Chapter 31

What was a modern arena just minutes ago is now reminiscent of an apocalyptic site with bodies scattered all over the ground. The three rockets launched by Mr Y have decimated the place from ceiling to floor with rubble and bodies scattered in every direction. The air is thick with smoke, toxic and hard to breathe. The loud ringing noise moments ago from the previous music and voices of the crowd has now turned to silence.

Blaze slowly opens her eyes to the reality in front of her whilst laying on her stomach. The first thing she notices is all of the blood stained over her arms extending to her back. On the floor next to her side appears a deep red pool of blood, but this is alarmingly strange because nowhere on her body seems to be heavily bleeding or in any intense pain. She uses her palms to lift herself up to her knees, suddenly finding it difficult to catch her breath. As Blaze scans the room, it is difficult to see further than 5 metres ahead due to the smoke still lingering around.

"Axel?" Her voice croaks as she nervously scans the room for him. The last thing Blaze remembers is him with his arms around her, covering her on the ground with his body on top of hers whilst protecting her head before the last explosion. It suddenly dawns on her that the blood on her and on the ground must be his.

"Axel? ... Oh my God…" As she crawls forward, her heart skips several beats and her worst fears arise when she finds him a couple of metres away. He is lying there on his back on the floor motionless. He also appears to be heavily bleeding from one side of his body next to his waist. Blaze ignores all of the other individuals lying on the ground around them, whether they are still or badly injured and trying to move. One man on his front extends out his arm, barely able to call out for help but Blaze can only focus on anxiously checking Axel's pulse.

"Can you hear me?" She nervously listens to his chest then takes his wrist. Thankfully, Axel is still alive but things are not looking great. She then reaches for one of the towels by the side of the ring then does her best to compress the wound. It's likely that a shard or debris punctured his side during one of the explosions.

"It's gonna be ok, please don't leave me…" Blaze fearfully says to him with her hands shaking and full of blood.

Unexpectedly, she is startled when she feels a hand behind her resting on her shoulder.

"It's ok, it's me. Don't be scared!" Feeling deflated, she turns around to find Max standing above her gazing down with regret in his eyes.

"I don't know what to do…" Blaze replies, appearing distressed.

"Is he alive?" Max anxiously queries. She then gives him a frantic nod.

"I'll get him out of here then! In the meantime get yourself to safety and find the others, I'll catch up with you!" Max then kneels down and carefully places Axel's arm over his shoulder.

"But, I can't leave him..."

"Has anybody seen my dad?" Reality hits further when Cherry drearily steps forward with blood dripping down one side of her head. She appears to be weak and slightly disoriented. "Oh no… is he….?" The teenager looks down at Axel with tears in her eyes as soon as she spots him lying there.

"He's alive, but we have to leave this place fast" Max calmly responds whilst lifting Axel off the ground.

"Here, take my hand. I'll help you find your dad" Blaze says to Cherry, concerned that the young girl will pass out any minute now.

"Daddy's here!" To their relief, they hear Adam's determined voice in the distance. He is barely standing but still alive and stumbling forward. Cherry immediately puts her arms around his waist to embrace him.

"Guys, I need your help! There's a load of speakers stuck on top of Floyd…!" Estel is next to run over towards the group, appearing to be the most fit and healthy person in the room.

"I'll help you!" Max insists as he slowly places Axel back on the ground then he follows her and Adam across a pile of dead spectators.

With strength and resilience, Estel, Adam and Max eventually manage to lift the three heavy speakers piled on top of Floyd.

"Thanks, I owe you guys one!" Floyd sighs, lying on the ground exhausted and in pain but fully conscious of his surroundings.

"Can you move?" Adam queries. When Floyd tries to get up, the pain is too severe and he shakes his head with disappointment.

"It's ok, we're gonna get you out of here!" Estel reassures the young man before her and Adam put each of his robotic arms around their shoulders.

"Cherry do me a favour, sit here here with Axel for a minute. I have to find Leon..." Blaze requests, remembering that the young boy and Shiva were last hiding under the seats on the other side of the arena.

Blaze quickly rises up to her feet then she starts to walk in the other direction towards the demolished seating area.

"Leon?! Shiva?! Can you hear me?!"

On this side of the arena, the smoke is thicker and the pile of dead bodies is higher. One section of seating is already engulfed in flames and is starting to spread forward.

"Is anybody there!?" Blaze shouts.

"We're trapped under here! Help!" Shiva's voice coughs through the smoke, shouting back at her.

As fast as she can move, Blaze lifts up and throws back the broken rows of seats one by one which have stacked up on top of them. Less than a minute later she finds the two of them trapped underneath a connecting row of seats with a heavy frame of metal that is preventing them from moving. Shiva does his best to take the weight of the frame in order to protect Leon who lying on the ground next to him.

"Both of you, close your eyes!" Blaze orders. She then projects an energy bolt that breaks the metal structure into two parts. It is a huge relief when Shiva is finally able to move, no longer trapped underneath it's crushing weight. He struggles to rise to his feet with his back now injured but the fighter is thankful to be alive.

"Thank you!" Shiva says as Blaze extends her hand to help him off the ground after picking up Leon.

"Thank you for saving him," her reply is tearful and grateful. "Thank God you're alive kiddo!" Blaze sighs as she hugs Leon with her arms tightly wrapped around him. She immediately feels the heat of the boy's skin against her own. "Leon? Baby are you ok?!" Blaze panics when he fails to respond.

"His temperature is through the roof, we have to get him to a doctor right now!" Shiva insists.

"Everything is gonna be ok, just hang in there for me…" She says to him, trying to reassure the boy.

"Cherry, Estel!? There's more injured people over here!" Adam shouts out. He does his best to assist Floyd who has one of his heavy metallic arms leaning over Adam's shoulders. Shiva also steps forward to assist them as the team try their best to quickly identify anybody who may still be alive underneath the rubble.

Adam is suddenly startled as soon as he feels someone grabbing his ankle when he and Floyd approach the door. "Help me, please…" a female voice softly whispers.

"Lauren?! Are you OK?!" Adam recognises her familiar voice straight away. He frowns down at her, feeling concerned and hopeful that she isn't too badly injured.

"I'm OK…" she replies, coughing heavily. She takes his hand before standing to her feet.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Work… I was reporting the fight before all this shit went down. Did Mr Y just fire a rocket at his own tower?" She asks, appearing confused and disorientated.

"He fired three! Look, we need to get out of here! Go with Cherry and the others, find and help as many survivors as you can…"

The group starts to move together towards the exit. The sweat on Adam's forehead drips as he is weighed down by Floyd's metallic frame. "Here, I can lift him…" Max insists.

"Shit, Ax? Is he still alive?" Adam panics at the sight of his best friend unconscious as he and Max swap the wounded.

"Be careful, he's bleeding out. If we don't get him seen within 15 minutes he'l die. He's already lost a lot of blood…"

"Let's go, now!" Shiva orders as he steps in to help Adam. Each of them place one of Axel's arms over their shoulder as they lead the way out.

"Wait… did you see that?" Blaze halts them as soon as she notices torchlights flickering around outside of the entrance to the arena.

The others immediately stop in their tracks, nervously glancing at one another.

"We have to get the wounded to safety…." Adam whispers.

"Take Leon, I'll check it out…" Blaze hands the boy to Estel before illuminating an energy ball in one hand. She signals to the others to step back as the flickering lights outside become brighter.

"Hello? Is anybody there? Any survivors in there?!" They hear a man's voice steadily approaching.

"Who are you?!" Blaze shouts back, waiting patiently behind the wall at the side of the entrance.

"We're a rescue team, how many survivors do you count?" The man asks with urgency. The way he talks and the calm tone of his voice gives off the impression that he is from the military.

"Wait, stay back!" Blaze orders as soon as the man and three of his officers come into view.

She stands firmly with one orb of energy, ready to fire as the four of them shine their torches in disbelief towards her.

"Come any closer and you'll regret it!" She insists.

"We're not here to hurt you. After the skytrain disaster earlier the city has been on high alert. We were sent as soon as this building got hit. We can get you and any other survivors out of here".

"Who sent you?" Blaze asks, still on guard and cautious of their presence.

"The government, not the police. Please, every second counts.." The soldier calmly answers as he and his team lower their weapons.

"It's ok, they're here to help…" Adam nods at her before Blaze reluctantly cuts out her energy orb.

"We've found at least 20 survivors here…. including one child…" she sighs.

"Thank you," the soldier leading the team nods at her as they step forward.

"Jesus Christ…we need to call for backup!" One of the soldiers remarks, witnessing the disaster around them. They calmly and efficiently assist the wounded, leading the others down the dark stairwell of the tower towards it's exit.

As soon as the team leaves the building, the late night's fresh air is cold and soothing for their lungs. Straight away they are greeted with bright flashing lights and sirens as paramedics are placed on standby for the second time this evening to tend to the wounded.

Blaze turns around from the sidewalk whilst carrying Leon in her arms as she glances back at the burning tower with it's large familiar spire still illuminating the sky at the top. Everything they have been through in the last hour feels surreal. She questions herself if this whole experience is all one vivid nightmare.

"Miss, Madame…." A paramedic's voice suddenly snaps Blaze back to reality.

Before he can continue, she quickly runs forward as Axel is placed onto a stretcher then into the back of an ambulance.

"I'm sorry ma'am, this man is in a critical condition and we need to take him to hospital. You and the child can seek medical attention over there in that ambulance…"

"We're coming with him!"

"I'm sorry ma'am you'll have to step out of this ambulance…"

"But we're not leaving him" Blaze shakes her head.

"Are you family? Or his next of kin?"

"I err… erm…" Blaze struggles to answer under pressure.

"It's ok, she's immediate family. Let her go with you..." Adam nods at the paramedic whilst flashing his badge.

"This child also needs urgent medical attention, my colleague over there will take him to hospital…"

"No! Leon's coming with us…" Blaze demands, refusing to let go of him.

"I'm sorry but we can't treat both of them in the same ambulance, this boy needs a doctor right away..."

"It's ok, I'll go with Leon" Adam reassures her. Blaze can't help but stand still in shock, overwhelmed by the situation she is facing.

"I won't let him out of my sight, I promise" Adam says, flashing his silver police badge one more time at the other ambulance.

"Ok…" she sighs, heavily breathing whilst trying to stop herself from full blown panic.

"We'll see you at the hospital, everything is going to be ok I promise" Adam replies, giving her a needed hug before he carries Leon away.