'IB' - Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Morning came early for the traumatized boy, his alarm blaring loudly in his ear that morning. It was another school day, but would he dare even risk it? The answer was an obvious no as he slammed the top of his blaring alarm with a tight fist, then covered himself back in his blankets. After lying there for several minutes to think over his situation, he considered that maybe some human interaction would help clear his mind... Maybe someone would finally talk to him.

That was a shot in the dark though when it was really considered. What would make today any different from the others to the point someone would speak to him? Especially now that word was getting around that Dib was falling deeper into a psychosis that left him dangerous to others.

He made his final decision to skip again today. In fact, he was even considering the possibility of not going anymore all together. It wasn’t doing him any good anyway and with his current being; he was in no mood for people to talk even more about him.

The silence in the house and the intense loneliness was excruciating now. He didn't have a soul in the world that wanted his presence around. Not a single living being left in that town wanted to be near him or their name even mentioned in the same sentence as he own name.

Dib questioned now if anyone would even notice if he were to be murdered like his sister. Chances were not even his own father cared enough for the two of them to even notice something that devastating had happened to them, or Gaz for now at least. The thoughts made him groan and close his eyes tightly, gripping the blankets as if trying to fight off this idea.

After five more minutes or so, he threw himself from his bed and stared wildly around the room, as if expecting someone to be there. He was alone. There didn’t even seem to be any signs or sounds indicating that Zim had been there.

He made his way slowly down the stairs, examining everything in a desperate search for anyone to be there. He was still in a sort of disbelief that his sister was actually gone...

Finally he made it downstairs to the living room, standing in front of the end table where his open pill bottle lay on its side from being clumsily put down the night before. Dib reached for two pills laying on the surface and downed them without a moment of hesitation.

There hadn't been any signs of anyone trying to get into the house overnight, and no more blood was left in the house. It was just sadly quiet in the house.

After taking this in, Dib sat slowly on the couch and stared out of the large window on the wall to his left. It was a rather grey and dull day with a thick cloud cover, not even a single crack in them to be seen. As Dib peered out at the dull environment, he almost found himself longing for Zim in a way. This was probably because he wanted to reassure himself that the alien was in fact real and just to have some form of interaction with another. The loneliness was beginning to grow to be overwhelming and it was growing even faster since he was already at the verge of losing his mind.

“... Zim...” He whispered, almost in a desperate invitation to the other.

On cloudy days like these, Zim hardly ever went outside either. There was always a chance for rain, and he had always been nervous about any sort of acidic water drop.

Dib squirmed and whimpered slightly where he sat the longer he stared longingly out of the window. He considered walking by Zim’s house now just to check on him, but it could bring up fresh memories of yesterday potentially. There were great chances Zim would not be out anyway. With the gloomy weather out and threatening to rain, however, it could be a good time to walk around to get a bit of mind-clearing fresh air.

After several more minutes of painful silence, Dib finally decided to go outside for a quick walk to try and take his mind away from the horrible reality that he was completely alone in this house now. A chilling breeze greeted him once he opened the door, causing his body to jolt with a sudden shiver. Though it was tempting to stay inside of the warm house, Dib pressed forward and closed to door behind him. He slumped and shoved his hands in his pockets as he headed towards town where he hoped would be plenty of things to distract him. Perhaps someone may even try talking to him. It was wishful thinking, at least.

The people in town just ignored him though, walking by on the sidewalk and passing him like he were just any other young kid skipping school. There were many shops open early for everyone's convenience.

This reaction from people didn’t come as a surprise to the boy though as hadn’t had much hope for any human interaction anyway. However, he did receive some acknowledgment from a small puppy in the pet store window as he started to pass by whom had let out a small ‘yip’. The small labrador seemed a little shy and quiet as he sat with his head lowered, much like the boy was himself. Dib paused to stare at him through the window and he couldn’t help the small smile that creased his face after a moment.

The rest of the puppies tumbled and yipped happily amongst each other. The little lab yelped fearfully when one bumped him from behind, sending him skittering forward and somersaulting over his hind quarters clumsily.

Though it seemed almost a little cruel, Dib let out a small giggle at the other’s misfortune fall. He pressed his hands against the glass, leaning in a bit closer as he attempted to communicate. “I know how you feel, buddy.”

The puppy clumsily waddled back to his feet, looking at the glass where someone was pressed. He barked a bit as he pressed his own paws to the glass and wagged his tail. The other puppies rushed over to leap at the glass, knocking the little lab aside.

Dib let out another chuckle as he watched the little dog. He had considered purchasing the puppy now as he knew it would provide him company that he desperately needed, but it occurred to him that he had no money and that everything close to him was torn apart at the hands of Zim. The thought of the little puppy getting killed was enough to send the boy away from the glass and head down the sidewalk again in woe.

The puppy whimpered as he walked away, trotting to the other side of the glass and pawing at the glass wildly as he did. He licked the smudged barrier separating them, continuing to whine.

The small whimpers caught his attention once again as he stopped in his tracks to look back at the small puppy. He had a feeling this dog would be more than enough to keep him sane, but with that came the risk of him dying at the hands of Zim. However, he figured he would be able to defend the dog if the need to do so popped up, so with that he rushed inside of the store and approached the clerk slowly even though he hadn’t any money.

“Excuse me?” Dib nearly whispered.

The clerk didn't notice him for a little while, perhaps just ignoring him in hopes he'd leave. He looked down after a few seconds and sighed. "Can I help you?"

“I want that little labrador puppy over there.” Dib replied, motioning towards the puppy display in the window. “You can just charge Professor Membrane for everything.”

He raised a brow, looking at him a bit more. "Oh yeah, you're that crazy Membrane kid." He shrugged as he didn't care as long as he made a sale.

Dib smiled, satisfied with the fact that there was an advantage to being the Professor’s son. Before going to grab the puppy, Dib collected a blue leather collar and leash, a medium sized dog bed, a food bowl and a decent sized bag of dog food. It was quite a bit to hold on to, but he was able to maneuver. After collecting these items, Dib headed towards the display and placed the things in a pile beside him, grabbing the collar and leash before reaching inside and clipping the collar on the lab’s neck and pulling him out. Once the dog was on the ground, he collected his items again and headed towards the door. “Uh, thanks I guess!” He said to the clerk cheerfully.

"Whatever. Now leave." The clerk replied, jabbing his thumb toward the door. The little puppy squirmed and hopped around hyperly, seeming excited about finally being free from all the others.

Dib rolled his eyes and shoved his way out of the door, leading the puppy along with him. As he walked with the other down the sidewalk, he spoke to him almost like he would another human. Just the presence of the joyful dog seemed to erase every memory that had haunted him up to this point.

The dog barked hyperly as he ran around wildly while he walked. He seemed to enjoy running around Dib's legs, tying his feet up with his leash along his way.

Sure enough, when Dib went to lift a foot he found it loosely bound to the other but it was enough to trip him. But even with his hands full, he was able to prevent himself from completely falling on his face. He grunted and chuckled a little, tugging almost playfully on the leash. “You can’t tie me up while I’m trying to walk, boy!”

The puppy yipped excitedly and bounded around him as he spoke to him, seeming very thrilled to be paid attention to. He pawed at his pants leg and leaped back a bit, seeming eager to get to wherever they were going.

Though the puppy made walking to his home quite difficult, he was able to lead them there rather quickly which was a relief since he was finally able to put everything down. Once his hands were free, he reached down and unclipped the leash from the dog’s collar and picked up the bowl he had gotten from the store. He disappeared in the kitchen for a moment and returned with the bowl full of water. Dib placed it on the living room floor and called the puppy over by whistling to him.

The puppy scampered over to the water bowl, but got ahead of himself and stumbled. He wound up face first in the water bowl, scooting back up and sneezing as the water had gotten in his nose.

Dib snickered at this as he lowered himself to sit in front of the puppy, smiling at him almost non-stop. “You’re pretty clumsy, aren’t you?” He paused as he reached forward to plant a hand on the top of his head. “I’ll call you Einstein.” he declared happily.

The puppy yipped as he leaped onto his lap, pawing at his shirt. He panted and bounced a bit as he licked his face excitedly as he seemed quite fond of his new name.