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Chapter Twenty-Nine

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"Where's Gaz? And Dad?"

They had exited the lab through a back way, Dib in the lead. He took quick stock of who was with them: the man Dax, still holding a semi-conscious Zim over his shoulder, and his wife, Amy. Val clung to Dib's back, his arms hooked under her legs. Amy had burst into relieved tears and embraced her husband and child as soon as they had made it outside. Upon hearing his question, she pulled away from him and looked behind her.

"Oh, God, are they still inside?" she asked, her hand covering mouth in horror. Black clouds of smoke billowed into the sky, and whole sections of the building had already collapsed.

Dax hoisted Zim off his shoulder and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground, eliciting a groan from the Irken.

"Hey!" Dib snapped. "Be careful with him."

Dax shot him an unreadable expression in response.

"How did they lose us?" Amy asked. "How did this happen?"

Dib set his jaw. There was no way his dad didn't know the way out, which could only mean he was up to something. He gently eased his daughter off his back and onto her feet, then kissed her on the forehead. He straightened and took Amy in his arms, pressing his mouth to hers. Her knuckles went white with how tightly she held him. When he pulled away, she began to cry again.

"I'm going after them," he told her quietly. "I know the layout. Please keep an eye on Zim—make sure he doesn't get hurt or run off somewhere."

Amy nodded, and kissed him again one more time, quickly, before pushing him away. "I love you," she whispered. "Come back to me."

"I love you, too." He turned toward the building and, without looking back, ran back inside.

—

"Dad, what the fuck are you doing? You shot me!"

Membrane approached quicker than she expected, and was soon within five feet of her. He had never lowered the gun, and she saw it pointed directly at her heart.

"And I'll shoot you again," he said, his voice like ice, "if you do not give me the PAK this instant."

She scowled, and took a step back. Without missing a beat, her father's hand moved down, and a bullet chipped the edge of her hip bone. She screamed and fell to her knees.

"DAD! STOP!"

"GIVE ME THE PAK," he shouted, stepping even closer and crouching. "I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN."

"Why do you need it?! Don't fucking SHOOT me, talk to me!"

The back of the hand which held the gun cracked across her face. For a brief moment, she went nearly blind in the pain, and her chest tightened. She felt him reach for the PAK, but she managed to open-palm smack her hand into his cheek as hard as she could. He grunted, and she dropped the PAK behind her, gripping his searching wrist with her now-free hand. She brought her knee up, nailing him in the abdomen. The butt of the gun came down on the top of her skull, and she fell back, the PAK now pinned under her. It clicked and whirred, and suddenly four sharp metal arms shot into Gaz's back. A bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat.

"NO!" Membrane cried emphatically. "NO!"

She held on, unable to breathe, moving her leg to try to kick him away, as white-hot agony flooded up and down her spine. The back of her head grew warm, and her vision swam with black dots.

A faraway voice crept into her ears. "Gaz! Dad!"

"Dib?" Gaz choked, blood spewing from her mouth. The momentary lapse of focus took her, and everything went dark.

—

Zim groaned again. He had been shifted onto something warm. His eyes fluttered open to reveal Amy's face above him, and the early-morning sky behind her. His head was in her lap.

"Where… is Gaz?" he asked.

"She and the professor are still inside," Amy answered coldly. "Dib went back for them. If they die, it will be because of you."

Zim tried to sit up, but Amy put a hand on his head and forced him back down. "Let me free, earth-female," he hissed hoarsely. "I must retrieve my Gaz."

"You've done more than enough damage. Dib will take care of it. He told me not to let you go, so here you'll stay."

The alien scowled, and surveyed his surroundings. That human, Dax, was a short distance away, talking on a phone. The human child, Val, sat nearby, staring right at him with big, wide eyes. It unnerved him.

"I will not be restrained here," he asserted. "I am Zim."

"I am not a violent person," Amy said, "but you are testing my patience. You're not going anywhere."

"And how will you stop me?"

Her eyes narrowed at the challenge. She licked her hand and brought it near his skin.

"Alright, alright, fine! Fine. I won't move."

The building creaked and moaned loudly, and then shifted as another section fell apart under the flames.

"The fire department is on its way," said Dax, returning to them, phone off. "I've got the guys bringing the van around. We should hide him inside it."

"That's fine," Amy said. "But no funny business. He's not going anywhere, do you hear me?"

Dax's face looked tired. "Ma'am, my boss is inside the building. I'm only still here because I'm trying to do something to help. This situation's beyond fucked. I don't really want any more part in it, but we can at least do this one thing for now."

Val was still staring at Zim, who frowned at her. "What are you looking at, earth-girl?"

"Don't talk to my daughter," snapped Amy. "In fact, don't speak at all. Your voice is frying my nerves."

Dax snorted in amusement, and Zim's scowl deepened, but he kept his mouth shut. He was exhausted. Dib, you idiot, you better know what you're doing, he thought angrily. He closed his eyes and thought only of Gaz.

—

The professor collected Gaz in his arms and held her to his chest, turning her on her side to allow the blood in her mouth to drain onto his dirty lab coat. Her back faced Dib, who gasped when he saw the PAK lodged there.

"Goddamn it!" Membrane cried. "Foolish girl! Idiotic aberration!"

Dib knelt beside him. "Dad! What the fuck happened? Why are you still here? Why does Gaz have a PAK?"

"Idiot boy!" The professor glared at him full in the face, and, amazingly, Dib could see that his father was weeping. "Your sister has killed herself! Everything I've done—everything I've worked for—she has destroyed!"

There was a gun discarded on the ground, and Dib took it while his father was distracted. He coughed lightly; the smoke was getting thicker. "Dad, we have to leave or we'll suffocate. We need to get her an ambulance—"

"And what will they do, my imbecilic son, when they see her with this thing embedded in her? It is too late. She will die if it is removed, or if it stays on; it is no matter. Ten minutes either way, and she is dead." Membrane's grip tightened, pulling her closer. "Gaz, my daughter, you brainless fool. You should have listened to me! This didn't need to happen!"

Dib's eyes fell on Gir, lying like trash on the ground. He saw that Gaz was bleeding from her arm. "Dad, what did you do? Did you shoot her?"

"She should have listened to me," Membrane spat, before doubling over his dying child with a fit of coughs.

"That's it, Dad, we're leaving." Dib reached to grab his father's arm, but was roughly shrugged away. He scowled, determined. "I'm taking her, whether you like it or not. You can stay and asphyxiate if that's what you want, but I'm taking her with me." He reached for his sister, and Membrane's eyes blazed.

"I'll never cease to be disappointed in you, my stupid son," he sneered.

"You're the one being fucking stupid right now. We can have this conversation outside."

He tugged again at Gaz, and Membrane jerked her away, standing up, cradling her in his chest. Dib nodded, and scooted past to grab Gir's body. He held the gun up to his father's back and said, "Time to go, Dad."

Membrane chuckled humorlessly. "You'd never use that thing on me."

"Don't find out. Move."