Chapter | 4
We reach the edge of the jungle and look out at a city laid out in front of us.
It is alien in construction and nothing like I was used to in Megacity One. We take cover by one of the last large trees before moving out into open to cross into it. The buildings all look hexagon in shape and most were no more that four stories tall. Defiantly nothing like the two hundred plus, floor structures back in my home city. Retrieving my monocular from my kit I can make out that the place must have been abandoned decades ago. Nature was growing all over it, creeping in and out of the cracks and holes now in the buildings.
"It looks like a battle was once here" Dredd finally says.
He had been doing the same as me, scanning the area ahead.
"It could give us shelter and some defensible options."I conclude
He didn't say he agreed or not, instead just grunted.
We slowly make our way across the no man's land towards the first building. Dredd is on point as I watch the rear.
For the next ten minutes we move between the alien structures and along what I consider to be their streets. They are more like large walking areas between the buildings than narrow sidewalks. Also I notice they're no roads. Probably no need for these advanced races and they most defiantly had hover cars like we did back home perhaps.
" Dredd"I whisper.
He stops in front of me and tilts his head without really looking at me.
"What is it Judge Garza?" he says quietly back.
"You mentioned something about being hunted a while back. Now personally I think you're a fucking nut job and off about this whole thing but here's a question for you. Why the hell leave us with our weapons?"
He turns to fully look at me and he gets right up into my personal space.
"Where's the fun in hunting something that can't fight back. If you think my theory is so crazy why don't you tell ME what's going on?" Shit, he has me there. I had next to no clue why we were here or why I was being so hard with Dredd. Maybe it's because I'm scared, but of course I'd never tell him that.
"Come on, we need to find high ground and…"
his sentence was cut short by him shooting his head quickly to the left out across the court yard to the opposite building.
"What is it?"I ask as my heart rate begins to quicken.
I watch as Dredd slowly marched to the centre of the court yard.
"Dredd, what was it? Did you see something..." I stop myself as I felt it, felt what Dredd had obviously noticed before.
It was like someone is scanning my mind.
Was it a mutant with telepathic abilities?
And like Dredd I could sense it was coming from the building now in front of us. Dredd stopped with his gun by his side.
"This is Judge Dredd. Whoever is in there come out right now. Failure to do so will end in judgement by the law... and I AM THE LAW" he bellowed in his most authoritive voice.
"A little out of our jurisdiction aren't we?"I say quietly next to him in a veiled attempt at a nervous joke.
Dredd slowly dips his head to me.
"You ready?" he asks
I return a nod back to him and slip my safety off.
"You see him?"I ask.
"Second story, large window on the left"
I gaze over and he was right. In the corner half looking out to us was this little 'thing'.
Clearly not human, it was staring out. The feeling that it was in my head wasn't happening right now. I wonder if it knew why we were here but before I could say as much to Dredd I noticed he had drawn his gun.
"H.E Rounds" he says out loud.
The gun beeps its response as a high explosive round is chambered.
"Dredd, No. Wait"
But it was too late he had already he had already fired. I watched as the creature jumped from the window as the explosion fills the room behind it. It crashes to the deck and looks as if has knocked itself half unconscious.
"Go easy will you. We need information not dead bodies" I scowled at the man remembering why I was so hard on him.
Not only was I worried about this whatever it is in front of us but I was now concerned that the once dead city was now echoing the noise of an explosion around it. If there was something out there it had surely heard the noise.
"Scanning the mind of a Judge is fifty days in the ico-cubes or Death. And since we don't have access to the cubes…"
"Save it." I cut him off before he had a chance to finish.
I turn to approach the creature. I could see it almost looks naked and was only four feet tall.
It had a large head with black oval eyes. Although it looked humanoid I could see it had four sets of arms.
"Stay where you are" I shout as I gingerly approached. It looks hurt and trying to get up. As I move closer I hear that same animal clicking noise I had heard in the boiler room. Before I had a chance to turn my weapon I was being thrown across the courtyard by some invisible force. Landing on my back I quickly sit up, ready to let off some auto fire when I notice a large steel net heading towards me. Quickly it pins me to the ground as its anchors drill into floor pinning me down. I'm trapped and unable to move.