Max Arena (2 page)

Suddenly, the
television switched off. Max threw the remote control onto the
couch and turned to face Elsa. She couldn’t look up to him. She
couldn’t look into those deep blue eyes and keep her composure, so
she pulled his hand up to her chest and looked at it instead.

‘It’s time,’
was all Max said.

Elsa nodded and
felt the first upwelling of tears.

Max pulled her
in tight and stroked her hair. ‘We knew this day was coming,’ he
said quietly.

Elsa tried to
hold the tears back by screwing up her eyes.

‘I made two
promises,’ Max continued. ‘First, I would avenge my mother.’

The first tear
squeezed itself out of the corner of Elsa’s eye.

‘And second,’
Max said, ‘I would protect my family, even if it kills me.’

And then her
emotions got the better of her. A retching sob tore at Elsa and she
buried her face into Max’s chest, clawing at his shirt and spilling
tears down his front. Max simply held her tight. Right now it was
all he could do, but soon the time would come for more. He needed
to prepare. He needed to be ready for what came next and more than
anything, he needed to be ready to die. There could be no hope for
victory if he was not ready to die.

It was two
o’clock in the morning. Max and Elsa had not slept a moment since
turning off the television. They lay still in their bed, Elsa
resting her head on Max’s chest and Max’s arm enveloping her.
Though their voices were silent, their minds were awash with
imaginings of what would happen next in their uncertain lives. Then
Max heard the quiet crunch of grass underfoot outside their ground
floor apartment. He heard the soft scrape of boots on the paved
patio. He even heard the almost imperceptible rustle of synthetic
material as what must have been five or six people gathered and
positioned themselves in the courtyard beyond the glass sliding
doors of their bedroom. Whoever was outside, they were all
undoubtedly armed in some manner with orders to use force as
necessary. Maybe they carried non-lethal ammunition? Rubber bullets
and tranquilisers? To kill the man whose face was inscribed all
across the world would be to learn absolutely nothing, so they
could only be here to apprehend and detain. Not to kill, but maybe
that was being too optimistic?

Max whispered
quietly, ‘Elsa, they’re here.’

Elsa’s head
jerked up.

‘I’m going to
bring the kids in here with us,’ he added.

‘Go. Quickly,’
she almost pleaded.

Springing from
the bed wearing only boxer shorts, Max moved as swiftly and as
quietly as he could into their son, Jason’s bedroom. Picking up
their still seeping son, he carried him back before placing him
gently on the bed next to Elsa. Elsa immediately pulled him close,
while Max disappeared out the door to get their five year old
daughter, Millie. A few moments later he was back with the little
girl cradled in his arms, also still asleep. He then crowded his
wife and their two children up to the head of the bed and asked
them to be as quiet as possible.

Listening as
keenly as he could, Max failed to hear anything from outside.
Whoever the intruders were, they were ready and they were coming.
Max stood in front of the bed, his stance like a granite sculpture,
feet apart, arms flexed down by his sides and his hands spread
open. Elsa looked at Max’s silhouette and again marvelled at her
husband’s physicality. He was not a huge man, but he was solid and
muscular and whenever he moved, it was with purpose. Powerful if
necessary, but then as gentle as a soft breeze when called for.
Right now, he was there to protect them and she pitied whoever was
coming inside.

Then Max turned
and lifted his right hand to his lips and blew them all a kiss. His
glance lingered just slightly and in that moment, Elsa knew she and
the kids were safe. Despite the danger outside those doors, there
was no safer place for them to be than behind her husband and their
father’s form. She smiled and squeezed the kids. Then Max turned
back to the doors and the night closed in.

It was over in
moments, glimpsed by Elsa only through snatches of half-light from
the street lamps outside and the sickle moon. A cacophony of harsh,
brutal sounds accompanied the melee. Smashed locks, shattered
glass, grunts and groans and two gun shots, the twin reports
deafening in the confines of the bedroom. It happened so fast that
neither Elsa nor the kids had time to cry out.

Then a foreign
voice shouted out, ‘Get the light!’

Blinding light
filled the room and Elsa clamped her eyes shut, unconsciously
pulling the two children in even closer, both of them burrowing
their own faces into her chest as they huddled on the bed.

‘Don’t move,
mate,’ said the same foreign voice, the person’s voice firm, but
covering an edge of uncertainty. ‘Nobody wants to bring you
down.’

‘You already
tried that,’ came Max’s voice, even in tone and absolutely without
fear.

Hearing this
riposte, Elsa couldn’t contain her angst any longer and popped her
head up. The scene that assailed her was like nothing she could
ever wish for.

Their bedroom
had been invaded by four black clad soldiers, completely
surrounding the bed at close quarters with handguns extended in
front and pointed directly at her husband. The only flesh she could
see were their eyes inside balaclavas and all four pairs were
fixed, wide open and jittery, on Max. In contrast it appeared as
though Max had not budged a muscle, his stance exactly the same as
it had been while standing in the dark, waiting for the assailants
to come into the room; rock solid and unflinching. Then he did
move.

‘Are you okay,
honey?’ he asked as he turned to look her and the kids over.

Then she saw
the two deep bruises spreading across his chest. ‘What are they?’
she cried out, her hand shooting forth to gesture at the
injuries.

‘He shot me.
Twice,’ came the simple reply.

Elsa threw
glances at each of the men. ‘Who did that? Which one of you…?’

‘It was him,’
Max said calmly, turning and flicking a finger towards the
shattered sliding glass door, ‘and he can’t hear you.’

Elsa directed
her glance through the smashed portal and noticed the soles of a
pair of boots on the edge of the shadows in the courtyard. ‘What
happened to…?’

‘Like I said,’
Max cut-in, ‘he shot me and there was no way he was going to shoot
me again, let alone you or the kids, so I showed him the door.’

‘That’s
enough,’ the foreign voice interrupted. Elsa looked across to note
the owner of the command as the tallest and broadest of the four
intruders. ‘We’ve got orders to bring you back with us,
unharmed.’

‘You’ve already
botched that,’ Max replied, ‘and I’m not going anywhere. I’m
staying here with my family and if you want this to turn out
differently, you’ll have to ditch your rubber bullets and put real
ones in to even stand a chance.’

‘I don’t think
you appreciate the seriousness of your situation,’ the gun-toting
man pressed.

Max’s gaze
burned into the man’s. The black clad intruder nervously shuffled
his stance, while remaining firmly behind the cover of his gun.

‘I know exactly
why you’re here,’ Max said in a low voice, ‘and if you think you
four and your other two men out in the living room are enough to
apprehend me, then it’s
you
that doesn’t appreciate the
seriousness of
your
situation.’

The team leader
of the assailants flicked his gaze towards the door leading into
the living room, then back at Max.

‘Good move,’
Max added. ‘I’d reassess my options right now too if I were
you.’

‘You’re coming
in with…’

‘No,’ Max shot
back firmly, a slight rise in his tone. ‘Get on the phone to your
boss and let him know if he wants to talk to me, he can come
here
. I’m
not
leaving my family. Now get out or I’ll
put you all through the window.’

The team leader
held his ground, his eyes looking Max up and down, a myriad of
options clearly scurrying through his mind. ‘Okay,’ he finally
said. ‘You sit tight. My guys are stepping out to cover the
perimeter while I get some advice.’

Max did not
move, his stance still unflinching. One by one, the four intruders
backed out of the bedroom and through the smashed glass doors. As
they retreated into the darkness, two of them picked up their
unconscious colleague and dragged him away.

It was not
until all sight of the four intruders had disappeared that Max
moved and when he did, he immediately climbed across the bed and
enveloped his entire family in his arms.

Four hours
later, the thin light of dawn crept underneath and around the edges
of the curtains in Millie’s bedroom. Max watched the light
gradually brighten, his night time vigil coming to a close. Looking
sideways, he beheld Elsa and Millie, snuggled together beneath the
covers of the adjacent single bed, peace gracing their features as
they slumbered. Then, looking down, Max’s gaze wandered across
their son, Jason’s sleeping face. He too lay oblivious to the
growing turmoil. At least for now, they were all safe because any
minute, that would likely change.

Then Max heard
a sudden flurry of rustling approaching the bedroom door. Swiftly
rising from the bed and still dressed only in his boxer shorts, he
padded soundlessly across the room to stand against the wall and
beside the door frame. The rustling stopped and a rapid knock
rapped at the door. Elsa’s head snapped up. Max raised his finger
to his lips and held out a raised hand. Elsa kept quiet and fixed
her gaze on the closed door.

‘What?’ Max
said to the back side of the door.

‘We’ve got to
go,
now
,’ came the urgent reply, the voice familiar as the
team leader of the intruders.

‘Like I said,’
Max started, ‘I’m not going anywhere without my family.’

‘You’re
all
coming. We’ve got a plane on the tarmac, ready to fly
you all to Canberra.’

‘Why Canberra?’
Max asked.

‘You said you
wanted my boss to come here,’ the voice replied, the urgency still
evident, ‘well, he can’t, so he’s sent his jet up for you to go to
him. Okay?’

‘Who’s your
boss?’

A muffled
profanity sounded behind the door before the man continued. ‘The
Prime Minister of Australia, which makes him
your
boss too
and believe it or not, he’s on
your
side.’

‘He’s not my
boss,’ Max returned, ‘and right now, there’s only four people on my
side. Me, my wife and our two kids. Everyone else, the jury’s
out.’

‘Come on! We’ve
got to go,
now
!’

Max cast a
glance to Elsa who wore angst all over her face. Something was
wrong.

‘Why the rush?’
Max asked.

‘Something’s
happening on the street.’

‘What do you
mean
something
?’

‘Some sort of
military exercise or…I don’t know. All I know is there’s blokes
with guns running all over the streets out here and I’ve got orders
to get you and your family onto a plane and out of the way, so come
on!’

Max turned back
to Elsa and gave a single nod. She nodded back. Max pulled the door
open to reveal the team leader, anxiety clawing at his features. It
was clearly not the time to squabble. Max turned and rushed to the
bed, scooping both children up into his arms as though they were
weightless. By now they were awake, but not very certain of their
surroundings, so when Max picked them up, they compliantly curled
into his arms. Elsa followed Max through the door, still in her own
pyjamas and Max in his boxers.

‘There’s a Land
Cruiser out the front,’ the black-clad gunman said as he led them
through the apartment and out the front door. ‘It’ll take you
straight to the airport with two other cars in escort. You’ll be
safe with us.’

Emerging onto
the footpath, Max halted and looked around. He heard a scream from
somewhere down the street. Elsa pulled up close behind him and they
both looked in the direction of the distress. Then breaking glass
sounded from the other direction. Then tyres screeched on a nearby
corner and the sound of a car accident ripped the morning stillness
apart.

‘Come on!’ the
team leader called out, holding the back door of a white Land
Cruiser open that was parked just down the street from them.

Another scream
sounded from a different direction. And then another from somewhere
else. Then Max heard footsteps, running. Turning around he saw a
young man sprinting along the footpath towards them, having exited
from the adjacent apartment block stairwell. Then another young man
appeared ten or so metres behind him, also sprinting. Fear twisted
their faces.

‘Get behind
me,’ Max said simply to Elsa.

Elsa did not
hesitate. Quickly she slid around behind Max’s form as he slipped
the two kids down to the ground to wedge them between his legs and
his wife’s. Two of the black clad intruders appeared from the
opposite side of the car with their hand guns drawn and aimed at
the running men.

‘Stop!’ they
yelled. The two young men did not stop. ‘Stop or we fire!’

Still the two
young men ran, their running motions wild and desperate. Sporadic
screaming and smashing windows now emanated up and down the street
and across the neighbourhood. Max clenched his fists, his gaze
fixed on the first young man, but already prepared to confront the
second as well. Crouching slightly, he readied to tackle the first
one head on. The black-clad gunmen continued to shout and threaten
them and then the situation changed, completely and utterly.

From the
stairwell of the adjacent apartment building that the two young men
had emerged from, two other figures appeared. Max saw them come
into view over the shoulder of the second running man and he
instantly knew what was happening. Meantime, the black-clad gunmen
were taken totally by surprise, their attention shifting
immediately from the two young men to these two new figures,
disbelief causing their aims and their jaws to drop.