I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you that have followed and enjoyed this series. I appreciate your feedback more than you will ever know. Now for the conclusion�
(} W.A.R.S {)
Tournament 5
Max and the othersâ chips were activated and they were loading in an hour. Max couldnât climb into the chopper by himself. Two guards grabbed him by the arms and tossed him in on his face. The pain in his shoulder and back was growing with each minute. Relief was in his reach but he couldnât take a pill now, he would need to be as alert as possible. He crawled into the seat and lay back. He watched the others board. They were the worst looking bunch yet. The guards took particular care this trip. Their guns were at the ready every second. Max resigned himself to his end. There was no way he could fight any one of these guys and win in his condition. W.A.R.S. was making sure he would lose. They were going to have their way by hook or by crook.
Maxâs heart began to pound as the helicopter set down. He thought about Gina. Was she all right? If she had made it she would find someone else someday and settle down and be happy. The thought of never seeing her again weighed heavy on him as the door flew open and the combatants jumped out. Max stumbled to the door and jumped out. He fell to the ground. If he werenât able to get through the barrier they would just shoot him where he lay. He pushed himself up; the others were standing at the barrier waiting for them to shut it down. Max looked up at the huge dome stadium before him. VL Dome! He couldnât believe his eyes! They had brought him to an old childhood haunt. He had heard they were going to tear this place down. If anyone ever needed a home-field advantage it was Max and it was now. And they just gave him one!
Max had spent a ton of time here. It was named for some old coach or player or some sports figure from the last century. Maxâs dad told him about the guy but Max couldnât remember exactly what the deal was. Max was ten miles east of Green Bay. He had grown up here, he parents moved when he was sixteen. He and some of his middle school buddies would come here when they were having events and help the vendors with their stock. One vendor in particular; an old guy named Harris. Mr. Harris would put Max and his friends to work bringing his stuff up the elevators to the second tier where his concession stands were. When they had finished he would feed them hotdogs and hamburgers and pay them a little bit. Then they would spend the next couple of hours roaming through the place. There were crawl spaces and catwalks all over this place. Max already knew where he would head. A place he could take a painkiller and not have to worry about anyone finding him. He made his way to the barrier.
Max glance down the side of the dome. Memories were flooding back to him. There was the elevator he had ridden a million times. But it was up on the second tier! They were supposed to be down when the power was shut off. Yes thatâs right, they wouldnât stay up without the power on. It must be staying up by the hand lock on the safety chain. That was dangerous. There was an elevator on each side of the dome.
He looked to his left and then to his right. There werenât many combatants here. If they were spread this thin around the whole dome there must not be more than thirty. The guy to his right was studying him like a hawk watching a rabbit. He looked back at the dome. The barrier shut off. Max made for the entrance in front of him. The barrier buzzed back on. He had made it past the first obstacle. When he got to the entrance he made a hard left and shot up the stairs as fast as he could. He looked out into the dome. It was dim, like every other light was off. He headed to the concession stands.
There were four concession stands in each quadrant of the stadium. There were bathrooms and skyboxes in each quadrant on the second tier. There were entries to the lower seats about every hundred feet. There were a dozen sets of stairs leading up to the cheap seats above the boxes. Each set of boxes had a private hall that led to them; there were two steps down and then a carpeted hallway. It kept the boxes somewhat secluded. There were ushers at each hallway checking passes. Max saw a blue container sitting in the middle of the walkway in front of the concession stands. He pulled it between two of the stands. There was a plasma rifle on a tripod between the stands against the back wall. Max turned it on; he looked around to make sure he was alone when it buzzed. The large hinged metal covers were closed over the stands. Max yanked the one on the side as hard as he could. With pain shooting through him with each pull he finally broke the lock. He pulled the container up on the counter and lay the rifle beside it. He crawled over the counter and dropped the cover back down. It was dark inside.
There was the slightest light coming in under the door to the storeroom. These rooms ran behind the concession stands around the whole dome. They were partitioned off between stands to keep the vendors goods separated and they disappeared altogether where the bathrooms were. Max turned the doorknob; it was unlocked. He pulled the container in and shut the door. The container had water and wafers, nothing else. He packed them away and headed up the ladder at the end of the room. There were ladders in all the storerooms that led up to service access areas. Max made his way up into the infrastructure of the dome. He stopped to rest on the catwalk above the hallway of the first set of skyboxes. He felt safe here but he wasnât ready to stop and take a painkiller. There were hatches in the ceilings of each box that service technicians would use to install TVs, entertainment centers and other electronics for the rich guys that owned the boxes. He could crawl down into any of them if he wanted to but they didnât seem as safe as his chosen destination.
He looked out over the skyboxes into the dome. There was a two-foot gap where Max and his buddies used to crawl out and watch the games and the crowd. When you got out to the edge you could look down and just see the windows of the boxes. He crawled out to take a look. The field was dotted with containers. Gunshots broke out just as Max got to the edge. He saw several people scurrying around. An open field didnât seem to be the place to be if you asked Max. He saw at least two dead guys. The light was dim. He looked up and smiled inside; his hideaway awaited him. A fireball exploded near the far end of the field. Max eased back toward the catwalk.
He was almost back when he heard voices! They were below him in the box. He froze and listened. He could barely make out what they were saying. He pressed his ear against the hatch. Why would anyone be in here talking to each other?
âI know what Iâm supposed to do. Iâm telling you he disappeared as soon as we got inside. I looked up and he was gone,â the first voice said.
Max heard a two-way radio key up.
âWhere are you?â a second voice asked over the radio.
Max couldnât hear the answer come through.
âWeâre in the first box in the southwest quadrant. Have you seen Fallon?â he asked.
âNo we lost him when we first came in. The plasma rifle and container were gone too, so weâre pretty sure he came this way,â the voice said into the radio. âOk, check back in an hour.â
It fell silent. Maxâs had a feeling these guys were here for him, now he knew they were. His blood ran cold. He lay back to think. How was he going to get around a hit squad sent in here to kill him? How many of them were there? WAS EVERYONE IN HERE AFTER HIM? The gunshots down on the field told him they werenât, some of these guys were here to fightâŠand die. He tried to settle down and think. He was in too much pain to think. He needed to rest. He made his way to the catwalk going up to the top of the dome; it traversed the circumference of the dome. There were a series of walks that led up, six walks in all. They met at the scoreboard gondola in the apex of the roof.
Max had to stop and rest a couple of times before he made it to the top. When he finally got there he slide the door on the top of the gondola open and dropped down. He took his belt off and wrapped the handle of the door to the structure like he had done as a kid. No one could open that door now. They used to climb up here and watch the games and especially watch the people. You could see every inch of the inside of the dome from here. He popped a painkiller and took a long drink of water. Max began to get groggy. His thoughts strangely went back to another time he had spent up hereâŠ
âŠWhen Max graduated high school his parents paid for him to come back to visit several old friends. They had kept in touch over the last three years. Max would meet them in Green Bay and they were all going to drive to New York City to celebrate graduating. His best friend in the world, Tommy Crane, had gotten a new car for graduation and they were going to break it in. Max got to town a few days early. He couldnât resist going to see old Mr. Harris when he heard there was a monster truck rally at the dome. Mr. Harris welcomed him home and told Max how much he had missed him. Then he put him to work hauling his food and drinks. Max was glad to lend a hand. Just as he was finishing he noticed a girl he had gone to school with a couple of stands down from Mr. Harrisâ. Abigail Townsend. Max had a huge crush on her in middle school. She was a year ahead of him in school. He went to say hello.
âHi Abbey!â Max called out.
Abigail turned to see who was hollering at her. She didnât recognize Max at first but his face was familiar. When he reminded her who he was she threw her hands around his neck and hugged him so hard he could barely breathe. Max was turning into a really handsome young man by now, not that he wasnât before but now he was getting hot. She had had a crush on him too but never told him. She was more than thrilled to see him.
âMax I canât believe youâre here. Are you back in town? For good I mean?â she asked in her excitement.
âNo, just here to go to New York with Tommy and Nate. Sort of a belated senior trip weâre taking,â he told her regretfully.
âOh too bad,â she said with genuine sorrow in her eyes. âHow long you in town for?â
âJust two days then we take off,â he replied.
Abigailâs father owned a food business that supplied the dome vendors. She had just ridden with him to see one of them. They were having problems with meat quality. Imagine that in this part of the world.
âCould you give me a ride home if I hung around awhile?â she asked.