Those were things he understood. Mind you, his people were the ones usually taking other people captive but that was at least a language he could understand. Respect for the fallen, a world where people could be captive, a place where survivors reminded themselves of what they'd survived.
He mimicked the gesture back, crossing his arms in the X shape, which said something about him, that he'd try to communicate on her level. Other people had better ways, he'd learned that already. And his people didn't have a proper greeting - they didn't do greetings. They did raids and captures and hunts and pursuits. You didn't need greetings when a proper War Boy greeting was a lancer bombing someone from a pursuit vehicle. So it was her gesture he mimicked back, hoping desperately to find some kind of commonality, some kind of connection so he wasn't truly alone in this place.
Nux didn't know what a vocabulary was but she wanted to match something so maybe what they had to do was tell each other more about where they were from until they could find some kind of understanding.
Maybe if he explained Citadel and what had happened to him recently, it would help.
"I'll try to - to give you words. Enough to understand." He licked his scarred lips. "I'm a War Boy. From Citadel. Citadel is - a mountain. Mountains. Carved out on the inside and that's where the green is kept and the milk mothers who make the milk and the tread mill rats that pump the aqua cola - the water - and raise and drop the platforms. And down below are the wretches and sometimes they get raised up but they get put to work inside the mountain. For the War Boys, we start as War Pups and become black thumbs - mechanics. And then lancers and drivers in the raids and trades and supply runs. We used to serve Immortan Joe. He was - he was in charge, controlled all the water. The center of our whole world. He taught us that he was immorta, he died and lived again, but that was a lie. That was..."
He trailed off, looking a little lost. That was his whole life turning out to be a lie and it was still a hard bug to swallow.
"Furiosa - she was one of his Imperators, she was, uh -" What word could he find. "Boss lady. A leader under him but over the War Boys. She helped his Wives - his prize breeders - escape. And we went on a merry chase and I brought my blood bag."
He was starting to realize a lot of his words would make no sense to a stranger.
"A blood bag is, uh." How did he explain that one. "I'm half-life, born dying." He pulled down the blanket to gesture to the tumors at his neck. "Barry and Larry are me mates, giving my windpipe a hug. A blood bag is a full-life that we hook up to give blood to sick War Boys. I was - I needed to be topped off, nearly falling on my feet, so I brought my blood bag on the chase and he got free and joined Furiosa and the Wives on the war rig Furiosa stole. And then I failed Joe and hid on the war rig because I knew there was no going back. Capable - one of the Wives was so...she was kind. And I started to realize what was wrong."
He shook his head in a way that was somewhat frantic.
"Everything was - everything..." Everything he'd believed in. "They didn't want to be things and my blood bag, he turned out to be less high-octane crazy. Still crazy but he wanted to - to help. And I helped them, too, because I started to understand and we joined up with the Many Mothers - Furiosa's people. She wanted to find them and the Green Place. Where she came from when she was young, before she was taken by Citadel. We were all going to go to the Green Place but it turned out the Green Place had spoiled and gone poisoned and most of the Many Mothers were gone. So my blood bag - the road warrior - came up with the idea to go back to Citadel and take over the Aqua Cola and the green. We made a run for Citadel and planned to block the War Boys at the pass. Which I did. The Wives and Furiosa killed Joe and I crashed the war rig at the pass behind them."
He was babbling, he realized that now. But he was very confused and if he couldn't understand anything here, maybe he could make her understand everything back home enough that she could find a way to bridge the gap.
"I don't understand." He gestured to the kitchen. "Any of this. It's not - there's nothing here I know and I don't understand how it works. No black thumbs, no V8, no milk mothers. Nothing. Nothing's the same. It's wasteland back home. There were wars. Long ago. Over guzzoline and water. That's when they dropped the poison bombs and most people were made half life."
He leaned forward slightly as if sharing a secret.
"And I should be dead." A pause. "And I feel...good." He gestured to himself in confusion. "I've never not been sick."
no subject
He mimicked the gesture back, crossing his arms in the X shape, which said something about him, that he'd try to communicate on her level. Other people had better ways, he'd learned that already. And his people didn't have a proper greeting - they didn't do greetings. They did raids and captures and hunts and pursuits. You didn't need greetings when a proper War Boy greeting was a lancer bombing someone from a pursuit vehicle. So it was her gesture he mimicked back, hoping desperately to find some kind of commonality, some kind of connection so he wasn't truly alone in this place.
Nux didn't know what a vocabulary was but she wanted to match something so maybe what they had to do was tell each other more about where they were from until they could find some kind of understanding.
Maybe if he explained Citadel and what had happened to him recently, it would help.
"I'll try to - to give you words. Enough to understand." He licked his scarred lips. "I'm a War Boy. From Citadel. Citadel is - a mountain. Mountains. Carved out on the inside and that's where the green is kept and the milk mothers who make the milk and the tread mill rats that pump the aqua cola - the water - and raise and drop the platforms. And down below are the wretches and sometimes they get raised up but they get put to work inside the mountain. For the War Boys, we start as War Pups and become black thumbs - mechanics. And then lancers and drivers in the raids and trades and supply runs. We used to serve Immortan Joe. He was - he was in charge, controlled all the water. The center of our whole world. He taught us that he was immorta, he died and lived again, but that was a lie. That was..."
He trailed off, looking a little lost. That was his whole life turning out to be a lie and it was still a hard bug to swallow.
"Furiosa - she was one of his Imperators, she was, uh -" What word could he find. "Boss lady. A leader under him but over the War Boys. She helped his Wives - his prize breeders - escape. And we went on a merry chase and I brought my blood bag."
He was starting to realize a lot of his words would make no sense to a stranger.
"A blood bag is, uh." How did he explain that one. "I'm half-life, born dying." He pulled down the blanket to gesture to the tumors at his neck. "Barry and Larry are me mates, giving my windpipe a hug. A blood bag is a full-life that we hook up to give blood to sick War Boys. I was - I needed to be topped off, nearly falling on my feet, so I brought my blood bag on the chase and he got free and joined Furiosa and the Wives on the war rig Furiosa stole. And then I failed Joe and hid on the war rig because I knew there was no going back. Capable - one of the Wives was so...she was kind. And I started to realize what was wrong."
He shook his head in a way that was somewhat frantic.
"Everything was - everything..." Everything he'd believed in. "They didn't want to be things and my blood bag, he turned out to be less high-octane crazy. Still crazy but he wanted to - to help. And I helped them, too, because I started to understand and we joined up with the Many Mothers - Furiosa's people. She wanted to find them and the Green Place. Where she came from when she was young, before she was taken by Citadel. We were all going to go to the Green Place but it turned out the Green Place had spoiled and gone poisoned and most of the Many Mothers were gone. So my blood bag - the road warrior - came up with the idea to go back to Citadel and take over the Aqua Cola and the green. We made a run for Citadel and planned to block the War Boys at the pass. Which I did. The Wives and Furiosa killed Joe and I crashed the war rig at the pass behind them."
He was babbling, he realized that now. But he was very confused and if he couldn't understand anything here, maybe he could make her understand everything back home enough that she could find a way to bridge the gap.
"I don't understand." He gestured to the kitchen. "Any of this. It's not - there's nothing here I know and I don't understand how it works. No black thumbs, no V8, no milk mothers. Nothing. Nothing's the same. It's wasteland back home. There were wars. Long ago. Over guzzoline and water. That's when they dropped the poison bombs and most people were made half life."
He leaned forward slightly as if sharing a secret.
"And I should be dead." A pause. "And I feel...good." He gestured to himself in confusion. "I've never not been sick."