Chapter 6: The Human Has Finally Snapped (Plan 4)
Special thanks to Briniirene for being my 100th overall reviewer! And thanks to everyone who's been reviewing too...::sniffle:: I love you guys...
*Cough*. Anyway, like I said, Thursday will be a trip.
I think I went into a bit too much description, but that's only so that we can slide into the next dominant mood of the story. We're gonna lose one of our two main comic relief chars (Gir or Keef) but you gotta read on to find out who ^.^ And yeah, I planned this to come out today. THURSDAY! Evil...
I never trusted Thursdays anyway... they trick you! They *mock* you. It's like they're saying "Ha! You want it to be the end of the week, but you still have one more day to go! Mwa ha ha!" So... yes. Whenever you think of Thursday, think of this evil... thingie..., laughing at you. Because it is. IT IS!!!
I'm shutting up now. On to the story.
Oh. Before I forget. Good luck to Arm&Leg on their trip. Come back alive, you still have some fanfic to do. ^.^ Also, good luck to you, whatgoodlyricsdotome, on your trip as well. And don't you go dying either. I want you both to finish your fics, dammit!
Ok. *Now* I'm shutting up.
*Wednesday*: Plan 4
It was already noon, and still nothing had been attempted. A normal time had passed at breakfast. Dib didn't even *look* at Zim. And then there was science class. They studied about why the water molecule was so special. There was even a demonstration- someone had to get up and describe water using a paper model. Dib had a huge chance to make fun of Zim at that time. But nothing happened.
This worried Zim.
It was lunchtime now, and he glanced over at Dib, who was sitting at the far end of the table alone. If his sister were here, Dib most likely would be sitting with her. But she wasn't, and he had no one else to sit with.
Zim pitied Dib, in a way. He had no friends. No ally with a common ground. Not that Zim had any friends anyway but at least he had soldiers that respected him... well, okay, he used to have that, but it was better than nothing.
"Humans are such fools," Zim thought, turning back to his food tray. The food here wasn't that bad, much better than the food back at the cafeteria, but it was still human food and still disgusting.
Dib made a sudden movement, and Zim jerked to attention, making sure Dib wasn't attempting to do anything.
He wasn't. He simply stood up, pushed the remains of his lunch tray into the trashcan, and walked off. He didn't give Zim a glance. He didn't try and yell anything about how Zim was an alien. He just... left.
Zim quickly ascended from his table and followed Dib out of the cafeteria. He wanted to see what his enemy was up to.
He made it outside to where the cool mountain air blew. It was much more different up here, definitely better than that filthy city that Dib lived in. Zim almost liked it up here. Almost. It had too many trees and was too... calm. Zim shuddered at this. In fact, the quietness was almost too much to bear. If it wasn't for Keef's garrulous tendencies or Gir's incessant need to talk to 'BuNny', Zim would be going out of his mind from the silence.
Not that silence wasn't bad. At times it was undoubtedly necessary. But too much of it was... eerie.
Dib walked out into the bright area, slowly at first, then more quickly. "What is that human boy up to?" Zim said softly, then proceeded to quickly pursue.
Dib had broken out to a run, now, to some place further down the camp area. He neared the gates that surrounded the entire camp. Barbed wire was set on top, and a huge white sign with the words in red lettering: 'FORBIDDEN TERRITORY: Do NOT enter' was hung directly under.
And then Dib stopped.
Zim slowly crept up upon his nemesis, hiding behind a huge tree planted near where Dib stood. He quieted his breath and looked on, wondering what Dib was doing. Why was he here?
Dib slowly turned around. His face twisted into an unreadable expression.
And he began to laugh.
Not a laugh out of reaction to humor, or an 'I've-got-a-devious-plan' laugh. It was a laugh that Zim couldn't quite place. It was a deep-throated, maniacal laugh. And as quickly as it had come, it stopped, and he turned directly toward where Zim was hiding.
"Zim," he said loudly, his hand reaching under his trench coat. His heart was beating quickly, now, but he was ready. "I know you're here. You've been watching me all day. Following me. You think you have the upper hand? Come out and prove it to me."
Zim didn't move. He knew, all this time?! Dib was smarter than he looked.
This entire day Zim thought Dib was just ignoring him. But, in fact, Dib was using the cold shoulder as a way to trap Zim. Zim had no choice. He was ill prepared. But Dib was too, wasn't he? He didn't have any weapons... they were all destroyed. Weren't they?
Zim stepped out. "You ready to finally face me? I thought you'd be too ashamed after what happened yesterday, Dib."
Dib didn't grin, or make any facial expression that recognized surprise of any kind. Instead he gave Zim a sickening glare. A thought crossed his face, like something just dawned on him. "You don't have any weapons with you."
"Of course not!" the Irken yelled, annoyed.
"Not smart, Zim. You should always keep everything at hand in case of a threat."
"I destroyed all of your weapons, foolish human, thus I destroyed the threat."
"You will never destroy the threat until you destroy me," Dib said simply. "And you didn't manage to destroy all of them. All those parts you left? The bolts and the wires and everything else? Stupid mistake, Zim. A stupid, stupid mistake." He pulled out the weapon he had.
Zim stared at it, attempting to assess the new 'threat'. He wasn't sure of what it did. He wasn't even sure of how much of a threat it was. It was long, and black, and shone in the sun. It was an odd shape as well, like two poles had been stuck together with a bunch of wiring stuck inside. And then, tied to the very end: a white utensil-looking object that looked like a cross between a spoon and a fork.
"A spork?" Zim asked aloud, suddenly.
"Yes," Dib said, then grinned. "A spork. I will poke out the vile strawberry red jelly of your alien eyes with a spork! And then... heh heh... well... you'll see."
Zim backed up slowly. "Dib... are you positive you're alright? Heh... you look like you haven't had enough sleep. You know, I have a great remedy that'll get that insomnia cured. Z?"
"I think I'll give you a cure for insomnia, Zim. A permanent one." Dib advanced toward him, the weapon in hand, pointed toward the alien.
"No, that's quite alright, I don't have insomnia... what are you doing with that thing? Get away from me! I don't like that look..."
Without responding, Dib jumped at Zim, jabbing the weapon directly at his head.
"AHH! Watch where you're pointing that!" Zim dodged the shot, misjudging his evasion techniques and tripping to the ground.
"Yes, yes, yes! Fall, Zim! FALL! They called me a fool! But now, now I have proof. I have your dead body as proof Zim. Not pictures, not stupid recordings... living... well... formerly living... actual... PROOF!"
"You are out of your mind, human. Get away from me with that thing!"
Dib swung it, hard, striking the side of Zim's face. Zim struggled to stand up and backed up toward the fence, holding his face with his gloved hand. He looked down to see the former black glove now looking more like a dark magenta.
"It's almost sad, Zim, seeing you go like this. I mean, it's a spork. A spork! A HA HA HA HA!"
"Remind me to never again piss you off."
Dib stopped laughing and met Zim's eyes. He didn't grin this time. He just... stared.
The Irken was bent doubled over backwards, a dirty mess because he was now sitting on the ground. Half his face was one huge scratched mass of Irken blood and broken skin. The other half...
SWIPE!
The other half was now the same. Dib grinned as Zim touched the other side of his face, which now also had three slashes against it. He looked down at his own hands and saw them covered in the Irken's blood.
Zim clenched his fist, ready to pounce on the human. He had to fight back. He couldn't go like this. He had to...
Zim realized now that along with a clenched fist, he also had his eyes shut tight. Why was he so afraid? It was the human. He had never actually seen the human looking so... malicious. So different.
Hush.
Now was not the time for silence. Zim slowly opened his eyes and stood up, looking about him. The wind was slowly picking up, blowing up a cloud of dirt from the ground. A tree in the far distance swayed. The sky above was still bright, the sun shining brightly as ever as it passed its' 'no shadow time' mark.
But Zim was alone.
Dib was gone.
*Thursday*: No Plan
The sun was just about to peek over the horizon, and the imminent dawn was clear now. A faint splash of pink melted across the sky, blending into the deep blue to make a soft, dark purple in between.
Dib sat on the roof, gazing as the stars, one by one, disappeared, and the biggest one (from Earth's view) began to appear. It was quiet on the roof, and very cold considering the sun was not yet out to warm the atmosphere up. Dib shivered and pulled his coat more closely together.
He wiped his mouth, which had become very dry. He supposed it was stupid that he didn't drink any water, as was usually advised in the high altitude, but he didn't care.
He leaned down and wrote another entry in his book. Then he closed it and shoved it in his coat pocket. No, he didn't really care much about anything these days.
Truthfully, yesterday scared him.
It wasn't like him to snap like that. Sure, it was fun seeing the usually cocky alien afraid for a change, but it just wasn't him. He felt pretty stupid for the weapon he'd spent all night making, and stuffed it into a deep pocket on the inside of his coat. It would be no use, now.
The spork had been an added touch, only because Dib wanted to torture Zim a little before he set off the actual purpose of the weapon. It was a handheld shocking device, not something too special but it would have definitely caught Zim off guard. Dib wasn't even sure if it worked. He didn't have a chance to test it out, because he had spent that entire night making it. Dib thought back. Did he even sleep that night? Probably not.
But the same was for this night. He just didn't sleep. He'd been awake for two full days, now, and was just about to go into his third. He wasn't exhausted, though. Not the physical kind of exhaustion anyway.
Dib sighed and leaned forward on the roof. He was sitting on top of the building that had all the rooms, but didn't really care. They could find him up here for all that mattered. It wouldn't change anything.
He looked at his hand, and for a moment thought that he still had some of Zim's blood still on it. But, in blinking, he found that it was gone. It better have been, for all the rough scrubbing Dib had done using a hard soap bar that was offered in the bathrooms.
"Yet, here's a spot," he said, laughing softly at his own lame joke and then putting his hand down.
Today would be the first day without plans. Without pursuit. Dib wasn't going to try anything with Zim but stay away from him. Maybe that would clear his mind.
"This was all Zim's doing," Dib thought. "My sleeplessness, my constant fighting... my entire energy is devoted to him. I want my own life back."
Dib tried to think. What *had* life been like before Zim came? Strange as it may have sounded, he couldn't quite remember. But that was probably because since Zim came, life itself had become exhausting. A constant battle, day to day, where one mistake could end up costing everything.
Dib watched the sun rise, hoping today would be different. No, /knowing/ today would be different.
From far beyond the horizon, not so far from where the sun was rising, was that single little pink star, giving off a last shining eminence before becoming invisible to the human eye.
*********************************
Zim watched as the sun began to set. The day was uneventful, to say the least. He stayed as far away from Dib as he possibly could, watching the humans' every move, but this time not making the mistake of following the human everywhere he went.
There was another class project, but it was boring and not worth mentioning. The day had actually passed by pretty quickly. Astro-Camp was still not over. Zim grimaced at the thought of having to spend three more days in this horrid place.
That's why he was happy to hear Krystie's announcement that evening at dinner. He distinctly remembered every word.
"Tonight, Campers, we're going on a very special hike. Around here we call it The Astrology Walk. Now, in order to make sure you're completely safe, you need to pick one partner and meet me by the Astro-Camp office at 9:00 p.m.! All you need to bring is a flashlight, but I doubt you'll even be needing that. It's just in case you get separated from the group, not that that's likely to happen."
The idea had suddenly sprung on Zim. Of course! He wasn't held back by the boundaries that these human fools were! He had Gir to help him. And thankfully Zim had been smart enough to replace that homing chip. They couldn't be too far from home... the bus ride had been exhausting but Zim couldn't stand staying another day.
Zim blinked as he realized a lot of time had passed. The sun was now completely gone underneath the horizon, and the moon rose in it's place. Thousands- millions of stars shone in the sky. Zim looked up, searching for his home.
"Hey," came a voice.
Zim shuddered. It was their loathed camp counselor, Krystie. Her personality sickened him and he almost wished that he had gotten a less talkative, less joyful, apocalyptic-type counselor like his teacher was. Not that Ms. Bitters was a great alternative, but she was sure as hell much better than this... Krystie.
"You're here early!" she piped up. "Excited to go on the walk?"
"Yes," Zim said, faking a smile. "Ever so excited."
"Goody!" she clapped her hands. "Everyone should be arriving in a minute. You kids are so fun."
"Yes...," Zim sneered under his breath. "I bet."
Krystie was right, actually. Soon everyone did arrive. They seemed excited to go on this hike. Zim was just excited to get away.
He shifted his backpack at that moment and heard a muffled sound. Quickly he stood still, hoping Gir (who he'd stuffed in there earlier) would follow his orders and keep quiet. After a moment he heard no more.
He'd packed earlier, right after dinner, leaving some of the less important objects behind. It didn't matter.
"Where are we going, master?" Gir had asked.
"Home," Zim opened the robot's head to make sure the chip was still in there and not replaced by cupcakes or anything.
"Yay!" Gir leapt up. "Can I bring BuNny?"
"No, Gir, you can't."
"Awww... please?" He leapt onto Zim's leg and squeezed it tight.
"Fine... FINE! Just... you have to be on your best behavior. Okay, Gir?"
"Yes master! I will be the best robot mongoose dog on the bestest of behavior!"
"That means keeping quiet until I say it's okay to talk, and doing exactly what I say. Alright?"
Gir hummed the doom song under his breath and then looked at Zim. "What?"
Zim shook his head and stuffed some other things in his backpack. It didn't matter. He was going, whether Gir would begin to act right or not.
"Are you guys all paired up?" Krystie asked, pulling Zim away from his trance.
"Yes!" came the chorused voices of the class.
Zim glared at the joyful Keef, who grinned back. "You ready for the hike, buddy?"
"No."
"Great! Let's go!"
They set off into the woods, following quickly behind Krystie. They couldn't see a thing at all because Krystie told them not to turn their flashlights on.
"It'll scare away all the animals," she explained. "Plus, you won't get as awesome a view of the stars, because the light from the flashlight will outshine the light from the stars, from your eyes' point of view."
A sudden wind blew up the mountain, and Zim shivered. He hadn't realized human weather could be so varying. It was certainly unnerving. Back on Irk, there had been *one* constant weather, and that suited him fine. But no... here on Earth, everything had to be so complicated.
They were halfway through the hike, with Krystie pointing out various stars and constellations along the way. Zim waited until Keef was preoccupied with something else, and then he slipped off into the woods.
Dib, who was lingering behind, saw Zim slipping away into the woods. He didn't want to, but for some reason felt he had to follow.
"After all," he thought. "If I don't, who will?"
He followed the shadow quickly, every so often having to stop and listen to the crunching of leaves and twigs. For someone trying to sneak away, Zim wasn't very quiet.
After about five minutes of walking and of Dib wondering where the heck Zim was going, he heard no more. He stopped at that moment. Where did he go?
Dib cursed under his breath. It had been stupid following Zim, and a waste of time. He decided that he didn't particularly care at that moment, and turned back.
That's when he met with a pair of glaring eyes.
"AHH!" Dib jumped back. He turned his flashlight and met with the fake hazel eyes of Zim.
"What are you doing following me, Dib?" he sneered.
"Uh.... nothing. I wasn't following you! I um... thought you were a squirrel!"
"Well, well, well. It seems that not only are you a psycho but you're a liar too. A bad one at that."
"Yeah! Well... um..." Dib couldn't think of any retort so he just crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter. This 'psycho liar' is out of here." He began to walk off when he suddenly turned. "Hey... where are you going, anyway?"
"Why do you care?" Zim sneered.
"Well, if you're trying to get home early, it won't work."
"And why not?!" Zim asked, slightly ticked that Dib had guessed his plans.
"Because home is that way," Dib pointed toward the opposite direction that Zim was heading.
"I KNEW that!" Zim said. "I was just... testing you. Yes." He walked off toward where Dib was pointing when suddenly he felt a harsh shove from behind.
"I'm not letting you go, Zim," Dib said, grabbing on the Irken's red shirt and pushing him down toward the ground.
"And why not? You want to slice me up with that spork of yours again?!" Zim said, pulling off his backpack as he spoke.
"No. Course not. That wouldn't be a bad idea, though," he said thoughtfully. Dib shined the light on Zim's face to see the six dark scars on either side of his cheeks. "It's just that, if you leave, they'll send out a whole search party and everything, and it'll just ruin my entire weekend. Besides, if you get eaten by a bear, there goes all my evidence!"
"I'm so glad you cared. Now I suggest you get your hands off of me, human, before you regret it." Zim shoved Dib away and pulled Gir out of his backpack. "Gir!"
"Sir!"
"Let's go home!"
"Okay!"
Zim slipped on his backpack and jumped on Gir's back. "See you later... human."
"No!" Dib took a daring leap and grabbed onto Gir's leg just as the little unit took off. The imbalance made Gir's flight erratic (it was erratic anyway, but this time it was worse) and sent Gir spiraling toward all directions.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Zim yelled.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Dib agreed.
"GET OFF HUMAN!" Zim attempted to pry Dib's hands off of Gir's leg.
"No! NO! OW! Stop it!" Dib complained as the Irken began to pound his hands with his fist.
"WOO HOO HOO!!!" Gir shouted, continuing his irregular twists and turns into the air. The screaming continued for Zim and Dib, however, as they hung onto Gir in the flight.
"Gir! STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Zim yelled. Gir had no choice, however, as he ran into a tree and all three were flung backwards into a stream below them.
Dib was choking- sputtering actually. There was water all around, and he couldn't fight the rushing water. He tried swimming but that did absolutely nothing. Then he felt a sharp, acute pain in the back of his head, and darkness surrounded him along with the gushing water.
Zim was burning all over. It was pain, that's all he could feel. He didn't expect to run into the problem of water and he didn't expect to swim in it, either. Except, now he seemed to be drowning in it.
"Not again!" Zim groaned as the water continued rushing against him. But he knew this time that no dark figure would be able to pull him out of it. He struggled as harshly as he could against the current before finally succumbing to the icy waters that swept him, Dib, and Gir further and further away from civilization.
Special thanks to Briniirene for being my 100th overall reviewer! And thanks to everyone who's been reviewing too...::sniffle:: I love you guys...
*Cough*. Anyway, like I said, Thursday will be a trip.
I think I went into a bit too much description, but that's only so that we can slide into the next dominant mood of the story. We're gonna lose one of our two main comic relief chars (Gir or Keef) but you gotta read on to find out who ^.^ And yeah, I planned this to come out today. THURSDAY! Evil...
I never trusted Thursdays anyway... they trick you! They *mock* you. It's like they're saying "Ha! You want it to be the end of the week, but you still have one more day to go! Mwa ha ha!" So... yes. Whenever you think of Thursday, think of this evil... thingie..., laughing at you. Because it is. IT IS!!!
I'm shutting up now. On to the story.
Oh. Before I forget. Good luck to Arm&Leg on their trip. Come back alive, you still have some fanfic to do. ^.^ Also, good luck to you, whatgoodlyricsdotome, on your trip as well. And don't you go dying either. I want you both to finish your fics, dammit!
Ok. *Now* I'm shutting up.
*Wednesday*: Plan 4
It was already noon, and still nothing had been attempted. A normal time had passed at breakfast. Dib didn't even *look* at Zim. And then there was science class. They studied about why the water molecule was so special. There was even a demonstration- someone had to get up and describe water using a paper model. Dib had a huge chance to make fun of Zim at that time. But nothing happened.
This worried Zim.
It was lunchtime now, and he glanced over at Dib, who was sitting at the far end of the table alone. If his sister were here, Dib most likely would be sitting with her. But she wasn't, and he had no one else to sit with.
Zim pitied Dib, in a way. He had no friends. No ally with a common ground. Not that Zim had any friends anyway but at least he had soldiers that respected him... well, okay, he used to have that, but it was better than nothing.
"Humans are such fools," Zim thought, turning back to his food tray. The food here wasn't that bad, much better than the food back at the cafeteria, but it was still human food and still disgusting.
Dib made a sudden movement, and Zim jerked to attention, making sure Dib wasn't attempting to do anything.
He wasn't. He simply stood up, pushed the remains of his lunch tray into the trashcan, and walked off. He didn't give Zim a glance. He didn't try and yell anything about how Zim was an alien. He just... left.
Zim quickly ascended from his table and followed Dib out of the cafeteria. He wanted to see what his enemy was up to.
He made it outside to where the cool mountain air blew. It was much more different up here, definitely better than that filthy city that Dib lived in. Zim almost liked it up here. Almost. It had too many trees and was too... calm. Zim shuddered at this. In fact, the quietness was almost too much to bear. If it wasn't for Keef's garrulous tendencies or Gir's incessant need to talk to 'BuNny', Zim would be going out of his mind from the silence.
Not that silence wasn't bad. At times it was undoubtedly necessary. But too much of it was... eerie.
Dib walked out into the bright area, slowly at first, then more quickly. "What is that human boy up to?" Zim said softly, then proceeded to quickly pursue.
Dib had broken out to a run, now, to some place further down the camp area. He neared the gates that surrounded the entire camp. Barbed wire was set on top, and a huge white sign with the words in red lettering: 'FORBIDDEN TERRITORY: Do NOT enter' was hung directly under.
And then Dib stopped.
Zim slowly crept up upon his nemesis, hiding behind a huge tree planted near where Dib stood. He quieted his breath and looked on, wondering what Dib was doing. Why was he here?
Dib slowly turned around. His face twisted into an unreadable expression.
And he began to laugh.
Not a laugh out of reaction to humor, or an 'I've-got-a-devious-plan' laugh. It was a laugh that Zim couldn't quite place. It was a deep-throated, maniacal laugh. And as quickly as it had come, it stopped, and he turned directly toward where Zim was hiding.
"Zim," he said loudly, his hand reaching under his trench coat. His heart was beating quickly, now, but he was ready. "I know you're here. You've been watching me all day. Following me. You think you have the upper hand? Come out and prove it to me."
Zim didn't move. He knew, all this time?! Dib was smarter than he looked.
This entire day Zim thought Dib was just ignoring him. But, in fact, Dib was using the cold shoulder as a way to trap Zim. Zim had no choice. He was ill prepared. But Dib was too, wasn't he? He didn't have any weapons... they were all destroyed. Weren't they?
Zim stepped out. "You ready to finally face me? I thought you'd be too ashamed after what happened yesterday, Dib."
Dib didn't grin, or make any facial expression that recognized surprise of any kind. Instead he gave Zim a sickening glare. A thought crossed his face, like something just dawned on him. "You don't have any weapons with you."
"Of course not!" the Irken yelled, annoyed.
"Not smart, Zim. You should always keep everything at hand in case of a threat."
"I destroyed all of your weapons, foolish human, thus I destroyed the threat."
"You will never destroy the threat until you destroy me," Dib said simply. "And you didn't manage to destroy all of them. All those parts you left? The bolts and the wires and everything else? Stupid mistake, Zim. A stupid, stupid mistake." He pulled out the weapon he had.
Zim stared at it, attempting to assess the new 'threat'. He wasn't sure of what it did. He wasn't even sure of how much of a threat it was. It was long, and black, and shone in the sun. It was an odd shape as well, like two poles had been stuck together with a bunch of wiring stuck inside. And then, tied to the very end: a white utensil-looking object that looked like a cross between a spoon and a fork.
"A spork?" Zim asked aloud, suddenly.
"Yes," Dib said, then grinned. "A spork. I will poke out the vile strawberry red jelly of your alien eyes with a spork! And then... heh heh... well... you'll see."
Zim backed up slowly. "Dib... are you positive you're alright? Heh... you look like you haven't had enough sleep. You know, I have a great remedy that'll get that insomnia cured. Z?"
"I think I'll give you a cure for insomnia, Zim. A permanent one." Dib advanced toward him, the weapon in hand, pointed toward the alien.
"No, that's quite alright, I don't have insomnia... what are you doing with that thing? Get away from me! I don't like that look..."
Without responding, Dib jumped at Zim, jabbing the weapon directly at his head.
"AHH! Watch where you're pointing that!" Zim dodged the shot, misjudging his evasion techniques and tripping to the ground.
"Yes, yes, yes! Fall, Zim! FALL! They called me a fool! But now, now I have proof. I have your dead body as proof Zim. Not pictures, not stupid recordings... living... well... formerly living... actual... PROOF!"
"You are out of your mind, human. Get away from me with that thing!"
Dib swung it, hard, striking the side of Zim's face. Zim struggled to stand up and backed up toward the fence, holding his face with his gloved hand. He looked down to see the former black glove now looking more like a dark magenta.
"It's almost sad, Zim, seeing you go like this. I mean, it's a spork. A spork! A HA HA HA HA!"
"Remind me to never again piss you off."
Dib stopped laughing and met Zim's eyes. He didn't grin this time. He just... stared.
The Irken was bent doubled over backwards, a dirty mess because he was now sitting on the ground. Half his face was one huge scratched mass of Irken blood and broken skin. The other half...
SWIPE!
The other half was now the same. Dib grinned as Zim touched the other side of his face, which now also had three slashes against it. He looked down at his own hands and saw them covered in the Irken's blood.
Zim clenched his fist, ready to pounce on the human. He had to fight back. He couldn't go like this. He had to...
Zim realized now that along with a clenched fist, he also had his eyes shut tight. Why was he so afraid? It was the human. He had never actually seen the human looking so... malicious. So different.
Hush.
Now was not the time for silence. Zim slowly opened his eyes and stood up, looking about him. The wind was slowly picking up, blowing up a cloud of dirt from the ground. A tree in the far distance swayed. The sky above was still bright, the sun shining brightly as ever as it passed its' 'no shadow time' mark.
But Zim was alone.
Dib was gone.
*Thursday*: No Plan
The sun was just about to peek over the horizon, and the imminent dawn was clear now. A faint splash of pink melted across the sky, blending into the deep blue to make a soft, dark purple in between.
Dib sat on the roof, gazing as the stars, one by one, disappeared, and the biggest one (from Earth's view) began to appear. It was quiet on the roof, and very cold considering the sun was not yet out to warm the atmosphere up. Dib shivered and pulled his coat more closely together.
He wiped his mouth, which had become very dry. He supposed it was stupid that he didn't drink any water, as was usually advised in the high altitude, but he didn't care.
He leaned down and wrote another entry in his book. Then he closed it and shoved it in his coat pocket. No, he didn't really care much about anything these days.
Truthfully, yesterday scared him.
It wasn't like him to snap like that. Sure, it was fun seeing the usually cocky alien afraid for a change, but it just wasn't him. He felt pretty stupid for the weapon he'd spent all night making, and stuffed it into a deep pocket on the inside of his coat. It would be no use, now.
The spork had been an added touch, only because Dib wanted to torture Zim a little before he set off the actual purpose of the weapon. It was a handheld shocking device, not something too special but it would have definitely caught Zim off guard. Dib wasn't even sure if it worked. He didn't have a chance to test it out, because he had spent that entire night making it. Dib thought back. Did he even sleep that night? Probably not.
But the same was for this night. He just didn't sleep. He'd been awake for two full days, now, and was just about to go into his third. He wasn't exhausted, though. Not the physical kind of exhaustion anyway.
Dib sighed and leaned forward on the roof. He was sitting on top of the building that had all the rooms, but didn't really care. They could find him up here for all that mattered. It wouldn't change anything.
He looked at his hand, and for a moment thought that he still had some of Zim's blood still on it. But, in blinking, he found that it was gone. It better have been, for all the rough scrubbing Dib had done using a hard soap bar that was offered in the bathrooms.
"Yet, here's a spot," he said, laughing softly at his own lame joke and then putting his hand down.
Today would be the first day without plans. Without pursuit. Dib wasn't going to try anything with Zim but stay away from him. Maybe that would clear his mind.
"This was all Zim's doing," Dib thought. "My sleeplessness, my constant fighting... my entire energy is devoted to him. I want my own life back."
Dib tried to think. What *had* life been like before Zim came? Strange as it may have sounded, he couldn't quite remember. But that was probably because since Zim came, life itself had become exhausting. A constant battle, day to day, where one mistake could end up costing everything.
Dib watched the sun rise, hoping today would be different. No, /knowing/ today would be different.
From far beyond the horizon, not so far from where the sun was rising, was that single little pink star, giving off a last shining eminence before becoming invisible to the human eye.
*********************************
Zim watched as the sun began to set. The day was uneventful, to say the least. He stayed as far away from Dib as he possibly could, watching the humans' every move, but this time not making the mistake of following the human everywhere he went.
There was another class project, but it was boring and not worth mentioning. The day had actually passed by pretty quickly. Astro-Camp was still not over. Zim grimaced at the thought of having to spend three more days in this horrid place.
That's why he was happy to hear Krystie's announcement that evening at dinner. He distinctly remembered every word.
"Tonight, Campers, we're going on a very special hike. Around here we call it The Astrology Walk. Now, in order to make sure you're completely safe, you need to pick one partner and meet me by the Astro-Camp office at 9:00 p.m.! All you need to bring is a flashlight, but I doubt you'll even be needing that. It's just in case you get separated from the group, not that that's likely to happen."
The idea had suddenly sprung on Zim. Of course! He wasn't held back by the boundaries that these human fools were! He had Gir to help him. And thankfully Zim had been smart enough to replace that homing chip. They couldn't be too far from home... the bus ride had been exhausting but Zim couldn't stand staying another day.
Zim blinked as he realized a lot of time had passed. The sun was now completely gone underneath the horizon, and the moon rose in it's place. Thousands- millions of stars shone in the sky. Zim looked up, searching for his home.
"Hey," came a voice.
Zim shuddered. It was their loathed camp counselor, Krystie. Her personality sickened him and he almost wished that he had gotten a less talkative, less joyful, apocalyptic-type counselor like his teacher was. Not that Ms. Bitters was a great alternative, but she was sure as hell much better than this... Krystie.
"You're here early!" she piped up. "Excited to go on the walk?"
"Yes," Zim said, faking a smile. "Ever so excited."
"Goody!" she clapped her hands. "Everyone should be arriving in a minute. You kids are so fun."
"Yes...," Zim sneered under his breath. "I bet."
Krystie was right, actually. Soon everyone did arrive. They seemed excited to go on this hike. Zim was just excited to get away.
He shifted his backpack at that moment and heard a muffled sound. Quickly he stood still, hoping Gir (who he'd stuffed in there earlier) would follow his orders and keep quiet. After a moment he heard no more.
He'd packed earlier, right after dinner, leaving some of the less important objects behind. It didn't matter.
"Where are we going, master?" Gir had asked.
"Home," Zim opened the robot's head to make sure the chip was still in there and not replaced by cupcakes or anything.
"Yay!" Gir leapt up. "Can I bring BuNny?"
"No, Gir, you can't."
"Awww... please?" He leapt onto Zim's leg and squeezed it tight.
"Fine... FINE! Just... you have to be on your best behavior. Okay, Gir?"
"Yes master! I will be the best robot mongoose dog on the bestest of behavior!"
"That means keeping quiet until I say it's okay to talk, and doing exactly what I say. Alright?"
Gir hummed the doom song under his breath and then looked at Zim. "What?"
Zim shook his head and stuffed some other things in his backpack. It didn't matter. He was going, whether Gir would begin to act right or not.
"Are you guys all paired up?" Krystie asked, pulling Zim away from his trance.
"Yes!" came the chorused voices of the class.
Zim glared at the joyful Keef, who grinned back. "You ready for the hike, buddy?"
"No."
"Great! Let's go!"
They set off into the woods, following quickly behind Krystie. They couldn't see a thing at all because Krystie told them not to turn their flashlights on.
"It'll scare away all the animals," she explained. "Plus, you won't get as awesome a view of the stars, because the light from the flashlight will outshine the light from the stars, from your eyes' point of view."
A sudden wind blew up the mountain, and Zim shivered. He hadn't realized human weather could be so varying. It was certainly unnerving. Back on Irk, there had been *one* constant weather, and that suited him fine. But no... here on Earth, everything had to be so complicated.
They were halfway through the hike, with Krystie pointing out various stars and constellations along the way. Zim waited until Keef was preoccupied with something else, and then he slipped off into the woods.
Dib, who was lingering behind, saw Zim slipping away into the woods. He didn't want to, but for some reason felt he had to follow.
"After all," he thought. "If I don't, who will?"
He followed the shadow quickly, every so often having to stop and listen to the crunching of leaves and twigs. For someone trying to sneak away, Zim wasn't very quiet.
After about five minutes of walking and of Dib wondering where the heck Zim was going, he heard no more. He stopped at that moment. Where did he go?
Dib cursed under his breath. It had been stupid following Zim, and a waste of time. He decided that he didn't particularly care at that moment, and turned back.
That's when he met with a pair of glaring eyes.
"AHH!" Dib jumped back. He turned his flashlight and met with the fake hazel eyes of Zim.
"What are you doing following me, Dib?" he sneered.
"Uh.... nothing. I wasn't following you! I um... thought you were a squirrel!"
"Well, well, well. It seems that not only are you a psycho but you're a liar too. A bad one at that."
"Yeah! Well... um..." Dib couldn't think of any retort so he just crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter. This 'psycho liar' is out of here." He began to walk off when he suddenly turned. "Hey... where are you going, anyway?"
"Why do you care?" Zim sneered.
"Well, if you're trying to get home early, it won't work."
"And why not?!" Zim asked, slightly ticked that Dib had guessed his plans.
"Because home is that way," Dib pointed toward the opposite direction that Zim was heading.
"I KNEW that!" Zim said. "I was just... testing you. Yes." He walked off toward where Dib was pointing when suddenly he felt a harsh shove from behind.
"I'm not letting you go, Zim," Dib said, grabbing on the Irken's red shirt and pushing him down toward the ground.
"And why not? You want to slice me up with that spork of yours again?!" Zim said, pulling off his backpack as he spoke.
"No. Course not. That wouldn't be a bad idea, though," he said thoughtfully. Dib shined the light on Zim's face to see the six dark scars on either side of his cheeks. "It's just that, if you leave, they'll send out a whole search party and everything, and it'll just ruin my entire weekend. Besides, if you get eaten by a bear, there goes all my evidence!"
"I'm so glad you cared. Now I suggest you get your hands off of me, human, before you regret it." Zim shoved Dib away and pulled Gir out of his backpack. "Gir!"
"Sir!"
"Let's go home!"
"Okay!"
Zim slipped on his backpack and jumped on Gir's back. "See you later... human."
"No!" Dib took a daring leap and grabbed onto Gir's leg just as the little unit took off. The imbalance made Gir's flight erratic (it was erratic anyway, but this time it was worse) and sent Gir spiraling toward all directions.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Zim yelled.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Dib agreed.
"GET OFF HUMAN!" Zim attempted to pry Dib's hands off of Gir's leg.
"No! NO! OW! Stop it!" Dib complained as the Irken began to pound his hands with his fist.
"WOO HOO HOO!!!" Gir shouted, continuing his irregular twists and turns into the air. The screaming continued for Zim and Dib, however, as they hung onto Gir in the flight.
"Gir! STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Zim yelled. Gir had no choice, however, as he ran into a tree and all three were flung backwards into a stream below them.
Dib was choking- sputtering actually. There was water all around, and he couldn't fight the rushing water. He tried swimming but that did absolutely nothing. Then he felt a sharp, acute pain in the back of his head, and darkness surrounded him along with the gushing water.
Zim was burning all over. It was pain, that's all he could feel. He didn't expect to run into the problem of water and he didn't expect to swim in it, either. Except, now he seemed to be drowning in it.
"Not again!" Zim groaned as the water continued rushing against him. But he knew this time that no dark figure would be able to pull him out of it. He struggled as harshly as he could against the current before finally succumbing to the icy waters that swept him, Dib, and Gir further and further away from civilization.
