Day 8 (Stacey)

Stacey’s breathing was ragged and her body strained from exhaustion. Sweat dripped into her eyes, but she wiped them away with a gloved hand. She couldn’t stop now. Not like this.

Her opponent smiled wryly under his blue headgear. He was tall, at least two heads taller than her. And his reach far longer than hers. So she couldn’t attack his face. Too much distance and she would be wasting strength for a definitive hit. No, she would need to take the body. But the enemy was clever. He knew his weakness. And protected it. Every time she advanced near for a body hit, he would jab out, forcing her back, landing a couple of blows to the top of her head as she retreated. Those attacks did little damage, but they wasted her time. Her strength. Stacey had yet to land any serious hits on the man and time was running out. It didn’t look good.

But she couldn’t stop. She lifted her arms, and moved in for another attack, this time from the left. Seeing her advance, the man dropped his arms lower for defence. She didn’t care.

She ran in.

His left arm snaked out for an attack but she saw that straight away, and side-stepped it. She moved in for a one-two combo to the ribs, one she knew would do maximum damage.

His right fist was faster than she’d anticipated. It careened into her with such force that her head snapped back on impact and she saw black for a split second. Desperately, she skipped backwards, her arms up to prevent a follow-up.

It came. In her haste to retreat, she did not pull back far enough. She had merely landed in his range. Her opponent took advantage of that. He attacked.

Several one-two combos smashed into her arms as she protected her head from further injuries. The man’s long reach meant more power behind his punches. Her arms absorbed as much punishment as they could but something had to give. One of the punches managed to push through her defence with brute force, slamming into the side of her head.

Her world exploded into light.

When she became of aware of her surroundings, she was on the floor. Her opponent was standing away from her. In the distance, she could hear the referee counting.

3... 4...

Get up.

She shook her head to clear it. It was so heavy. Everything was so heavy.

5...

Get up. You said you would show them. You said you would not lose.

6... 7...

She was on one knee now, but was still swaying. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her.

8...

You’ll never lose! YOU PROMISED!

With a force of will, she got to her feet. The referee came to her, asking if she could still continue. Stacey waved him away. She could dimly hear the roar of approval from the spectators.

“You’re pretty persistent,” said her opponent above the noise, this man of height and reach, “for a girl.”

She grinned. “Shut up and fight.”

He gave a mock bow, and raised his gloves. He moved to attack, to not give her space to recover. But Stacey was quicker. She darted forward before him, her arms poised for attack. The left arm snaked out once more, forcing her back. Unperturbed, she started her run again. Same run, same pattern. The left arm jabbed out, which she dodged easily enough. Then the right upper cut. The same one that had felled her before.

Her right hand reacted instantly, swatting that attack away, allowing Stacey space to move in more. Suddenly, she was in range.

Gotcha!

She let out a quick yell as her gloves crashed into the man’s ribs in quick succession. They were fast, but not without power. Her opponent moved to defend himself but he was too slow. She danced out of range. Then, in again, to the right this time. Same run. Same pattern. However, the man was even slower and she managed another two-punch hit on the body. She easily evaded a feeble counterattack and delivered a hefty uppercut into his stomach. He doubled over in pain, his head dipping a little lower.

A little lower was all Stacey needed. In a roar of triumph, she threw out a right hook with all her weight behind it. It smashed into his jaw, whipping his head back. His eyes registered pain, then glazed over as he fell to the ground heavily.

She let the referee push her to a safe zone as he began the countdown. She watched as the fallen man stayed down for all ten counts. Then she allowed the referee to declare her the victor amidst cheers and boos. When that was done, she walked over to the fallen man and his cohort that were attempting to rouse him.

“Tell Viet he fought well, and that he was close,” Stacey told them with a grin, “And also, he owes me two thousand dollars. Cash. Thanks!” Her grin grew wider.

She was still smiling as she exited the ring but that slowly dissipated as she noticed the man standing next to the doors. He was in an officer’s uniform, and his markings labelled him as a Lieutenant. He started walking towards her.

“Private Lang,” stated the man when he reached her.

She saluted briskly. “Sir!” she said.

He nodded. “You’re not bad. Quick. And tenacious.”

“Thank you Sir!”

“Though,” he continued, a frown forming, “it doesn’t seem like this is an official match. Not an actual tournament anyway.”

“Uh... It was a friendly challenge from Private Doan Sir! We thought to compare skills in boxing between men and women,” she quickly explained, “Sir!”

The man waved her excuses dismissively. “I don’t really care,” he said, “I’m just a messenger. This is yours.” He took a white envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.

“Transfer orders, effective in two days. You’re to be transferred to a quick response unit in Melbourne,” he explained as she read the missive, “We’ve had an accident with one of our personnel and you’re the replacement. Seems like it’s urgent too.”

Stacey looked up at this mysterious man. “With all due respect, Sir... why me?”

He shrugged, “Beats me. Major Lee asked for you personally. It won’t be an easy assignment, but the perks are pretty good in the long-run.” He gave a wry grin. “However, I’m just a messenger as said, so good luck Private Lang.”

“You’re gonna need it.”