Max Arena Read online

  Kris stood transfixed just inside the entry.

  ‘What do you want us to do?’ Elsa asked gently.

  Kris stirred and turned around. ‘Um, get changed I guess,’ she said.

  Max looked around the room.

  ‘Over there in the corner,’ Kris added, motioning to a door on the far side of the room. ‘Meet you back here.’

  Max nodded and made his way to the change room. A minute later he came back out dressed all in black in an Adidas training tank top and black shorts, but the most striking things were his shoes. Bright orange Nike Frees with blue laces and matching blue swoosh.

  Kris arched an eyebrow as she looked him up and down. ‘Nice bling,’ she said. ‘I hope your moves are as flash as your shoes, big guy?’

  Kris stepped across and laid a hand on her husband’s shoulder. ‘You’re just jealous,’ she replied, ‘because he’s got brighter shoes than you.’

  Glancing down at her own red Nikes with yellow laces, Kris nodded. ‘You got that right. Not happy.’

  Max and Elsa looked at each other. Suddenly, a sharp clap brought their gazes back round to Kris.

  ‘Enough gas bagging,’ Kris shot out. ‘Let’s get busy. First, let’s see how well you bench. Ditch the bag and come with me.’

  Max obeyed, pushing his bag into a niche in the nearby open lockers and then following Kris through the gym to the free weights area. Elsa followed at a distance. Once on the rubber mat, Kris dragged the benches out of the way and turned to face Max.

  ‘First trick. How many push ups can you do?’ she asked curtly.

  ‘Don’t know,’ Max replied. ‘Never tried.’

  ‘Give me ten to start, but if you can do twenty, even better.’

  Max nodded and lowered himself to the floor. He started his push ups, slowly at first, but then as he got closer to ten, he sped up. After twenty, he pushed himself to his feet.

  Kris mused silently for a moment and then said, ‘Give me twenty more, but this time put your feet up on the bench behind you.’

  Max turned to look at the bench and then lowered himself down again, planting his toes on the red, vinyl covered bench to elevate his feet. Thirty seconds later, Max was finished and back standing. Kris scanned him for any signs of fatigue and failed.

  ‘Good,’ she said at last. ‘Now, tell me how you got that chest of your’s? Lifting weights or all natural?’

  ‘All natural,’ Max said.

  Behind Kris, Elsa smiled.

  ‘Alright,’ Kris continued, ‘let’s do some bench press. We’ll start you off light and then see what you can get up to, but before we do that, let’s do a few more upper body stretches just to make sure nothing goes pop.’

  A few minutes later, with his torso and arms fully stretched, Max lay on a bench with a weighted barbell resting on the rack over his prone form.

  ‘Okay, there’s forty kilos on the bar,’ Kris started. ‘I reckon you’ll lift this easy, but just go steady. We don’t want you in traction before you have to save the world. Try for ten.’

  Max nodded and grabbed the bar firmly with both hands, assuming a wide grip. Pushing upwards, he easily lifted the bar clear. Then, lowering it slowly to his chest, he paused before pushing it all the way back up. At the top, he paused again and then lowered it down to his chest again. Kris watched carefully, her arms crossed and a slight knit in her brow. After his tenth repetition, Max gently clattered the bar back onto the rack and sat up.

  ‘How was that?’ Kris asked.

  ‘Like you said. Easy,’ Max replied.

  ‘Let’s double it,’ Kris shot back. ‘Grab another twenty kilo plate and bang it on that end. I’ll get this end.’

  Max stood and walked over to grab another large weight plate. Together, he and Kris loaded twice the weight onto the bar, forcing it to bend slightly.

  ‘Can I borrow one of your guys to give you a spot?’ Kris asked.

  Max looked across at Peter who in turn nodded to the other member of his team. The man obliged and silently walked across to stand at the head of the bench, while Max lay down again.

  Kris stepped out of the way and stood to the side. ‘Go steady again,’ she said. ‘This will be tougher. Try for five and if you can, go to ten.’

  A few moments later, Max had easily pressed the barbell through five repetitions and without a pause, followed through with another five. Replacing the bar on the rack, he sat up and looked at Kris.

  ‘More?’ she asked, squinting.

  ‘Double again,’ he replied.

  Kris paused as she looked him over. ‘Fine, but we’ll need another one of your boys.’

  Two minutes later, one hundred and sixty kilos burdened the bar, which gravity now seriously assaulted, placing a definite bow in it. Max lay on his back underneath the bar, while another of Peter’s security team had come inside to spot with one man positioned at each end of the weighted load.

  ‘The bar’s at max load,’ Kris said, ‘and I want you blokes on each end to keep your hands on it at all times. Max is going to have some trouble with this, so stay focused.’

  The two men said nothing and instead braced their feet a little wider apart, their hands placed on the ends of the bar.

  ‘Max, I want you to try one lift,’ Kris continued. ‘Down and up is fine. These guys will help you all the way. Okay?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Max said as he gripped the bar again. ‘Sure thing.’

  Max took a deep breath, focused on the bar and pushed up. The two guards’ hands stayed loosely held on each end. Max paused at the top and then slowly lowered the bar. Smoothly he controlled it all the way down to his chest and then just as smoothly, pushed it all the way back up.

  ‘Good work, Max,’ Kris said. ‘Now put it back on the rack.’

  Max held the bar raised in the air for another moment and then slowly lowered it back down to his chest.

  ‘Alright, Max. Push it up and rack it,’ Kris repeated a little firmer.

  Max smoothly pushed the bar back up all the way to the top and then after another pause, lowered it down again. Kris opened her mouth to speak, but held her tongue as Max pushed the bar up again a little faster. Kris then watched Max pump out another seven repetitions without halting.

  At the end, Max replaced the bar on the rack and sat up. Turning to Kris he found her frowning with crossed arms and beaded eyes. Max ignored the look and asked, ‘Got a bigger bar?’

  Elsa’s smile widened. The two security guards exchanged glances. Kris didn’t budge.

  ‘Off the bench,’ she finally said. ‘Let’s go rowing.’

  Five minutes later, Max was standing in the middle of the free weights area, the bench press bar on the floor in front of him and forty kilos slapped on each end.

  ‘Now, just like I showed you,’ Kris said as she stepped up beside Max. ‘Feet hip width apart. Knees slightly bent and your torso bent over at the hips till your back is about thirty degrees angled up from the plane of the floor. Make sure your back is arched up as well. Shoulders high and butt stuck out the back. You lose that form, your lower back is going to hate you for a long time.’

  Max mimicked Kris’ bent over stance. Kris continued.

  ‘Now grab the bar with an overhand grip, just wider than shoulder width,’ she said. ‘Pull the bar smoothly up, no jerking, till it hits your gut. Make sure you squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lift. Don’t try to just use your arms because you’ll fail and probably pop a bicep along the way. At the top, hold the bar and squeeze your shoulder blades as much as you can for a full second and then slowly lower it down again. Do ten if you can. If you can’t, just lift it as many times as you can. Make sure you keep that back arched and your butt out. Okay?’

  ‘Got it,’ Max replied, reaching down to grip the bar as instructed.

  ‘Right. Take it slow,’ Kris said, stepping out of the way.

  With his grip on the bar, Max looked up in the full length mirror to confirm his form. Staring himself down, he pulled the bar off t
he ground. Fifteen seconds later he had completed ten smooth repetitions with no falter. Placing the bar back on the ground, he straightened and looked in the mirror at Kris who was already returning the look.

  ‘Let me guess?’ she asked. ‘Double?’

  Max nodded. Kris flicked a glance at Elsa who shrugged in reply. Kris then turned and walked over to grab another heavy weight plate, her frown deepening.

  Thirty minutes later and now on the squat rack, Max eased the bar back onto the pegs and off his shoulders. Ducking out from underneath the bar, he looked sideways at Kris.

  ‘What’s next?’ he asked.

  Kris just looked at him, her frown now permanently ingrained. Silence settled over them, its strength as potent as any drug. Kris switched her look across to Elsa who shifted uncomfortably on the bench on which she was sitting, but remained quiet.

  ‘There’s nothing left to lift,’ Kris finally said. ‘I’ve made you work every muscle group across every inch of your body and maxxed the weights and machines out at the same time. You’ve pulled and pushed yourself around the gym and lifted more than I’ve seen most grown men do and I’ve seen some seriously big men and on top of that, I can’t even see a drop of sweat on you. Hell, you just squatted two hundred kilos like the bar was empty. I...I don’t know what to...’

  Kris trailed off shaking her head. She looked askew at the ground, her frown now verging on worry. Elsa stood up and walked over to Max and they silently looked at each other. Max then flicked a glance up to Peter, who was looking right back at him, his face like stone, his eyes hard and piercing. Max also glanced at the other two security guards in the room and they too were looking at him. Elsa had also noticed that the spotlight had centred squarely on her husband. She leaned in.

  ‘I think you might have just scared everyone,’ she whispered.

  Kris’ eyes snapped up at hearing the whispering. ‘Clear some space,’ she quipped. ‘Time for some cardio.’

  Max and Elsa glanced at each other again and then watched Kris start to drag a bench off to the side of the free weights area. Max stepped in and helped out by pulling two more benches clear to make a space in the centre of the mat in front of the mirror. Elsa stepped back to stand by one of the benches. Sneaking a peek up, she found Peter and his two comrades no longer looking at Max. That at least made her feel a little more relaxed.

  Kris turned to Max and said, ‘So, we just established you can lift pretty good, but that’s only half the story. If you really are fit, you can do more than just pump iron. Let’s check out your cardio. Cool?’

  ‘Cool,’ Max replied.

  ‘Right, you should be warm after all those weights, so I think we can crack straight into a tabata. Do you know what that is?’

  ‘Yep,’ Max said. ‘Elsa whinges about them all the time and that you make her do too many, but just to check, it’s twenty seconds flat out for the first exercise then ten seconds rest and then twenty seconds flat out for the second exercise and repeat three more times. All up that’s four minutes right?’

  ‘That’s right and flat out are the key words. We need one hundred percent. Don’t leave anything out. We’re going to check your heart rate at the end and I want at least a hundred and forty beats per second or else it means you’re not trying hard enough. We’ll mix it up with burpees as the first exercise and uneven push ups for the second. You okay with what those are?’

  ‘Burpees I know, but what’s an uneven push up?’ Max asked.

  Kris turned to the rack behind her and lifted off a bright red medicine ball. She then threw it at Max who caught it.

  ‘Normal push up,’ Kris started, ‘but with one hand on the ball. When you come back up to the top, roll the ball across and put it underneath your other hand and do another push up. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Fast as you can. okay?’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Good. We’ll start in ten seconds. Burpees first.’

  Max nodded and dropped the medicine ball down next to his feet, waiting silently for Kris to kick him off. In the extended pause, Kris looked Max up and down. The man was pumped. She had seen lots of ultra fit men in her time and Max was in that club, but there was something else about him. Sure he was strong. Crazy strong, but it was the way he moved. Smooth and balanced, but there was something else. Purpose. Everything he did had a purpose and everything he did, he finished. Without realising it, Kris was as tense as a gazelle on the open plains, her nerves on the edge.

  ‘Go,’ she barked and in a blur, Max dropped to the floor to start his burpees.

  Four minutes later it was done. Max had finally cracked a sweat, but only just. It was more a slight glisten if you caught him at the right angle beneath the lights. His breathing laboured slightly as he held his fingers to his throat, checking his own pulse. Kris watched as her stopwatch clicked up to fifteen seconds.

  ‘Stop,’ she said. ‘What’d you get?’

  ‘Eighteen,’ Max said, his breathing now back at normal levels.

  Kris slowly raised her gaze to meet his.

  ‘What?’ Max asked.

  ‘Eighteen? You’re sure?’ she asked dead pan.

  ‘Eighteen, bang on,’ Max replied.

  ‘Let’s do another one,’ Kris said hurriedly, stepping over and kicking the medicine ball out of the way, ‘but burpees only this time and instead of ten seconds rest standing up, stay down in the push up position.’

  ‘Okay,’ Max replied. ‘You want me to start on the ground?’

  ‘Yep.’

  Max lowered himself down and pushed himself up into a push up position on his hands and toes. ‘Say when,’ he said.

  ‘When,’ Kris shot back.

  Just over four intense minutes later, Max stood checking his own pulse again, while Kris monitored her stop watch.

  ‘Stop,’ Kris said.

  ‘Twenty,’ Max followed up with.

  Kris froze. Max and Elsa looked at each other. Kris then turned and with her hands on her hips, walked a few paces away from them. Elsa looked over at Peter who was again fixed on Max. Things were definitely uncomfortable now.

  ‘What’s wrong, Kris?’ Elsa asked.

  Kris stopped walking and slowly shook her head, her back still turned.

  ‘What is it?’ Elsa pushed.

  Kris spun and looked at her, hard.

  ‘Your husband just did back to back tabatas and through his second one, did a steady burpee every two seconds every cycle, no problem. That’s not world record pace, but it’s pretty damn good.’

  ‘That’s great isn’t it?’ Elsa asked brightly.

  ‘Yeah, it is,’ Kris answered, ‘but his heart rate hasn’t even broken seventy-five beats a minute and that’s a resting heart rate for most blokes.’

  ‘Like he said, he’s pretty fit,’ Elsa added.

  ‘That’s not pretty fit, Elsa,’ Kris rifled back, shaking her head emphatically. ‘That’s insanely fit. He just ripped his way through two breakneck tabatas without cracking a decent sweat on top of making a mockery of every weights exercise I can think of and demonstrating if he really tried, he’d stand a damn good chance of nudging every power lifting record in the book. That’s not normal. It’s far from normal and so, it leaves me with only one question to ask and I need a straight answer here. Absolute truth.’

  ‘Fire away,’ Max replied.

  ‘Are you on any drugs, performance enhancing, medicinal or otherwise that could explain your...your high levels of fitness and strength? I don’t care if you’re a steroid freak. I’m not here to judge you and if you need to be on roids to make you fit enough to fight off aliens and save the world then so be it. Bring it on. I just need to know because if you are on something, it makes a huge difference to how I train you?’

  ‘No, I’m not on anything,’ Max said straight faced. ‘Never have been. Wouldn’t even know what to take.’

  Kris stood stock still, her arms crossed as she studied Max’s face. The silence stretched. Elsa crossed her gaze to Peter who was not watching,
but she knew he was listening.

  ‘Okay,’ Kris finally said. ‘You are what you are, even though I’ve never seen or heard of anyone like you.’

  ‘So, what do you say?’ Elsa chipped in. ‘Are you in?’

  Kris shifted her gaze to Elsa for a few moments and then turned to look at one of the silent televisions hanging from the wall in front of the row of empty treadmills. The images consistently showed emergency services in action all over the country as fear grew unchecked. People in pain. Lives being randomly destroyed and then an image appeared depicting Max’s face carved on to the Himalayan Range and her mind was made up. Turning back to Max and Elsa, she fixed them in her focus.

  ‘If the world’s going to end,’ Kris said, ‘then you’re the guys I want to be with. I’m in.’

  ‘Thank you!’ Elsa shot back, running over to embrace Kris. ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’

  Kris returned the hug, but over Elsa’s shoulder she kept her eyes on Max who looked evenly back. She may have had a smile on her face, but inwardly, deep inside Kris’ head, alarm bells had just started ringing.

  3pm, 2nd July (later the same day). Isolation

  While Max and Elsa left to pick up the kids, Kris was whisked into one of the security detail’s black, armoured Land Cruisers and driven straight back to her apartment. Once there, she had precisely two hours to pack. If it didn’t find its way into a bag in that time, it stayed behind.

  She was then bundled back into the Land Cruiser and driven away without being given any indication of where they were going. After about thirty minutes of silent travel in the back seat on her own, Kris looked through the windscreen and noticed that another of the Land Cruisers had returned and linked back up with them to take the lead. Turning around, she then found the other two Land Cruisers behind her’s, all four vehicles lined up in convoy. Somewhere enroute to wherever they were going, the entire security entourage had rejoined them. Kris assumed Max, Elsa and the kids were in one of the other four-wheel drives, probably the other middle one behind her’s, which made her feel a little better. If the star of the hour, Max was with them, they were going somewhere safe.