Bruises ~ Jiara // obx

16 - The pogues are back together

JJ POV

"Follow me." I wasn't entirely sure where my train of thought was going when those words left my mouth, as I begun sneaking around the edge of a nearby building. The voices of the men were slowly getting closer, and we needed to distance ourselves from them. Fast.

"Well that one's never a good idea..." Pope responded in a hushed voice, as we continued to creep around the building. A sudden bang sounded from inside the house, followed by a high pitched scream. I gasped, clamping my hand to my mouth before ducking behind the building.

"HEY!" A gruff voice yelled, followed by heavy footsteps. Shit.

"Run." I whispered, bolting off in the opposite direction. Adrenaline rushed through me as I increased my speed, checking back to make sure Pope and Kie were ok. Terror flashed across Kie's face as our gaze met, and my insides twisted at the sight. Suddenly, the sound of a gun shot ricocheted through the air, and my heart leaped as I felt it skim past my leg.

"Shit!" Pope exclaimed as Kiara let out a scream.

"STOP!" The voice screamed, as another gunshot followed. Kiara. Risking a glance behind me, I slowed down slightly to drop behind her so I could do my best to shield her. Her entire body was convulsing as we sprinted, and I could hear her attempting to stifle sobs. Suddenly, I spotted trash piled up and a corner up ahead. If I could just push it when we passed it then we could slow them down...

"JJ get down!" A familiar voice sounded from above as 2 shots went off. I felt my foot collide with a stone as I was sent skidding to the ground and my head smashed against the gravel, generating a new source of agony. My vision became slightly disoriented as my surroundings blurred, and I felt small hands on my arms begin to pull me up.

"Hey man lets get out of here..." I could just about make out one of the guys chasing us shout, and cocked my head slightly to watch them make a sprint for it. But why would they ...?

"John B!" From what I could tell, Sarah was yelling, her cries agonised as she dropped to the ground. Fingers snapped in my face, bringing me back to reality. Kiara's worry ridden face was before my own, her hands cupping my cheeks as tears glazed her eyes. Seeing her ok lifted a large weight off my chest, and I could feel my tense form begin to relax as she studied me thoughtfully, lifting her finger up to my new wound. I winced as her finger met with the mush of blood and she gasped, unwrapping a hoodie from around her waist and beginning to dab it lightly.

"Guys... GUYS HELP!" Sarah's screams returned as Kiara turned allowing me to observe my best friend lay on the ground, as white as a ghost. Sarah was muffling her sobs whilst pressing some form of fabric up to his shoulder, which immediately soaked up a shit ton of blood. My best friend had been shot. Bile crept up my throat as I leapt to the ground, kneeling beside John B with tears pooling my eyes. He offered a weak smile as our gaze met, causing a small tear to roll down my cheek as he lifted his spare arm to ruffle my hair lightly.

"Nice to see you again bud."

"You too man..." I breathed, as the consciousness begun to slowly leave him.

"No... no John B!" Sarah gasped, patting his cheek lightly. With his last drop of energy, he turned to the distraught girl, lifting his hand up to caress her cheek softly.

"The pogues are back together." We all took a moment to smile at that thought as he faded to unconsciousness, leaving us with yet another wave of dilemmas. Kiara rushed to embrace Sarah as she broke down, and I quickly exchanged a glance with Pope before we joined in the group hug.

"It'll be ok, Sarah..." Kie whispered as she stroked her hair. For a moment we just stayed liked this, before coming to the realisation that we seriously needed to figure something out.

"He ... he needs the hospital..." Sarah stuttered, despite being aware that this wasn't really possible given the circumstances.

"But what about the police?" I voiced my concern, earning a scowl from Kiara.

"This is about his life JJ! We can't let him die just because we're worried about the police!" She almost spat, and I averted my gaze to the ground, not really wanting to pick a fight right now.

"It's only a shot to the shoulder, he could end up with a life in prison and we'll never see him again!" Pope added, and part of me was relieved that I had someone's back up. Sarah scoffed.

"This is about John B's life are you guys actually for real! Look at what happened to Peterkin after she was shot..." she trailed off into a sob at the end, as me and Pope exchanged a glance and I shook my head. They were right; he needed hospital care. Whether we liked it or not. Kiara held Sarah with one arm and used the other to reach for the phone.

"I can do it..." I offered, grasping it before she could. She knitted her eyebrows at me before slapping my hand and snatching the phone back.

"You've done enough. Both of you." She snapped coldly, dialling an ambulance. I sighed as tension settled in the air, guilt creeping up inside of me that I had hurt Kiara. A silence descended upon us as we all listened to the sound of the phone ring, before a splutter sounded on the other side and the operator picked up. Suddenly, a look that I couldn't quite read crossed Sarah's face, as her gaze trailed to John B, who was getting increasingly weaker by the second. She gasped before grabbing the phone and ending the call, gulping as if preparing to say something. Kiara raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? Not you as well! I thought you'd at least under..." Kie started but Sarah cut her off with a finger to the lips, a look of almost exhilaration crossing her face.

"Guys look... this is gonna sound crazy but... I think I know someone who can help..." she said, leaving us all a little perplexed.

"Bullshit." I muttered, earning a few glares.

"Hurry then, we're running out of time!" Pope exclaimed as Kiara sighed, her gaze trailing towards me. I offered her a small smile but her gaze was cold as our eyes met, and she broke it before I could begin an attempt at fixing what I had said.

"My... my uncle... he's never liked my dad, always tried to expose him for things and hates all of us - apart from me. Every summer, despite my families protests, I used to go and stay with him for a week or so, and we basically spent the entire time shit talking my family. I always thought he was playing around until one time, where he managed to get my dad arrested. This was 2 years ago, I haven't been allowed back since, but he only lives about half a mile from here, and I'm sure he can help..." she finished, leaving all of us shocked. Why hasn't this guy been mentioned before? There was a moment of silence before Kiara cleared her throat, a frown settling on her face.

"That's great and all, but first of all, you really think we can trust him when there's so many people after you and John B, and secondly, how can he help a gun shot wound?"

"We can trust him ok. And he's a surgeon." She replied bluntly, picking up the phone and beginning to dial the number.

"Wait! How do you..." Kiara started but I found myself cutting her off.

"What other choice do we have, Kiara?" I sighed, running my hands through my hair as she dropped her gaze to the ground in defeat. It fell silent before the other end of the phone picked up, grasping our attention back.

"Uncle M, I need you. Come to the alleyway where you would always take me bike riding when I was younger. My friend has been shot and I really need your help. Come fast."

"I'm on my way."