Survive [Mad Max: Fury Road]

Chapter Seventeen

"Then who killed the world?"

-Splendid Angharad

I did what anyone with a gun pointed at their face would do; I slid the bike onto its side, scraping my leg and side up, but not too badly with all the garb I had on. The gun fired and it flew just above me as I skidded along the gravel and dirt. My eyesight was gone for a moment, sand in my eyes and mouth. I heard the engine of Vlad's bike gearing down, and I knew that he was coming for me. The fuel pod and Furiosa alike were being pursued by the other handful of Riders, about twelve by my count, and Vlad was heading back to take me down.

Us Riders, though I couldn't count myself as one anymore, had very little rules and guidelines. Take what it yours, don't pick a fight you cannot win, and don't kill each other. I had done two of those; Vlad would beat me senseless if he could, I just had to ensure he never got his hands on me. I picked up my bike and started it, racing head on towards Vlad, who had made his turn to come back towards me. In a deadly game of chicken, I lifted my pistol to fire at his tires, as I didn't want to kill him. The bullet ricocheted off of the front fender, a thick piece of metal he put on his bike specifically for this type of event. He fired the shot gun at me, but I evaded the bullet. By now, we were a second away from each other, and neither of us had moved away. I decided I would be fine if we collided; a broken arm or wrist perhaps, but fine. I slid my bike and drove it into his front tire; Vlad's bike flipped over mine and I covered my head in case he came crashing down on me. Instead, my bike continued to slide on the soft moving sand, and I came out almost entirely unscathed. My jacket was torn to shit and my bandanna had been ripped from my face.

Crawling away from the crash site, I stood up as quickly as I could; the Rig was close, but not close enough for me to catch up to without a vehicle. My bike was in decent enough condition, though the forks were bent slightly. I yanked it out of the sand and glanced at Vlad. He was lying on his back with his bike resting on his chest, but he was breathing. Not bothering to finish him off, knowing that his wounds would hold him back long enough for me to get ahead and caught up with Furiosa, I glanced beyond him and saw the Gigahorse crawling up over the rocks.

"Fuck." I muttered to myself for the second time that day. My bandanna was ripped off, lost somewhere among the bike parts and sand, and my hair was untucked. I didn't bother with it, I just needed to get the hell out of there before Immortan Joe spotted me, or Vlad recovered from his fall. The bike growled as I forced it to start; sand littered the engine but it started as I clicked it into first, twisting my wrist to give it much needed guzzoline. My tire spun out, but I was quickly released from the grasp of the sand, and began my pursuit of the War Rig. If I could just latch on to it, I could find a suitable place to perch and fire at the other Riders and the armada behind us. My eyes located Furiosa popping out from the top of the cab, a large gun in her hands as she fired, picking off riders. I trailed the tanker, noticing that the fuel pod had detached; I noticed a lack of Riders, and hoped that they had taken off for safety, and that they found Vlad before the rest of the War Parties came through and ran him over.

Cars were coming from all angles now, and I felt the Gigahorse tailing me; I would be run over in seconds if I didn't dart off to the side. My heart was a lump in my throat, my lungs were filled with sand and despair. I revved up the engine, the bike moving easily to the right of the War Rig; the forks were battered, giving the bike a pull to the right anyways. Noticing the ladder on the Rig, I inched as close as I could to the tanker, hoping that I could launch myself off of the bike, grab hold of the ladder, and pull myself to the safety of the Rig. From there, I could fire at Immortan Joe, who was right behind the tanker. When I shoulder checked to see, I saw that he was right on my tail, following me. My blue eyes met with his and I realized how exposed I was right then. Looking back at the rig, I made my jump, my gloved hands reaching for the rungs of the ladder.