Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.
AN: This little two-shot is the result of a severe case of writer's block. I'm working on chapter 6 of Somnium, but I'm not nearly happy enough with it to post it yet. So in order to unblock my brain I decided a little word prompt exercise might help.
Random word prompts: bed distortion gladness grid bastion
Cassandra Anderson fell face first across her bed with an exhausted huff, arms and legs sprawled wherever. The sleep machine shoved into the corner of her apartment sat unused and scorned.
She'd had one of those shifts. Too late to some scenes, too useless at others. The kind that never seemed to end. The single window looking out onto MegaCity1 allowed the sickly, yellow glow of the city lights to illuminate her small home. Almost immediately her breathing began to even out and she felt herself start to float asleep.
A chirp at her wrist roused her from her stupor. Cassandra rolled onto her back and looked down at her arm. Oh. She hadn't taken her armor off. Ah well. She shut her eyes.
Her wrist comm chirped again. "Uuungh!" She raised the irritating thing to her face and through the distortion of squinted eyes she could just make out that another Judge was trying to contact her. Not making any move to rise, she tapped clumsily at the screen until it beeped a confirmation. "Anderson, here."
"Judge Anderson." The low voice had her snapping her eyes open and sitting up so abruptly her head swam. "You need to answer your damn comm faster than that, Judge."
"I-" *no use apologizing. "Yes, sir."
"Report to Sector House 13, immediately."
"Immediately, sir?" She rubbed her face groggily with her free hand. "But I just got off my shift!" It took half a heartbeat for the whiny words that had just spewed forth from her mouth to come back and slap her awake. Oh shit. "I mean, affirmative, sir. Right away."
There was a pause and she imagined the formidable, infamous, and familiar Judge clenching his jaw. "What's your 10-20?"
"I'm at home."
"Have you looked outside?" he asked through what sounded like gritted teeth.
She turned her head toward the window. Something wasn't right. She stumbled out of bed and walked closer to the glass. She gasped.
"Anderson, do you copy?"
"Dredd... What's happening?" She was ashamed of the quaver in her voice, but she had never seen anything like it. Every light in the city was out. Every fluorescent, incandescent, neon or LED. The only light that did shine was from her wrist.
"My guess is an EMP," he growled. "I'd confirm it with Control, but there's no fucking response." More quietly he muttered, "Get to the Sector House. The entire Justice Department is off the city's main grid so there's a chance their power is on. It's closer than Headquarters and I'm making my way there on foot."
"Where are you?"
"I was on patrol near the 13-14 sector line. Bike's dead."
"God." Those things were meant to withstand a nuke and keep running. "How the hell are the comms still on? Have you reached anyone else? Hershey? Giant?"
"No luck," he confirmed. "Quit asking questions and get going."
"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can."
There was quiet, then, "Anderson?"
"Yeah, Dredd?" She was already fumbling around in the dark to find her boots.
"Don't do anything stupid." She read between the lines. He meant, 'Be safe.'
"Copy. You, too. I- I should be able to get there within twelve hours on foot. You?"
"Less."
"What's the protocol for this situation? Why can't I remember?" She pulled on her boots and scoured her memory.
He hesitated. "There is no protocol. Power's not built to go out."
She shuddered. What the hell was going on? She searched the darkness for her gun. Then realized, "Lawgivers still work?"
"Yeah. Voice command and display are out, though. Everything's manual.
"Good." Her hand found her gun on her hip. She hadn't even taken that off in her exhaustion. She was regretting not using that damn sleep machine now.
"Twelve hours, Anderson." The I'll be waiting went unspoken
"See you then."
"Copy."
It took longer than twelve hours to trek the fifty kilometers to the sector house. Anderson had quickly changed into clean clothes and donned her field gear again, threw some provisions into a large bag that she slung over her shoulder and across her chest - energy chews, a few hydration packets, and of course extra ammo.
She checked to see if her Lawmaster was truly out of commission, but couldn't even get the headlight to turn on. The chemical glow bars stored on her bike caught her eye. They were used for outlining traffic accidents. The thin chemical filled tubes were about the length of her forearm. She bundled them into her bag then set out.
It was clear in that deepest hour of night that very few citizens had yet to notice the absent hum of electricity or the extraordinary darkness. The streets she travelled were empty of people and cars had been left abandoned, useless, in the middle of the roads. When she travelled between tightly packed buildings or through empty pedways she held a glow bar above her head casting those deeper shadows in a soft red-orange wash.
The further she walked, the more uneasy she felt. She hadn't met a single person yet. Not one citizen asking for information. No gunshots, no shouting, no footsteps, no human activity whatsoever.
When dawn finally drew back the dark, no curious people left the buildings she passed, let alone the mobs she'd been expecting.
Four hours into her journey and a little less than a third of the way to the Sector House 13, Anderson stopped at a crossroads to take a break. The sun was quickly warming the blacktop with its spring strength.
"Anderson to Dredd, do you copy?" she tried her wrist comm.
The grim silence that met her query for interminable minutes afterward left her in a near state of panic, but training kept her cool and collected.
"Dredd, do you copy?"
"Anderson, this is Dredd. I copy."
She nearly collapsed with relief. "Have you seen any people?"
"No. You?"
"No one. I even searched a few residences. What's happening here, Dredd? This isn't just some electromagnetic pulse."
"Hell if I know. We'll figure it out at the sector house. Just keep going. I'm more than halfway there. Where are you?"
"Judging by the streets I'm on... About thirty kilometers to go." She felt a prickle of awareness skitter across skin. No thoughts, just sensation.
"Your'e making good time."
She searched the area again with a sweeping gaze, distractedly muttering into her comm, "Yeah, well. This is my first break since last-"
CRACK! She felt sharp blow before she glimpsed the shadow looming over her.
"Anderson, what the hell was that?" Dredd's voice sounded far away.
"I..." The bright pain in her skull overwhelmed her and her eyes shut involuntarily. She could hear shuffling and felt herself being moved as the world faded from her senses.
The last thing she heard, as if from a great distance, was Dredd's voice. "Anderson! Answer me right now! Do you copy?"
"..."
"CASS!"
To be continued...
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