Once again sorry about the lack of update, but I had a lot of coursework (glares at coursework) Anyway I own the character Zag. Enjoy!


Chapter 3

A Plan for escape

Over the next few days, Tak and Zag became quite close, gossiping about their misfortune in life and other various issues. One particularly boring day, when it seemed they'd exhausted every topic, Zag came out with something which caught Tak completely off guard.

"So, when do you wanna get out of this dump?" she said casually.

"Huh?" Tak tried to process what she had just said.

"When do you wanna break out?"

"But...but how?"

"Listen," she lowered her voice, "quite a while ago- about a year or so ago - I befriended a Vortian who used to work in this prison as a guard. He had broken one too many rules- sorta like myself- and been locked away in the very prison he worked at. Kinda stupid idea whoever decided that he would come here, but it worked out pretty well for me.

"He was kept in your cell, and we became close. He told me everything I needed to know about secret passages, security, and codes- until I literally had a perfect map of this place in my head! He said that the only thing he couldn't do was open the door. If I could do that we would have been out of there in no time.

"So I set to work on a plan to break the door open. We were going to break out together- he had the ability to get out of this dump in record time without anyone even noticing, and I figured I could find a way to bust the doors open. But before we could even attempt it he was taken away, and I never saw him again. I don't know what happened to him, but I've been working on getting the door open ever since."

"Wow." Tak was amazed she hadn't said anything about this sooner. "So do you know how to get the door open yet?"

"Uhuh. Sheesh it took forever. Top security." She glared at the door.

"How? How do you do it?" urged Tak, excited at the thought of leaving.

Zag jumped off the bed and knelt on the floor. She carefully lifted one of the tiles, so as not to make a sound, and rummaged through the contents of the now visible hole in the ground.

Tak craned her neck trying desperately to see what Zag was up to. After some time she got to her feet, a small item in her hands. It vaguely resembled some sort of laser gun, with a sharp point on the end.

Although it looked quite scruffy and grubby, it was impressive.

"You made that?" Tak gasped in awe.

"Yup." Zag replied, fiddling with the controls.

"But what did you make it out of?"

"Oh you know, bits of stuff." This didn't exactly help, but Tak guessed if she'd been in here three years she would have have to of found something to do.

"How does it work?" Tak inquired.

"It sends a vartoz ray into a solid when at a certain setting. The intensity of the ray makes the solid crumble, so it should- if it works- cut through the lock."

"Wow" Tak could see why she had been so highly recommended to the tallest despite her height. She really was incredibly skilled. "Why didn't you escape sooner?"

"I needed backup," she grinned at Tak. "I could never get out of here on my own!"

"Well I'm glad you waited! I would never be able to build something like that." She was still astonished at the weapon Zag had constructed.

"So, are you prepared to give it a shot?" Zag asked eagerly.

"Definitely- like I'd want to stay in this place!"

So Zag spent hours going through everything she remembered about the security and layout of the prison that the Vortian had shared with her, and how they might escape themselves.

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While things were finally looking up for Tak, things definitely weren't going so well for Zim. He had watched in horror as Ms Bitters spelled out his punishment for missing the homework deadline.

The only thing that was going well was that Dib hadn't bothered him for almost a week- a world record.

Dib had in reality become fed up of chasing after Zim. No matter how hard he tried to prove Zim an alien, all he ever did was humiliate himself, and lately the snide comments had got harsher and more painful.

Also Zim's plans for world conquest had got more and more pathetic with every attempt. He did not need to even try and stop him- eventually either Zim's plans would explode, be meddled with by GIR or just be so absurd that they would never work in the first place.

So Dib concluded that he would keep his distance for a while- he knew that Zim would never be able to destroy the earth, and since earth didn't seem to care, it could defend it's self for once. He was through protecting the people he hated most.

Deep down, Dib knew that he needed a friend, but like Zim there just wasn't anyone. Dib considered this as he trudged down the road after Skool. He didn't realise it, but he was actually not heading home- he had unconsciously had a different destination in mind.

When he finally came to a halt, he found himself outside Zim's house. 'Why did I come here?' he thought to himself. Not knowing quite what to do he turned and headed home, still contemplating why he had ended up outside the surreal green house.

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"So it's all set then?" Zag confirmed.

"Yeah, I think I know what to do." Tak said unsure.

"Look, you've got to have confidence! You've got to be certain you know what you're doing or we won't get anywhere!"

"Ok, ok. Let's just do this." As far as Tak was concerned, the sooner she was out of this place the better. Zag nodded in agreement and set to work powering up her vartoz ray.

Tak thought for while as the low humming from the ray grew louder. "Won't they hear that?" she asked nervously.

"Who? It's not like they hang around right outside, and besides these doors are pretty thick. All the same, once we're out we should keep quiet- although they're dumb, it probably won't take them long to notice the doors have fallen off."

"But why don't they do anything to prevent conspiracy? I mean if we couldn't talk to each other there's no way we would be able to get out." Tak inquired, vaguely suspicious.

"They're too confident of themselves. They believe that their prison is completely secure, and that no one could ever break out- probably because no one ever has."

"Surely people have broken out in the past?"

"Hmm, I wouldn't be surprised if they've never encountered a jail break before. Most of the prisoners they get are pretty stupid." She gestured towards a blob like creature who could just about be seen through the bars in Zag's cell. It had a completely empty expression on its face and was drooling slightly. Tak and Zag exchanged looks and tried desperately to suppress a snigger.

A small high-pitched beep came from the vartoz ray, signalling that it was ready for use. Tak gulped as Zag beamed eagerly. She placed the tip of the ray at the top of the door and flipped the switch on.

A blazing turquoise light shot out of the end, and dove straight into the doorframe. A slight grinding could be heard as the beam ate through the dense metal. Zag forced the beam down the along the edge of the door, increasing the intensity as she went.

The wait was intense. Cold beads of sweat formed across Zag's forehead as she struggled with the ray. At last she stopped, and pulled it away from the door. She glanced over to Tak and whispered, "This is it, you know what to do."

Although she appeared confident in every way, Tak could have sworn that she had detected a hint of nerves in Zag's voice.

Cautiously, Zag pushed against the cold door, still gripping the vartoz ray tightly in her gloved hand. It creaked as it slowly heaved open, the sound of metal screeching against the floor alerting every prisoner in the vaccinity.

A faint whispering arose, echoing around the cells, mostly along the lines of "What is she doing?" "Someone's escaping!" "Is she going to get us all out?" in all different languages, most of which Tak couldn't understand.

Zag scowled at all the eyes peering through narrow gaps in the doors from beyond the dark cells. Many prisoners were begging quietly for her to let them out. She had known this might be a problem.

"You can all forget it and shut up, you'll get us caught!" she snapped as quietly as she could. With that the voices were raised- she'd said the wrong thing. She hurried over to Tak's door and activated the vartoz beam once more.

"We shall get you caught unless you let us out!" a screeching voice rang from somewhere close by. Tak could tell it wasn't going well. She scrambled out hesitantly as Zag heaved the door open.

"Lets go! Fast!" Zag was frightened now, and this didn't raise Tak's hopes. She knew that the consequences if they were caught would be far worse than being thrown away in jail.

It felt weird to run after being confined in such a small area for so long. Her legs felt shaky, like they might give up on her any moment.

Despite the perfect plan of the building she had created in her mind from Zag's elaborate description, everything seemed so different from what she had imagined. The dank, murky corridors reeked of fear and desperation, lost hope and depression. She stayed close at Zag's heels, anxious that they might become separated. They turned sharply around a corner and found themselves on top of a towering bridge.

Zag paused, looking down through the metal meshing floor of the platform. A complex network of other bridges criss-crossed across a vast chamber. The bottom could not be seen- it just seemed to go on forever. Tak poked her, bringing Zag back into the mission.

They hastened across the walkway until they came to another door. Zag took a deep breath and stepped tentatively forward- she prayed that they had not changed the code that would unlock this obstacle.

She began to type four Irken numbers into the pad. "Herx, quartan, juplay, gantron." She murmured under her breath, reciting the numbers like a poem she had memorised so long ago.

She sighed with relief as the combination of numbers was accepted and the door complied, the locks clunking open. They slipped through as the door slid silently open, into a blue lit corridor.

Here they were faced with multiple options for direction, but they raced down the furthest right passage before the door had even closed. Tak began to feel more confident now. They had not yet encountered any trouble or difficulty, and the brightness of the passageway raised her spirits after spending weeks in such a dull place.

Zag's speed surprised Tak; she would have thought that after having nowhere to run for three years surely she would have become unfit.

The corridor was also much warmer, and the floor was carpeted- she noted these things as they ran down the seemingly endless path. However Tak had been foolish to relax and let her guard down. Now her antennae twitched ever so slightly as she sensed another being advancing towards them from the direction they had just come.

Tak spun round, terrified of what she might lay her eyes upon. She could not see very far down the corridor, as it curved slightly, but she could not detect anyone. Nevertheless she could now hear the footsteps of a hefty creature heading at an increasing speed towards them.

"Zag, what are we going to-"she turned back to Zag but she was nowhere in sight. "Zag? ZAG!" she panicked. Surely she had not left her? Where could she be?But she hadn't continued down the corridor- it was impossible that she had run that fast.

Tak knew she could not outrun the approaching creature now, whatever or whoever it was, so she stood watching in pure fear as it's shadow gradually grew against the wall as it neared the corner to seal her doom...


I love leaving it on a cliffhanger. Mwahahaha. Wow I'm in a strange mood. Erm... yup. I'm gonna go eat food now.