Breaking but not broken.

Chapter 17

[ When they reached the citadel, the sight of Immortan Joe's car caused a commotion. The women, plus Max, drove past the beggars and kept going until they reached the dirt in front of the raised platform. They had taken a few minutes out of their journey to move the mangled body of the former Citadel leader to the hood, and then covered him with a sheet. The remaining war boys - who had been forced to stay behind due to poor health - knew something was up.

"Break." A war boy on the platform told the war pups to stop lowering the platform. He then pointed his gun at the Gigahorse. "Reveal yourself." He demanded.

Max slowly opened the door and crawled out to the hood. His arms were raised in defense. He slowly lowered one hand to grab the sheet. The sight under the sheet caused the crowd to gasp.

"The Immortan Joe is dead!" One of the war boys cried.

Max kicked the dead man off the hood and the beggars bolted for him. Blood, guts, and the dead leader's memory was spread across the valley. Whether they were going to eat him or simply wanted to mangle him was their choice. Max stood proudly in the car, with his hands lowered to his sides. The war pups all watched him with curiosity. The wives crawled out of the car themselves. The Dag was holding her bag of seeds close to her, while Toast and Cheedo looked around at the crowd. Capable joined Cheedo and Toast in their observation. The newest wife had finally woken up, and was now being helped to hood by Max. Her legs were weak but color had begun to fill her face again. Max held the brim of her pants and one of her arms in order to keep her up right.

"The wives...there back." The one of the pups deduced.

The crowd and slaves inside the citadel began to chant in unison, "Bring them up! Bring them up! Bring them up!"

The war pups took over the controls for the platform, the lasting war boys deciding to not fight the uprising. The platform started to lower down to the Gigahorse. While remaining in the car, the women started to rise up on the platform. Not before bringing up the beggars with them. There mangled faces ogled at the thought of being in the Citadel. The girls helped as many as they could up, grabbing their hands and pulling them onto the platform.
There would be no more starving people. No more dehydrated children. Everyone knew this was a new beginning.
Max set The Woman down gently against the windshield. His hand lingered on hers as they both looked from their hands to each other's eyes.

"I have to go." He whispered to her.

She took a deep breath and whispered back, "I know."

Max slipped his hand up to her cheek, and pulled her head forward gently. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She watched him drop to the ground and started to make his way through the crowd. The Woman stood up and gently pushed through the group on the platform until she was at the edge. Max stopped walking for a brief moment and looked up to her. She nodded, and he nodded back. Our heroine looked into the distance as a tear slid down her cheek, so The Wives each placed their hands on the woman's back showing their support. She clenched her jaw fighting back more tears, then broke out into a soft smile. She looked at each of the girls that stood by her now before looking beyond the valley. She desperately wanted to leave this place the moment she was brought here, but now she saw a potential future. She knew this is where she should be.

"The life you have led doesn't need to be the only life you have." -Anna Quindel.