you want to make love?”
Morsov didn’t know what she meant. But he felt her hands on his chest and going lower, and he thought he understood what she wanted. He’d just never heard it called that before.
“Yeah, of course. It’ll be great not to have the Organic Mechanic watching us. Or jealous Boys either.” He didn’t mind being watched by jealous Boys and envious older Pups, but he knew Cheedo didn’t like them staring at her.
He felt her forehead bump his, and he realized she’d nodded. Then she kissed him.
Not being able to see caused his other senses to heighten. Morsov could hear Cheedo breathing, and each of her occasional soft sighs sounded as loud as the war rig’s horn. She felt more solid in his arms, too, and his skin felt almost like it was burning - but in a good way - where she touched him.
She touched him a lot more than usual, smoothing her hands over his shoulders and down his back as they kissed. And when he unbuckled his belts, she reached into his trousers before he could, and took out his cock. It was the first time she’d ever touched it. Which was kind of odd, considering how many times they’d fucked before.
He knelt and lifted one of her legs over his shoulder so he could kiss and lick her cunt.
“Come on,” he urged her. “There’s no else to hear, just you and me. Let me hear you scream.”
She laughed shakily, and he felt her stroking the back of his head. She’d told him once that it was a pity War Boys shaved their heads, that she’d have liked to run her fingers through his hair. She didn’t scream, but she moaned his name when she came, and that was even better.
When he rose back up and kissed her, she hooked a leg around him and guided his cock into her cunt. It was awkward fucking her like this though. He picked her up and felt along the cave walls until he found a smooth patch to brace her against, so he had leverage to fuck her properly.
“Oh!”
He froze, silently cursing himself for getting carried away. “Sorry, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She kissed the top of his head. “I was just surprised, you didn’t hurt me. In fact, I think I like it. It feels different.”
Morsov cautiously allowed himself to put more strength into his thrusts. Cheedo really did seem to like it. He might even have been able to make her come again if he’d been able to keep from coming himself.
He almost slid down to rest on the ground, but he didn’t want to release Cheedo and he didn’t want to drag her down with him, so instead he leaned into her, breathing hard.
Her arms around him felt so nice. He wanted to stay like this forever.
“Cheedo?” Maybe it was because of the dark, but Morsov found himself confessing something he’d never admitted even to himself before. “I’m sorry for what I did the day Immortan Joe gave you to me and the other Boys. I should have been nicer to you, and it’s my fault only that I wasn’t. I’m really sorry.”
She didn’t say anything, but he could feel her hand caressing the back of his head.
Everything seemed different afterwards, though he couldn’t identify what it was. It felt like the air itself had changed somehow. Morsov felt extra good.
Cheedo still refused to go anywhere without him or Capable, so he had to walk her back to the Blood Shed. He didn’t mind. He cherished every moment with her, and not just because all the other War Boys wished they were in his place. Time spent with her was valuable no matter what they did.
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him when they reached the Blood Shed. She looked as happy as he felt, and she didn’t seem to notice the glare Toast shot them or the Organic Mechanic’s lewd gestures.
Morsov was in a very good mood as he headed to the war rig’s garage. He found himself humming a tune he didn’t remember ever hearing the Doof Warrior play. He dimly recalled hearing a woman’s voice sing it, but Imperator Furiosa had never sang, so it had to be the voice of the Buzzard breeder who’d birthed him. Mother, he reminded himself. Capable had almost cried because Dexter referred to her as the breeder of his pup and then she’d told them all that she was its mother.
“Hi, guys,” he greeted the rest of the crew.
“Hey, Morsov!”
“Where’ve you been?”
The Ace, however, was frowning at him like something was wrong. He seized Morsov by his upper arm and dragged him away from the others.
“What’s the matter, Ace?”
“I can smell her on you. Go take a bath. That smell is going to aggravate the others without them even knowing why they’re aggravated.”
Morsov didn’t smell anything unusual, but if he did smell like Cheedo to other Boys, he wasn’t going to wash her scent off. It was beyond chrome.
“No,” he said. He wrenched his arm free of the Ace’s grip.
The Ace looked shocked. “No?” he said, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard Morsov right.
“No,” Morsov repeated. “I won’t.”
“Don’t be stupid, boy. You’ll get yourself in trouble.” He shook his head. “You’ll get her in trouble. I know you don’t want that.”
The Ace was right. The Ace was always right. But Morsov was angry at him. Or maybe not angry, maybe sad because of him. Disappointed.
“Is it true that-” Her name was forbidden now. You were only supposed to call her the Traitor if you had to talk about her at all. “Imperator Furiosa was once one of the Immortan’s wives?”
It had been rumored that she used to be one of Immortan Joe’s wives as far back as he could remember, but there had been a lot of rumors about her, and once he’d become part of her crew, Morsov had learned most of them weren’t true. But this rumor...
“Yes.”
Morsov rubbed his scalp. He was feelings things he knew he shouldn’t feel. Worse, he was thinking terrible thoughts.
“Yes, Morsov, that’s why she betrayed him. She knew the truth, and I guess she just couldn’t be part of this all anymore.”
“You killed her.”
“It was that or have to watch them shred her.”
That was true. But Morsov couldn’t imagine killing Cheedo, knowing that she might not go to Valhalla. As a traitor, Imperator Furiosa had surely been denied entrance to Valhalla. There must have been something else the Ace could have done. “You could have let her flee.”
The Ace reacted like Morsov had punched him in the gut.
Morsov was immediately sorry. “Ace…” he said.
But before he could apologize, the Ace turned and walked away. The rest of the crew called to him, but he ignored them and kept walking.
The others gathered around Morsov. They all looked concerned. Morsov was a very good Boy, and he’d never done anything to make the Ace upset before.
“What happened?” Elvis asked.
“I don’t know,” Morsov replied, and he wasn’t even lying.
Capable XIII
“I’d sooner stab them all in their bellies than help prolong their miserable lives.”
Capable tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. “Toast, it’s the only way you’re going to be allowed out of that cell.”
Toast’s mouth settled into a grim line.
“Don’t think about the War Boys. Think about us. You could help me and Cheedo. And you could help all the other slaves in the Citadel. They need someone to take care of them. The Organic Mechanic doesn’t even bother to help most of them even though he could.”
Toast looked conflicted. And beneath the stubborn defiance and the anger, there was something else. Capable realized Toast was afraid.
“You’re afraid of being out here,” she stated.
Toast didn’t deny it.
“It’ll be okay,” Capable told her gently. “They haven’t done anything more to Cheedo or me. They won’t harm us for now.” Not until the babies were born and weaned and it was time to breed more.
“They all like you,” Toast said. “And Cheedo has her devoted War Boy to keep the others from doing anything to her. But me… well, I’m pretty sure there are several of them holding grudges against me.”
Capable chose her words carefully. “There are a few War Boys who like you very much, and they are among the most dangerous ones. They’ll protect you from the ones who want revenge.”
“I hate relying on my rapists for protection from my other rapists.”
“I know.” Capable reached through the bars and put her arm around Toast’s shoulder, trying to hug her. “But we have no other choice for now.”
Toast sighed. “I’ll do it. I’ll be his assistant, and I’ll swear not to harm any War Boys except in self-defense.”
Capable kissed her cheek, and then went to inform the Organic Mechanic.
“How generous of her to deign to help me,” he said. “I should leave her to rot. She’s lucky Joe likes the idea of you girls earning your keep.” He winked. “Even if Cheedo’s earning hers by keeping up our star lancer’s morale.”
She wasn’t surprised that he’d noticed the way Cheedo looked sometimes when she came back to the Blood Shed. The afterglow of enjoyable sex was obvious to anyone who knew enough to recognize it. Capable had contemplated speaking to Cheedo about it, but she’d decided against it. Between the chastity belt and the rapes, Cheedo had suffered enough of other people controlling her sexually. No one else should have a say in what she did with her body, and that included Capable.
Capable went to the War Pups’ den, where a large group of them were waiting for their daily story. She seated herself on the ground and they formed a semicircle around her, eagerly begging for stories about their favorite topics. Little Kip crawled into her lap, and Capable cuddled him while she told them about various events from the second world war.
They liked stories about war best, and so much of recorded human history was the history of war, that she had yet to run out of stories they’d like. She tried her best to de-glamorize their fascination with warfare. Joe indoctrinated them to believe that the greatest thing a man could do was die in war, so Capable made sure to emphasize that most of history’s war dead hadn’t wanted to die, that the vast majority of them would rather have returned home to their families and lived out their lives in peace.
“It was all so terrible,” she concluded, “That a thousand days later leaders from all over the world met and agreed on something they called the universal declaration of human rights. Does anyone want to guess what it was?”
“They agreed everybody should have their own slaves?” one Pup suggested.
“No, but that was a good guess.” She smiled encouragingly at the Pup, so he’d feel safe and confident to speak again, even if he was wrong. “In fact, they agreed that nobody should ever be a slave.”
She began to list the articles she’d memorized and explain their meaning, making sure to pause and ask them questions in order to gauge how much of it they understood.
When they’d absorbed as much as they could for the day, and their attention had begun to wander, Capable called an end to storytime. “Can you keep a secret?” she asked them.
“Yeah,” most of them shouted. They were all nodding enthusiastically.
“What I’ve told you about those human rights, that’s a secret between you and me, my sweets. No telling it to grown up Boys and especially not to Imperators, okay?”
“What about the Immortan?” one of them asked. He added importantly, “I help powder him.”
“Not even the Immortan,” Capable replied. “He already knows all this. He told me.”
It wasn’t even really a lie. It was Joe who’d had her and his other slave-wives educated in everything about the world he’d inhabited before its self-destruction. She wondered sometimes why he didn’t keep them as ignorant as his Boys and why he didn’t try to brainwash them too into worshipping him. She supposed whatever scrap of decency remained within him wanted the truth to be known and remembered - though only by those powerless to use it against him.
“But you can tell them all about the war,” she told them, so they’d have stories to happily relate to anyone who’d listen, as they liked to do.
A small Pup approached her shyly after the group dispersed. “Capable, can I have some of your hair?”
Capable knelt and smoothed her hand over his bald scalp. “What for, my sweet?”
“I dunno. Zippo asked me to ask you.”
“I’d give you a lock of my hair if you wanted it. But Zippo already asked me himself and I already told him no, so the answer is no.”
“How come you’d give me some of your hair but not him? He’s a shine black-thumb and he’s teaching me everything he knows.”
“I’d give you because you are one of my little sweethearts and you make me happy, but he hurt me and he’s not sorry.”
The Pup’s eyes grew very wide. “He hurt you? How?”
He was very young, so Capable didn’t give him the answer she would have given a War Pup approaching puberty or already entering it. It wasn’t something she should have to talk to a small child about. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
She kissed his forehead and sent him to join the others, before seeking out the Pup who served as one of Joe’s pages.
“Will you speak with me?” she asked him.
He flung himself against her and threw his arms around her, happy to be singled out for personal attention. Capable petted him while she waited for the other Pups to drift out of earshot.
Joe’s War Pup attendants sometimes accompanied him to the vault. Capable had previously considered asking one of them to speak to Angharad for her, but she’d decided against it out of fear that she’d get the Pups in trouble. There was no telling what Joe would do if he caught them delivering messages for her.
“Have you seen Immortan Joe with Angharad lately?”
The Pup nodded. “Every day. Immortan likes to watch Adam suckle mother’s milk. Sometimes he suckles from the Splendid Angharad too, but she’s mean to him.”
Capable’s stomach heaved. She felt terrible for Angharad, but she also wondered if that was something she herself would have to suffer. It seemed very likely. War Boys already tried to get everything they could out of her.
“Will you tell him something for me? Tell him I’m sorry I was ungrateful and I’ll tell Angharad how lucky she is if he wants me to. Tell him when he’s with her, if you can.”
The Pup must have wasted no time in delivering the message, because Capable was summoned to the vault the very next day. She went there alone, the Organic Mechanic having decided she didn’t need an escort when she went everywhere else by herself.
Joe was sitting in his throne-like chair, holding his infant son. Angharad had been standing by the windows, looking out, but she ran to embrace Capable.
Capable hugged her tightly. She knew Angharad would be able to figure out the real meaning of what she was about to do. Time to give Joe his performance.
He’d love it if she knelt, but Capable couldn’t bring herself to kneel. She bowed her head submissively. “Forgive me, Joe.”
“So much unpleasantness could have been avoided,” he replied. “At least you’ve learned your lesson. I’ve been pleased to hear that you’re being a better wife to your new husbands than you were to me.”
She wanted to spit in his face. Instead, Capable tried to look contrite. “May I hold the baby?”
He might want to believe she’d been broken, but he didn’t trust her, not with his precious healthy male heir. “You’ll have your own baby soon enough. You could have had a prince, Capable.”
She’d thought it would be difficult to cry on command, but the tears came easily. Too easily, in fact. It felt like a damn inside her had broken.
Angharad hurried to put her arms around her, but Capable twisted out of her embrace and threw herself at her feet.
“Angharad, you don’t know how awful it is down there. Joe’s just one man. You can’t imagine what it was like having dozens of them force themselves on you. You can’t imagine what it’s like to know that any sons you bear will be just like them, and that any daughters will suffer your fate too.”
She was sobbing. “I remember Joe promised to make you his queen if you gave him a son and you said you’d sooner be fed to Buzzards than be his queen, but Angharad, I wish I was his queen. You’re so fortunate. If I was the mother of his son…”
“You see?” Joe thundered at Angharad. “The others know now what you refuse to acknowledge.”
“Be a good wife, Angharad,” Capable urged. She squeezed Angharad’s leg and stared up at her meaningfully. “Be a good mother to Adam.”
“Oh, Capable.” Angharad bent and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. She was stroking her hair and looking more pained than Capable had ever seen her.
Even if she didn’t understand fully now, she would eventually. Capable rose and gave her a final hug.
“I’ll go back to where I belong now,” she said humbly to Joe, not taking her eyes off him until she’d backed up to the vault door.
Capable felt tired, but triumphant. She’d plotted treason right in front of Joe and his own ego had kept him from seeing it. Hopefully it wouldn’t take Angharad long to figure out why Capable needed her to pretend to be Joe’s loyal, loving wife and loyal, loving mother to his son. This would take much more time, and they would all have to be very patient, but there was so much to hope for now.
Part 6
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: War Boys/Capable, War Boys/Toast, War Boys/Cheedo, Nux/Capable, Slit/Toast, Morsov/Cheedo, The Dag/Cheedo
Word Count: ?
Summary: AU. The escape fails and Immortan Joe punishes the Five Wives by giving Capable, Toast, and Cheedo to the Citadel's War Boys. In the aftermath, Capable tries to induce Lima Syndrome in the War Boys, Morsov begins to understand the horror of what he's done, and Toast is just angry.
Warnings: Non-con, gang rape, forced pregnancy, knifeplay, Lima Syndrome, Stockholm Syndrome
Morsov IX
Morsov was very proud of being the lead lancer of the war rig crew. It was a post that went to the lancer considered the very best in the Citadel, and Imperator Furiosa had chosen him for it. His driver was the best too. Nux might be more kamicrazy, but Elvis was more consistently reliable and had once circled around the whole convoy so Morsov could grab a fallen Boy’s body and still managed to race back ahead so they could intercept an enemy driver who’d been trying to collide head-on with the rig.
So he was very disappointed that Cheedo wouldn’t come see the new heavy machine guns the Immortan had given the crew. As soon as he’d finished mounting his on Elvis’s car, he’d gone to the Blood Shed to invite Cheedo to see it.
Her cell was left unlocked now and she could leave whenever she wanted and go wherever she wanted, but Cheedo only ever left the Blood Shed to go bathe with Capable. She’d told him that she hadn’t heard of anything interesting enough to be worth the danger.
“What danger?” Morsov had asked, puzzled. “No one will hurt you. Not even Slit would harm a pregnant breeder.”
She’d given him a look he didn’t understand or like. “They might not think they were hurting me, but they would hurt me.”
He hadn’t understood that, but he’d accepted that she felt safest and most comfortable within the confines of the Blood Shed. Since she wouldn’t come visit him, he continued to come see her every day.
Morsov had been certain, though, that she would make an exception for him today. His new .50 cal was beautiful, no rust at all on it. She had to see it.
“Angharad doesn’t like guns.”
Morsov stared at her, confused. He didn’t care that the Splendid Angharad didn’t like guns; it wasn’t her he wanted to show his to. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t think I like them either.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re only for killing people.”
Of course they were. Morsov couldn’t comprehend her reasoning, until he realized it wasn’t actually the guns she disliked, it was the killing of ferals and enemies of the Immortan. But that didn’t make much sense either.
“If we didn’t kill them, people would steal our stuff. And the Buzzards would eat us.”
“Did you eat people when you were a little Buzzard?”
Morsov recoiled. He felt like she’d slapped him. No, worse, like she’d kicked him in the balls.
But she looked as if she was waiting for an answer, not like she’d just been insulting him for no reason.
“I don’t remember,” he replied.
Most War Boys had either forgotten that he’d been taken from Buzzards as a pup, or they didn’t care because he’d proven himself as a War Boy. But there were some who thought he was tainted, who refused to be friends with him or fight beside him. Those War Boys - and some Repair Boys, who weren’t even good enough to be War Boys themselves - called him Buzzard to his face still whenever they were feeling brave enough to have their teeth knocked out.
Cheedo was sitting on her cot with her knees drawn up, hugging her legs. The way she was looking at him wasn’t a look he’d seen from her before. It was almost hostile.
He crouched before the cot. “Why are you mad at me?”
She shook her head. “I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are. You won’t come see my new crew-serve weapon and you called me a Buzzard. Did I do something you didn’t like? Or did you want me to do something that I didn’t do?”
He couldn’t think of anything he’d done or failed to do that would make her mad at him, but he must have.
“I’m not mad at you,” she said. But she didn’t sound very convincing.
Morsov raised his eyebrows skeptically.
“Well, I am a little mad at you for calling your gun beautiful, though, but only calling me ‘shiny’ or ‘chrome’.”
“You’re jealous of my gun?” he asked doubtfully. That made even less sense than hating guns.
“Of course not. I just wish… never mind.”
Morsov didn’t understand why she was acting so strange lately. He supposed it had to be because of the pup growing inside her, it was the only explanation. He put a hand on her leg, because he needed to touch her. “Are you okay?”
Instead of answering, she asked, “Are you mad at me for not going to see your new gun?”
“No, just hurt that you won’t. It’s the most shine thing I’ve ever had - except for you - and I want all my friends to witness it.”
She smiled suddenly, and there was something strange and almost sad about the smile. “I’m sure all your other friends will be impressed enough to make up for me.”
“It won’t be the same; you’re special.” He planted a kiss on her knee, and then rose to leave.
“You can kiss me before you go. If you want.”
Of course he wanted to kiss her. He always wanted to kiss her. Kissing her was so different from kissing anyone else. It made him feel weird feelings. She just made him feel weird feelings in general. She made him want to take care of her like he tried to help take care of the very young pups, but he also liked speaking with her and fucking her as much as he liked his driver. And he also hoped that it was his pup she was having. It was a weird mix of feelings to have for one person.
He stopped kissing her while it was still easy to stop. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
She pressed one last kiss to his mouth. “Okay.”
Capable XI
“He’s an old man and he’s sick,” Capable said quietly to Toast. “He isn’t going to last long enough to see his heir reach adulthood.”
“No,” Toast agreed. “Although he’s spiteful enough to outlive us all.”
The significance of the name Joe had chosen for Angharad’s son was lost on most of the Citadel, but not on his ex-wives. Adam was the name of the first man, according to the beliefs of the culture Joe had been born and raised in, a god’s perfect creation. Joe intended to pass the mantle of his false godhood down to Adam along with the Citadel and the rest of his fiefdom.
“When he dies, it’ll be the Imperators ruling until Adam is old enough.”
Toast nodded and sighed. “Maybe instead of convincing Furiosa to take us away, we should have waited until Angharad gave birth, and convinced her to arrange to have Joe and the Prime Imperator assassinated. She could have taken control of the Citadel on the baby’s behalf.”
“Angharad wouldn’t have agreed to it, and I wouldn’t have either, back then.”
Toast arched an eyebrow at her. “And now?”
Trying to flee without hurting anyone hadn’t worked. And if there was anyone whose untimely death was deserved, it was Joe. “Now I think it’s necessary. But even if we could arrange it, Furiosa is gone, and the imperators would just keep things the way they are now.”
They were both quiet for a long time. Then Capable said, “Toast, this is it for us, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Toast looked brittle.
The only time Capable had ever seen Toast cry was the day their escape was foiled and Furiosa was killed. She was strong, but no one could remain strong forever without hope, and Toast had lost all hope on Fury Road.
Capable reached through the bars and took her hand and squeezed it. “But it doesn’t have to be like this for our children. Adam doesn’t have to be like Joe.”
“He will be. Joe will make sure he is.”
“Joe isn’t his only parent.”
Capable gave Toast’s hand one last squeeze, and regretfully left her alone. She began checking on the sick War Boys lying around the Blood Shed. There was nothing anyone could do for them, but her attention seemed to comfort them, so she’d made it her duty to speak to each of them every day and give them a hug or a kiss on the forehead.
Once that was done, she began the next stage of her daily rounds. She went through every part of the Citadel that wasn’t restricted by guards or locks, observing the daily life of its people and allowing War Boys to see her and speak to her.
Her belly had begun to grow round, and the War Boys seemed utterly fascinated. Her skin still crawled whenever one of them touched her belly and asked about the well-being of ‘his’ pup. They didn’t seem to realize that they were admitting to having brutally raped her. She wanted to scream at them, sometimes, and demand to know how they could act so friendly, after what they’d done to her. But it would do no good. All she could do was encourage their affection, so that when - not if, but when - the time came for them to rape her again, they’d be less brutal.
She was tired by the time she returned to the Blood Shed. She consumed the meal Riker gave her, and went to sit on her cot. She needed to figure out a way to get to visit Angharad again. If Angharad hadn’t yet realized how important it was that she play the role of supportive wife and doting mother to Joe and his son, Capable needed to let her know.
If Angharad knew how badly Capable needed to speak with her, she’d do whatever it took to get Joe to agree to let them see each other. But how could Capable get a message to her?
“Capable?”
Cheedo was standing outside Capable’s cell, looking like she needed her. Capable gestured to her to come sit next to her.
“Capable, I like Morsov.”
“I like him too. He’s decent for a War Boy.”
Cheedo gave her a look Capable couldn’t read. “I used to only pretend I liked him so he’d be nice to me and protect me from the really mean War Boys. But, Capable, I like him. I like him the way I like the Dag.”
Capable wasn’t entirely surprised. Cheedo was used to having someone take care of her, of being coddled and treated as though she was fragile and precious. And she was very young. It was only natural that she would develop feelings for the person who made an effort to spend time with her every day and who seemed willing to simply hold her when she wanted to be held.
She hugged her. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“I wish his whole crew had died on Fury Road before they discovered us, but not him. I can’t make myself wish he’d died - it makes me sad to think of him dying.”
She didn’t doubt that Morsov loved Cheedo, too, but he was still a War Boy and he loved Immortan Joe more. War Boys loved Joe more than they loved even themselves. If Joe issued an order to harm the ex-wives, they would obey it. Cheedo knew that as well as Capable did. No matter how much any War Boy liked them, none of them would help them in what they really needed help with.
At least not knowingly...
Capable XII
Toast was smart. All of Joe’s wives had been educated, but Toast had a special passion for gathering knowledge. She’d voraciously consumed all the books and papers they were given to read, and she’d asked questions of Miss Giddy that Capable and the others hadn’t thought to ask. Joe called them idealists and said they knew nothing of the real world, but Toast’s idealism was tempered by her experiences in the wasteland and even Joe respected her intellect, giving her the moniker ‘the knowing.’
Keeping her locked in that cell wasn’t just cruel, it was wasteful. Capable tried to convince the Organic Mechanic of this. “She can be useful. You can find something for her to do. You’re always complaining about the War Boys and Pups the Imperators assign to help you - so train Toast! She can be your assistant.”
The Organic Mechanic threw back his head and laughed long and loud. Every time he seemed to be stopping, he broke out into another fit of laughter.
Capable was tempted to seize a thunderstick from a passing War Boy and whack him with it. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to stop.
“Help?” the Organic Mechanic gasped. “You mean, help War Boys into even earlier graves.”
“There was an oath healers used to take. Toast will swear the oath.” Capable hadn’t discussed it with her, but she was certain Toast would do what she had to.
“Even if I decided what the hell and let bygones be bygones, even if Joe gave the okay, you think any War Boy would trust his life in her hands?”
“She wouldn’t necessarily have to tend to them. She could care for the rest of the people in the Citadel, like the treadmill climbers and the grub diggers. I know neither you or Joe care about those people, and they’re easily replaceable, but you’d get more work out of them if they got some basic care.”
“So you’ve appointed yourself play school teacher to the Pups and priest to the deathbed Boys, and you want me to make Toasty a nurse.” He gestured with his thumb towards Cheedo, who was listening - or pretending to listen - to a trio of War Boys who were excitedly telling her some story about their narrow escape from Buzzards. “What about her? How’s she going to earn her keep? Entertaining the troops?”
“Leave her alone.”
“No, no, Capable. You’re the one who persuaded me you breeders ought to be making yourselves useful.”
“She could help Angharad with Adam.”
The Organic Mechanic snorted. “Nice try. She gave up the life of luxury when you girls decided to run away. She’ll have to work for a living now.”
Capable gritted her teeth. She should have foreseen that the Organic Mechanic would find a way to turn this around on them. “She can help me with the Pups and the deathly sick Boys.”
“Eh. I suppose so. I still think her true calling is servicing the Boys.”
She wanted to slap him, but Capable made herself say, “Thank you.”
She went to Cheedo and dispersed the War Boys by gently implying that they needed to go spend more time training so that their future encounters with Buzzards would yield more impressive results.
“Come with me,” she told Cheedo.
She explained the latest development in their situation to her while they exited the Blood Shed. Cheedo was cautiously optimistic for Toast, but she didn’t seem enthused about taking care of Pups. Capable couldn’t fault her for it. She was still a kid herself, scarcely older than the oldest War Pups.
Capable called a halt to the day’s storytime and told the Pups she’d see them at the bathing pool at sunset. She decided to take Cheedo on a tour of the Citadel and introduce her to everyone she knew. This was life for the foreseeable future, and the more they could adjust and carve a role for themselves, the less awful it would be.
The tour didn’t get off to a good start, however. Because they’d only had brief glimpses of her before, the Repair Boys were too interested in Cheedo, and their interest frightened her. They didn’t try to touch her, but they stared openly and made comments about her to each other, causing Cheedo to cling to Capable fearfully.
“It’s okay,” Capable whispered. “They wouldn’t dare touch you, they’re only Repair Boys. Joe gave us to his War Boys specifically.”
“That’s the war rig over there,” Cheedo said, pointing. “Let’s find Morsov.”
Morsov wasn’t at the war rig, but a War Boy named Sprockets told them where they could find him.
They located Morsov and his driver Elvis working on their car, and when Morsov spotted them, he shouted Cheedo’s name and seized her in an embrace.
Capable was concerned about the way Cheedo hugged him back and kissed him in front of everyone. She herself was careful to avoid doing anything that made it seem like she favored some War Boys but not others, aware of the potential dangers. However, every War Boy was already aware that Morsov was Cheedo’s favorite. The only reason it hadn’t caused conflict among them so far was because the war rig crew was considered to have a greater share of ownership of Cheedo than the average War Boy, and within the crew, they ranked Morsov the best of them and were therefore okay with him being favored by her.
“Will you walk with me when I’m ready to go back to the Blood Shed?” Cheedo asked him.
“Whatever you want,” Morsov replied. He slung his arm around her shoulder, and Cheedo molded herself against his side.
Capable raised an eyebrow at Cheedo pointedly.
“I can stay here, Capable,” Cheedo said to her. “So you don’t have to spend all day looking after me.”
“All right.”
She wouldn’t be able to stop worrying about her entirely, but it was a relief not to be the only person responsible for keeping her safe. Cheedo would be okay for now. She, on the other hand, felt frustration rise quickly as she turned her mind back to the biggest problem she had at the moment.
How was she to get a message to Angharad?
“Capable!”
She tried to pretend she hadn’t heard, and walked faster, but Nux chased after her and easily caught up.
“Hello, Nux.”
“Capable, come look at my car.”
“Perhaps another day.”
His expression changed from happy and eager to utterly crushed. “But you looked at Elvis’s car.”
“I scarcely noticed it,” she said, struggling to keep the impatience out of her voice. “I was helping Cheedo find Morsov, not looking at cars.”
He dropped to his knees suddenly and threw his arms around her hips. “Capable, tell me what to do so you’ll love me more. I tried going to see you every day, like Morsov does with Cheedo, but you actually spent less time talking to me the more I was with you. What do I need to do?”
He was looking up at her with those big, blue eyes filled with worry and neediness. Capable clasped his face between her hands, her thumbs caressing the scars on his high-boned cheeks. He’d sweated off most of the ghastly white paint, exposing pink skin and red lips. He was beautiful. If he’d been born female and healthy, he would have ended up in the vault for sure.
It was getting harder to be caring to War Boys, not easier. The better she got to know them, the more painful it became. It hurt that they wanted affection from her but that not one of them had said he was sorry for what he’d done to her.
“I see your eyes in my nightmares,” she told him, for his ears only. “I don’t love you at all.”
He looked confused. “But…”
“I only had sex with you to keep you from raping Cheedo. I’m kind to you because it’s the only way I have of trying to keep you from tearing me apart. Do you understand?”
He still only looked confused. “I wouldn’t harm you, Capable. I love you.”
“But you did harm me, Nux. I’ve told you before and you wouldn’t admit it.”
“You were a gift from the Immortan.”
“A person can’t be a gift. A person can’t be a treasure, or a prize. Joe can give you a car or a gun - those things don’t care, they don’t have feelings, they’re things. I’m not a thing, I have feelings. Joe might have given you and the others my body, but he can’t give you me. And I won’t give you me.”
She watched his confusion give way to devastation, and she felt devastated herself because she could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was devastated not to have what he wanted from her, not because he’d realized the magnitude of what they’d done to her.
She decided to make one last attempt to reach him. “Imagine yourself trapped with a hundred Organic Mechanics who do whatever they want to you and you can’t stop them.”
He made an expression of distaste, but that was all.
Inspiration struck her. No War Boy was the least bothered by the fate awaiting his unborn children; sons destined to become War Boys themselves and daughters destined to become Joe’s son’s wives. To them, that was the best possible fate anyone could have.
Capable caressed the back of Nux’s neck and stroked the sensitive skin behind his ears. “Imagine how happy the Organic Mechanic will be if I have a boy and he’s as beautiful as you.”
She brushed a finger across his lips. They must have been so soft before he’d scarified them. “He’ll grow up to be Organic’s favorite for sure.”
Nux flung himself away from her, falling backwards into an ungainly sprawl. He was staring at her with utter horror on his face.
Capable gave him a falsely cheery smile. “It was nice chatting with you, Nux.”
Morsov X
The hall of hanging green things wasn’t off-limits, but War Boys didn’t have a reason to be there and Morsov had a feeling that Cheedo shouldn’t be there either. But she’d asked him to escort her and he couldn’t refuse.
“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” she said. “Occasionally he’d let us out to walk here if he was in a really good mood. I’d pretend I was in a forest, though Miss Giddy said this isn’t anything like a forest.”
“What’s a forest?”
As he listened to her tell him about giant green things that once covered the land as far as the eye could see, he tried to imagine it. But he just couldn’t. He’d seen the occasional skeletons of trees out in the wasteland, but he couldn’t quite picture even one living tree. He wished he could see the photos the Immortan had shown to his wives.
He spotted Rictus Erectus at the other end of the hall, and Morsov again wondered if he and Cheedo should be there. But he wasn’t too worried. Rictus was all right, as different from Scabrous Scrotus as day from night.
Even Cheedo wasn’t afraid as Rictus headed straight for them, calling her name.
“I heard you were hurt. I asked Dad to forgive you - it couldn’t have been your idea to traitor him - but he was real mad and he forbid me from looking for you.” Rictus was staring at her and his huge hands were hovering in the air between them, as if he wanted to touch her but knew he wasn’t supposed to.
“I’m okay now, Rictus,” Cheedo said. She was still holding Morsov’s hand, and she squeezed it tight. He didn’t know whether she was lying or not.
“Have you seen the Dag lately? How is she?”
Rictus shook his head. “Only Betty, this old breeder Dad got to replace Miss Giddy - ‘cept she’s real mean - sees her. Her and Organic. Dad doesn’t even go ‘cause he says he might do something he’d regret.”
Rictus lowered his voice to a whisper, though it was still ridiculously loud. “She still says bad things about Dad. Why does she do that, Cheedo? Why does she make him mad?”
Morsov could feel Cheedo’s fingernails digging into his palm, and he was sure she wanted to say more than what she eventually said, which was simply, “Because she’s very brave.”
Cheedo put her other hand on Rictus’s arm. “Will you tell Angharad something for me?”
Rictus looked dubious. “I’m not supposed to talk to her. She hates me. She yelled at me, and then Dad yelled at me and told me not to aggravate her.”
Cheedo patted his arm. “She won’t mind this. It won’t make her mad and she won’t complain to Joe and make him yell at you, I promise. Just tell her that I said that Capable misses her very, very much. Will you do that for me, Rictus?”
Rictus nodded.
Cheedo sighed when he’d gone and she and Morsov were alone. She turned to Morsov and leaned in against him.
Morsov hugged her and stroked her hair, hoping she wouldn’t cry. He was sorry about her friend the Dag. It was too bad she didn’t have the Ace to tell her not to say aloud every thought she had.
“We should go before the Immortan comes by.”
It was the Immortan himself who’d given Cheedo to Morsov and the other War Boys, but it was clear now that he’d wanted them to hurt her and Capable and Toast, and Morsov was afraid that he’d be mad that they weren’t doing it anymore. He was afraid, too, that if the Immortan saw Cheedo, he would decide to take her back. Surely he regretted divorcing her now, no matter how mad he’d been at the time. She was the most precious thing in the wasteland.
They were crossing one of the bridges between towers when Cheedo stopped in the middle and just stared at the sky.
“You okay?” Morsov asked her. She’d been very nervous the first few times he’d taken her over the narrow rope bridges instead of through the underground tunnels, but he’d thought she’d gotten used to it.
“I think I know why you prefer this way even though it’d be very easy to fall. It feels free.”
“I guess so,” he said. “But it’s just a lot quicker.”
She let go of the ropes and put her arms around his neck. He thought she was going to kiss him, but she just stared at him strangely.
He stared back at her, trying to figure out why she was looking at him like that and why here and now. What she said wasn’t always what she meant, so he’d learned to look into her eyes to try to understand her.
She pressed her lips to his briefly, then she said, “Take me somewhere private. Somewhere we can be alone. Really alone.”
Morsov had to think hard. There were always Boys and Pups everywhere. He couldn’t remember ever being truly alone and he never wanted to be. But he wouldn’t mind being alone with Cheedo.
There was a cavern where a rusted water main had burst and flooded hundreds of days ago. The Repair Boys hadn’t been able to drain it completely, so they’d just closed it off. Morsov shoved the barrier out of the way. It was only there to remind the littlest Pups that they shouldn’t play here. He lifted Cheedo up, mindful of her bare feet and not wanting her to have to walk through cold water. He carried her into a side cave where the ground sloped higher and it was dry.
“Now we’re alone,” he said.
The light from the nearest lantern didn’t really reach in here. It was almost pitch-black. He couldn’t see Cheedo, but he heard the shy tone in her voice when she said, “Do you want to make love?”
Morsov didn’t know what she meant. But he felt her hands on his chest and going lower, and he thought he understood what she wanted. He’d just never heard it called that before.
“Yeah, of course. It’ll be great not to have the Organic Mechanic watching us. Or jealous Boys either.” He didn’t mind being watched by jealous Boys and envious older Pups, but he knew Cheedo didn’t like them staring at her.
He felt her forehead bump his, and he realized she’d nodded. Then she kissed him.
Not being able to see caused his other senses to heighten. Morsov could hear Cheedo breathing, and each of her occasional soft sighs sounded as loud as the war rig’s horn. She felt more solid in his arms, too, and his skin felt almost like it was burning - but in a good way - where she touched him.
She touched him a lot more than usual, smoothing her hands over his shoulders and down his back as they kissed. And when he unbuckled his belts, she reached into his trousers before he could, and took out his cock. It was the first time she’d ever touched it. Which was kind of odd, considering how many times they’d fucked before.
He knelt and lifted one of her legs over his shoulder so he could kiss and lick her cunt.
“Come on,” he urged her. “There’s no else to hear, just you and me. Let me hear you scream.”
She laughed shakily, and he felt her stroking the back of his head. She’d told him once that it was a pity War Boys shaved their heads, that she’d have liked to run her fingers through his hair. She didn’t scream, but she moaned his name when she came, and that was even better.
When he rose back up and kissed her, she hooked a leg around him and guided his cock into her cunt. It was awkward fucking her like this though. He picked her up and felt along the cave walls until he found a smooth patch to brace her against, so he had leverage to fuck her properly.
“Oh!”
He froze, silently cursing himself for getting carried away. “Sorry, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She kissed the top of his head. “I was just surprised, you didn’t hurt me. In fact, I think I like it. It feels different.”
Morsov cautiously allowed himself to put more strength into his thrusts. Cheedo really did seem to like it. He might even have been able to make her come again if he’d been able to keep from coming himself.
He almost slid down to rest on the ground, but he didn’t want to release Cheedo and he didn’t want to drag her down with him, so instead he leaned into her, breathing hard.
Her arms around him felt so nice. He wanted to stay like this forever.
“Cheedo?” Maybe it was because of the dark, but Morsov found himself confessing something he’d never admitted even to himself before. “I’m sorry for what I did the day Immortan Joe gave you to me and the other Boys. I should have been nicer to you, and it’s my fault only that I wasn’t. I’m really sorry.”
She didn’t say anything, but he could feel her hand caressing the back of his head.
Everything seemed different afterwards, though he couldn’t identify what it was. It felt like the air itself had changed somehow. Morsov felt extra good.
Cheedo still refused to go anywhere without him or Capable, so he had to walk her back to the Blood Shed. He didn’t mind. He cherished every moment with her, and not just because all the other War Boys wished they were in his place. Time spent with her was valuable no matter what they did.
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him when they reached the Blood Shed. She looked as happy as he felt, and she didn’t seem to notice the glare Toast shot them or the Organic Mechanic’s lewd gestures.
Morsov was in a very good mood as he headed to the war rig’s garage. He found himself humming a tune he didn’t remember ever hearing the Doof Warrior play. He dimly recalled hearing a woman’s voice sing it, but Imperator Furiosa had never sang, so it had to be the voice of the Buzzard breeder who’d birthed him. Mother, he reminded himself. Capable had almost cried because Dexter referred to her as the breeder of his pup and then she’d told them all that she was its mother.
“Hi, guys,” he greeted the rest of the crew.
“Hey, Morsov!”
“Where’ve you been?”
The Ace, however, was frowning at him like something was wrong. He seized Morsov by his upper arm and dragged him away from the others.
“What’s the matter, Ace?”
“I can smell her on you. Go take a bath. That smell is going to aggravate the others without them even knowing why they’re aggravated.”
Morsov didn’t smell anything unusual, but if he did smell like Cheedo to other Boys, he wasn’t going to wash her scent off. It was beyond chrome.
“No,” he said. He wrenched his arm free of the Ace’s grip.
The Ace looked shocked. “No?” he said, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard Morsov right.
“No,” Morsov repeated. “I won’t.”
“Don’t be stupid, boy. You’ll get yourself in trouble.” He shook his head. “You’ll get her in trouble. I know you don’t want that.”
The Ace was right. The Ace was always right. But Morsov was angry at him. Or maybe not angry, maybe sad because of him. Disappointed.
“Is it true that-” Her name was forbidden now. You were only supposed to call her the Traitor if you had to talk about her at all. “Imperator Furiosa was once one of the Immortan’s wives?”
It had been rumored that she used to be one of Immortan Joe’s wives as far back as he could remember, but there had been a lot of rumors about her, and once he’d become part of her crew, Morsov had learned most of them weren’t true. But this rumor...
“Yes.”
Morsov rubbed his scalp. He was feelings things he knew he shouldn’t feel. Worse, he was thinking terrible thoughts.
“Yes, Morsov, that’s why she betrayed him. She knew the truth, and I guess she just couldn’t be part of this all anymore.”
“You killed her.”
“It was that or have to watch them shred her.”
That was true. But Morsov couldn’t imagine killing Cheedo, knowing that she might not go to Valhalla. As a traitor, Imperator Furiosa had surely been denied entrance to Valhalla. There must have been something else the Ace could have done. “You could have let her flee.”
The Ace reacted like Morsov had punched him in the gut.
Morsov was immediately sorry. “Ace…” he said.
But before he could apologize, the Ace turned and walked away. The rest of the crew called to him, but he ignored them and kept walking.
The others gathered around Morsov. They all looked concerned. Morsov was a very good Boy, and he’d never done anything to make the Ace upset before.
“What happened?” Elvis asked.
“I don’t know,” Morsov replied, and he wasn’t even lying.
Capable XIII
“I’d sooner stab them all in their bellies than help prolong their miserable lives.”
Capable tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. “Toast, it’s the only way you’re going to be allowed out of that cell.”
Toast’s mouth settled into a grim line.
“Don’t think about the War Boys. Think about us. You could help me and Cheedo. And you could help all the other slaves in the Citadel. They need someone to take care of them. The Organic Mechanic doesn’t even bother to help most of them even though he could.”
Toast looked conflicted. And beneath the stubborn defiance and the anger, there was something else. Capable realized Toast was afraid.
“You’re afraid of being out here,” she stated.
Toast didn’t deny it.
“It’ll be okay,” Capable told her gently. “They haven’t done anything more to Cheedo or me. They won’t harm us for now.” Not until the babies were born and weaned and it was time to breed more.
“They all like you,” Toast said. “And Cheedo has her devoted War Boy to keep the others from doing anything to her. But me… well, I’m pretty sure there are several of them holding grudges against me.”
Capable chose her words carefully. “There are a few War Boys who like you very much, and they are among the most dangerous ones. They’ll protect you from the ones who want revenge.”
“I hate relying on my rapists for protection from my other rapists.”
“I know.” Capable reached through the bars and put her arm around Toast’s shoulder, trying to hug her. “But we have no other choice for now.”
Toast sighed. “I’ll do it. I’ll be his assistant, and I’ll swear not to harm any War Boys except in self-defense.”
Capable kissed her cheek, and then went to inform the Organic Mechanic.
“How generous of her to deign to help me,” he said. “I should leave her to rot. She’s lucky Joe likes the idea of you girls earning your keep.” He winked. “Even if Cheedo’s earning hers by keeping up our star lancer’s morale.”
She wasn’t surprised that he’d noticed the way Cheedo looked sometimes when she came back to the Blood Shed. The afterglow of enjoyable sex was obvious to anyone who knew enough to recognize it. Capable had contemplated speaking to Cheedo about it, but she’d decided against it. Between the chastity belt and the rapes, Cheedo had suffered enough of other people controlling her sexually. No one else should have a say in what she did with her body, and that included Capable.
Capable went to the War Pups’ den, where a large group of them were waiting for their daily story. She seated herself on the ground and they formed a semicircle around her, eagerly begging for stories about their favorite topics. Little Kip crawled into her lap, and Capable cuddled him while she told them about various events from the second world war.
They liked stories about war best, and so much of recorded human history was the history of war, that she had yet to run out of stories they’d like. She tried her best to de-glamorize their fascination with warfare. Joe indoctrinated them to believe that the greatest thing a man could do was die in war, so Capable made sure to emphasize that most of history’s war dead hadn’t wanted to die, that the vast majority of them would rather have returned home to their families and lived out their lives in peace.
“It was all so terrible,” she concluded, “That a thousand days later leaders from all over the world met and agreed on something they called the universal declaration of human rights. Does anyone want to guess what it was?”
“They agreed everybody should have their own slaves?” one Pup suggested.
“No, but that was a good guess.” She smiled encouragingly at the Pup, so he’d feel safe and confident to speak again, even if he was wrong. “In fact, they agreed that nobody should ever be a slave.”
She began to list the articles she’d memorized and explain their meaning, making sure to pause and ask them questions in order to gauge how much of it they understood.
When they’d absorbed as much as they could for the day, and their attention had begun to wander, Capable called an end to storytime. “Can you keep a secret?” she asked them.
“Yeah,” most of them shouted. They were all nodding enthusiastically.
“What I’ve told you about those human rights, that’s a secret between you and me, my sweets. No telling it to grown up Boys and especially not to Imperators, okay?”
“What about the Immortan?” one of them asked. He added importantly, “I help powder him.”
“Not even the Immortan,” Capable replied. “He already knows all this. He told me.”
It wasn’t even really a lie. It was Joe who’d had her and his other slave-wives educated in everything about the world he’d inhabited before its self-destruction. She wondered sometimes why he didn’t keep them as ignorant as his Boys and why he didn’t try to brainwash them too into worshipping him. She supposed whatever scrap of decency remained within him wanted the truth to be known and remembered - though only by those powerless to use it against him.
“But you can tell them all about the war,” she told them, so they’d have stories to happily relate to anyone who’d listen, as they liked to do.
A small Pup approached her shyly after the group dispersed. “Capable, can I have some of your hair?”
Capable knelt and smoothed her hand over his bald scalp. “What for, my sweet?”
“I dunno. Zippo asked me to ask you.”
“I’d give you a lock of my hair if you wanted it. But Zippo already asked me himself and I already told him no, so the answer is no.”
“How come you’d give me some of your hair but not him? He’s a shine black-thumb and he’s teaching me everything he knows.”
“I’d give you because you are one of my little sweethearts and you make me happy, but he hurt me and he’s not sorry.”
The Pup’s eyes grew very wide. “He hurt you? How?”
He was very young, so Capable didn’t give him the answer she would have given a War Pup approaching puberty or already entering it. It wasn’t something she should have to talk to a small child about. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
She kissed his forehead and sent him to join the others, before seeking out the Pup who served as one of Joe’s pages.
“Will you speak with me?” she asked him.
He flung himself against her and threw his arms around her, happy to be singled out for personal attention. Capable petted him while she waited for the other Pups to drift out of earshot.
Joe’s War Pup attendants sometimes accompanied him to the vault. Capable had previously considered asking one of them to speak to Angharad for her, but she’d decided against it out of fear that she’d get the Pups in trouble. There was no telling what Joe would do if he caught them delivering messages for her.
“Have you seen Immortan Joe with Angharad lately?”
The Pup nodded. “Every day. Immortan likes to watch Adam suckle mother’s milk. Sometimes he suckles from the Splendid Angharad too, but she’s mean to him.”
Capable’s stomach heaved. She felt terrible for Angharad, but she also wondered if that was something she herself would have to suffer. It seemed very likely. War Boys already tried to get everything they could out of her.
“Will you tell him something for me? Tell him I’m sorry I was ungrateful and I’ll tell Angharad how lucky she is if he wants me to. Tell him when he’s with her, if you can.”
The Pup must have wasted no time in delivering the message, because Capable was summoned to the vault the very next day. She went there alone, the Organic Mechanic having decided she didn’t need an escort when she went everywhere else by herself.
Joe was sitting in his throne-like chair, holding his infant son. Angharad had been standing by the windows, looking out, but she ran to embrace Capable.
Capable hugged her tightly. She knew Angharad would be able to figure out the real meaning of what she was about to do. Time to give Joe his performance.
He’d love it if she knelt, but Capable couldn’t bring herself to kneel. She bowed her head submissively. “Forgive me, Joe.”
“So much unpleasantness could have been avoided,” he replied. “At least you’ve learned your lesson. I’ve been pleased to hear that you’re being a better wife to your new husbands than you were to me.”
She wanted to spit in his face. Instead, Capable tried to look contrite. “May I hold the baby?”
He might want to believe she’d been broken, but he didn’t trust her, not with his precious healthy male heir. “You’ll have your own baby soon enough. You could have had a prince, Capable.”
She’d thought it would be difficult to cry on command, but the tears came easily. Too easily, in fact. It felt like a damn inside her had broken.
Angharad hurried to put her arms around her, but Capable twisted out of her embrace and threw herself at her feet.
“Angharad, you don’t know how awful it is down there. Joe’s just one man. You can’t imagine what it was like having dozens of them force themselves on you. You can’t imagine what it’s like to know that any sons you bear will be just like them, and that any daughters will suffer your fate too.”
She was sobbing. “I remember Joe promised to make you his queen if you gave him a son and you said you’d sooner be fed to Buzzards than be his queen, but Angharad, I wish I was his queen. You’re so fortunate. If I was the mother of his son…”
“You see?” Joe thundered at Angharad. “The others know now what you refuse to acknowledge.”
“Be a good wife, Angharad,” Capable urged. She squeezed Angharad’s leg and stared up at her meaningfully. “Be a good mother to Adam.”
“Oh, Capable.” Angharad bent and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. She was stroking her hair and looking more pained than Capable had ever seen her.
Even if she didn’t understand fully now, she would eventually. Capable rose and gave her a final hug.
“I’ll go back to where I belong now,” she said humbly to Joe, not taking her eyes off him until she’d backed up to the vault door.
Capable felt tired, but triumphant. She’d plotted treason right in front of Joe and his own ego had kept him from seeing it. Hopefully it wouldn’t take Angharad long to figure out why Capable needed her to pretend to be Joe’s loyal, loving wife and loyal, loving mother to his son. This would take much more time, and they would all have to be very patient, but there was so much to hope for now.
Part 6