Max Arena (60 page)

At the end of
the final duel, as Macktidas’ dead body vanished in a golden haze,
Joe had hurriedly sent Peter and his team down to retrieve Max from
the wreckage in the weapons bay. The orders were clear and urgent.
Get Max to the evacuation chopper,
immediately
. In parallel,
Abdullah’s personal security team were sent to round up Elsa and
the children and Kris. The arena stadium and the entire island had
become perilously dangerous and they could not linger.

As soon as
victory had been realised, the stadium crowd had rioted. There was
no malice or aggression in the twenty thousand strong’s actions.
They were in fact, jubilant, but their passions were unbridled and
so the situation had just simply became too dangerous and out of
control. Team Max had to leave.

While Peter
and Abdullah’s security teams sprang into action, the island’s
military personnel and other security teams protecting other
dignitaries also mobilised into effect, but this just enhanced the
chaos. In the confusion, emotions escalated, shots were fired and
lives were lost. Not all of the dignitaries escaped and several
helicopters crashed as the airfield adjacent the stadium descended
into pandemonium.

Adding to the
chaos was the very real fear that despite victory, an alien
invasion was still possible. Yes, Max had defeated all his
opponents, which should have secured everyone’s’ safety, but he had
also killed their ruler and would that not trigger a violent
backlash all the same? Invasion had to be imminent and the first
place the Nar’gellan army would come would be right there to the
island where the murder took place.

So, Peter and
his team dashed down to the weapons bay to secure Max, while
Abdullah’s team gathered the remainder of Team Max to get to Prime
Minister Tollsen’s waiting helicopter. Abdullah, Joe, Elsa and the
children all arrived first, buckling themselves in, eager to see
Max, Kris and Peter and all be together again. Then Peter had
arrived. His team had picked up Kris along the way. Max himself was
draped over Peter’s own shoulders. Together, Peter’s team hauled
Max up into the cabin and everyone immediately realised he was
unconscious.

Joe had had
the foresight to make sure a small medical team was onboard to
assist Max in the case of any injuries and it was to this team that
Max was passed at the rear of the cabin. Elsa sat as close as she
could with Millie and Jason huddled in with her.

‘Go! Go!’
Peter called out as he pulled the cabin door shut, with all of Team
Max now safely inside.

Instantly, the
wheels lifted off and their aircrew navigated a safe passage away
from the airfield and out over the inky blackness of the Pacific
Ocean. The medical crew continued to work on Max, while everyone
else looked on.

Elsa’s wide
eyes feverishly watched every movement, her ears hearing every
hushed word passed amongst the medics. Joe sat quietly, pensively
as he observed and silently considered their situation. Kris and
Abdullah sat together, hand in hand. Abdullah prayed and Kris
hoped. Peter sat alone, his hands remaining clenched since he had
pulled the door closed.

Max did not
move. Max did not respond to stimuli. Max was beyond reach and then
the doctor slowly straightened and sighed, his eyes closing as he
exhaled. Then, turning his grey eyes up to Elsa, he shook his
head.

‘I can’t find
a pulse,’ he said softly. ‘He’s gone.’

Elsa did not
react. She did not bow her head. She did not cry. She merely inched
forward to sit next to her husband and take his lifeless hand into
her’s as she looked down on his peaceful face. Elsa’s dream came
back to her, where Max had stood alone as a giant against the tidal
wave that threatened to consume the world and he had fought it off,
only to be dragged away by the receding water. The dream had come
to pass. Max was dead, but he had saved them all.

Abdullah saw
the doctor shake his head and he immediately lowered his own in
deeper prayer, seeking Allah’s divine intervention to guide Max’s
soul to Heaven. Kris gasped and tears filled her eyes, but she
fought back her sobs in respect of Elsa and the children. Joe’s
gaze dipped and became unseeing. He had hoped that if victory was
achieved, Max would be with them to help right the world, but now
that hope had been taken away. Fate had cruelly played them one
last, despairing card. Peter’s fists clenched tighter as rage
filled his mind.

Then, within
seconds, Team Max bonded again. Kris wiped her eyes dry and turned
to gather Millie and Jason together, carefully ushering them
forward to Elsa. Eagerly, the children clutched at their mother,
snuggling in close. Elsa looked up at Kris, who gently smiled back.
Elsa simply nodded and then looked back down at Max.

Joe broke from
his internal dismay and laid a hand on Peter’s shoulder. The touch
made Peter flinch as he flashed his head round to find his greatest
inspiration looking kindly back at him. Instantly, Peter’s rage
settled and he found enough solace to realign his mind to the
present and consider what to do next. Abdullah broke from prayer
and looked around, finding his friends all comforting each other
and instantly, these simple acts of compassion uplifted him. They
were all safe and even though Max was dead, his sacrifice had not
been in vain.
All
of their efforts had not been in vain.

The world
lived on, but all was not well. There would be no miraculous global
outbreak of peace and restoration of society. Humanity had imploded
and was holding on by the most tenuous of threads. Anarchy racked
every corner of civilisation. Extraterrestrial genocide had been
avoided, but inbred genocide was rampant. Not even the coalition of
G20 nations had survived in the last few hours. The United States
of America, all of Europe, Japan, Russia and all of South America
had collapsed, perhaps irreparably. Death still stalked the planet,
scything down millions as every hour passed.

Even here,
inside the cabin of this helicopter, Death had found Team Max, but
Abdullah knew that together, this remarkable band of human beings
could achieve anything. He knew now that Allah had gathered them
all together to help the world return from the grips of barbarity
and reclaim civility and faith. This was their calling and Abdullah
would devote the remainder of his existence to this task. Humanity
still needed Team Max, even more now that Max himself had been
called away.

Abdullah
squeezed Kris’ hand and allowed her to push in close to his side.
His love for her was now undeniable and he would cherish it always
as he took up his new path. Looking across to Joe, his friend
looked back at him and unspokenly, they reaffirmed their
partnership. They were in this together again.

Next to Joe,
Peter was leaning forwards to talk with the pilots. The man had
already reassumed his security role. With Max dead, Peter had now
realigned his focus onto his Prime Minister and once again, he was
in familiar territory, protecting the man he held more dearly than
any other.

Finally,
Abdullah turned to Elsa. What he discovered surprised him only
momentarily. Elsa’s face was serene. She had already acknowledged
her husband’s passing and was preparing to let him go, but not yet.
Now was the time for reflection, while he still lay close and
within her touch. With Millie and Jason silently nestled into her
lap, the Dyson family was together at the end. Fate could not split
them apart so easily.

Abdullah
smiled. The cabin was quiet. Not eerily or morbidly quiet, but just
still as everyone remembered their journeys to this point. Every
moment of joy and every moment of pain, all of them worth the
experience.

‘
Al-ḥamdu lillāh
,’ Abdullah said to himself. ‘
Praise be to
Allah.’

A smile gently
lifted the corners of his mouth and then, just as he began looking
away from Elsa, Abdullah noticed a tiny smile caressing her
features as she looked down at her husband’s hand in her’s.
Abdullah lowered his gaze to follow Elsa’s and his pulse skipped.
His eyes widened slightly and hope flooded his mind.

Unbelievably,
within Elsa’s grasp, Max’s fingers clutched back, his knuckles
creased and slightly white. That meant only one thing. The man was
alive! Max was alive! Abdullah held his peace and then Elsa, as if
she knew the Sheikh was watching, turned around and looked up at
him. Elsa’s smile broadened as a single tear welled in her eye and
rolled down her face.

‘
Al-ḥamdu lillāh
,’ Abdullah repeated as a tear of his own fell
clear.

THE END

Who Is Jamie Doyle?

Well, what to
tell? Not much really, but because you got all the way to the end
of Arena Max and found yourself on this page, you’ve earned a
little bit of info.

Let me tell you
a little bit about my passions. I have two. Telling stories and
helping people help themselves. Firstly to stories. Why do I like
telling them? I love to inspire people through their own
imaginations. I can put words on a page and visualise in my own
mind what the scenes and characters look like in my stories and how
these fictitious worlds come together, but ultimately it’s up the
reader to do this for themselves in their own ways. Then, with the
reader’s imagination unleashed, all sorts of things become possible
and if that free ranging imagination creates inspiration, then who
knows where it ends? Inspiration through imagination. It gives me
goose bumps just thinking about how limitless our capabilities
become when we’re inspired to be creative.

Secondly,
helping people help themselves. I don’t have the answers to
people’s problems in life, but what I love doing is helping people
realise there are ways to solve those problems and while I may
provide some suggestions and observations, it’s up each of us to
find the answers within ourselves. We all suffer setbacks, crises
and grief, but within each of us is the strength to grow out of
these troubles and make something positive out of our lives. So,
how great is it to provide that helping hand to others to lift
themselves higher. We can all stand tall, but sometimes we just
need someone to stand with us first.

I have lots of
stories in my head, but the reason I chose to share Max Arena is
because I really love the way Team Max bonds together and as a
group, rise together and try to make a difference. The easiest
thing in life to do is to try. Success or failure aren’t as
important after trying.

I hope you
enjoyed Max Arena.

Also By Jamie Doyle?

Time stands on the
brink of destruction. History and the human race are about to be
wiped clean from Earth's record and only Atreus Knight can prevent
it. He needs to find the keys to time before they fall into the
hands of an alien war chief committed to destroying humanity and
claiming lordship of all space and time. Bullets and fear can't
stop him, but maybe fate can. Time will tell...

=======
====

Atreus Knight's mission in life is to live it to the
fullest and not miss a single second of it.
He's also a world renowned archaeologist with a
talent for obtaining antiquities that are either lost to mankind or
beyond the reach of any sane person. Then he's approached by a
client with a proposition that is impossible to refuse. A search
for the lost home of one of history’s most mysterious women, the
Queen of Sheba. This quest would lead him into the depths of the
holiest city on Earth, Jerusalem and then force him to venture into
the furnaces of the Arabian Peninsula all the while being dogged by
enemies both known and unknown, seeking to take his prize and his
life if need be.

However, Atreus’ client is not your regular paying
customer. He’s literally not from this world and the
artifacts he’s convinced Atreus to
find are the most powerful objects ever created. The keys to time
and he has to find them fast because if he fails to secure them,
then all is lost. Not only is the safety of the world in danger and
the fate of the human race in peril, but history itself stands on
the brink of being completely unraveled. Atreus has failed only
once before in his life and that took the most precious things he
had ever known. This time failure carries a penalty unimagined and
he will not let that happen, even if it kills him.