Gaz lounged around the firepit, full from the pizza at lunch, and watched Zim desperately try to restrain Gir, who had come out of sleep mode and was seemingly trying to play some sort of game. Jumping and chattering on in Irken, Zim exasperatedly trying to get him to calm down. It was almost cute… She shook herself from that thought and turned to look at Dib, who was tiredly stirring the waffle mix. He had too much pizza and tuckered himself out. Zim surprisingly didn't have all that much, seemingly full on sugar. Turning back to look at Zim, he was standing on the edge of the campsite, and yelled into the woods.
"Eífi! Al pat a anich!" He gestured with his hand in defeat, and walked back to the firepit.
"What was that about?" Zim rolled his eyes as he sat down next to her.
"He want to play in trees." He gestured at the forest. "I say no, but he go." He shrugged.
"Uh, won't he get lost?" Zim shook his head.
"I don't think so. He is not fix, so I don't know."
"Well, what am I wasting my time doing this then?" Dib said, stepping away from the waffle mix and coming to join them around the campfire.
"I mean, you were wasting your time anyway. It's not like Gir could eat it." Gaz said with a laugh. Dib frowned at her, and crossed his arms.
"I was doing a vital service! That little weirdo would have thrown a hissy fit if somebody didn't do it."
"Oh sure Dib, vital." Zim snickered at Gaz's tone and Dib huffed angrily at this.
"Oh come on! You didn't want to do it and he can't read the instructions!"
"Ao! I can read, but not English." Zim retorted.
"Sure. Gaz next time we go into town you should pick up some baby books for lizard here."
"That's… actually not a bad idea." Gaz muttered to herself.
"What is baby book?" Zim asked.
"It's a book for children, you know, baby? To learn how to read. It might help you."
"I would like that." He said quietly. His antenna sticking up and forward, like they did when he was interested.
"Anyway-" Dib said, stretching where he sat. "I was thinking that tonight we actually do some investigating in the mothman sighting areas."
"In your dreams, Dib."
"Oh, come on Gaz! What else are we doing tonight, honestly." Gaz rolled her eyes, and gestured to the firepit.
"Want to make yourself useful and get some firewood? Tell you what, then I'll consider hunting for mothman." Dib groaned, but got up to look anyway, walking past Gaz and Zim as he made his way towards the forest. The sounds of him complaining under his breath drifting further and further away. The forest wasn't silent by any means, but the ambient animal noises were peaceful. Zim seemed fully enthralled yet again in the woods around him, being so unused to things like it back on his home planet. Gaz felt bad for him, a bit. He had mentioned before that forests were rare on Irk. She wasn't a nature loving hippie by any means, but an entire planet where forests were a thing of the past? It just sounded… sad.
"My mother had baby trees." Zim said abruptly, breaking the quiet that surrounded them.
"What?" Gaz tried not to laugh as she turned her body to face him. His antenna twitched and his face scrunched up with frustration, but he tried again.
"Baby trees… It is not like… It is…" He frowned, and then looked around him at the nature, looking for something.
"Ah!" He exclaimed, a pak leg exiting and reaching a few feet over, plucking a dandelion from the ground. Slowly, the leg retreated, handing the plant to Zim, and he triumphantly turned to face Gaz.
"See? Baby tree. My mother had place like this," He gestured to the clearing, "With many of them." Gaz smiled as his attempt to explain, and accepted the dandelion gift he was offering her.
"This is a flower. A lot of them would be… your mother having a garden." Zim tilted his head in confusion.
"A garden? Yes, that is it, I think." He smiled, a sad sort of smile, focusing on the dandelion in Gaz's hand. "Earth has many garden. My mother would like it here." Gaz sighed, and gently placed a hand on Zim's shoulder as support.
"Zim, you said… you said you didn't have parents… anymore. Now, I know what happened to your father, but your mother, is she-"
"Dead." His voice was quiet, choked out as if he was holding back a sob.
"I'm sorry, Zim."
"It is my fault."
"No." Gaz shook her head and leaned in. "No, you know that's not true. It's not your fault."
"I am weak."
"Zim-"
"Waffle time!" Gir screamed, interrupting her train of thought, and startling them both. The two of them turned to look at Gir, who had somehow quietly walked up to the waffle maker, and plugged it into the generator, happily pouring the mix in. The little robot was humming to himself as he worked, stirring the waffle mix as he waited for the waffle maker to heat up.
"I- how does he know how to do that?" Gaz asked in disbelief. Letting out some of the previous tension, Zim laughed weakly and shrugged.
"He can read the box."
"Good point." Zim looked like he was going to say something, but his antenna swivelled up and around like a nervous rabbit. Turning around in his seat, he looked at the edge of the woods, and held still, waiting.
"What is it?" His antenna twitched but he didn't say anything, looking focused and on edge. Gaz squinted, trying to see if she could see anything, but there was nothing there. Suddenly, she heard it. A clumsy rustling coming from the forest. Zim's antenna were straight and rigid, pointing towards the treeline. He slowly stood, taking a careful step forward, a pak leg slowly coming out with his gun. A lone figure began to appear, stumbling over the sticks and branches of the forest floor, emerging to be… Dib. Zim sighed annoyedly, his pak leg retreating quickly into his pak, and he sat back down with Gaz.
"Wow!" Dib exclaimed as he came close, clutching a decent sized amount of twigs and branches for kindling. "What's got you on edge?"
"You are loud." Zim said, not even bothering to turn around.
"Really? I was trying to be quiet… Gaz did you hear me?" He said, coming up to stand behind them.
"Not until you came close. Zim has better hearing than I do, I think."
"It's the antenna, right?" Dib leaned in closer, watching with interest as the antenna twitched, Zim frowning. Dib reached out and murmured to himself. "I wonder what they're made of?" He reaches his hand out, his fingers just grazing one antenna when a pak leg shoots out and grabs his wrist.
"Ow!"
"Don't touch." Zim hissed, turning around to glare at Dib.
"Let go of me!" Zim growled, but the pak leg retreated, and Dib rubbed his sore wrist.
"That's what you get, Dib." Gaz said, matter of factly.
"I was just curious." He grumbled as he walked to the other side of the firepit, taking his seat. He slumped down, and pulled out some photos they took earlier to look at them. Shuffling through them like a deck of cards.
"Lesi, do you want waffles?" Gir called out, pulling a rather burnt looking waffle from the waffle maker. Zim winced at the appearance of it, deciding that he wasn't hungry.
"Kaí kho ú núʻol, Gir." Gir immediately wined, and threw his head back like an upset child.
"Please Lesi! Please! I made them specially for you! Look- just the way you like it!" Gir proceeded to rip open the top of Zim's bag of sugar, and pour a gracious quantity over the waffle. Holding the burned, sugary abomination in his hands, he shuffled his feet over to Zim, and held it out like an offering.
"Please?" Zim sighed, looking from Gir to Gaz, who shrugged, and back to Gir.
"Eífi. 'Aos al a'e keíraoguch ij…" He muttered under his breath. Gir beamed at this, happily skipping back to the waffle maker.
"I knew you would like it!" Gir said.
"That's… a lot of sugar Zim." Gaz remarked, raising an eyebrow at the waffle.
"Yeah," Dib laughed. "You're going to have a heart attack with all that stuff."
"It is fine." Zim said, cautiously taking a bite of the waffle.
"Well? How is it?" Gaz asked, grimacing at the thought of eating that thing. Zim tilted his head, thinking, then replied.
"Not bad. Sugar help." He smiled. Gaz rolled her eyes, turning away to look at Dib, who was still thumbing through the polaroids.
"Hey, lemme see some of those."
"Sure." Dib said, handing them over. While Zim happily munched on his sugar-waffle, Gaz flipped through the pictures, until she got to one that made her burst out laughing.
"What is this?" She waved the photo in the air, and Dib struggled to get a good look at it.
"I can't see! Show me the picture?" She handed it over, still laughing. Dib glanced at it, and then rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, Gaz! It was funny!" She reached forward and swiped the photo back from him before he even had time to react.
"What is it?" Zim mumbled, his mouth full of waffle.
"Remember when we looked at that silly statue today?" Zim nodded, confused. "Well Dib decided to take this shot as well." She handed the picture over, and Zim immediately let out a snort, trying not to choke on his food.
"Come on guys, you can't tell me it's not funny." Dib whined.
"It's hysterical! Definitely funnier now that you took a photo of the statues behind."
"Gaz, you said yourself it was funny."
"Yeah but I didn't feel the need to take a candid shot! Now I know the real reason you want to find this thing. Photos of mothman's juicy ass is what you're after!"
"Why do you gotta ruin this for me?"
"This is it. The real reason behind his paranormal investigations. What, does bigfoot have a dumptruck back there too?"
"My work is very serious."
"Oh sure!" She steeled her face and lowered her voice. "Very serious indeed." Dib huffed, reaching out for the photo.
"Just give it back, okay? Geez it's not that deep."
"Oh relax Dib! I'm just messing with you." She managed to squeeze out between laughs, cheerfully handing the photo back to him. He frowned, but tucked the photo back in with the rest of the polaroids. Zim took another bite of his waffle, before setting it aside, standing up to go get a bottle of water from the car. Humming to himself as he walked, a tune that Gaz didn't recognize. Huh, she thought. Music from another planet.
Zim returned with his bottle of water, plopping himself back down on the log bench, eagerly reaching to finish off the rest of his sugary concoction.
"So." Zim said as he finished. "You are Gaz brother?"
"Uh, yeah, Zim. I thought we already established this?" Dib replied, sounding confused.
"No, I know. I am… thinking." He turned to Gaz. "He is brother, that make you…?"
"Sister. I'm his sister. We're siblings."
"You do not act like siblings." Zim muttered. Dib tilted his head, interested, and scooted in closer.
"What does that mean?" Zim shrugged, taking a sip of his water.
"You do not."
"How do you think siblings are supposed to act?" Gaz asked. Zim pondered this, swirling the water in the bottle around.
"I… you are friends. Siblings are not."
"We're not friends." Dib scoffed, but Gaz ignored him.
"Do you have siblings?" She asked. He considered her, and then nodded.
"Yes… No."
"It's not a hard question, doofus." Dib remarked.
"Knock it off, it's not his first language." Gaz scolded, before turning back to Zim, who was glaring at Dib. "What does that mean, Zim?" Without even hesitating, Zim calmly dumped half of the water in his water bottle onto Dib's lap.
"Hey! What the fuck?" Dib jumped up, desperately trying to wipe the water off his jeans before it soaked in, but he was not successful. Zim smiled, and turned back to show Gaz the bottle of water.
"Like this." He said. Gaz stared in confusion at the bottle, until she understood what Zim was trying to say.
"Do you mean half sibling? Not full?"
"Yes."
"So… what do you mean that we don't act like siblings? Do you act differently with yours?"
"I… We are not close."
"Oh."
"Why not?" Dib asked, pissed off from the water incident.
"It is not for you to know."
"Why not?" He whined.
"Dib, mind your business. Jeez." He huffed, mumbling to himself something about 'stupid aliens.'
"You don't have to tell us, or me, if you don't want to."
"Okay."
"Oh come on," Dib said. "Tell us something. Are they older, or younger?"
"I do not understand."
"Like, who's the baby of the family? The youngest, smallest… you know."
"I am." Dib laughed, placing his elbows on his knees and leaning over the firepit.
"Awww, look at you! The wittle baby bwother."
"Dib." Gaz warned. He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, leaning back in his seat.
"Which parent do you share with your sibling?" Dib asked. "Your mother or-"
"Father." Zim growled. Knowing how touchy that subject was, Gaz interrupts Dib's next question.
"Why don't we talk about something else, okay?" Zim stood up, stumbling a bit over a log as he walked to put his empty water bottle in the car. Dib followed him with his eyes, and when he felt that he was a significant enough distance away, he leaned in and whispered to Gaz.
"I didn't like that tone."
"So?" She said tiredly.
"I just… he's so uptight. He hardly talks about himself. He's hiding something."
"You know what Dib? Not everyone likes talking about their family issues, Jesus."
"I just think-" He glanced back at Zim, who was returning to the firepit. "I just think it's suspicious." Gaz rolled her eyes.
"You think everything is suspicious."
"I might be right about this one!" As he finished his sentence, Zim tripped, again, on the same log as we walked back to his seat.
"Are you okay?" Gaz asked.
"Yeah, I am… fine." He shook his head like he was dizzy, and leaned on one hand.
"I think you had too much sugar." Gaz laughed, but Zim just shook his head no.
"I have not! I am fine." He giggled under his breath, and Gaz gave him a look.
"Sure…" She looked around, suddenly realizing something.
"Hey, where's Gir?" Dib looked up surprised, glancing over at the empty waffle station.
"Huh. Probably went to hang out in the woods again. Stupid robot."
"Ao!" Zim said sharply. "Do not say mean things about Gir!"
"He's a moron and you know it." Dib deadpanned.
"Maybe…" Zim sniffed. "More waffle?" He asked Gaz.
"No. You've had enough."
"Awwww, rith?" Please? He whined, leaning in shakily, as if he was about to lose his balance.
"I said no, Zim." She said, a smile grazing her lips.
"Does he always get like this when he has sugar?" Dib asked.
"Uh, no, actually. This is… new." She said, a hint of concern on her voice.
"Al kha ad usped." Zim murmured happily. You are so… she remembers this… pretty? A small blush began to form on her face, and Dib noticed.
"What did he say?"
"I, um. I don't know." She cleared her throat, reaching one hand up to steady Zim.
"Al kha to usped mí nú'e yí sínsaowieích fím Irk." He said, moving one hand in a broad gesture at the sky.
"Oh, okay Zim. Cool it, a little." She stuttered out. He reached up and began to run his fingers through her hair.
"Kaí vaích a rew…" He said happily.
"Well, while you two do… whatever the hell that is I'm gonna make myself a waffle." Dib said, getting up to walk over to the waffle maker.
"Fin al kaí kaí kho z̀eír engeí? Kaí pat búshaokeí al ao z̀eír sínsoíthi." Now she had no clue what that was.
"Zim, I don't speak Irken, remember?"
"Ad? Zaíd, kho kaí ú tulkaraolkay english?" Zim said confusedly.
"No Zim, you're not speaking English. You're speaking Irketsi."
"Woí chuya enga?"
"Still Irketsi."
"Hey Gaz?" Dib called out. "I think I know what's up with him."
"What is it?"
"There are um. It looks like ripped up mushrooms in the waffle mix." Gaz practically jumped in the air with how quickly she got up to investigate.
"What? How?" She said, jogging up to where the mix was to investigate. Sure enough, what looked like batter slathered mushroom pieces. "Oh my god, Dib, those could be poisonous!" Dib winced, and rubbed his hand behind his neck.
"I don't… I don't think so."
"Did you do this?"
"No! Gir probably did this. He's the one that made them, and that stupid waffle was so burnt you couldn't see the mushrooms…"
"Oh my god, he could die!" She began to panic, stumbling back a few feet from the waffle mix.
"Nah… he's gonna be fine." Dib muttered.
"How do you know that?" Gaz snapped, causing Dib to wince.
"Don't tell dad but… I've seen these before." Gaz facepalmed.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Okay, so I snuck into this party when I was still at college, and it was getting kind of late-"
"I actually don't care Dib." She sighed relievedly. "I'm just glad they're not poisonous."
"Gaz!" Zim yelled, struggling to stand up from his seat.
"No, Zim, don't stand up-"
"Kho aokh sínsoíthi?" He slurred.
"Doesn't all that gibberish bore you?" Gaz turned to glare at him.
"It's not gibberish… I think it's a little endearing." She muttered to herself. Dib scoffed, turning back to look at the waffle mix.
"Sounds like simping to me."
"You would know, it's your native language." She said, walking away to help Zim.
"Hey!" Dib whined.
"I only speak the truth! She called back.
"I'm not a simp…" He mumbled.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Night was approaching, and a figure crouched in the trees, watching a couple of soldiers standing in front of a jeep. He blended perfectly into the thick, dark foliage, only noticeable if you were looking. He listened, intently, to the conversation going on below him.
"We've looked over this whole town and have found nothing." One of the soldiers complained.
"Yeah, and we ain't gonna find anything either. We're always one step behind the damn thing."
"No kidding. You know I heard that psycho is getting inpatient."
"Who, the general? I heard his wife ran off with-"
"Nah, not him. Norton." The figure's attention piqued at the name, and he subtly leaned in to be able to hear better.
"Eh, I don't care about him. He doesn't pay me, and I don't have to deal with him either."
"Good point." The soldier laughed. "Hey, when they call us in for the day, you wanna- Hey, what was that?" The soldier stood to attention, peering into the woods.
"What was what?" The figure in the trees was confused, knowing he hadn't been spotted. Even he turned around to look into the woods, not seeing anything particular.
"I thought I saw something. It was… weird. Small, and shiny."
"Shiny?"
"Yeah. I'm telling you man, I saw something."
"I believe you, sheesh. Where did you-" A squeal cut him off. The noise sounded like a child, but oddly metallic in nature, as if a computer generated it.
"That sounded like… a kid." He rolled his eyes. "Dude, it's probably just some family-"
"Didn't they say there was a robot with them?"
"Shit, they did. Call it in. Where did it go?"
"I think it went-"
"Do you have waffles?" The two soldiers looked to their right, at the source of the sound, and nearly jumped in shock. The figure in the trees raised his eyebrows in surprise, squinting to get a better look.
"What?" One of the soldiers said.
"I can do a dance for waffles! Look!" The soldiers watched, bewildered, as the child sized thing began doing the macarena, all the while repeating the word 'macaroni' to the tune of the song.
"Macaroni, macaroni, macaroni-"
"We should… catch it, right?"
"Yeah. We should." The soldiers looked at eachother, and one nodded, and at the same time they lunged for the robot.
"No!" He screamed. "I just want a waffle!" He turned, spun on his heel, and bolted off towards the woods. The soldiers chased after him, and one of them picked a radio off his belt, and yelled into it.
"We have a sighting! We have a sighting! Envoy 7-D has a sighting!" The figure in the trees cracked his neck, and followed them.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
It had been a few hours, and it seemed that Zim was beginning to come to his senses, but as it was, he was still out of it. Much to Dib's chagrin, Gaz had somehow allowed Zim to lie down on the floor and rest his head in her lap, with her sitting on the ground with him. He reached up with his hands, and ran his fingers through her hair, murmuring in a weird mix of english and irken, not even seeming to care that some of the things he said made her blush. Dib, on the other hand was incredibly annoyed by it. He fumed that Zim was even near his sister, let alone… this.
"Gaz… person aitsh."
"That's nice, Zim."
"Yes." He whispered. "Hair… so veírma."
"For the millionth time Zim, I don't know what that means!" Zim giggled at this, but seemed to ignore her anyway.
"Usped…" He said, yet again.
"I know, Zim. I'm very flattered that you think I'm-"
"They want my macaroni!" Gir screamed, running into the campsite. "They want my macaroni!"
"Well, look who finally came back?" Dib grumbled as Gir latched himself to his leg.
"They want my macaroni!" He cried out, squeezing Dib's leg for reassurance. Dib sighed, and tiredly tried to calm down Gir.
"Who wants your macaroni. Hey, you don't even have-"
"The bad men want my macaroni!" Dib rolled his eyes.
"What bad men."
"The-" Zim suddenly sat up, almost pulling Gaz's hair with him, and turned to Gaz, alarmed.
"Person aitsh."
"What?" She said. "Zim, if you're about to have a bad trip I'm-" He shook his head, mouthing a few words to himself before beginning to struggle to his feet.
"Person coming." He mentally kicked himself for not realizing it sooner, but his thinking was rather slow. Gaz immediately got to her feet, eyes widening in alarm.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." He slurred. Gaz decided it was better safe than sorry, and started to head for the car.
"Let's go! We need to leave, now. Gir, what did those men look like?"
"Scary." He whined.
"Okay that's not helpful." She whispered to herself. "What were they wearing." She asked as they climbed into the car.
"Clothes!" She groaned with annoyance, and they waited for Dib to start the car. The engine turned, and turned… and turned, and didn't start. Dread began to fill her stomach as she peered over Dib's shoulder at the dash. The gas was full, why wasn't the car starting?
"Oh my god Dib, you idiot."
"What!?" He hissed.
"The engine light is blinking! Why didn't you say anything?"
"It wasn't blinking before! It was just on!"
"Well that's important!" She yelled.
"I didn't think it was going to start blinking!"
"So? It's fucking blinking now!"
"Well it doesn't matter does it! What, was I gonna drop our stolen car off at the mechanic?"
"Oh my god. I can not believe-" Zim interrupted her, lightly tapping her shoulder and pointing behind them. In the distance, headlights were coming up the long gravel road.
"Fuck." Gaz stammered. "Get out of the car, get out of the car, we've got to go, go, go!" The four of them excited the car as quickly as they could.
"Now what?" Dib said.
"I don't fucking know! I don't know, shit!" Zim's antenna twitched, and he made a decision.
"Person that way." He pointed, then shifted to the opposite direction. "We go there."
"Okay let's stop standing around and move it!" Gaz leaned down to scoop up Gir. The four of them ran off, into the forest, and the night.
As they ran, Gaz turned her head and saw it. Flashlights trailing them. Her adrenaline was pumping, the night wind whipping her hair in her face. Her worries about the situation bubbled inside of her like a boiling pot of water. What if they were caught? Where were they going? What would happen now? She took deep breaths, trying to focus on not running into a tree in the dark, trying to stay close to Zim and Dib, and Gir kept squirming in her arms, which was not helping. She was focused so intently on her fears that she almost ran into Zim when he paused.
"Go!" She angrily whispered. He looked confused, staring upwards at the darkness.
"Tree man." He said. Angrily not wanting to deal with his high antics, she shifted Gir into one arm, grabbed his hand and pulled.
"Come on!" She practically begged, leading the way. The three of them ran, for what felt like hours, struggling through the thick undergrowth of the forest, blinded by the dark. She kept tripping on roots, the only thing keeping her from falling was Zim's support. The darkness was thick, like syrup, clogging her eyes and choking her voice with fear. It was everywhere, in every corner, growing ever faster like a weed, and it took all her strength to not cry out with frustration. She just had to keep going, to keep going to keep-
Suddenly, Zim began to slow down, rapidly, and she was forced to slow down with him, along with Dib, who was right behind her.
"Zim, go!" In response, Zim merely lifted her had, and held it in front of her, placing her hand on something. Cold stone. They had hit a cliff wall. Gaz felt her desperation increase, but she decided to pick a direction and go with it.
"Let's go that way and-"
"Stop right there!" She whirled around to see two lights approaching her. Flashlights. Her heart seized in her chest, and she made a split second decision, pulling Zim behind her, using herself as a shield. She felt Zim's hand on her shoulder, and heard the subtle click of his gun readying. It was only two soldiers, she calculated. She could take them. The soldiers stopped about ten feet away from them, the sounds of guns cocking echoing through the silent woods.
"Hand over the alien or we'll shoot!" One of the soldiers yelled.
"There is no alien, you idiots!" Gaz yelled back. All she had to do was stall them until Zim shot them, but Zim had barely moved. She glanced behind her, the light from the flashlights dimly reflecting on his skin. He looked dazed, squinting at some far off spot. Great. She grabbed the gun from his limp hand, and tried to fire it. Nothing.
"Shit." She whispered.
"If you don't hand over-" The soldier's voice cut off with a yelp, and his flashlight abruptly dropped to the ground.
"David?" The other soldier nervously asked, his flashlight lowering to the ground slightly.
"What-" Dib muttered. The remaining soldier laughed nervously, taking a step towards the gang.
"Davi-" As quick as the other one, his flashlight dropped to the ground, and the soldier disappeared. The three of them stood silently in complete confusion, staring at the discarded flashlights on the ground.
"I'm gonna… grab one?" Gaz said, taking a step forward. A soft thump made her stop in her tracks, as she stared ahead at the red eyes. Her brain felt like it short circuited, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Zim beat her to it.
"It look like we are not alone."