Part four. Not much to say here. Just enjoy it. I COMMAND you to enjoy it.
Elena Hurley- Psh, yeah. Imagine me writing it.
ngrey651- Thanks! You'll just have to read this next chapter to see if Mev makes it or not. ;)
Musicture- Well, Twik should've brought something to entertain herself with. u~u. Nah, I kid. Don't you worry your pretty little head.
Disclaimer: I own not a character in this story. Mev belongs to Elena Hurley, Senior belongs to ngrey651, Twik belongs to Musicture and Vipe belongs to Commander-Vipe. Everyone else belongs to JV.
Everyone stared at Mev, numb for a few minutes. They had known that Fex was murdered. They had thought that Mev went along with her. They heard the horrible choking, gasping and screaming noises as the person who started the whole operation was tortured to death. They saw the murderers strutting out of the bushes, smiling like there was no tomorrow. Yet, they found it hard to believe that Fex was really gone.
"I'm sorry," Mev sobbed. "I couldn't save her. They wouldn't let me go. And they didn't leave until she was completely dead and-"
"Shush," Dib interrupted her. "The least we can do is carry on."
"Yeah," Zita agreed. "It's what she would've wanted."
Mev slumped against the tree, wiping at her bad eye. "We should probably get you something for that," Melvin decided. Without a word, Mev reached in to her PAK and produced a roll of bandage. Forcing a broken smile, she laughed, "Always gotta be prepared!" Everyone smiled a little along with her. Dib moved closer to her, taking the bandage and wrapping it around her various wounds. Coincidentally, right after he finished wrapping Mev's wounds, her radio started to ring. "What radio?" you ask. Well, Senior supplied both Fex and Mev with communicating devices to tell them where danger was lurking. It was just a mistake that he hadn't noticed Zim and the gang today. The radios had a screen that was about the size of an iPhone that was turned sideways, with a handle that branched off the bottom. Mev pulled the radio from her belt, watching as Senior materialized on the screen.
"There you are! Fex wouldn't answer and- what happened to you!?" Senior gasped. "Invader Zim and his crew happened," she said sadly. "Define his 'crew,' and tell me what they did," Senior ordered, worry brimming his voice. "His group consists of himself, Invader Skoodge, Invader Tenn, and Former Janitor Drone Tak. And they..." Mev's voice trailed off. "They attacked. They shot and killed Jessica and...they killed Fex too," she finished informing him. Senior's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Really? This isn't a cruel joke?" he asked weakly. "I wouldn't joke about something like this," Mev assured him. Senior put his head in his hands. "I can't believe it," he muttered. "What are you going to do now?" he asked. "I hope you're not thinking about giving up."
Mev frowned at this. "You really think that we'd turn back now? Not on your life," she told him, the last bit of energy she had for the day contained in those words. Senior let a small smile show on his face. "That's the spirit. Well, I'll check on you guys in the morning. Sleep tight, over and out." The screen fizzed out to black, and Mev put it back in her belt.
"Should we settle here for the night?" Brain questioned. "We're too vulnerable," Dib decided, looking at their surroundings. "Where can we sleep safely?" Zita asked. "Probably no where," Gaz mumbled. "I saw a good place when we were running!" Melvin exclaimed. "Oh?" Gaz raised an eyebrow, turning to him. Melvin nodded. "Then show us where it is," Mev eagerly said. Everyone stood up and followed Melvin as he led them in the direction of the safe hiding place.
"Right here," he said, pointing to a pile of rocks. The same pile of rocks that Zim, Tak, Skoodge and Tenn had met up in before taking down Mev and Fex. Despite that, it was a good shelter. There was a place where the stones curved inwards, creating a kind of cave with a very wide mouth. A large slab of rock that jutted out, over the cave, acted as a roof. It also could double as a lookout place, for one guard to sit there while they sleep to alert everyone else of any predators. "Whoa, nice job, Melvin!" Brian exclaimed. "Yeah, this is beast!" Zita agreed. "One thing, we need food," Dib stated as his stomach growled. Mev gulped. "Well...uh...I had the first aid stuff...Fex had the water, food and other survival stuff," she remembered. "Great. They didn't try any stunts like removing her PAK or stealing her stuff, did they?" Dib groaned. "No, they didn't, but once a PAK get the message that it's owner is dead, it locks up and goes obsolete. No normal person could open it."
"Well then, it's probably a job for me," Gaz said, standing up and dusting herself off. "Okay, but be careful," Mev warned. "I'll be fine," Gaz called, separating the bushes and walking out.
Gaz retraced her steps until she was back at the tree. Then she turned around, finding the bushes that Zim and his gang and Mev had exited out of. She stepped through the brush carefully, eyeing the ground to ensure that she didn't fall in any holes or anything. Once she entered the small clearing, even she, the Fearless Gaz, couldn't help almost throwing up. There was blood everywhere. Some of it was dry, some of it was still running down the trees' bark. Fex was nailed to one of the trees by her wrists, both of her eyes had been hollowed out of her head, both of her legs were missing...I think you get the picture.
"Focus, Gaz," Gaz told herself. "It's for your own survival." She then dug her fingers under one of the nails, gripping it as tightly as she could and slowly twisting it and pulling at it. The sticky warmth of blood started to make itself present on her fingers, sending a shiver through her. It eventually popped out and that one of Fex's arms dropped to the ground. Gaz now had access to her PAK, which she easily pulled off her back. Holding it in front of her, Gaz studied it. Where was this damned thing supposed to open? She hit it a couple times with her fist to no avail before getting frustrated and simply throwing on the ground.
There was a popping noise, and the black spot that covered the top jumped outwards to reveal a compartment. It was like Mary Poppin's bag in there! I mean, it was just a tiny hole at the very top of the PAK, but it contained a lighter, tons of water, a frying pan, rope, a loaf of bread and some other snacks. Gaz quickly sprinted back to the rock. This was gold!
Gaz practically dove back in to the clearing. "Gruesome, wasn't it?" Mev sighed, emptying out the PAK. Gaz was confused for a second, but then she realized that Mev was talking about the murder site. "Yeah," she agreed, looking down at her hands. They were purple with Fex's blood (Yeah, I do believe that irkens bleed purple). "I'm...uh...gonna go wash my hands," Gaz stuttered. She then disappeared over the ridge behind the rock pile, down to a stream that was behind it. "I'll keep watch tonight," Mev stated. "No way," Dib said. "You're sleeping the whole night."
Mev eyed Dib a little angrily, but didn't object. "I'll keep watch," Melvin offered. Everyone else exchanged glances before all saying "Okay," at the same time. "Well, let's eat so we can rest up," Dib grabbed a peach and bit into it. The fresh flavor spread of his tongue and in to his empty stomach. When had he last eaten, anyways? Two, three days ago?
When everyone was finished with their meals, they all (except for Melvin, he went up to the roof to keep watch) crawled in to the shelter and laid down. "Today was an...eventful day," Gaz sighed.
Silence.
"Do you think that we were right to try this?" Brian quietly asked. Everyone looked in his direction. "What? I mean, it's only this first day, and we have two men down."
"Women," Zita corrected him.
"Whatever. We've got one or two more days to go. If the invaders keep being so pissed at us, chances are, only two or three of us will make it back to the other side," Brian continued. "It's not the chance that we'll live or die that matters," Dib countered. "It's the fact that life isn't worth living if you can't be your own person. Slavery is fucking wrong. We can stop it again, if we try. Besides, if one of us was to die, the next would take our place. If I died tomorrow, would you go back to being a mindless drone or would you continue to sweet freedom, then help others to do the same?"
Brian hesitated. "I'd carry on, but...I'll just go to bed now," he grumbled. "Fine, good night," Dib snorted. Did Brian just really contemplate going back to slavehood? Dib prayed that none of his fellow escapes thought the same way.
The next morning, Dib was awoken by a scream. It was the kind of screaming that you hear in horror movies. The kind that Dib had heard enough of yesterday. Everyone shot awake and scrambled over and under each other to get out of the cave to find out that the scream belonged to Zita, the one who was sleeping nearest to the entrance. Melvin was, indeed, still on the lookout post.
But he was dead.
It appeared as though he had met an end as violent as Fex's. His mouth was duct taped shut, with his hands and ankles bound together. All of his fingers had been chopped off neatly, and his head was only attached to his body by a thread. They was a surprising lack of blood, though. In fact, it appeared as though his blood had been...drained. On the largest rock, in blood that was undoubtedly Melvin's, it said "WE'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"
Dib, having read this, looked over his shoulder. Four pairs of eyes, three red and one violet, glared out at him, full of malevolence. "Run!" he screamed, clambering over the rock pile. Everyone followed, and Zim, Tak, Tenn and Skoodge burst out of the bushes. Three deaths, and they still had another day's worth of walking to do. This sucked. Dib grabbed Mev, since she was still weak from yesterday, and carried her bridal-style (though there is no romance here, dear fangirls) as he slid down the ravine, jumped over the stream and climbed up the other end. Lucky for them, the stream bed was very muddy from a recent flood, and Skoodge slid and fell, slowing one of their pursuers down. Dib set Mev back down, leaving her to run on the flat ground by herself.
They couldn't give up now. The woods was thinning, showing that they were nearing the plains that marked the city limits. At this point, Mev's radio began to ring. Senior was checking in on them. She whipped it from her belt, pointed the camera in the direction of the hunters, and turned it back off, hoping he would get the message. Tenn was right on Brian's heels, and she easily pulled him backwards by his shirt and caused him to fall, where he was then purposely trampled by Zim, Tak and Skoodge (Think of how fat Skoodge is. Ouch). Zim grabbed Zita by her hair, wrenching her face-first to the ground.
"We're...almost there...guys..." Mev huffed. They had discovered a shortcut in their haste to get away from Zim and the others. You could see a tiny speck of black on the horizon, Twik's ship without a doubt. What Mev did next surprised everyone. She stopped, turned around, and faced the irkens chasing them. 'Is she suicidal!' Dib thought.
However, the pack did not launch itself on to her, as he expected. Instead, they all stopped and stared at her, bewildered by her action. "Why aren't you attacking? Are you scared, perhaps?" she teased them. "Oh, we're scared. Says the ones running from us!" Tak snorted. Dib and Gaz slowly turned around, joining Mev. Zita and Brian also gathered themselves up, and stood by the rest of their group.
"Everyone, put your weapons down. I don't feel good about having such an advantage," Zim cackled. Skoodge, Tak and Tenn all sheathed their weapons. "Do you really want to fight? You're outnumbered," Dib reminded them. Zim took a step forward. "Do YOU really wanna fight, Dib-worm?" he growled. "I dunno," Dib said innocently, shrugging. Just as Zim was about to deliver a retarded comeback that he thought sounded cool in his head, Gaz snapped her fingers and a flicker of flame went up. "Oh, no. Not cool, man," Tenn cautiously took a step backwards.
"I could set any of you on fire right now if I wanted to," Gaz said in her disturbing, morbid tone of voice she normally used when threatening Dib. "You could," Zim acknowledged with a nod, not understanding that Gaz just openly told them that she was going to roast them alive. "Like this!" Gaz suddenly lunged at Tak, lighting her tailcoat on fire. Tak screamed and took off one of her leather gloves, beating the flame with it. It went out almost immediately, leaving edge of her clothing black and singed. Pulling the glove back on, Tak sighed. "You really are a smart little dirt-monkey, Gaz. I'd hate to see all those brains scattered on the floor."
"Hmph. Yeah. Right," Gaz snorted. "Look, you can let us go right now, or you can die in battle. Which will it be?" Mev asked. "Neither," Zim laughed with a smirk. "We'll win." He then picked his gun back up and cocked it. 'Oh shit,' Dib thought before turning around and running again. They were even closer to Twik's ship than ever before. So close, he thought that Twik may be able to see them.
Freedom. Dib's heart jumped at the word, and his legs felt re-energized with every step. The black spot on the horizon grew larger and larger and they grew closer and closer to their safety. He could feel Zim's panting breath on his neck. Soon, it would be gone. He would be far away from that horrible monster that ruined his life.
Finally, they were at the ship. Dib, Mev, Gaz, Zita and Brian all slammed into it, banging on the door and screaming, "OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR! OPEN IT NOW!" In the reflection in the window, Dib could see the irkens advancing on them. Twik's face appeared in the window and she swiftly let them in, slamming the door in Zim and his gang's faces. Everyone collapsed on the ground, laughing and crying from happiness. They did it! They were free!
A bang went off and a dent appeared in the wall from a bullet. This was followed by another, and another, until the ship was off the ground. "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, bitches," Gaz laughed. Twik turned the ship on to auto pilot and spun her chair backwards to look at everyone. She had large, crimson eyes and curled antennae. Her outfit gave her a peculiar air, for she looked so fancy compared to what the humans had seen amongst themselves for the past few years. The shirt was sky blue, with white, round shoulder pads. Starting at the collar, two amethyst wires ran along her torso and down her arms and legs.
"So, how does freedom feel?" Twik asked, amused by their happiness. "Awesome!" Zita exclaimed. "That's great," Twik smiled. "You ready to blow this joint?"
"Fuck yeah!" Dib said, fighting to control his laughter. Twik turned around and put the ship in high gear, breaking the planets surface in almost an instant. Earth was just a bad dream, growing smaller and smaller with every passing second. "So...um...Mev? Where's Fex? And I was told that there were six escapees, not four," Twik questioned. "Well, you see, there were. But they all kind of...died on the way here," Mev quietly said. "Was it those creeps that were denting my brand new ship?" Twik sighed.
"Mhmm."
"That sucks. At least those slaves died brave, not cowards taking abuse from the empire. Plus, Fex was a great girl. I know I'm gonna miss her."
"Hey, Twik? How fast are we going?" Dib wondered, watching the speed that stars, asteroids and other space matter whizzed by. Twik checked the gauge. "1,000,000 miles per second. You're lucky, I got the latest technology. You see how the front is tapered? It allows us to go faster, not to mention a super powerful engine. "So, we're at like, warp speed?" Brian queried. "You could say so," Twik answered. "That is fuckin' awesome," Gaz said, in awe.
They continued to drive for about an hour, making small talk until they began to slow down, thinking they were far enough away to begin looking for hospitable planets. "Let the search begin!" Mev joked.
Whoop! Another gory death! I feel bad for killing Melvin, even though he was just one of the little stupid schoolchildren. He was kind of cute, y'know? This is definately not the last you'll be seeing of Zim and the rest, so don't ya'll worry. They just won't be fighting for the next few chapters, that's all. Also, Commander-Vipe gave me an idea that will definately help this story live up to the "Drama" category. Review if you ever want the slaves to find a home!
