The Sicknes
Part Eleven
When Dib's eyes finally adjusted to the dimly lit room, he scanned his surroundings. It wasn't long that he realized Gir had run off but hadn't gone too far, for he could see a pair of small flashes of cyan lights moving around within the shadows. He could also hear Gir singing some type of song that he couldn't really hear the words, but that didn't worry him at the moment, he was more interested in what he could use that could help him. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud crash.
"Oopsies." Said a small voice that followed the crash.
"Gir!" Dib shouted running toward the sounds. "What are you doing?"
Dib's foot caught on something, causing him to fall to the floor with an 'Oof!'. Shortly after that happened, a small pair of cyan lights landed on him and Dib saw that he had tripped over a piece of equipment that now laid on the floor. Within the darkness, Dib could see other bits of equipment.
"Gir? What did you do?" Dib asked finally as he got up again.
"Nothing." Gir replied innocently.
"Why is there stuff all over the..." Dib trailed off as something lying near his feet caught his eye. "What's this?" He asked, bending down to pick it up.
After doing so, he began to look it over. In the dim light, Dib could see that it looked like a disk of some sort. The only difference was that instead of being round like a CD, one side was round while the other three sides squared off and was somewhat rectangular. It was divided into two parts, starting from the rounded edge and running down the middle on the top and bottom of the device. One side was rusty color white the other was a dark crimson on the top part, while on the bottom was a bright green and the other was a deeper green and had bright colored circuits. In the middle on the top was a deep blue circle. Within it was a bright magenta colored light. After a few moments, Dib reached into his trench-coat jacket, pulling out a small what looked like a portable computer from his pocket and examined it for damage from the fall. When he found nothing wrong, he set the computer on the floor before opening it and plugging it into one of the slots in his computer and the screen immediately turned on, illuminating a small part of the room.
"Ooh!" Gir mused, entertained by what was happening.
"Computer," Dib started. "Run a scan on the weird device I just found."
"Processing data." Said a slightly monotone voice.
Soon, a soft humming began to emit from the small computer as it scanned the device.
"Scan complete." The computer said after a few moments. "Device consists of advanced Irken memory storage."
"So, this must be a memory disk for the base." Dib said, in realization. "Computer, do a search through the for Irken diseases."
"Processing data." The computer said again.
As it began to retrieve the information, Dib glanced up to see that Gir had run off again and sighed. 'Why can't Gir just sit still for once?' Dib pondered.
"Analyzing complete." The computer said suddenly, causing Dib to jump.
The twelve-year-old turned to the screen to see a list, which was hard to read, since it was written in Irken. Dib pressed a button on the computer and the words soon became English and Dib could see not only see the disease names but bits of their information as well. Dib began to read through the information. He was at a loss, until one in particular caught his attention. It was titled "Symphoid Fluenza". Dib's eyes grew wide at the information.
"Wait. This is it." He told himself before clicking on the more information button.
He looked intently at the contents; becoming a bit nervous as he read it aloud.
"'Symphoid Fluenza,'" He started."'A severely infectious disease well-known among the Irken civilization.'" Dib read. "'Disease may not be noticeable within the first few days of infection, due to the fact of the disease lying dormant within the victim's PAK before slowly to spreading throughout the victim's body. All subjects who contract it may experience headaches, nausea, chills, and hacking, dry cough.'"
Dib stopped reading for a moment.
"That must be what Zim's ex-leaders had infected Zim with!" He said in awe, before going back to reading more of the information.
"'The symptoms of a more severe case include extreme dizziness, chills, severe headaches, abdominal pain, weakness, vomiting, and high fever. Disease is known to be fatal if not treated.'"
Dib froze as he stopped reading, going pale at the words in front of him.
"This can't be." He said to himself, incredulity; not wanting to believe the words he had just read. "But those are the same symptoms Zim has." He said again.
His stomach began to do summersaults as all this information began to sink in. Dib took in a shaky breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep himself calm.
"Computer?" He said, his voice shaking a little. "Is there any known cure for this disease?"
There was a moment before the computer answered him.
"Yes, there has been research has concluded to a cure being made." It replied.
Dib let out a short breath before speaking again.
"Where can get the cure?" He asked.
"The cure for the disease is mostly common on the planet the disease is found." Replied the computer.
"So, I'd have to go all the way to Irk to get it?" Dib asked, hopelessly.
He knew he didn't have the time to go all the way to the planet to retrieve the antidote, but he knew couldn't just not do anything; Zim needed the cure. If he didn't get the cure, Zim could possibly... Dib couldn't even think of using the word. He had to do something. It was then that he realized that the disease that Zim had closely resembled the Earth illness known as Typhus Disease; which they had learned about some time ago in their history class.
"There's still hope!" Dib cried out as he remembered that the city's health pharmacy may have an antidote for Typhus Disease.
He could get to the pharmacy and buy bottle of the anti-toxin and cure Zim of the illness. There was only one problem. Zim wasn't human, he was Irken. Dib didn't know how Zim would react to human medicine. Dib felt his heart sink at the thought of it. 'I at least have to try.' Dib told himself. He shut off the computer and stood up.
"Gir?" He called.
There was a sudden clatter as the small S.I.R. unit landed on the floor from above Dib's head.
"Yeees?" Gir asked getting up again.
"Let's head back to my house." Dib replied, placing the small computer back in his pocket.
"Yes Sir!" Gir saluted, his cyan eyes turning red.
They changed back to normal and went over to the open elevator shaft. With Gir's help, Dib was able to go up the shaft with ease. Once at ground level, Dib noticed that something didn't seem right. The entire room was dark. Dib looked outside and saw that the moon and stars were out.
"How long was I down there?" Dib wondered. "Well, I can't think about that right now, I need to get home."
And so, Dib ran out the door with Gir following suit. When they reached the house, Dib saw Zim still lying asleep on the couch while Gaz sat on the armrest playing her hand held game. Gaz paused her game before turning at her brother's presence as he went into the kitchen and came back with another icepack.
"Where have you been?" She asked, looking impatient.
"I was doing research." Dib replied, after feeling a bit sad by what he had learned not that long ago.
"What's wrong with you?" Gaz asked, noticing Dib's tone of voice.
"I... I just had a rough day." Dib replied, trying to smile but came out more like a grimace. "It's nothing to worry about."
"Whatever, I'm going upstairs." Gaz replied, before getting up from her spot and going up the staircase.
Once Gaz was out of the room, Dib sighed before turning to the sick Irken on the couch.
"Zim?" Dib said quietly.
Zim winced and groaned before opening his eyes bright ruby eyes.
"Eh?" He rasped.
"How are you feeling?" Dib asked, replacing the icepack.
Zim coughed harshly and shivered slightly.
"A l-little... Better... I guess." He answered before coughing harshly again.
Dib looked on with sadness forming in his eyes.
"Zim..." Dib started, his voice almost cracking. "Don't worry. Ev... Everything's going to be okay."
Zim smiled at this before falling back asleep. Dib gazed at the sleeping Irken solemnly. Gir slowly walked over to the couch and crawled up beside Zim and snuggled up next to him. Dib smiled half-heartedly at the sight, but soon frowned as he thought of the information he had obtained, hoping that his plan would work.
I feel horrible for doing this :( But I still hope you like my story ^^; And I'd like to thank bg52598 for helping me with this part :) Since I was kinda stuck -_-; Thanks again :) More should come soon... At least I hope so ^^; Please R&R. Thanks :D
PS- The part with the Typhus Disease, that actually does exist :) And the reason I mentioned it was because those are almost the exact symptoms that Zim has :O I was just looking up some stuff to think of a name for the disease Zim had and I ended up finding one that actually matches up with Zim's illness O_o ... Well almost ^^; But isn't that weird? Anyways, I just thought I'd let you know :D