JOHN
I sat at the table and ate some eggs. I wondered why they had no bacon here, but I didn't want to ask. No-one else seemed to mind, especially Eight. Yesterday Eight told us he was vegetarian, who knew? Well, that would explain why he didn't eat the same things as the rest of us. Of course he was vegetarian! He was brought up in India, where 90% are vegetarians.
The door creaked open and Lailah stepped in. She wore the same things as yesterday.
'Where'd you go?' I asked, still nervous from yesterday.
'To visit some people,' she replied.
'Who?'
'Mama and Papa,' she walked past us and into her room.
I shrugged and turned back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a slim black cobra following Lailah to her bedroom. Then I heard the strangest sound coming from her bedroom. Laughing. I turned to the rest of us and saw they were also astonished.
Sarah stood up and went to go knock on Lailah's door. Lailah opened with her cobra next to her.
'Hi,' Sarah said.
'Hey,' Lailah scrunched her eyebrows. 'No offence, but why are you here?'
Sarah was about to respond when Wu walked in through the door.
'Come, now! We have training to do!' He screamed and walked to the field.
Lailah walked past Sarah to the field. We all followed. We all lined up, this time with Ella.
'You will be fighting in pairs again, but with different partners!' Wu had a tendency to shout, I noticed.
Eight and Six, Nine and Marina, Sam and Sarah and Lailah and I.
'Begin!' Wu shouted, again.
Lailah began by jabbing at my throat and torso at the same time. I tried to move away but she was too fast. Her fingers hit me with the force of three huge men. Once I had recovered I punched her across the face. She didn't even flinch. She laughed.
Lailah kicked at my knees and they buckled. I was angry; I was angry that I had got beaten by a girl. Two huge fireballs appeared in my hands. I covered them with my palms and punched Lailah. Her skin was colder than ice. I looked at her and saw flakes of ice on her hair and skin. She took a step forward and with each step ice crackled.
Lailah smiled. She lifted her hand and I froze. No, I mean I literally froze. My fireballs died down and my skin turned a cold blue.
'Stop!' Wu shouted.
The cold melted away. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then toppled over. Lailah laughed and squatted down. She offered me a hand and helped me up. She had a stronger grip than me! I got up and staggered.
'You should really work on your defence, pretty boy,' Lailah grinned.
I nodded.
'Shooting!' Wu shouted, again.
We all grabbed guns, me limping a little.
'No,' Wu lifted a hand to stop us. 'You will now learn to shoot an AK-47!'
Nine, excited, was the first one to grab an AK-47. We all followed his example and took the huge guns.
Suddenly there was a cry of pain. I looked around, wondering who it was. I gasped. It was Lailah, the one who couldn't feel pain. She lay crumpled on the floor, bleeding from her shoulder.
Then Wu went to the ground, but this time there was blood by his head. I looked around, searching for the source. Then Sam and Six went down. Soon everyone was down, except me. I was still in complete shock, but at least there wasn't any more scars across my ankle.
Then I heard a whizzing sound from behind me. I turned around just in time to see a dart – not a bullet – hit me in the arm. My eyes got blurry and my head felt dizzy. I fell to the floor.