literature

Nightmare Night

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Although the rain was warm and welcoming after the hot, dry summer, it poured down ceaselessly as lightning began to strike with the loud crack of thunder rolling menacingly overhead.  The ground had become over-saturated half an hour ago, so now the rain collected on the side of the street in large puddles.  The wind would pick up every few minutes, sweeping through the trees and snatching up whatever leaves were left, throwing them at the windshields of oncoming cars that were already having a difficult enough time trying to avoid the puddles.  One particular taxi driver was having a more difficult time than most, and would have been swerving between lanes even without the force of the storm thanks to his passengers.  They had been bickering since the moment they seated themselves in the back, and the boy would often shout in the driver's ear, or smack him upon the head while flailing about.  

Around two in the afternoon the driver had arrived at a strange green house belonging to someone who had a garden gnome fetish. The weather was an example of a perfect autumn day. The sun shone warmly in a crisp blue sky without a single cloud to be seen. There was only a light breeze rustling the fiery red and orange leaves that filled every branch on every tree. The front door to the strange house opened to reveal two kids; a seemingly normal girl with a neon green streak through her jet black hair, and her companion, a green-skinned boy with no ears, no nose, and no clue on how to speak without screeching. They entered the backseat of the cab as the driver began to wonder what he was getting himself into with this job.

The children were having an argument about something called 'blood candy', no doubt some sort of new drug the kids used to get high on these days. Not wanting to interrupt the strange conversation, but having to out of necessity, the driver coughed loudly and asked where the destination was. The green boy shouted incoherently, but was immediately shut up by the girl. "To the Maze Farm," she instructed calmly. The taxi driver buzzed in the destination, got the okay from his boss, and pulled onto the street. The green boy was sulking quietly in his seat for the moment, infuriated that he had been silenced by the girl. Ten minutes into the long drive, the storm rolled in, heavy rain pounding the metal roof of the vehicle. The change in weather sent the boy into some sort of panic attack, and he began his nonsense once more.

Finally, much to the driver's relief, they arrived at the farm after an hour and a half drive. He stopped at the makeshift parking lot, and turned in his seat to collect the fare. The boy was holding himself and staring out the window, terrified, at the rain that was still pouring down. "Zim refuses to leave the hideous stink car! Return me to my ba- I mean home," he managed a toned-down shout. The driver panicked. He couldn't last another car ride with the strange, yelling kid. Trying to think quickly of an excuse, he was saved by the young girl. With a roll of her hazel eyes, she gave the boy a swift kick out the door, then scooted out herself. She reached in to shove the owed money into the driver's face, ducked back out and slammed the back door shut.

Zim ran in circles, screeching in pain as the sky water touched his skin. The girl snagged him by the collar and dragged him to the front gate where there was enough of an overhang from the roof to block the rain. "I take it you didn't bathe in paste today," she asked in a sarcastic tone. The green boy growled, adjusting his wig that had almost fallen off during his spazzing, "No! I did not expect it to rain suddenly! I also didn't expect to leave my base today! I don't know how I let you convince me to accompany you on this filthy trip, Gin." The girl smiled, stating proudly, "I blackmailed you."

Gin walked up to a ticket window and purchased two entry bracelets. Zim stayed where he was, muttering curses at the human. "Zim does not have time for this! I have plans! Plans of doom!" He spoke with emphasis on the word 'doom', clenching his fists at the sky with closed eyes and a horrible smile plastered on his face. "Plans of doom," Gin mimicked, returning with the bracelets. The alien in disguise pointed dramatically, and shouted, "Do not make fun of Zim!" Of course, this only made the girl want to do it more. The two went back and forth underneath the overhang, Gin copying Zim's over-the-top shouts and gestures, being amused and frustrated respectively.

The teasing went on for several minutes, receiving bewildered stares from the other visitors, until Gin noticed something. "Hey ... I think it's stopped raining." Sure enough, the storm cloud had at last moved on, and the sun shone bright once again. A few fluffy white clouds lingered and the wind had died completely, the air now still and cool. Zim rolled his eyes, knowing that it meant he would now have to participate in all the ridiculous activities here, lest Gin go through with her threat. He accepted the paper bracelet that would allow his entry to the farm and its various sections, wrapping it around his thin, gloved wrist.

Once they both had the bracelets on, Gin led the way past the ticket windows, down a steep hill to the large field where staff members were running around, drying off everything that had been drenched by the storm. Several men surrounded a stone pit, dedicated to the task of lighting the bonfire that was supposed to be there. A young guy with a baseball cap leaned over wet logs with a blow torch, while another was breaking down any dry cardboard he could find. The ground was exceptionally wet; wherever grass didn't cover lay a thick layer of mud, which, if stepped in, would suck your shoe down with a squish, similar to a giant cow pie. The farm's dog barked on the far side of the field, chasing some white ducks waddling towards the picnic tables.

It would be a couple hours until the sun set, which is when the real fun would begin. Gin looked around for something to do in the meantime, while Zim stood idly by, looking more unamused than a cat at the vets. The closest entertainment offering was a rabbit hutch. It opened up into a little 'rabbit village', with miniature buildings reminiscent of an old western town, including a mini windmill and a stream that ran down a rock pile in the south corner. There was a machine containing rabbit food next to the sign instructing visitors about proper rabbit handling. Gin stuck a quarter in the machine and cranked the turn handle three times, catching the handful of food that came out the metal slot at the bottom.  

Pouring half of the food into her green friend's hand, Gin leaned over the low rail and waited for a rabbit to pass by. Zim brought the food up to his face and sniffed at it, looking disgusted at the fact that the stuff had just been given to him. He stood next to Gin, and when a grey lop-eared bunny came close enough, he threw his fistful of food at it, cackling in glee as it scampered away from him in fear. Looking slightly irritated, the girl dropped her food onto the ground in a small pile, stood up and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. It would be pointless to say anything, so she simply moved on to the next pen containing a few chickens. The small feathered creatures strutted about lazily, cocking their heads to the side as they stared at the people watching them.

The alien boy mocked the stupid animals, going off on another one of his rants about how superior his race was. Each stop they made only seemed to give him more points to make. Eventually they sat down at the fire pit, which the staff had managed to build up at some point in the evening. The sun was setting now; it wouldn't be long until the haunting began. The logs in the fire cracked and popped in the heat of the fire, tiny embers rose with the smoke; staring into the flame one would be hypnotized, wrapped in the warmth of the surrounding air, and lulled to sleep by the dull roar. Zim eventually fell silent, falling under this hypnosis himself. Gin smirked; oh, the things she could do to take advantage of this situation.

Night had fallen; the moon was bright and full with a few lumpy clouds hanging eerily to each side of it.  A thousand stars dotted the rest of the black sky.  They seemed so close to Earth, as if you could reach out with a hand and collect your favorite constellations.  The air had grown cold enough to see your breath in.  The lights around the edge of the farm were dim, and wouldn't be seen from any of the haunting sites.  It was indeed the perfect night for this.  Zim dozed on the bench, arms crossed over his chest with his head hung limp on top of them.  Gin decided she would take advantage of this after all.  She stood up and took a step forward, but before she could do anything a loud metallic buzz arose in the distance.

A chainsaw wielder was hidden within the cornstalk maze.  The sudden screeching whirr of the machine woke Zim, who jumped up startled, twitching his head in all directions in an attempt to find the source.  Gin smirked in satisfaction at the alien's disturbed state.  "You're not scared, are you," she asked teasingly.  Always trying to save his dignity, Zim retorted with mumbled sarcasm, still focusing on locating the source of the sound.  The buzz of the chainsaw had died as quickly as it came, allowing the night to fall silent once again aside from the occasional chatter of people lining up to enter the maze.  

Most were in groups of four to six people, only brave enough to enter when surrounded on all sides by others.  Some who had been suckered in to entering by their friends were whimpering or fidgeting.  A few groups had already made their way through and exited, putting on a show of their 'victorious' achievement with much bravado.  "Come on, Zim.  This is what we really came for.  Let's get in line, already."  Gin walked to the back of the line, standing behind a group of younger children who seemed to be confident in their ability to deal with whatever horrors awaited them.  Zim huffed, crossing his arms and once again assuming a look of total boredom, taking a spot next to his human companion in line.

Several more groups joined the line behind Zim and Gin, one of them being a handful of teenage boys that reeked of tobacco and looked as if they belonged to a street gang.  Their conversation was loud and lacked any sort of intelligent speech.  A blond-haired guy in a worn brown jacket would often bump into the people around him, usually the green-skinned boy.  As the night dragged on, Zim grew increasingly infuriated with the human.  Gin did her best to keep a lid on his frustration, though it was difficult when she was just as annoyed by the entire lot of them.  She wondered briefly how difficult it would be to tear the blond boy's face off.

Eventually the two reached the entrance to the maze. By this point, Zim was more than willing to compromise his entire mission if it meant ridding himself of the group of disgusting males behind him. Before he could make a decision, on how to go about mutilating the blond-haired boy, Gin grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him forward, running through the entry to the corn maze. Once inside, Zim promptly yanked his arm out of the girl's grip with a glare, instructing her to never do such a thing again, lest she face his wrath. They took a few steps down the dirt path side-by-side; the narrow walkway was just wide enough for them to do so, surrounded by the looming dead stalks of the corn plants. It had become completely silent the moment they entered the maze, the same dead stalks blocking all outside noise. The only sound to be heard was their own breathing.  

The two strange companions tread silently, listening intently for the sound of any approaching ghouls from the dark maze. There was just enough light from the cold moon's glow to see where they were supposed to go. Zim seemed unimpressed with the entire situation. "This is supposed to be frightening? Zim has seen scarier things on the television! This is nothing!" He turned to face Gin, holding a fist in the air to declare himself far braver than any human. A large hooded figure crept out of the stalks behind him, raising its arms up high, without making a single sound.  

Gin stared up at the disguised human figure, keeping a calm expression while waiting for Zim to notice that something was lurking behind him.  The little alien began feeling slightly unnerved when he noticed the female human looking not at him, but just above him.  He turned around to see what she could possibly be staring at just as the ghoul, with perfect timing from years of experience in the haunted maze, bent over and swooped its arms down as though to catch him.  Zim screamed in startled terror, slamming into the ground as he tripped, trying to jump backwards in an effort to avoid the creature's grasp.  Having done their job, the person in costume blended back into the darkness of the maze, leaving Gin taunting and laughing at the trembling green boy on the ground.  

Trying to regain his dignity, Zim stood up and dusted himself off, claiming that he only acted in fear for the amusement of his companion. "Yeah, right," she scoffed, "When have you ever done anything for my amusement? Or anything at all for my benefit? You refused to disintegrate that cheerleader spreading rumors about me, remember?" Zim gave her an irritated eye roll. "You still remember that? You humans and your petty grudges," he said dismissively with a wave of his hand. At this, Gin began listing every grudge she knew to be still held by him, but was silenced after the first twenty.

Moving on through the maze, the Irken couldn't quite shake the feeling he had acquired after his initial scare. The humans were better at scaring than he had thought, and now he realized that they could be anywhere within the foreboding shadows, watching his every move, waiting for the right moment to pounce out of the darkness. The paranoia began building up in his mind, and the further the two of them ventured into the corn maze, the more fear that grew in his chest, causing him to shrink down behind Gin for safety. Unfortunately, they had spent too much time recovering after the first ghoul, allowing the group after them to catch up. The group of boys that had been waiting in line behind them came stomping down the path, laughing and hollering at each scare, making loud, pathetic ghost cries of their own. Distracted by the obnoxious bunch, Zim and Gin didn't notice the one boy that had broken off from the group to hide within the maze away from the assigned scaring staff.

It was the blond-haired boy in the dirty jacket that had the brilliant idea of scaring the other groups in the maze. Easily remembering the green-skinned boy that had been immediately in front of them, the boy snuck through the corn stalks alongside his friends, who covered up any noise he made creeping through the dead plants. As the little green boy and his girl friend turned angrily to his loud buddies down the path, the blond-haired man jumped out with a loud screech. He grabbed the green boy in his scrawny arms, smothering him with the jacket. Zim screamed in fear and confusion as Gin tried freeing him from the older boy's tight grip.

With a few swift kicks to the boy's calf, Gin managed to get the boy to drop Zim, much to the delight of the other group.  "Don't just stand there," the blond boy instructed his friends, "Teach the damn kids a lesson!"  Almost lazily, the others walked up to the young pair.  A well-muscled young man with short brown hair and dark eyes, most likely a jock from a sports university, grabbed the girl with a neon green streak in her black hair.  He laughed stupidly at her mismatched socks, holding her upside down as she scrambled to keep her skirt up.  Another boy, the tallest and the skinniest of the group, with black hair in a military style cut lifted the green boy high off the ground without a word, simply following orders.

Both the young boy and girl began spitting violent threats at their captors, though it only made the blond boy laugh. He gave instructions to his peons; Zim was held face-first to the dirt and stepped on multiple times, while Gin was tied upside down to the tops of some corn stalks. The jock then added his own twist by ripping out a handful of the girl's hair, making a half-witted joke about stuffing scarecrows with it. Infuriated at her treatment, she spoke venomously to the boys, promising that they will regret having crossed her path, throwing in a few threats for her apparently unconscious friend in the dirt. The young men guffawed and continued stomping down the dirt path, seeking out new victims to torture.

Once the entire group was out of sight, Gin began calling out to the unmoving Irken.  "Zim?  Zim!  Come on, get up!"  She struggled in her bonds, trying to break free before too much blood rushed to her head.  Loosening the bind enough to slip out, she wiggled slowly and carefully down until she simply slid through, twisting herself in a flip mid-air to land squarely on her feet in the dirt.  Pausing a moment to rub the spot where a clump of hair had been yanked out, she made a vow to reap revenge on the jock before the night was over.  Zim stirred slightly, catching Gin's attention once again.  She jogged over to him and knelt down, poking the back of his head with a finger.  

Feeling someone poking the back of his head, Zim leapt up and turned angrily to his aggressor. Instead, he found Gin, not the tall skinny fool who had dared to defile his being. Disappointed and angry, he slapped her hand away with a growl. "They shall pay for what they have done! Oh, how they will pay," he hissed, clenching his fists for emphasis. Hatred burned in his eyes, and Gin had no doubt that they would indeed pay dearly. The sound of the chainsaw suddenly tor through the once again silent night, the sound of the shrieking metal gears mixing with the hum of the motor; judging by how loud it was, the machine wielder was not far off.

As the sound registered in Zim's brain, a wide smile spread across his face, his teeth showing in a horrible grin that hinted to some malicious plan forming within his twisted mind. With a dark chuckle the Irken leapt into the dark shadows cast by the corn stalks, just as the blond-haired boy had done, but with much more stealth. Making sure to not let any sound alert the humans to his position, he made his way in the direction he remembered hearing the chainsaw wielder at, leaving Gin alone on the dirt path. Taking too long to decide whether she should follow or not, she lost track of his movements in the blackness, and decided her best bet was to simply continue walking through the maze. She had no idea what he was planning to do, but it was probably something just as lame as most of his other plans.  

Now that she was on her own, the young girl began feeling the slight unease the atmosphere around her gave off.  While the walls of dead stalks blocked any wind, the air was still cooling off rather quickly due to the downpour earlier in the day.  There was the occasional mud puddle along the edge of the dirt path which had not evaporated during the last few hours of sunlight, and they were beginning to ice over as the temperature dropped.  The moon continued along its curved path overhead, changing the shadows along the ground as they shifted with its light.  Aside from the timed jumpscares of the haunted farm staff, the night had grown quiet again.  Not even the screech of the chainsaw sounded as she neared the last section of the maze.  

Zim had not appeared since he melted into the night after the attack from the other group.  The maze was indeed quite large, but Gin had expected to see him back by now after reaping whatever revenge he could imagine, to escort her to the exit with an expected air of arrogance and another rant about his superiority.  As much as he claimed to hate her like the rest of the human race, he wouldn't just abandon her without good reason.  Though it was unlikely, perhaps something happened to him.  It was common for his plans to go awry, but not so much that he'd be unable to return.  It was much more probable that the little alien simply got lost.

The nagging feeling that something was wrong rooted itself in the back of Gin's mind, spreading quickly until she was sure that she'd have to go to his rescue just as she reached the end of the maze.  Taking a quick look around the farm just outside the exit to make sure her unwilling company wasn't there, the girl turned around and ran back onto the hard dirt path before the staff could catch her loitering in an odd place.  She retraced her steps until she came to a fork in the path; there were multiple ways to get through, so the first step would be to check the ones she had not yet been on.  Having come from the right path on the way towards the exit, she chose the side that was now on her right heading back towards the entrance.  Right away this section of the maze was immensely different from the rest.  

Sitting in a large circle cleared of corn stalks was a small wooden structure, decorated like a haunted house on the outside. It was a simple building, nothing more than a slightly raised planked walkway with a wooden roof supported by thick beams every five or six feet. A few thick boards that came no higher than Gin's waist served as walls, laid horizontally between the supporting beams. The wood was dark and swollen with moisture, growing mold in the corners and giving off the smell of a dank basement. While it was obvious that the structure was built to be a part of the maze, one could simply and easily go around it and continue back onto the dirt path on the other side.

Forcing herself to set aside the queasy feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach from the smell of the structure, Gin made her way over the plank walkway, almost losing a shoe when one of the weak boards cracked under her weight. As she bent over to readjust her footwear, the familiar noise of the chainsaw sounded behind her. It was no more than a few paces behind; loud enough to cause a ringing in the girl's ears. It was so sudden and unexpected after thinking the chainsaw man had left, Gin bolted upright and twirled around, catching a support beam as she lost her balance due to the loosened shoe. Relief fell over her, though, as she recognized the small figure holding the mechanical beast.

Instead of coming face-to-face with the most frightening figure in the maze, Gin was met with the Irken she had been searching for. Why he had the chainsaw was a mystery, but at least her search was over. "Zim! Don't do that, butt-head," she scolded lightly, "Where have you been? I already found the exit. It's not far from here, just down this path where it merges with the other side. Are you ready to go? I just need to fix my shoe...." As Gin bent over to pull her black boot on properly over the red-and-black striped sock, Zim pulled the starter to the machine, the engine roaring to life once more.  

With only a few feet separating them, the noise was too much for Gin. She knelt, covering each ear with a hand, and glared up at Zim. "What do you think you're doing," she shouted, "Are you crazy? That hurt!" Once the engine's roar dulled to a hum, she stood, snarling at the alien, who seemed to be ignoring her. Planning to snatch the wretched machine, Gin stepped forward, only to finally get a better look at him in the poor light. His mauve military shirt was stained with a dark substance, the same that covered his gloved hands. Following his hands to the machine, she saw that the chainsaw itself was also covered.

Thinking at first that perhaps Zim was the one injured, Gin grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into a patch of moonlight. As soon as he was fully visible; however, it was clear that the green-skinned monster was perfectly fine- physically. The dark liquid staining his clothing and machinery was not any bodily fluid of his own, but instead the deep red shade of human blood. A malicious grin was spread across his face as he seemed to stare blankly at the human girl, who was too shocked to speak coherently. Being of a war-wreaking, destructive race, Zim knew how to be cruel and create chaos; Gin knew this well, but he was also incompetent and foolish. There was no way in Hell he was capable of outright killing humans in such a horror movie style.  

"Zim? Zim, what's happened? Will you answer me," Gin asked sternly, trying to keep the edge out of her voice so as not to disturb him further. Something had obviously gone very wrong when he left to seek out revenge for the thrashing earlier that night. She received no reply. It was as though his mind had completely snapped, though considering what the little alien has been through in the past, a simple beating by some punk humans shouldn't have caused this. Maybe he really had done something horrible. As if in answer to her thoughts, a heavy object slid off the makeshift roof of the wooden structure and hit the ground with a dull thud.

A foul scent filled the air, overpowering the smell of the moist, moldy wooden boards and the caked mud underfoot. The source was a fresh decaying, shredded corpse; so much blood had been lost that its skin was paper white; innards spilled out from the abdomen and had sprawled across the ground after the impact from its fall. The face was completely mutilated, and only the loose scalp with clumps of matted blond hair could be used to identify the human it used to be. The shock mixed with slight confusion, a growing fear, and the accumulative disgusting scents and scene was enough to trigger Gin's gag reflex. Burning acid rose in her throat, but she managed to hold herself together and keep from vomiting what little food she had in her stomach.

Landing next to the first corpse were those of his fellows, having loosened from their spots on the roof without the support of the blond-haired boy's mutilated body. Each one was horribly disfigured, though none quite as bad as the blond man's. Zim let out a sudden, hoarse laughter. With the metal teeth of the chainsaw still spinning he burst into a sprint towards the living human. Gin barely reacted in time to avoid the attack. She performed a quick back-flip, turning on her heel as she landed and dashed down the path that would lead to the maze's exit.  

Rushing from the forked path, past the haunted props and decorations, Gin could see the open field directly ahead. She picked up her speed. Thirty more steps. Twenty more steps. Almost there. The telltale hum buzzed only several paces behind. Cutting diagonally through the last row of yellowed stalks, Gin made a sharp right turn and leapt over a wooden railing. She plummeted through the air like a rock, splashing into a freezing, scum-covered pond. The cold shock hit her like a brick wall, knocking the air from her lungs and paralyzing her.  

Now the girl's immediate threat was drowning.  Gin forced her body to move, willing her muscles to work; to reach up and push her body towards the surface where she would be able to breathe again.  Perhaps by divine intervention, or simply by pure luck, she broke the surface, sputtering and coughing as her body tried to expel the noxious water it had accidentally consumed.  Shaking her soaked black and neon green hair from her eyes, Gin peered up at the railing.  A flash of green disappeared from the spot she had jumped from.  

Screams could be heard moments later followed by the sound of tearing flesh and clothing. He's killing people. Zim is murdering the humans here. Adults and children alike, judging by the pitch of the garbled yells for help. Gin slowly dog-paddled herself towards the high bank covered in cattails. It took all of the energy she had left to heave herself up onto the land, shivering pathetically as she listened to the horrible sounds around her. Though the young girl had always understood the alien's distaste for humanity and was capable of wishing disturbing endings upon certain individuals in her wrath, she had never experienced something like this.  

The body of a decapitated child dropped from the sky into the pond, floating on the thick layer of algae as a sickening amount of blood leaked from the torn flesh of the neck. The sight of it was enough for Gin to make a solid decision. Maybe she would one day welcome this kind of chaos, but only with Zim in his right mind. Tonight she would reclaim her friend one way or another and stop this strange madness. Grunting as her weakend limbs strained to lift her body and hold its own weight, Gin staggered into the open blood-stained field.

Gin had to give the homicidal maniac credit: he worked fast.  Most of the people had either fled in time or had been slain where they stood.  Zim had worked his way across the entire property in a zig-zag pattern and was now chasing the last few living souls on the far side of the farm.  Unable to run and catch up to him, she looked around for something to catch his attention with.  The fire pit immediately caught her eye.  Moving as quickly as her body would allow, Gin limped to the pit and searched around the outside of it for some dry wood or garbage, anything she could hold over the flames til it caught.  

Unfortunately, all that was left were the logs that were too damp to use in the fire. The terrified yelling of another victim spurred Gin to simply act. She reached into the pit and grabbed a burning log, yanking it from the layer of hot coals and tossing it onto a nearby body. Her palms burned and blistered, and a horrible searing pain shot up both her arms, but it had worked. The flaming log rolled along the clothing still attached to the body, catching, until the entire corpse was ablaze. Toxic smoke rose from it as the flesh began to burn, rising in a thick, suffocating cloud. The dried grass surrounded the growing blaze soon caught on as well, and then spread like wildfire.  

On the other side of the farm, a climbing wall of bright orange was growing across the field.  Zim finished off his current target and turned towards the flame, where a single silhouette stood black against it.  A new target.  A young female with large brown eyes and dark hair.  She appeared to soaking wet and struggling to move.  It was the same target that evaded him earlier.  She would not escape so easily this time.  

From her position on the ground, which she had unwillingly sunk to, Gin noticed the familiar spider-like legs extending from the PAK device on the alien's back as he charged towards her with the chainsaw in hand. He covered the distance in mere seconds, bearing down on the human girl with brute force fueled by mindless rage. Waiting until the right second to move, she rolled out of the way as Zim brought the blade of the saw down from above. The metal teeth rebelled against the hard ground, sending up chips of dirt and stone. He growled in frustration, pulling the blade back up and maneuvering gracefully around on his artificial appendages.

Agile as a feline, the raging Irken monster attacked twice more in the same manner as before, each time only narrowly missing the girl's face.  The heat from the out-of-control fire gave Gin some of her strength back, melting away the frozen shock ache in her muscles.  Her movements became swifter and stronger as she dodged, doing everything in her power to simply avoid becoming a hunk of carving meat until she devised a better plan.  Was it possible to talk him out of it?  "Zim," she spoke breathlessly, "Zim, you dunce!  Do you know who you're fighting?  It's me, Ginevieve Harper; your self-appointed partner-in-crime, remember?"  

It was no use. Gin Harper dodged and spoke, using varied tones and references to try and jog his memory, which was either lost entirely or simply set aside; she couldn't tell which. Quickly tiring with the constant dodging and attempts at peace, it seemed that it was now only a matter of who was to live and who was not. As her energy continued to fade, tears welled up in Gin's eyes. The choice was obvious for her; she would let go of life. She would not fight this companion-turned-monster. He was the only creature she could consider a 'friend'; her family and classmates were despicable beings she merely tolerated.

Life had been unkind to Gin for as long as she could remember. Beginning at only four years old she was left to fend for herself most of the time. Her parents hadn't cared for her enough. It was for this reason that she held hatred within her heart. Forced to take care of herself or otherwise perish, she had become independent, defiant, and strong. Or so she had thought. Here she was, lying on the ground at some farm in the middle of nowhere surrounded by burning, mutilated corpses with a murderous alien invader who lost his mind about to finish her off for good.

Zim was satisfied that his prey seemed to have given up.  He smiled, lifting the blood-stained mechanical saw for a heavy blow.  Using all of his strength, the crazed invader swung down as Gin slid herself underneath him.  In his moment of confusion, she quickly stood and swung a foot around, connecting with the PAK's legs.  Without the support, he dropped the chainsaw and rolled away from in, smashing his face into the ground.  Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, Zim hissed angrily and stood on his own two feet, charging at Gin once again.

Rejecting the futile idea of once again trying to settle this peacefully, Gin picked up the chainsaw, still humming idly.  Charging headlong at Zim, she spun around before colliding with him, lifted the saw, and jammed the blade against the center of his PAK.  Pushing him down face first, standing on his legs with her right food and his head with her left, Gin drove the saw through the Irken metal.  Meeting resistance at first, but finally cutting through the life-sustaining device, Gin only stopped when she began to puncture flesh.  With the creature's real brain destroyed, she shut off the saw and tossed it aside.  Not wanting to watch him crawl around dying for the next ten minutes, she swiftly reached down and twisted his neck, breaking it.

Once the deed was done, Gin stumbled over the body, let herself fall to the ground, and closed her eyes. Tonight was truly an event built from nightmares. She would never know what had caused her wonderfully imbecilic friend from another world to commit these tragedies. The consequences of her actions in response to those tragedies were sure to haunt her forever. In the days to follow she knew she would likely come up with a hundred ways that things could have gone differently. What she could have done to change all this.

Maybe she had unknowingly done an act of mercy.  Or perhaps a terrible crime.  None of this would worry her if she had followed through with allowing herself to be a victim.  Or rather, a dead victim.  A shuddering breath racked through Gin's entire body as she forced herself up one more time.  Wrapping her arms around herself she walked up the hill to the parking lot, with head hung low, the darkness now her only company.
So titled for the song that helped inspire my mood for creative writing. It's plenty suiting for the story itself as well.

This was originally a commission, but thanks to hurricane Sandy as well as just life in general, I failed to complete it before the desired date (Halloween). So I gave her points back but remained dedicated to finishing it anyway, and I'm glad that I did. I believe this is my longest 'one-shot' piece to date (though in my opinion it's still rather short), consisting of 52 paragraphs from start to finish. I spent many hours of many days on this, paying greater attention to the flow of the story, as well as switching my method of checking for errors. I think the change in my writing process helped to make this piece stand out on its own from others I have written. I hope it does so in a good way. But that is for all of you to decide.


Critques and opinions greatly appreciated.
OC Ginevieve 'Gin' Harper c) ~mr-js-harley-quinn
Invader Zim c) Jhonen Vasquez
Original (fan)fiction by myself. No stealing, altering, re-posting, etc.
© 2012 - 2024 Panthiguar
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JustBeStill's avatar
This is AMAZING!