Chapter Text
Chapter Four
Estevez felt a strange sense of urgency bubbling beneath the lassitude and mental fog that this bizarre place induced. He found it easier to hold on to now that he had managed to piece together a small part of the puzzle. He needed to know more. He was starting to think that piecing together his past would help him figure out the mystery of his current situation. Maybe it could even help him figure out what awaited him the future. His partner's assertion that they were waiting for someone didn't give him any comfort. He'd seemed far too vague and uncertain about what, precisely, he was expecting to happen. Zimmerfield seemed far less interested in solving this puzzle, a fact that was immensely confusing for his former partner. Zim had always been dogged and determined, never one to give up on anything, or shirk his duties.
Estevez didn't know how he knew this. He just did. The same way he knew the look of his own face. He was certain that his friend's lack of interest in finding the truth was out of character, and it was starting to worry him. He had a sinking feeling that the change in Zim's behaviour was down to their current surroundings. All the more reason to find out where the were and how to get out of here. Well, in order to help the both of them out of this fix, he needed to stop being preoccupied with Zim's behaviour and turn his attention to the real cause of the problem.
The only point of reference he had right now was the girl, Lydia. He sank further into thought as he walked aimlessly along, her name becoming a chant in his head, repeating over and over. As he thought of her, images began to come to mind once again. Lydia's face. The small, curious looking dog. A startled looking man with large eyes wearing a ridiculous uniform. A standoff full of shouting, waving guns and general confusion. 'Are you aware you just gave every possible response to that question?'
'What?' Zim asked.
'Hmm?'
'What was that?' Zim looked confused
Estevez hadn't realised that he'd spoken that sentence out loud.
'Nothing man, I was just thinking.'
'About what?' This seemed slightly more positive that their previous interactions at least. Zim was actually taking an interest.
'About Lydia' Estevez answered. His friend looked blank for a few moments before a look of recogntion washed across his face.
'Lydia of course, I'd forgotten.' He looked troubled for a moment. 'Why does that bother me?'
'It bothers me too, man' Estevez replied. He wanted to comfort his friend, but he didn't know how. He didn't have enough information to offer any genuine reassurance. Zimmerfield seemed to start sinking back into apathy again, then shook himself back to alertness, 'Ok then, let's backtrack. What was it you said just then? Every possible response? Who were you thinking of when you said that?'
Estevez had to think hard for a moment to dredge the memory back up to the surface.
'Uh, I was talking to a guy, I think. Weird looking, you know? Big eyes. Stupid uniform.'
'ok, bud, work backwards from there. Why were you talking to him?'
Silence fell again as Estevez worked to remember the details, so distant now it seemed.
'Um, he saw something. A witness, I think?'
The two former detectives moved forwards once again in their seemingly endless journey to nowhere, slowly piecing together the details of a murder. Now they worked together again as they had in the past, and the work became easier. Estevez could picture the scene clearly in his head for the first time since he arrived here, the trashed hotel room decorated in swathes of blood. The bizarre chunks bitten out of the furniture, the seemingly random burns and the corpses strewn around the room like toys, carelessly discarded once broken. 'Patrick Spring,' he whispered, 'that was it. Patrick Spring's murder. We thought it could be a lead in his daughter's disappearance'
Both men began to walk faster in their excitement talking as they went, a habit carried over from their days as detectives. Estevez felt truly alive for the first time since he saw his friend's face in the haze, energised by their progress. All the flashes of memory were now almost tangible, the pieces falling into place to create a solid picture of his past. Todd Brotzman, shifty and perpetually confused. Farah Black, intelligent and oh so capable. Dirk Gently, puppy like in his enthusiasm. A The vacant face of Rapunzel-not-Lydia. Blood on his hands, and panic. Grief. A deadly bolt through the chest. Stay with me.
He stopped walking.
Zimmerfield overshot him by a few steps, surprised by his abrupt halt.
'Buddy, what's wrong?'
Estevez stood silent, stricken. He remembered it all now. Begging his partner to make it to the hospital. Zimmerfield's last words. He didn't know how to answer, so he just held up his hand to signal that he needed a moment. Zimmerfield was dead. He knew it. So why was he here? Or, more worryingly, why was Estevez here, in the same place? He let his mind work forwards from that moment. Confronting his boss in the office and losing his job. Drinking while talking to a dog, thinking he was crazy. Todd and Dirk caged like animals, Dirk injured, Todd telling his insane story of body swapping cultists and time travel, a firefight with Ms Black at his side, getting Lydia back.
'Zim, I don't understand.' he said. 'We got her back, we solved the case. So what the hell happened?'
'I'm not following you' Zim replied, taken aback by the sudden shift in atmosphere.
'I just need another minute to think this through,'
'Zim, you were shot. With a crossbow. You died! Why aren't you dead? Am I crazy, seeing a dead guy and talking to him?!'
'Whoa, buddy, hang on there. I'd know if I were dead, ok? I'm right here, so I'm not dead. I'm as alive as you are'
It came to him then, the man dressed all in black, rambling about files and money. He remembered the searing pain of bullets pushing through his chest and side in quick succession.
The weird fog surrounding him seemed to grow lighter, more luminous.
'Zim, did we die? 'Cause right now, I'm starting to think we both died. You took a crossbow bolt through the chest and I got shot by a raving lunatic with a gun. And now we're here and we couldn't remember anything and this place is seriously weird, man. Capital 'W' weird. So, do you think we're dead?'
Zim's eyes lost focus as he tried to put his memory back together, then his expression shifted to horror.
They both began to move forwards once more. There was really nothing else to do. They remained silent now, bereft of words.
The fog continued to lighten as they walked slowly into the gradually building light. Suddenly, a door was there, bright and inviting. 'So, what happens now, Zim?'
'How about we go find out?' his friend replied. They linked arms, shared one last look, and walked through the door, together.