Page 116 of Nash Falls

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NASH’S DOOR SLAMMED OPEN ATfive a.m.

He jerked up, still groggy with sleep. “What the hell?”

Shock stood in the open doorway.

“Get up! It’s way past time you got your ass in gear.”

Shock lurched into the room, grabbed Nash by the arm, hauled him off the cot, and dumped him on the floor. A moment later a set of workout clothes and shoes hit Nash in the face.

“Meet me in the training facility, first floor, in five minutes. Piss or poop and do what you got to do but be there!”

Shock marched out.

Nash sat there stunned for a few moments but then he got to his feet, stripped off his T-shirt and underwear, tugged on the clothes and shoes, emptied his bladder in the bathroom, and hustled to the other building.

The training facility’s first floor was dominated by a vast weight room, what looked like a cardio fitness complex from hell, and a large boxing ring.

Shock looked up as Nash raced in. “Hope you did your business before you got here ’cause we ain’t stoppin’.”

“I did, but keep in mind I’m forty, not twenty-one, and if I have a heart attack I’m not going to be good for anyone or anything.”

“Most dudes I train are older’n you, so no damn excuses. Okay, let’s get to it.”

Shock led him to an old-fashioned scale, where his height and weight were measured.

“Six three and one-half inch, one hundred and sixty-five pounds.Okay,string bean, we got our work cut out on that. You’re gettin’ a gram of protein a day for each pound, a wedge of complex carbs, a ton of fiber, and just the right mix of fats. And water, plus electrolytes.”

“With what endgame?”

“I got to strengthen you up, and you need muscle to do that, and muscle burns more than fat, so you need extra fuel. Forty-five hundred calories a day for you should do the trick.”

“I’m neverthathungry.”

“You will be after I work your ass out. Six meals a day. But I’ll wean you on to that. Gut and intestines are delicate things. You can kill a starvin’ man by feedin’ him too much of the wrong food and doin’ it too fast. You’ll work your way up to all those meals and calories.”

“Who’s prepping all that food?”

“I got a commercial freezer full of premade meals, all measured out to the last healthy gram. Most people can gain anywhere from a half pound to two pounds of muscle a month. We gonna do better than that with you. You need targeted trainin’, and the right nutrition, includin’ surplus calories. And as you gain muscle mass, you also add fat, water, and carbo storage, so you can put on muscle pounds, but your overall weight gain will be far higher’n that. And I got a few tricks of the trade to accelerate the process.”

“I’m not taking steroids like the Hollywood actors do to muscle up.”

“Not to worry, Walter baby. I’m a natural herb sort of dude.”

“This just seems impossible.”

Shock’s expression turned serious. “We take it step by step. You get ahead of yourself, you’ll freeze up like a deer in the headlights. And I don’t want you to bulk up. We want lean, strong muscle, and you got the perfect frame to build it. I’m not sayin’ it won’t be hard, because it will be, trust me.”

“Any alcohol allowed? I think I’ll need it.”

“I’m not a monster. A glass here and there. Okay, I’m done gabbin’.”

Surprisingly, Shock had him stretch for half an hour and then tested Nash’s range of motion, flexibility, and grip strength.

“You got a pliable body, man,” Shock said.

“That’s good?”