The Sickness

Part Four

As Dib made his way toward the school, he began to think about how strange Zim had been acting the day before. It was something Dib had never expected to happen to his rival. For the first time, Dib felt a bit worried about what might be going on. 'But why do I suddenly care?' Dib thought to himself as he continued down the sidewalk. 'He's supposed to be my enemy.' Dib then thought of what might actually be going on and he scowled.

"Zim might think he can fool everyone else, but I'm not stupid." He said to himself. "I'll finally expose him for the horrible monster he is."

After that was said, Dib soon found himself on the school grounds and made his way up the steps leading up to the doors of the learning facility, his thoughts filled with confidence. After opening the doors; however, Dib suddenly cringed as a strong scent reached his nose. There was slightly a rotting smell that mixed with the strong smell of ammonia and pine-sol filled the hallway. Dib soon stopped as he saw a well-sized puce colored stain in the tile floor. The twelve-year-old continued to stare at it for a moment, but soon remembered something.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late!" He shouted before taking off down the hallway.

Once in class, Dib felt relieved that he had made it in time. The bell rang just as Dib sat down. Soon, Miss Bitter entered the room.

"Class, today's lecture is about how the overuse of chemicals will someday cause a horrific apocalypse that will destroy us all."

As Miss Bitters continued to ramble on about the subject, Dib couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. Assuming it was only his imagination, Dib shook off the feeling and tried his best to pay attention. About twenty minutes after the class started, Dib got the feeling once again that something didn't seem right; that something was amiss. Dib glanced over to his right. The place Zim usually sat was nothing but an empty desk. Dib turned his attention back to the front.

"Miss Bitters?" He said, raising his hand.

"What, Dib?" Growled the teacher. "Zim hasn't come to class for some reason." Dib replied. "I think something might be up."

"That's not worth the interruption of the class." Miss Bitters hissed. "Raise your hand when it's something important."

"Yes, Miss Bitters." Dib mumbled as he slumped in his seat.

Soon, Miss Bitters began to ramble on about the day's lecture. As this was going on, Dib couldn't help but glance over at the empty desk near the door. All the while he continued to wonder why Zim wasn't in class. 'He's probably out planning something.' Dib thought. 'But I'll get him sooner or later.' As the school day dragged on, Dib continued to feel a bit uneasy and restless. He was anxious to get out of class so he could finally find out what Zim was up to. After a long day, the bell finally rang and Dib and everyone else were able to head home. As Dib continued his walk home, he soon stopped walking.

"Wait! Now that class is over with, I can finally go and stop Zim once and for all." Dib said to himself, a devious smile forming on his face.

And soon, he turned and began to sprint down another road. It wasn't long that he soon spotted an oddly shaped house. Soon, he slowed to a halt at the front of the yard. Dib stared up at it for a moment. In the yard were unnatural looking lawn gnomes lined on both sides of the sidewalk that led to the a men's room door on the front. Dib stood there for a moment; eying the gnomes in the front yard a bit anxiously.

Though they may seem somewhat ordinary to any passerby, Dib knew they were in fact robotic and armed with a laser. As Dib stood there, he began to get that nagging feeling he had been getting the entire day that something was wrong. 'But this is Zim we're talking about.' Dib told himself in his mind. 'There's always something wrong that might happen.' As he continued to gaze up at the house, he soon realized nothing was really going on.

"But why do I somehow feel that something might actually be going on that's really bad?" Dib asked himself aloud.

He looked back at the eerie looking lawn gnomes that lined the sidewalk. With careful steps he made his way toward the house, expecting the robots to spring to life as soon as they sensed his presence. He was slightly confused when the robots continued to sit in their places on the lawn. Not taking any chances, Dib snuck over, using the blind-spots as his cover until he got to the front door. Once at the front door, he was about to knock, but decided against it; knowing that Zim never locked the door. He quickly opened the door and walked inside.

"I know what you're planning, you..!" The harsh words on his tongue melted away as Dib took in the scene.

There was a very strong smell of sweat, vomit, and just overall illness mixed into it. It was then that his gaze landed on some sort of spill on the floor just a few feet from the couch. Zim was lying on the couch, with a scared and worried Gir snuggled up against him. Zim's skin was extremely pale and seemed to be a slight greenish yellow; his cheeks had a deep green flush, indicating a fever was present. Dark circles were beginning to form around his eyes. His breathing was a bit labored as he tried to sleep. Zim soon let out a harsh cough, tightly clutching his stomach as if he were about to be sick again.

"Zim..." Dib said in awe. It wasn't long that a rush of guilt washed over him.

Not much to say for this part :( But anyways, here's part four. This part's kinda short ^^; But I still hope you're okay with that :) Don't worry, I'll try to get more up soon :D Stay tuned :) R&R PLEASE! THANKS :D:D