Judgement Day

The World

The maintenance shaft was boiling hot, sweat ran down Andrew's face in small streams. Andrew and Yvaine had been climbing up for six straight stories, their progress hampered by the small space and their bulky armor.

"One more story, then we can access a computer terminal." Yvaine piped up from beneath him.

"Glorious." Andrew said sarcastically.

"Hey, you're not the one who's been staring at your ass for the last hour, even if it is quite nice."

"I still never understood how you passed basic training."

"Because I like to fool around but I know how to get the job done?"

"Must be. Or you slept with all the teachers."

"You know I only slept with three people, yourself included if I may remember correctly. And to use your word it was indeed quite glorious."

Andrew smirked a little as his mind drifted for a moment. He shook his head clear and refocused as they came to the exit shaft to let them out of the hot, boiling furnace. Crawling down the shaft he came to the exit door which he cracked open a little to look outside to make sure the hall was clear.

"We're all clear. Moving out." he whispered back to her as he pulled himself out and then stood guard while Yvaine pulled herself out.

The hallway was in ruins, the block war had taken its price and it had been heavy. Walls stripped away to reveal the outside world, a twenty story drop if a person tripped and fell. Bodies everywhere, headless, bloody, gruesome carcasses that had once been lovers, children, friends, scholars, gone in an instant at a handful of crazed maniacs nice little war. Andrew closed his eyes and breathed in slowly, they had to move on.

Both at the ready they moved down the hall, years of training showing itself off as they shifted from position to position. One person would monitor the hall while another moved up to a different piece of cover. Then the other would move up and the other would cover the moving persons approach.

Soon they approached a computer mainframe, Andrew peeked his head into the room.

"Drokk!" he growled at the sight. The room was chock full with block maniacs, cussing, spitting, and drinking the spoils of war.

Yvaine had take a position on the other side of the door. Andrew looked up and began to sign with one hand, basic commands that every Judge were required to know. Close quarters, stealth, silencer, valuables, fragile, negative armor piercing, incendiary, high-ex, rapid fire. On third nod cover middle right. . he signed and Yvaine nodded in understanding.

Andrew nodded once as he pressed a button on his Lawgiver and a silencer locked onto the barrel of the gun. His hands shook, he had always been terrible at close quarter valuable retrieval, the one simulation where he nearly failed out. He took a deep breath, his calming method, and nodded a second time. Gripping his Lawgiver tightly he nodded a third time and kicked the door open.

Everything was in slow motion to him, the block maniacs didn't have time to react before Andrew opened fire on them. He placed his first shot in the head of the one nearest to him. Blood splattered all over the room as the maniac fell out of his seat. The maniac next to him scrambled for a pistol, Andrew shot his hand and popped a round into his gut. Causing him to bow over in pain as he fell onto the floor. The third one in his area was the trickiest one, he was on the computer. If Andrew missed or the bullet went through him then it was another ten stories before he could access another computer terminal. Lining his gun up he aimed for the area where his heart was. The thick muscle of the organ and the flesh would stop his bullet.

Exhaling, Andrew pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced his skin and the bullet stopped, embedded within him. Turning to look at the rest of the room he saw that Yvaine's section had been cleared.

"Hey Judgie." a raspy voice called for him.

Andrew turned to see a block maniac had come up behind them while they were clearing the room out. He had an arm around Yvaine's neck and a sub machine gun to her head. He aimed at the maniac, his gun right in the middle of his head.

"Let's talk." Andrew said cooly.

"Yeah, you're going to surrender now and then we are take you and your little friend upstairs for some fun."

"Your crimes are attempted murder of a Judge, improper usage of official equipment, multiple homicide, and willing destruction of public property. If you comply I can give you life in the Iso Blocks without parole. If you don't, the sentence is death." Andrew said slowly, trying to intimidate the maniac.

"Life, without parole? Is this your first day or something? I've got the upper hand and you've got nothin, I think you should be begging us not to kill you instead of dishing sentences out. Understand me?"

"Yeah I understand you, hotshot."

"What did you say to me?"

"I said, I understand you, hotshot." Andrew told him as his gun beeped and he pulled the trigger. The heat seeking bullet went down his throat, his skin started to crack and peel apart as it heated up. The maniac fell to the floor, dead.

Yvaine looked unfazed as she bent down to pick up her Lawgiver. She looked up with a smile. "Well, well, look who's my knight in shining armor."

"Shut up, I'm starting to think you do this on purpose."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

Andrew growled, watching as Yvaine pulled off her helmet for the first time. Shoulder length blonde hair tumbles from the loosened bundle. Andrew had always wondered how she kept it up where it was comfortable and she kept it out of her eyes. Dark blue eyes peer at him with a youthful amused look hidden inside folds of seriousness.

Andrew didn't want to look at Yvaine right now, she had been his best friend while in the Academy but she still infuriated him most of the time on a good day. Walking over to the computer he started to look around for any signs of the other two Judges. After twenty minutes of searching he finally found them on the forty eighth story.

"Found them." Andrew said as he motioned for Yvaine to walk over.

“How did they get so far up so quickly?” Yvaine asked as she cracked her knuckles.

“Remember Peach Trees? They’ve done this before.”

“Right. Lets go, elevator this time?”

“I wasn’t fond of climbing up those maintenance shafts in the first place. If I am correct it should be just around the corner.”

“Let’s go.” Yvaine said confidently as she slipped her helmet back onto her head.

Andrew and Yvaine reloaded their Lawgivers and peeked out around the corner, checking the hallways. The coast was clear they exited the room and walked down the hall quietly, trying to avoid alerting any more maniacs.

Arriving at the elevator they pressed the up button. The elevator came rattling up the elevator shaft and opened its doors with a squeal. The two Judges stepped into the elevator and pressed the forty-eighth floor button. The elevator creaked and rattled so hard it nearly knocked the two rookie Judges off of their feet.

“If we survive this I am grabbing the first civilian I see and giving them five years for neglect to maintain public transportation.” Andrew said, his words coming out rattled as his teeth nearly took his tongue off two or three times.

“Not civilians fault,” Yvaine begun her words coming out similar to Andrews. “They cannot authorize maintenance repairs, that is required by the manager of the building. Arrest him when we get back down.”

Andrew looked up at the small box that told them what floor they were on, they had been on the tenth floor and had barely made it to the thirtieth floor. He felt himself being shaken so much he dry heaved from the elevator vibrations pounding into him so much, grateful for the first time in his life he had forgotten breakfast.

“How does anyone manage to…blaaah,” Yvaine began before retching in the elevator. Her body fell forward and she barely managed to keep herself up by pushing on the wall.

“It’s a trap, just remembered,” he began as he dry heaved again and fell to the floor on his hands and knees. “Called a vertigo elevat…” dry heaving again, one thing would help them now. “Take your vertigo pill,” he ordered while stumbling around on his belt for his emergency supplies. Finding the little blue pill and swallowing it down hastily, fighting the urge to cough it back up.

The vibrations began to lessen to the point where he was in control of his body once again. He stood up and helped Yvaine keep her pill down her throat; she was on the floor spasms rocking her body over and over again as she succumbed to the effects of the elevator. Soon she was able to stand and keep her composure.

“Out of everything to experience on a first day. Just think, the next eighty years we’ll be doing shit like this all the time without a break.” she told him as she wiped the vomit off of her mouth.

“If we don’t do it, who will?”

“I guess.”

The elevator doors opened with their trademarked squeal and the two Judges stumbled out of the elevators and nearly collapsed onto the floor. Andrew’s legs were barely working from the vibrations pounding them into jelly. Yvaine hadn’t fared better either. Pushing himself up he walked over and let Yvaine hook an arm around his shoulder to let act like a crutch to walk on.

“Thanks.” she mumbled.

The two heard the sound of gunfire coming down the hall, stumbling around they began to walk towards the firefight. Peeking around the corner Andrew saw Dredd and Anderson pinned down by a herd of maniacs.

"Looks like we're the rescue squad. Can you stand by yourself yet?" He asked.

Yvaine nodded and Andrew propped her against the wall. He checked his ammo levels, one incendiary round, four armor piercing, sixteen regular bullets, two high ex, four hotshot bullets left. He would have enough to get this job done.

"I'm going to run over to the other wall to get a better angle of fire. On the third nod deploy incendiary and then pick anyone left off. Understand?" Andrew asked.

When Yvaine nodded he rolled to the other wall that aporia head the hallway. Steadying his shaky hand he nodded once. He manually set his bullet to incendiary and nodded again. Taking a deep breath he nodded a third time and shot the bullet. The white streaks of fire shot out of the barrel of his gun and lit the maniacs on fire. Whatever order and discipline they had was gone as they rolled around on the ground trying to extinguish the flames. Andrew swapped back ove to his regular bullets and one by one picked any survivors off. Taking the small group out quickly and effectively.

Andrew smirked a little as he motioned for Yvaine to approach the barricade. The smell was rank with burning flesh. The first time he had had some distance but now he was right in the midst of it. Fighting the urge to puke again he cleared his throat.

"Thunder!" he yelled out. Making sure that this was Dredd and Anderson.

"Star." Dredd growled.

"Phoenix." a woman's voice yelled out.

Andrew wanted to raise up to greet the Judges. But he remembered one last protocol. "How do you measure insanity?" he called out.

"You can't, not with wheelbarrows or spoons or cups or scales." Dredd responded.

Andrew knew it was safe now. He slid over the barricade and walked over to the two Judges. Dredd has taken a bullet to the stomach but he was dressing it now. Andrew almost lost his composure when he saw Judge Anderson.

Anderson was a woman in her mid to late twenties, semi attractive with brown eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. However her looks did not matter as it was her ability to read minds and probe them while scrambling them around was what made her useful to the Judges. Needless to say she was Andrew's second greatest hero, coming in below Dredd.

"Well Judge Grey, looks like you managed to find us and my rookie. Well done trooper." Anderson told him, Andrew nearly passed out.

"Adequate." Dredd groaned as he applied the automatic stitching and stood up.

"What now sir and ma'am?" Yvaine asked.

"Now," Dredd began. "We take the leader of this war out."
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Thanks to everyone who commented, it really means a lot if this story could become really popular on this site. Anyway in other news sorry for the slow updates, it has been hectic at my household and now I am on spring break. Plus I am writing outlines for new stories and the like. Anyway the question still stands, my chapter titles are based off what mystical practice? A comment on any story for the first one to guess this correctly.