Max Arena (17 page)

Joe nodded. ‘Very well. As I was saying,
the news as of last night is that social services are starting to
falter in the provincial areas. Regional transport of goods is
starting to become erratic
and so, the supply of basic food stuffs is becoming
unreliable in the supermarkets outside of the capital and larger
cities. We are trying to support the major freight companies with
military logistics to keep the food supply networks functioning
throughout the country, but this is an increasing challenge as we
are needing to use more and more military resources at the same
time in maintaining law and order in the capital
cities.’

Elsa smiled grimly.
‘So the small towns are struggling for
food and the big cities are struggling to keep the peace?’ she
asked.

‘
In a nutshell, yes. At least the capitals
have food on the shelves, for now, but law and order is slowly
eroding. It’s not out of control and thankfully the fascination
with arson seems to have lost its novelty, but still our paramedic,
police and fire services are stretched. Everyone is on
edge.’

‘
But we’re holding?’ Elsa asked. ‘I mean,
we haven’t started to spiral uncontrollably downwards have
we?’

Joe paused and that moment of silence spoke
volumes to Elsa.

‘Have we, Joe?’ Elsa pushed.

‘
No, we haven’t,’ Joe finally answered,
shaking his head gently. As he did, he also looked out over the
western lawn and spied Max out exercising with Kris, the two of
them just jogging together for the moment. ‘However, we’re now
starting to see migration from the struggling provincial centres
into the capital cities. People think the big cities are holding up
better than the regional centres, so they’re making the move, but
that will only exacerbate the burden on the larger centres. Yes,
they have more reliable food supplies, but the increasing
population will break that reliability and then, the inevitable
increase in lawlessness will take place. You mention a spiral?
Well, I can see that spiral beginning to brew.’

‘
Why, Joe?’ Elsa
asked a little more desperately than she would
have liked. ‘I understand that people are afraid of the end of the
world. That’s obvious, but we all still have to live for the next
six months and plunging ourselves straight into anarchy is,
well…it’s just like giving up. I don’t get it.’

Joe sighed and leaned back in his
chair
, looking out to
the lawn again. This time he found Kris standing next to Max who
was doing a single arm handstand next to her.

‘
The human psyche is quite simple, Elsa,’
Joe continued. ‘
When
faced with adversity, especially anything life threatening, we
choose fight or flight. It’s a primal response. We instinctively
react with one or the other and for those of us that have given up,
we’ve chosen flight and that manifests as “there is no tomorrow”
and “we’re all doomed” and so, these people slip into antisocial
behaviour. They choose to live by the law of the jungle and exploit
everyone else. It’s these people who have stopped working and have
resorted to stealing and violence. It’s these people who are
escalating the rise of chaos.’

‘And those who have chosen to fight?’

‘
They’re the ones still going to work and
trying to hold on to the normal lives we had two weeks ago.
Fortunately denial works in our favour here. The vast majority of
the population still doesn’t truly believe all this media hype
about an alien invasion and the world is doomed. At this point
denial is supporting the “fight” mentality, but as the “flight”
population grows, those out there in denial become increasingly
victimised and disillusioned and turn to “flight”. This trend is
common in the early stages of any major threat, but we need to
counteract the trend quickly. This burgeoning migration of people
is one key indicator that the social fabric is
unraveling.’

‘
So what do we do, Joe?’ Elsa asked, also
leaning back in her chair
, her eyes flicking side to side, slightly
frantic.

Joe
paused then said, ‘I truly don’t know, Elsa, but what I do
know is that if we are to stand any chance of having a human race
beyond the duels, we have to keep you and your family safe. That is
non-negotiable. Max needs to make it to the arena safe, fit and
mentally prepared to fight and that means everyone he holds dear in
his life also needs to be safe.’

Elsa fell quiet again, her gaze dropping
to the table. Joe held his own peace, allowing Elsa to arrange her
thoughts. He turned and looked back out over the grass and this
time found Max doing one armed pushups with his feet raised on a
bench. Kris hovered over him, like a drill sergeant with a cadet.
Then Joe
looked further
afield and as expected, he found Peter, leaning against the wheel
hub of Kris’ support truck, his manner relaxed, but Joe knew
better. Peter had every angle checked and every person within five
hundred metres squared away. The man was a hawk and his talons were
always at the ready.

Joe turned his attention back to Elsa.

‘
What’s on your mind?’ he gently
asked.

Elsa half shook her head and looked up,
rolling her eyes as she did.

‘
You don’t have to say if you don’t want
to, but…’ Joe started.

‘No, I will,’ Elsa interrupted. ‘It’s just
that it all sounds so selfish.’

‘Try me.’

Elsa paused and gathered her words.

‘
Okay,’ she began
, the words tumbling out of her mouth. ‘The world
outside is going to hell and Max and myself and the kids are all
living here in luxury as safe as houses. There’s nothing fair about
that, but on top if it all, I don’t even
want
to be here. The kids deserve their childhood back.
They’re innocent, but again, at least they’re safe and when I say
something like that, I feel like such a hypocrite. I’m whinging,
but I’ve got nothing to whinge about compared to just about
everyone else out there. How screwed up is that?’

‘
Sounds perfectly normal to me,’ Joe said
mildly. ‘This evil threat came unbeckoned and uncalled. We’re all
struggling with how to deal with it emotionally.’

‘
Don’t get me wrong, Joe and I’m not going
to give away too much that we’ll tell you soon anyway, but Max and
I have expected this thing for some time. We knew Macktidas would
come one day and we’ve prepared ourselves for it. I’ve known for
several years that one day I would have to sacrifice Max and my
family’s happiness. What I didn’t expect was for Macktidas to
threaten to kill the entire human race. My point is, I thought I
was ready, but the bastard upped the ante so damn high that now I
don’t know what to do or how to feel even about it.’

Joe held his gaze on Elsa, resting his
elbows on the table top and lifting his clenched hands to his face,
looking over them at her. Elsa looked away towards the house where
she could still hear the kids and their teacher talking. The pause
in their conversation lengthened. Joe finally spoke, his tone
quiet.

‘
Elsa, you bear a guilt that I don’t think
many people in the world today could truly understand,’ Joe began.
‘However, let me try to rationalise what may be troubling
you?’

Elsa flicked a quick glance at him and nodded
before looking quickly away again.

Joe nodded, then said, ‘I have sent good
men and women to their deaths in wars in faraway lands for reasons
that were not always obvious to me and were certainly not obvious
to those innocent souls. I would even go so far as to say, I
expected
them to lay down their lives if
they had to. While the exact reasons for the conflicts were not
apparent, the need for their sacrifice and hardship was, at least
to me.
Freedom
and I do
not mean freedom in any clichéd sense or glamorous ideal, but for
the very essence of the word and its pure, unambiguous definition.
Freedom. There is no finer cause to fight for except maybe love,
but not everyone has love as a luxury. You however do, Elsa. You
have both freedom
and
love to
fight for and in this God awful situation we find ourselves, you
unfortunately are being forced to sacrifice one for the other
and
that
is not
fair. For humanity to retain its freedom, you have to sacrifice the
one you love. On the other hand, if you choose to keep the one you
love safe, we will all lose our freedom. There is nothing fair or
just about anything in that.’

Elsa still did not look at him. Joe
continued.

‘
I imagine you have
already asked yourself many times over,
Elsa, why is
your
husband
and
your
happiness
more important than the lives and freedom of countless others?
Well, the answer is obvious. Because he’s
your
husband and it’s
your
happiness and you’re absolutely entitled to
both
of those,
so here’s the
thing…
’

Elsa
finally looked up, the harder edge in Joe’s last words
focusing her attention. She found Joe’s eyes fixed on her’s, his
pupils glinting steely hard, like flint stones reflecting bright
light. He continued.

‘
Elsa, you’re also entitled to your
guilt.
Bear
it
and
suffer
it. Come
to terms with it and when you’re ready, beat it down,’ he said, his
tone still quiet, but now fierce as he more clearly enunciated his
syllables, forcing emotion into his words. ‘This is what
you
have to do and I know you’re
capable of it. I’ve seen strength before, Elsa and I don’t mean
physical strength, but
real
strength. Strength of character, of principal. The sort of
strength that lifts people out of the mire and frees them. The sort
of strength that lights a torch in the dark and leads others to
home, to safety. The sort of strength that can inspire normal
people to do great things and you, Elsa, I can sense that strength
in you. Your husband has the strength of body to beat monstrous
foes away from the door, but do you know why he does it? Not
because he’s a big man who can fight like an archangel. No, he does
it because of
you
, because of
how you inspire him. He does it because of how you raise his
children and how you protect them and love them and protect him as
well. Max will save us all if he can, but not because of us, but
because of
you
. You are as
much the hero here as he is and I don’t think it’s in your nature
to give up, so don’t. Fight as hard as you can and for as long as
you can. Fight like I know you can because when the rest of us are
struggling to keep our heads above the deep, dark waters of
despair, I know we will always have your light above us, in front
us, leading us on and giving us strength and hope. You’re our rock,
Elsa and we need you. We need
you
more than anyone because Max needs you.’

Elsa
sat frozen, her breath caught in her lungs. Joe’s words
rooted her to the spot and deep down in her core, she felt a spark
light, a match in the dark and now Elsa could feel that new warmth
spreading quickly through her. Her eyes wide, her body tense, she
felt her growing despair melt as the warmth advanced along her
limbs, right to the tips of her fingers.

Elsa
breathed and turned her head towards the house. Inside the
kids were giggling. She could feel a cool breeze fluttering across
her skin. She was alive. Her family was safe and now she knew what
she had to do. Her internal conflict, her guilt was gone. She
needed to be strong. She needed to be the torch Joe spoke of. Max
needed her. Millie and Jason needed her. They all needed
her.

Joe spoke. ‘I think that’s one of the best
pep talks I’ve ever given.’

Elsa turned back to him and found a gentle
smile, her Prime Minister having reverted back to
a
n old friend. Putting
down her coffee, Elsa reached out and clasped Joe’s hand and
squeezed it tight.

‘You are one of the best of men, Joseph
Tollsen,’ she said beaming, ‘and all I can say is thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you.’

Joe smiled back and he also felt something
else he had not felt for a long time, warmth in his soul.

‘
You are very welcome,
Elsa’ he said. ‘Now, I must go and try to
keep the peace in the world at large. I appreciate the
conversation.’

Meanwhile, out on the lawn, Kris looked
back at the house to see Joe stand up and leave Elsa alone in the
pool enclosure. She wondered what they had been talking about.
Things had looked pretty tense for a bit there, but that hand
holding at the end seemed a lot more relaxed. A clunk brought her
attention back to the lawn.

Max straightened from his haunches after
having completed his fifty squat jumps and thrown the barbell that
had been across his shoulders to the ground.
Sweat gleamed off his fully pumped frame.
Kris had worked him pretty hard and it showed, but Max had also
lapped it all up and even now though he was breathing a little
heavy, in a few moments, he would be fully recovered. The man was
unbreakable, or maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough.