Disclaimer: I do not own Mad Max Fury Road or the characters of said movie.

Ride the Fury

Prologue – Blood Bag Baby

"Back…stay back!" a grunt of pain echoed into the night and wide grey eyes watched in fear as two heavy set men pulled her sister down and away from her.

"Furi" a young girl cried out and tried to pull away from the third man that held her captive. Her sister screamed in anger and whipped from side to side trying to pull away from the stronger below men.

The young girl gasped in pain as the man that held her threw her to the ground hard and the air was knocked out of her lungs. Gulping and trying to get the air back she couldn't move as the man flipped her onto her back and grinned down at her with blackened teeth and hideous breath.

"Bag of bones you are." He said with a soft purr, he stroked her soft skinned face and gripped her chin in a calloused hand. The girl strained her ears to hear anything from her sister, but could not hear anything. Panic gripped the young girl and she knew that this man was going to do terrible things to her. Shifting as much as she could her fingers reached and scrabbled against the grainy said trying to find anything to help her. Her searching fingers found a sharp stone and she gripped it in a tight knuckled hand, the sharp edges biting into her soft skin.

She waited until the Below Man's face was right above her and then swung her tightly fisted hand into the man's nose, the rock adding extra weight and hardness, she pushed upwards and the man grunted, jerked and then fell over on top of her, his warm blood soaking her face. His dead weight was almost suffocating and the young girl felt as if she had had her breath stolen from her lungs again.

Closing her grey eyes tightly she tried to hear what was happening to her sister. After a few moments the heavy body was pulled from her and the girl blinked up into the star filled sky and smiled up at her panting sister.

"You're safe, it's over." Her sister kicked the corpse of the Below Man hard and then pulled her sister to her feet. "Come, I need to see Organic Mechanic to see if he can fix my hand." Looking down at her sister's mechanical hand the young girl swallowed heavily, the mechanics looked crushed and would probably need to be scrapped.

"Quickly Furi, we need to hurry back." The young girl would also report that next time the two of them were to be sent to pick up Organic Mechanics scrap metal supplies that they should be accompanied by a guard. Grabbing her sister's flesh and blood hand the young girl pulled her older sister forward, back to the Citadels safe walls.

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"Strap that Blood Bag down!" Organic Mechanic ordered, spittle flying from his lips as he forced the newly acquired woman face first into the dirt. The War Boys had picked up a good sized convoy of desert people and most of them were universal donors.

"Girl! Get over here and set this up" a young girl, her hair shaved close to her skull and large grey eyes scurried forward with needles, hooks and tubing. She watched as the crew of three finished hooking the new Blood Bag up to the ceiling and she stepped forward finding the vein and sticking the needle in. The blood flowed through the tubing and the girl then faced the waiting War Boy. His sunken eyes stood out in his too pale face, the Citadel had had a shortage of Blood Bags for its war boys and their half-life. The War Boy gave the girl a wan smile as she hooked up the tubes to his forearm.

"Valdarx, you will be well again in 24 hours. Rest well here." The girl said and patted the young War Boys arm.

"Gods be to you Tempest Serene." The boy greeted back with a bow of his head. The young girl that worked alongside Organic Mechanic was well known, as well as her reputation. The War Boys had learnt early on to be respectful to the girl, she was their healer, soft touch and life-line to becoming strong enough to journey the fury road. The first War Boy to hit her had lost his hand and had died a day later from both blood loss and shock, it was not a glorious death. The second War Boy had been thrown from the Citadel without his last rites being performed. The last had been three Below Men who had attacked the girl while she had been on a supply trade. They had all been dismembered and thrown to the scavengers. All had been killed by her older sister Imperator Furiosa, the strong war rig driver and these actions had been sanctioned by Immortan Joe and his sons.

"Are there anymore today Organic Mechanic?" the young girl asked, pushing the hood of her cloak back from her face to watch the older man clean and return his operating tools.

"Nah, go check on the newest War Boys, check that the rev heads are up to scratch." The young girl bowed her head and formed a triangle with her hands in respect before hurrying away through the corridors of the citadel.

The new War Boys were those who had completed training in the pits and were ready to take on the Fury Road and the Desert Lands. It was her job to check over them and learn which War Boy was next for a new Blood Bag. If they didn't catch the sickness in time the Citadel would lose too many of their War Boys.

"Gartek the Keeper, Organic Mechanic sent me to check your boys." The tall man in front of her had his hair shorn short like her own, his skin was tanned leathery from the harsh sun and he had worked in training the new War Boys from many years now.

"Come through Tempest Serene"

They both walked down the central staircase to the pits below where the newest War Boys trained in packs. In each there were war parties already formed with a leader for each.

"Nux and his War Party are the next to journey forth." Gartek whistled shrilly and the twenty boys stopped their knife drills to turn and face their trainer. "This is Tempest Serene, line up and she will check your health." The War Boys moved quickly to form a line, their leader quickly forcing the slower ones to pick up their feet. Tempest shed her cloak onto the dirt floor and placed her bag of body checking tools to on top of the cloak to keep it clean. She then took a seat beside her cloak and motioned for the first War Boy to come forward.

Nux stepped forward, his chest bare and unmarked apart from the War Leader emblem burnt into the centre of his chest.

"Come, sit." Tempest waved her hand in front of her and waited for the boy to take his place. He looked to be only a few years older than herself but she could see the sickness was already taking him. He hid it well, his blue eyes were sharp and focussed, his legs and arms strong and as a leader he knew not to show weakness, but none of these hid the slight shaking of his fingertips and the unsteady breath that hitched in his chest every five breaths.

Pulling the breathing checker to her ears she places the cool metal onto the War Boys chest, he shied away from the cold feeling and a shiver raced over his skin. Listening to the boy's breath she calculated how long he could last before he became too weak and a liability to his team. Tempest watched the boy's eyes as he stared down at her, his hands clenching on his knees.

"Do you feel hot? Cold? Does light hurt your eyes?" she asked. Her eyes trained on the War Boys eyes after each question, knowing he would remain silent as all War Boys did when asked about weakness, however the eyes could not lie and she noticed the slight twitch when she asked about the light. Humming under her breath she put the listening device down to his heart and listened to the squelching noise of the blood travelling through his body, her fingers tracing his wrist to follow the feel of his heart rate.

"Thank you Nux, please send the next of your War Party, once I have finished my examination I will relay the results to you as their Leader." The War Boy grunted and stood swiftly, pulling away from her, his eyes shadowed by the low light.

Each boy was checked and only Nux and Fevar were the worst off. They would both need a Blood Bag within the next month if they were to survive long enough to be of use to Immortan Joe. With the examination finished the War Party under the direction of Gartek continued with their knife drills.

"When do you leave for your first scouting?" Tempest asked as she stood next to Nux, he was taller than her by a few inches and he faced his training War Party.

"Three days from now." He replied, he was frowning and his blue eyes tracked the movements of his men.

"You and Fevar will need a Blood Bag as soon as you can catch one. Fevar first, you are stronger and so will last a few more weeks." Nux nodded his bald head his eyes slanting side ways to watch her.

"You will let my men go first?" the question was valid, those with more power and had a reputation were more likely to get first choice of a Blood Bag and if it were up to Organic Mechanic that would be the way things worked. However Blood Bag assignment was up to her, under order from Immortan Joe and so she could make sure that the blood was shared around to maintain a larger army for their leader.

"Yes, and if you capture them yourself you will be top of my list." She smiled at the surprised look on his face.

"War Boys are important, and newer war parties are more efficient in their work." She turned to face the boy and waited until he turned towards her. "Leaders most of all. Do not go on to Valhalla too quickly Nux."

Tempest left then, gathering her cloak and bag without a further look back. Her next stop was to check Immortan Joe's wives and make sure that they were in good health and to make sure that the growing babies were growing well.

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Splendid Angharad stood and greeted Tempest Serene as she entered the Wives Abode, beside her stood The Citadels History Woman, her tattoos swirling over her aged skin. The other younger wives lay about The Abode, the white of their linens contrasting starkly to the darkened room.

"How are you feeling today Splendid?" The tall blonde girl smiled kindly, her hand coming up to graze the other girls face, the scar that ran from her half ear and over and down her chin, ending in an ugly scar across her throat was disfiguring and the only thing that had kept her from becoming one of Joes wives. The girls were always fascinated by Tempests scars as it contrasted greatly from their perfection.

"I am feeling well and the babe moves within." She replied. Tempest placed her hands over Splendid's rounded belly and waited to feel the movement.

"It is good, I estimate another two months before the child comes. How are the others?" Splendid was the first of Immortan Joes wives and his most favoured. After her Capable with her flowing red hair shook her head and waved Tempest away.

"I have started my moon cycle but check The Dag" Capable said with a wave of her hand in the direction of the tall, slender white blonde haired girl. She was younger than Splendid, Capable and Toast however she was also frequented by Immortan Joe because of her large eyes and long limbs.

Tempest hurried over and checked the wife over, ignoring the girl's protests and strange words. The Dag was the negative girl of all the wives of Joe and she also cursed and swore almost constantly. Tempest had gotten used to ignoring the girl as much as possible.

"Yes, you are carrying a child." Tempest confirmed and the blonde Dag rolled her eyes a scoffed.

"Right, get off me Slag" The Day said pushing the tall, grey eyed girl away. Tempest bowed and then turned to Toast.

"I will need to check you and Cheedo as well." But her arm was caught by Splendid.

"That can wait. We wanted to talk to you about Furiosa and the Green Place."

Tempest Serene stopped and stared at the tall, pregnant woman with narrowed eyes. She then cut a quick glance at the History Woman, but the old woman was tracing words along her arm and was not paying any attention.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Tempest said quietly, she however blinked slowly and dragged a hand down Splendid's own and squeezed the woman's hand. "Furiosa will be back later tonight, perhaps we can ask Immortan Joe if she can visit and tell you stories?"

Splendid smiled secretly and nodded her head, the other wives patted Tempest on the back and ushered her out of the Abode.

"Until tomorrow, we will make sure that Immortan Joe is happy as can be." The wives laughed and circled about each other, talking and laughing with each other as they made plans.

Tempest hitched her bag onto her shoulder and left the Abode to go back to Organic Mechanic to report and also to check on the current War Boys who were receiving Blood Bags. She would speak to her Sister once she returned that night, hopefully she would be able to deter the Wives desire to escape, Tempest Serene knew that the Desert Lands were unsafe and only Furiosa knew and remembered the Green Place. The Citadel was home to her and although there were not many happy days, at least they were safe and had food and water. It was a better existence than many had down below.

Tempest waved to Organic Mechanic and then got back to work, making sure that the well-oiled machine of the War Boys continued to work.

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TBC