Forsaken Assassin : A Near Future Thriller by Jonathan Yanez

Author:Jonathan Yanez [Yanez, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Archimedes Books
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

JACK VOSS, TRAINING:

“You going to lie there and bleed or are you going to get up and do something about it? Scott Ackroyd asked, looking down at me from the edge of the pit.

Scott was old-school, one of those guys who had been part of battles he could never and would never talk about. Silver hair that confused most people topped a fit body that belonged to a man half his age. Most days when I arrived at the gym, Scott was the first one there training on the mats.

The pit was shaped in a hexagon, no walls, just one open space. If you stepped out of the hexagon, you lost a point in the judges’ scoring. Right now, I was getting my rear end handed to me by my sparring partner.

The thing about sparring partners was they were all different. Some of them actually wanted to learn and work on technique. The good ones had nothing to prove; they were willing to work with you and, in turn, you with them, both learning and growing stronger together.

Bad sparring partners had something to prove. They didn’t hold back. These were the guys with chips on their shoulders, weekend warriors who could never hack it in high school or college sports, so they took their frustration out while sparring in amateur mixed martial arts.

These kinds of guys were dangerous, but there was also something to be learned in the way they fought. Right now, I was learning that my opponent, Manuel “The Man” Machao, wasn’t interested in playing nice. But what did you expect from someone who called himself “The Man.”

“Voss, you listening to me?” Scott asked, redirecting my attention. “You’ve got no time to think. If this were a sanctioned XFC fight, he’d be on top of you right now. What are you going to do?”

I rose to my feet, blood leaking from my nose. I didn’t think it was broken. I had moved too late, but still moved in time to lessen the force of the blow. Had I not, I’d probably be asking Scott to reset my nose.

“Come on, cupcake,” Manuel said, taunting me. “I even let you get up, come on now. Don’t tell me you’re done already. We’re just getting started.”

“Pain is easy to cope with,” Scott told me. “Your mind tells the pain to take a back seat. Your body will do what your mind tells it to do. Your mind is in charge. Pain is easy.”

I knew he was right. I stopped focusing on my nose, harnessing my attention back on my opponent. The lights in the gym were bright; other amateur wannabe XFC fighters trained on bags around the facility. No one outside of Scott was really watching. But the way Manuel was acting, you would have thought we were the main event on a pay-per-view ticket.

“There he is,” Manuel said, showboating, beckoning me to advance with his fingerless six-ounce gloves. Larger gloves meant fewer broken hands. Most fighters now used six-ounce gloves, as more protection meant the delivery of more power.

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