Author's note: I decided to make this story because at the moment I'm suffering from a bit of writer's block on what to do with the next chapter of the Titan Hunt. Anyway, this idea popped into my head when I was playing some Resident Evil games and watching Invader ZIM at the same time. So without further ado...

Resident ZIM

By James Barker

Chapter 1: Outbreak

The screen glowed red as the Tallests looked in horror at what was happening. 'WARNING: VIRAL SUBSTANCE STOLEN! POSTPONE INVASION UNTIL THREAT IS DEALT WITH!' the screen projected and the Massive went into a panic. "Goddamn it! What the hell is going on?" Tallest Red shouted amongst the screams and the blaring of the sirens. "Which virus was stolen?"

A small Irken scientist's image appeared on the screen replacing the message but not the alarm. "My Tallests," he began, "it seems that...formula codename: Phantom Virus was stolen earlier today by an unknown intruder." This news made the Tallests even more furious.

"Well can you find out who took the virus?" Purple asked the worried scientist. The Phantom Virus was an experiment made by the Irken military to be used in war. It was used to spread an infection that would turn the population into mindless zombies that would bow before the Irken army and go on to infect others by biting them. Unfortunately, the virus only made the zombies crave flesh wherever they could get it and even turned on their Irken slave masters nearly causing and epidemic. The project was scrapped but the virus could not be destroyed and was kept in storage with the other rejected Impending Doom projects. The thought that someone took this deadly virus and unleash it and destroy their plans worried the Tallests.

"Well...we did manage to get a video feed and that might show the culprit who took the virus. Now all I need to do is access the security files and we'll see soon..." When the files of the recorded moments of the stealing played the Tallests looked on with dawning horror of what they were seeing.

"Damn! Somebody shout down the operation! Get our best soldiers in here!" Red was shouting at the top of his lungs. "We cannot continue on until he is dealt with!" But they didn't know the nightmares that would occur in the next few years...

Turn out the lights, Lock the doors, Abandon all hope...Evil has come home.

ZIM:

ZIM reveled in his victory and the thought that he could bring earth to its knees pleased him. He had spent the afternoon building a machine that could spread the virus to any location he wanted and it was almost complete. But what the Irken wanted was to test the virus and see its effects. ZIM needed to find a place to test it. But where? Then it hit ZIM. He knew the city was littered with many homeless humans and degenerate things. 'Nobody would miss those worthless human worm babies,' he thought to himself with a sick smile. At that moment he truly felt evil...felt in control of the terror he would unleash upon that ball of filth the humans called a planet.

After the final preparations were completed ZIM put the virus he stole into the machine. He would infect the rats in the city, the Irken thought to himself. 'So many of those damn vermin in the city they'll spread the infection for me.' ZIM went to the controls and started the machine. In a matter of moments the city would become a festering hellhole of rot and decay.

Dib:

Ten days had passed since the Phantom Virus had infected the rats and spread the infection to most of the unfortunate souls that got in their way. As the days passed, there were reports of people disappearing and sightings of a cult of strange cannibals that were responsible for many deaths in the city. Everyone was in a fear and the city even had a curfew placed upon it to prevent any more unfortunate deaths. Only one person seemed to think there was more to this than anyone else suspected.

Dib was cleaning up after dinner late one night and had to take out the trash. The trash can was at the other side of the building and it was nearly pitch black but Dib didn't care. He was used to the dark nights as he spied on his enemy ZIM many times in the dark. But he did hate taking out the trash but he was already out the door. As Dib lifted the lid he looked to the side and nearly screamed. There slumped against the wall was a dead corpse that looked as though it had been dead for over a few weeks and reeked just as badly. The wall around it was stained with blood but Dib didn't understand how he didn't notice it before. Wouldn't the smell of the damn thing have given it away long ago? 'Did it just get here recently?' Dib thought, 'But dead people can't walk! Or...can they?'

Dib ran back into the house. He knew he had to get help and rushed to his dad Professor Membrane. "Dad! Dad! You gotta see...by the house...there's a...!" Dib couldn't get the words out of his mouth. The shock of seeing that dead body and the thought of trying to get his stubborn father to believe him gave the large headed boy too much stress.

"What is it, son? It had better not be anymore of that para-science you keep ranting about. It's about time you take part in real science like," Professor Membrane took a slight pause, "me."

"It's not about that! There's a dead body by the house!" Just then Dib's younger and creepy sister Gaz entered the room with a can of Poop Cola. She gave Dib a stare that chilled him more than the corpse he stumbled upon.

"What dead body, Dib?" Gaz just sipped her soda as Dib's tried to clear things up. "Are you seeing things again like you always are?"

Dib was frantic as he tried to get it into their heads that he was not kidding. Membrane finally gave in. "Okay, son. We'll go look for your dead body but this had better not be a trick or else." Dib lead them around the back of the house to where he had seen the corpse. But to Dib's horror, the body was gone when they arrived with the only thing remaining was the blood on the wall and the rotten stench. "Well where is it son and what it that god awful smell?" Membrane and Gaz gagged on the smell as Dib looked around for the body. "And who's blood is that on my wall?"

Dib had no explanation to what was going on and was sent to his room to get ready for bed. As he got ready he took a glance out his window to find that the corpse he had seen before was limping down the street. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" Dib thought aloud to himself. He knew he had to get to the bottom of this and snuck out of the house and followed the person.

Gaz:

Gaz couldn't believe her stupid brother brought her outside to look for a corpse he supposedly saw. 'Stupid paranoid idiot,' she thought to herself. She was tired and wanted to go to bed so she went to her room. There Gaz changed into her night wear and was about to get in bed when she thought about getting a glass of water. 'Wouldn't hurt,' Gaz thought as she walked down the creaky stairs and into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and gulped it down and was about to leave when she heard a scratching at the window.

Gaz looked out the window to find nothing was there when out of the darkness two red eyes appeared down the street. "What the hell...?" Then she noticed that the eyes were moving closer but oh so slowly through the dark towards her. "What is that thing?" The sight of these beady red eyes in the dark chilled her to the bone and she took off to the exit of the kitchen. But as she reached the exit Gaz heard a scratch at the window that made her turn around. There at the window was a decaying man with blood red eyes and rotting skin that made her scream. It burst through the window and lunged towards her.

Well I hoped you liked this first chapter. R&R while I think of how I'm gonna make another Titan Hunt chapter.