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Chapter Twenty-Eight
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"Gaz!" gasped Zim, breathless and startled from the attack and her sudden appearance from nowhere. A light blazed above her, blinding him. In response, she shoved her heel deeper into his face, and he groaned.
"Don't you dare say my name," she snarled, "when you have threatened my entire family with death."
"I had no choice!" cried the alien, but Gaz let out a bloodcurdling scream of anger that silenced him.
"You motherfucker! You left ME with no choices! You knock me up, accuse me of lying and cheating, and then you abandon me?! Was this"—she threw a hand out to indicate Amy and Val—"your idea of punishing me? Murdering my entire family?"
Zim squeezed his eyes shut, as if that could somehow lessen his ability to hear. Gaz was here now; his thoughts, which had only moments ago seemed so clear, were now a jumbled, undecipherable mess. He'd come here, fully expecting he would never see her again, expecting he would likely die here. There was no reason to worry or care what she'd think of him after, because he'd be dead, or far away forever. If getting to Membrane meant killing all these people, well, what did it matter, when he'd never see the consequences?
Unexpectedly, Gaz's foot left him. He waited for another blow, but instead, there was a gross human throat sound, and a dampness at the place where her spit landed on his skin. It didn't burn him. Her fluids had stopped burning him long ago, not that they ever much had.
She squatted down and leaned close enough for him to feel her breath. Her voice was dark. "Let them go, right now."
He obeyed immediately, lowering the woman and child to the floor and releasing them without a word of reply. The arms retracted into his PAK.
"Zim. Open your fucking eyes and look at me, you coward."
He didn't want to, but he did. Her face was so close to his that he could smell her. Small amber eyes burned like coals with loathing—for him.
"We're going to kill you, Zim," she said, "and then I'm going to kill your smeet. I don't want any part of you in me."
"No!" Zim was on his feet in a flash and lurched at Gaz's legs, taking her to the ground. He scrambled to hold her down, but Dax was there, shoving a massive gun in his face. "Gaz, I—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" Gaz shrieked in pain as well, the electric shock coursing through the both of them at once.
"Oh shit!" yelled Dib, nearly dropping his weapon. "Gaz—I didn't even think about that—are you okay—?"
"Does she seem okay, you fucking moron?" demanded Dax, scowling at the other man.
Dib frowned. "Who the hell are you?"
"One of mine," said Membrane, appearing from behind Dib. "Dax, I applaud you for returning my daughter to me. If you wouldn't mind staying a little longer, we need to get the alien back down into the lab, but as you can see, the situation is…" He waved his hand, gesturing at the destruction of the facility.
Dax nodded. "We should evacuate," he suggested. "No telling what the extent of the structural damage is."
"Gaz, please," Zim whispered emphatically into her ear, finding himself suddenly overcome with despair. Their bodies were still stiff with pain, but he made his mouth move. "I know it's mine now. I fucked up. I'm so sorry. I have a PAK for it. I'll love it, I'll take care of it. Let me take it away from you and you'll never have to see either of us again." Words were pouring out of him faster than he was able to think. He didn't know what he was saying, only that he had to keep speaking, anything at all, to keep their smeet safe.
"Please, I left you because I thought it would keep you safe. I saw you kidnapped; I knew it was your dad behind it; I was coming here to come get you and take you away from them, make sure you were safe." His eyes met hers. The amber orbs were cold and hard; his breath caught. "Gaz—"
A hand was on his shoulder, pulling sharply. He hissed loudly. "GET your paws OFF—AAAAAAAAH!" The shock knocked him off his feet again, and his limbs trembled.
"It's seriously time to go," Dax said, and he hoisted the twitching alien over his shoulder. He and the others ran, making their way out of the building as quickly as they could manage. Only Gaz and Gir, whom she had finally noticed, remained.
"Gir?" she asked quietly. "What are you doing here?"
"Gir brought the PAK for Master and Gaz's smeet," the robot replied. "Remember?"
Gaz clenched her fists and looked away. "That's very kind, but we won't be needing that. The pregnancy will be terminated as soon as possible."
Gir shook its head. "But, why? The smeet is not endangering Gaz."
"Because I can't stand Zim! I can't stand to have this thing in me that is half of him! He can't do anything right—he is the worst boyfriend ever and he's cruel and stupid and I hate him!"
Silence followed for several seconds. Gaz's face was wet with angry tears. She didn't bother to stop them.
"Master is not kind or good," said Gir frankly. "Master is not smart or a good invader. Master is only good at doom and destruction. Isn't Gaz the same?"
She inhaled sharply; glared at him.
He went on: "Gaz is powerful. Gaz can do things that make verrrrrrrrry tall people into scaredy babies. Master and Gaz are my favorite together. They can do all kinds of things!"
"Hmph." Gaz crossed her arms over her chest. She intended to look tough, though her heart pounded so fiercely against her ribs she thought they might crack. "What do I need Zim for? I can do anything I want by myself."
"The smeet might be the best Invader ever!" cried Gir with glee. "Gaz is only unhappy with Master because the stupid earth makes things stupid and hard. Master, you, and the smeet should go away from here and do whateeeeeeever you want!"
A groan sounded through the room, and something heavy thudded in the distance. Gaz remembered suddenly that they were still in this death trap of a building. "Gir, let's go," she said, holding her hands out. The robot chirped and hopped into her arms, and she began to move.
As she walked, she thought. She'd always hated this stupid planet and its imbecilic inhabitants. For the longest time, it seemed like only she and Dib—and to an extent, their father—could see things for how they really were, and could understand each other. When Zim had arrived, Dib had changed, and eventually, so had she. Zim claimed he had come to save her, but she was confused by the mix-up between his actions and his motivations.
"Gir… when you called me, you told me that my dad made Dib and I in a lab. That we're part Irken. You said they had a human woman who couldn't carry the smeets, but then later she could. What does any of that mean?"
"Gir doesn't know ALL of the details," answered the robot, "but what I do know is that the earth woman couldn't take the smeet right away. She had to change. Like you did."
She swallowed hard. "What about me has changed?"
"I don't know. Irken DNA is weaker than human. But Gaz's DNA isn't human or Irken, but both, and is supposed to be very strong. Or very weak. I am not sure."
"Is Dib the same as me? Like—exactly?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Gir did not look too far into the Dibstink. Gir has been reprogrammed. My function now involves the survival of the smeet, Master, and Gaz." The robot's face seemed to fall. "It has not been easy."
Gaz's eyes burned again. "Yeah… you're telling me."
"Master is stupid. Forgive Master and make him obey. Leave the earth and be a happy family! Everything has been ready for years. Gir has been busy."
They turned a corner. The air was smokier here, and eventually it became harder to see and breathe. Gaz coughed. "Are we going the right way?" she asked. None of this was familiar, not when it was all crumbling and on fire and she was only half paying attention.
Gir's eyes went red. It whipped the PAK out of its body, tossed it to Gaz, and leapt out of her arms. "Mistress!" it cried. "Run away!" A booming crack sounded and Gir slammed back into the wall behind it, then slid to the ground. There was a dent in its head and the light of its eyes flickered out.
Gaz whirled at the exact moment another bullet soared; it tore through the side of her arm. She screamed and gripped the wound, blood seeping from through her fingers. She held on to the PAK instinctively with her free hand.
At the end of the hallway, a figure approached. It was her father.
"It's over, daughter," he called, aiming his firearm at her. "Give me the PAK. Let's not make this any more difficult than it needs to be."