I leaned against India, resting my head on her right shoulder. The woman had gathered some scissors and gauze wrap, ready to fix Pests' leg "Sorry I messed up your couch" Pest said as she cut some of his jeans.
"Don't worry about it" she sighed.
"D'you want me to take 'em off?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.
"That won't be necessary"
"You sure? I got nice boxers on. Calvin Klein fresh today" he said flirtily. I averted my eyes and India sighed.
"Tell me if this hurts" The woman said. I turned my head to see her take hold of his foot.
"Try me" he shrugged. She moved it around slightly and he flinched "Ow, hurts!"
"How about this?" she asked tilting her head. She moved it further, although I was pretty sure she was trying to get back at him.
"Hurts, hurts, hurts!" he exclaimed.
"You've torn a few minor arteries, you may have a fracture. You need to get this treated before you lose too much blood" she said.
"Do it then" Moses shrugged. She looked up at him.
"I can't! I don't have the equipment or the skill, I've only just graduated. Plus I missed the class on alien bite wounds" she snapped.
"Stop hypin' man" Dennis said shaking his head.
"Pass me the cushion" she said gesturing to the pillow behind them. Both boys stared at her, refusing to grab the pillow.
"I said, pass me the cushion" she repeated irritatedly. They both glanced at each other and shook their heads, but Moses grabbed the pillow anyway. He handed it to her and she snatched it from him, slamming it down on Pests' leg.
"Ow! Don't take it out on me!" he exclaimed.
"I ain't seen you round 'ere before. You lived 'ere long?" Jerome asked curiously.
"Couple of months" she replied tying the pillow to Pests' leg.
"Hmm, nice place you got"
"Thanks, I'm thinking of moving" she admitted.
"Shame, why?" Pest asked.
"I don't like the area" she replied. I nodded in understanding.
"What d'you mean don't like the area? What's wrong wiv the area?!" Dennis asked angrily. Something smashed against the front door and we all jumped to our feet.
"Fam stay" Moses said picking up the baseball bat I'd dropped and walking towards the door. I couldn't see what he was doing, but I didn't want to either. India lightly grabbed my wrist, pulling me as far away from the door as possible. Something bashed against the door again and we all jumped. Moses ran into the room, slamming the other door as he came in "They found us!" he shouted.
"How did they find us? There's like a hundred doors in this block!" Jerome exclaimed.
"Listen whatever gang-war bullshit you're in leave me out of it please" The woman begged while holding up her guitar.
"Hey dis thing got nothing to do with gangs" Dennis said shaking his head.
"Or drugs, or rap music, or violence in video games!" Pest added.
"This is the worst night of my life" The woman sighed as the animal continued to bash against the door.
"Feeling's mutual" Moses said. After another loud bang the animal managed to smash it's way into the kitchen. Moses dropped the baseball bat and instead chose to grab Dennis' samurai sword. He ran towards the animal and sliced the sword into the back if it's neck. The animal fell to the floor and I sighed in relief, this was a strange night.
"Moses, ninja" Dennis said in awe while walking towards him.
"Tango neutralized" Jerome added as we all followed. I stared down at the strange animal and tilted my head, I had never seen this kind of thing before.
"See, is that a dog?" Pest asked looking at the woman. She shook her head.
"No"
"No, that is not a dog" he said.
"That's black, too black to see" Jerome said shaking his head.
"That's the blackest black ever fam" Dennis said. He crouched down and ran his fingers through the creatures fur "That's blacker than my cousin Femmy" he added. India kneeled down in front of the animals head, cautiously inspecting it with her hand.
"It doesn't have eyes" she said confusedly. I narrowed my eyes and kneeled down next to her, she was right. India ran her hand down the animals face until she reached the jaws. She hesitatingly opened them and her eyes widened "Fuck me" she gasped. The mouth was full of sharp fang-like teeth, they reminded me of a sharks mouth.
"Yo, where's that woman?" Jerome asked. I turned my head to see the nurse had in fact disappeared. India and I raised to our feet before exiting the flat, the boys close behind. I turned my head to see the woman staring back at us from her spot near the lifts. She shook her head before walking back towards us.
"Wherever you're going I'm coming with you. After what you've put me through it's the least you can do" she said looking at Moses.
"No way man, she's bare annoyin'! Make her leave, let the snitch get murked" Dennis snapped. I rolled my eyes.
"Dennis, man. Why you actin' like such a prick for? I need the nurse, d'you want me to die?" Pest said overdramatically.
"We can't stand around 'ere arguing, we need to roll now!" Jerome exclaimed. I nodded in agreement.
"My name's Sam" The nurse said.
"Jerome"
"Pest"
"India"
"Tex"
"No way man!"
"Dennis" Jerome shrugged nodding to the pissed off teen.
"You're Moses, right?" she asked.
"You're gonna need a weapon" he said before heading down the hall. The boys followed while I chose to wait for Sam, she had been through a lot tonight so I guess I felt a little sorry for her. She soon ran back out of her flat, holding a sharp kitchen knife. I nodded and we caught up to the boys.
"You get four years for carrying an offensive weapon you know" Pest said as we walked up the stairs.
"I think the situations a bit different" Sam replied slightly annoyed.
"Is it? Walking around, expecting to get jumped at any moment. Feels like just another day in the ends to me man" he said shaking his head.
"Where's he taking us?" Sam asked.
"Tia's flat" Jerome replied.
"What makes you think we'll be safer in her place than we were in mine?" Sam asked curiously.
"Security gate!" he exclaimed as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Tex!" I flinched and looked back to see India doubled over.
"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly while running back down to her. She shook her head.
"Nothing, I just feel really sick" she replied taking deep breaths. I nodded in understanding and rubbed her back soothingly.
"It's okay, probably just nerves" I said. She nodded and raised to her full height.
"Yeah, come on" she said. I nodded and we carried on up the stairs.
"You ain't bringin' all them people in here, no. They're involved in somethin', someone's chasin' 'em. They got weapons, and look that one's bleeding. And dat woman? I don't even know dat woman. I'm not gettin' myself involved in a situation I don't need to be in" Dimples said crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes and Tia appeared in the doorway.
"It's my house Dimples, come" she said before disappeared back into the flat. We all flooded in and Dimpled slammed the door shut after we entered.
The rest of the girls were there too, but I wasn't sure if that was better or worse. I knew they wouldn't believe the whole 'alien' story, heck I was still trying to process it through my mind. But for some reason I couldn't, I just kept thinking of them as psycho gorillas with rabies. India fell down against the arm of the sofa and the rest of us occupied different spaces in the room.
"There's only one helicopter out there, copper chopper. Ain't even military" Pest said looking through the window. He sighed in annoyance before falling down next to me "It's only on these ends. This ain't worldwide, this is localised" he added.
"Yeah, localised in your head" Cloe said disbelievingly.
"Localised in your dreams" Jess added.
"Chased by the feds, yes. Big alien gorilla wolf motherfuckers? No" Dimples said sitting down next to Jerome.
"Maybe they're only on these ends" he shrugged.
"Please, what kind of alien decides that out of all the places in the whole wide world to invade some shitty council estate in South London" Dimples said shaking her head.
"One that's looking for a fight" Dennis said playing with a gun. We'd run into two local kids on the way here, they had that gun and a super-soaker. Dennis had taken the gun from them, although I still thought it was fake.
"I'll be right back" India whispered to me. I nodded and watched as she walked towards Dennis, who was sat on the floor leaning against the sofa. She held out her hand to him and he stared up at her confusedly. But after a few seconds he took her hand, rising to his feet and letting her lead him out into the kitchen.
"What's up with her?" Pest asked turning to me. I shrugged in thought.
"I really don't know" I replied shaking my head.