Open on: desert.
Blasted rock and dust, as far as the eye can see.
ANDERSON
(voice-over)
America is an irradiated wasteland. A Cursed Earth, in which a single outpost of civilisation remains. Stretching from Boston to Washington …
A vast walled city appears on the horizon.
ANDERSON
(voice-over)
… Mega City One.
Fade to:
In a darkened room, with a single light source, a man is putting on a uniform.
In the darkness and artfully positioned lighting, his face is always hidden in total shadow.
But on his torso we can see the scars of past bullet wounds, knife wounds and surgery. And we can see the pain inherent in his movement …
… as he changes a bandage around his midriff, revealing purple, yellow bruising.
And straps his wrists like a boxer before pulling on his gloves.
Clips on a utility belt.
And picks up his Lawgiver gun.
As Dredd’s fist closes around it, an LED light by a small digital display flashes red.
Then, on the digital display, a message appears:
ID OK
The LED turns green.
He attaches the weapon to a thigh-mounted holster clip.
Finally, he pulls his helmet down over his head.
Now he moves in such a way that the light falls on his face.
The top half of his features are hidden below a visor. The lower half, his mouth and chin, look as if they have been carved from rock.
Title:
DREDD
Cut to:
Strip lights reflect on Dredd’s helmet.
He rides a huge, fat-wheeled motorbike towards a point of brightness.
The end of a tunnel.
He breaks out of the tunnel into blinding sunlight.
Dredd is now on a ribbon of flyover, running through a canyon of megablocks.
Dredd’s fist twists the throttle.
As he accelerates, we reveal –
– Dredd is in hot pursuit of a vehicle.
The pursuit takes place in the tunnels beneath and through the megablocks, and the open stretches of road and flyovers between.
DREDD
Dredd to Control. In pursuit of vehicle, sector thirteen, moving west up Wagner Drive. Suspect driver is DUI.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Copy, Dredd.
Cut to:
Inside the vehicle.
Suddenly everything is in slow motion, and the colours are unnaturally iridescent and bright.
Inside are three men. The Driver, the Passenger beside him, and a third man in the back seat –
– who is jamming a clip into a small machine gun.
The Driver turns in his seat, shouting something at the man behind –
– but the words are too slow and slurred for us to understand.
Then the slow motion abruptly starts to speed up, and the colours start to lose their sparkle – returning to normal.
We can now understand what the Driver is shouting.
DRIVER
We’ve got a judge on our tail! Take him out or we’re dead fucking meat!
The Shooter takes a long hit on a small device like an asthma inhaler. On the side of the inhaler are the words SLO-MO.
As soon as the Shooter takes the hit from the inhaler –
– the slow motion and iridescent colours return.
Outside the vehicle, as the Shooter leans out of the window of the vehicle …
… and starts firing his machine pistol at Dredd.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Do you require back-up?
DREDD
(into radio)
No.
Inside the vehicle, seen through the psychedelic filter of the narcotics, we see the Driver swerve off the freeway and on to an urban street to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
Suddenly, a Pedestrian slams against the front windscreen.
Then is sucked downwards, and dragged beneath the wheels.
Cut to:
Dredd.
DREDD
Control. The perps just wiped out an innocent. I’m taking them out.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Copy.
From the front of Dredd’s motorbike –
– twin cannons either side of the front wheel suddenly blaze into life.
Bullets rip into the vehicle, blowing out its back tyres.
It is immediately thrown into a skid, slides sideways, then starts to roll …
… until it slams into a concrete bollard by the roadside and stops dead.
Dredd approaches the wreckage of the vehicle, handgun drawn.
He pulls open the side door.
Inside, the Driver is still strapped into his seat, impaled on the broken steering column, twitching.
Blood runs down from the Driver on to the corpse of his Passenger, who is crumpled up, limbs unnaturally folded like a child’s doll.
Dredd clocks the slo-mo inhaler.
Then looks past the bodies of the Driver and the Passenger to the opposite window.
Which has been kicked out.
And through the hole, Dredd spots the Shooter, Zwirner, sprinting towards the pedestrian entrance of a habitation block.
Citizens are thronged around the entrance, and the Shooter fires into the air to clear a path.
He lifts his gun, but realises he can’t risk taking the shot through the civilians.
Dredd enters the shopping centre.
He sees scattered bodies of Zwirner’s random victims.
Dredd turns a corner.
At the far end of a corridor, past an escalator, he can see more bodies, and people running.
There are screams and gunshots.
DREDD
(into mike)
Dredd to Control. Paramedics to my GPS. I’ve got multiple wounded, and bodies for Resyk.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Copy that. Paramedics inbound.
Dredd walks forward, into the chaos, gun raised.
The food court is still.
Quiet, except for the muffled whimpering of a female hostage, a server on one of the fast food stalls, with a gun to her head. Her name tag reads: ROSA.
ROSA
(whispers)
Please don’t kill me.
Reveal, behind her, Zwirner, wired, out of breath, holding his gun to her head.
ZWIRNER
Shut the fuck up, bitch.
Near them are the bodies of Shoppers.
We hear a chime, and an automated female voice comes over the PA.
TANNOY
All shoppers are reminded to avoid the level one food courts until further notice. Alternative refreshments can be found on level eight and sub-level two.
As the Tannoy completes its message –
– reveal Dredd standing in the middle of the food court.
Almost casually. In the wide open. Gun by his side.
He calls to Zwirner.
DREDD
Let’s talk.
ZWIRNER
Talk about what, Judge?
DREDD
A deal. Release the hostage, unharmed, now. And I guarantee you a sentence of life imprisonment in an iso-cube. Without parole.
ZWIRNER
(incredulous)
Life without parole? That’s the deal you’re offering me?
DREDD
Only if you comply. If you do not comply – your crimes are multiple homicide and attempted murder of a judge. The sentence is death.
Zwirner laughs crazily.
ZWIRNER
You aren’t a very good negotiator, Judge. You know why? (Switching his aim to Rosa’s head.) You’ve got no fucking leverage.
ROSA
Oh God, God, no –
ZWIRNER
Here’s another deal. You let me walk, or I blow her fucking brains out.
Dredd lifts his gun, unhurried, and points it straight at Zwirner and Rosa.
DREDD
How do you want it, creep? Short and sweet or long and cube-shaped?
ZWIRNER
(thrown)
What are you doing? Didn’t you hear what I said? I’ll kill the bitch.
DREDD
I heard you. Hot shot.
On Dredd’s voice command, the setting on his gun changes.
ZWIRNER
… What?
DREDD
I said: hot shot.
Dredd fires.
A white hot phosphorus round slams straight into Zwirner’s mouth.
Stunned, as his mouth ignites, he staggers back, releasing the girl.
The burning quickly burns through his cheeks, eyes, and nose.
Then he drops to his knees, dead.
Cut to:
Rosa, paralysed with fear. Hyperventilating.
ROSA
Th-th-thank you, Judge.
DREDD
Deep breaths, citizen.
Dredd’s radio kicks in.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Control to Dredd. Is your situation resolved?
Dredd glances over at the smouldering body of Zwirner and the terrified girl.
DREDD
CONTROL
(over radio)
Report back to the Hall of Justice. The Chief Judge wants to see you.
A Resyk cart cleans up the blood and bodies.
TANNOY
The level one food court will reopen in thirty minutes. Thank you for your patience.
The Hall of Justice. The home of the judges. The seat of their power, and home to Control. In a way, it is a police precinct house, the Supreme Court and the Pentagon combined.
Dredd enters the main hall.
A girl in her early twenties, in judge’s uniform, minus helmet.
She is an immediate contrast with everything we have so far seen of the grim world of Mega City One.
Beautiful, and slightly vulnerable. Biting her lip as she sits on a chair in a featureless room.
Opposite her is a mirror.
CHIEF JUDGE
(off-screen)
Cassandra Anderson. Twenty-one. Born in a block one hundred metres from the radiation boundary wall.
On the other side of the two-way mirror, Dredd and the Chief Judge, a woman in her fifties, look back at the girl.
CHIEF JUDGE
At seven years old, she lost both parents to residual-fallout cancer. As is standard with orphans, she was given a judge aptitude test at age nine. It classified her as unsuitable, but she was entered into the Academy on special instruction. In the Academy, her record was never better than borderline. The final Academy score put her three percentile points below a pass.
DREDD
So what’s she doing in a uniform?
The Chief Judge doesn’t answer.
Instead, she reaches out, and presses the intercom button.
CHIEF JUDGE
Rookie Anderson.
ANDERSON
Sir.
CHIEF JUDGE
How many people are observing you?
Anderson continues looking at her reflection, frowning slightly. Biting her lip a little harder.
ANDERSON
Two.
Dredd reacts.
CHIEF JUDGE
(into intercom)
What can you tell me about the person I am with?
(through intercom)
Male.
CHIEF JUDGE
(into intercom)
Good …
ANDERSON
(through intercom)
Another judge. (Concentrating harder.) I can feel anger. And control. But there’s something else. Behind the control. Something almost …
CHIEF JUDGE
(cuts in)
Okay, Anderson. That’ll do.
The Chief Judge switches the intercom off.
DREDD
She’s a mutant.
CHIEF JUDGE
The Justice Council has voted to overlook her status. So you will too. She’s the most powerful psychic we’ve ever come across – by a huge margin. We believe she could be a major asset.
Beat.
As I said. Her final score was only three points below a pass. It’s marginal.
DREDD
It’s not marginal. She failed.
CHIEF JUDGE
The girl’s getting one more chance. I want you to take her out and give her one day in the field. Supervised. To see if she makes the grade.
The Chief Judge turns to Dredd.
Sink or swim. Chuck her in the deep end.
DREDD
It’s all the deep end.
Then cut to:
Anderson sits quietly. Gazing at something in her hands.
It’s a photo. Slightly battered. It shows a little blonde girl, seven years old, smiling, between both her parents. All are smiling at the camera.
Abruptly, she folds the photo and tucks it into her utility belt.
Then turns to look at the door.
A second later, it opens, revealing Dredd.
Anderson stands immediately, and salutes.
Dredd and Anderson walk through the Halls of Justice.
DREDD
A rookie judge on assessment is likely to be involved in armed combat. You may be required to carry out on-thespot executions of convicted felons.
ANDERSON
Yes, sir.
DREDD
Incorrect sentencing is an automatic fail. Disobeying a direct order from your assessment officer is an automatic fail. Losing your primary weapon or having it taken from you is an automatic fail.
ANDERSON
DREDD
You ready, rookie?
ANDERSON
I am.
A beat.
Then Dredd nods.
DREDD
Your assessment starts now.
Close-up on a skatepark, concrete, surrounded by a high wire-mesh fence, half-pipes and rails, where six Skaters are pulling off some impressive aerial moves.
One of the Skaters soars, and revolves a neat 720 spin.
Two Teenage Girls, sitting at a window, watch. And approve.
And we reveal, just behind the Teenage Girls –
– the vertiginous drop on the other side of the wire fence.
The skatepark is bolted on the side of a megablock, seventy-five storeys in the air.
The megablocks are brutal concrete monoliths. Each operates like a self-contained town. This particular block is called Peach Trees. Named in luminous peach lettering, etched into the acid-rain and fume-stained concrete flanks.
The scale of the construction is colossal. Leaving the park behind, we cut to various windows and glimpse the lives inside. Cramped apartments. People watching TV. Sleeping. Eating. Having sex. Or simply absent.
Among them, we see a man holding a baby, chatting to his wife. Their names are Japhet and Cathy.
The only common factor between the lives we see is squalor and poverty.
Cut to – a woman, looking out of a window at the top of the building.
She could be in her late fifties or early sixties, but a diagonal stripe scar that disfigures her cheek and top lip, and heavy make-up, make her precise age hard to place.
This is Ma-Ma.
Behind Ma-Ma are five men.
The first of these men is Caleb. Late thirties. Physically powerful. Intelligent and violent. Ma-Ma’s right-hand man.
The next two are Kay and Sy. Junior to Caleb. Soldiers. Lieutenants.
And finally there are Ma-Ma’s two Bodyguards. They never leave her side, and never speak.
All are inked with dense black tattoos – but share one particular tattoo on the side of their necks: a pierced heart and scroll – with the word MA-MA written inside.
CALEB
The only danger is we expand too fast. In the last few days we’ve added distribution to three new blocks. Pretty soon we’ll be looking at making inroads into sectors nine and fifteen.
MA-MA
Fifteen is still Red territory. Why make waves?
CALEB
I’ve been talking to my contacts there. They want a sit-down, but from what I hear, it’s already squared. Fact is, they want what we’ve got. Just business.
Ma-Ma nods.
MA-MA
Good.
Then she turns, and gestures to the corner of the room.
And what about them?
Reveal that throughout the previous conversation, there were actually three other men in the room.
Sitting in a row, on chairs. Beneath the chairs are plastic sheets. Their arms are tied behind them. They are all gagged. Wide-eyed. Bruised and blood-stained. Unable to do anything but listen.
Kay speaks up.
KAY
They were selling Sternhammer product on my level. Warned them off with a beating a couple of weeks ago. Guess it didn’t work.
MA-MA
And you can’t deal with it yourself?
KAY
I can deal with it.
CALEB
The question is whether you want to make an example of them.
Ma-Ma thinks a couple of moments.
Then turns away.
MA-MA
Skin them and toss them over the balcony.
On their seats, the gagged men freak out, eyes bugging, struggling against their restraints.
Sy pulls a knife.
KAY
Hit ’em with a little slo-mo first?
MA-MA
Sure.
Kay walks up to the first Gagged Man. He is also inked – with a crude Judge Death tattoo on his chest.
Kay yanks the Man’s head back and pulls out the gag.
As the gag is released, the Man starts to scream.
Which is stifled as Kay jams a slo-mo inhaler into his mouth, and depresses the button.
Cut to:
The interior of Peach Trees, which contains an atrium of dizzying scale. It spans the entire height of the construction. Effectively, the block is hollowed out, two hundred storeys high, ringed with balconies.
The lower levels are a shopping and recreation zone. Above the shopping and recreation zone are medical centres and educational facilities. Everything above is residential.
At the base of the atrium is an area like a massive, busy third-world train station, with people criss-crossing the area, milling about, exiting out of tunnels and escalators.
We track a Woman with a Child in a pushchair as she makes her way through.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a body falls out of the sky, and lands with a sickening impact.
Thwack. Right in front of the pushchair.
The Woman pulls back.
And a second body lands directly behind her.
Thwack.
She looks up, as the crowd around her starts to scatter …
… and is stunned to see that another body is tumbling down towards her.
She just manages to jam the pushchair forward before the body lands.
Dredd and Anderson walk down the steps outside the Hall of Justice towards their bikes.
At their bikes, we tap into the endless streams of radio calls that are constantly being transmitted from Control.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Responders in vicinity of Peach Tree block. We have a report of a multiple homicide.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Responders in Sector Thirteen North, we have armed robbery reported. Four suspects on foot. Gunshot victims at scene of crime.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Responders on Highway Alpha Five. We have ambulance crew under assault, requesting assistance.
DREDD
(to Anderson)
Twelve serious crimes reported every minute. Seventeen thousand per day. We respond to around six per cent.
ANDERSON
Which six per cent?
DREDD
Your show, rookie. You tell me.
Anderson glances down at her bike-nav screen. Waypoint markers are flashing all across the sector map.
ANDERSON
Peach Trees, multiple homicide.
Dredd lifts his left hand – which has his radio integrated into the glove.
(into radio)
Control. Dredd. We’ll take Peach Trees.
Dredd and Anderson ride their bikes towards Peach Trees.
Dredd and Anderson walk into the south entrance of Peach Trees.
Above them, against the background of grey-and-black concrete slabs, a bright hologram of a cartoonish peach tree flickers like a neon striplight with a bad connection.
Sitting against one side of the entrance is a Homeless Man.
In front of him is a handwritten sign on cardboard.
It reads:
HOMELESS JUNKIE
WILL DEBASE SELF FOR CREDITS
As Dredd and Anderson pass him:
DREDD
Rookie.
ANDERSON
Vagrancy, three weeks, iso-cubes. But prioritise murders.
DREDD
Correct. (To the Homeless Man.) Don’t be here when we come back.
Dredd and Anderson enter the busy atrium.
DREDD
ANDERSON
Sir. Houses seventy-five thousand registered citizens. Actual population probably closer to one hundred thousand. Highest crime rate in Sector Thirteen. Unemployment rate ninety-six per cent. More than half of the residential levels are classed as slums.
DREDD
Why do you want to be a judge?
Anderson is thrown momentarily by the non-sequitur.
ANDERSON
… Sir. I want to protect and serve the city. Make a difference.
DREDD
Make a difference to a block like this?
ANDERSON
I was born and raised in a block like this. Until the Justice Department took me. I know there are good people inside. Good families. Just trying to get by.
Beat.
Yes. I believe I can make a difference.
Dredd glances upwards.
Above the bustle of the atrium floor, the ringed balconies of the atrium stretch up into shade and darkness.
DREDD
(flat)
Admirable.
Dredd and Anderson push past a taped cordon.
Behind the cordon, a Paramedic stands with the bodies.
Above, a gathering crowd of onlookers gaze down from the ringed balconies.
(to Paramedic)
What have you got?
PARAMEDIC
Three stiffs in a somewhat fucked-up condition.
The Paramedic pulls open the cordon tape to allow Dredd and Anderson through.
The bodies are the three men we saw with Kay.
From the neck down and waist up, they have been skinned.
DREDD
You’re based in Peach Trees?
PARAMEDIC
Med centre on level twenty-five.
DREDD
You ID’d them?
PARAMEDIC
Mostly. That one is registered to this block. And that one is registered to Block Sternhammer.
DREDD
(gesturing to the last)
And him?
The Paramedic shrugs.
Close-up on the man’s severely crushed head.
PARAMEDIC
I’ll have to run his blood through the DNA profiler. If I can figure out which blood is his.
Dredd kneels down to take a closer look at the nearest body.
Inside the man’s open mouth is a white, dust-like marking.
DREDD
Rookie. What do you make of this?
… I don’t know, sir.
DREDD
It’s a cold burn from a slo-mo inhaler.
ANDERSON
Slo-mo?
PARAMEDIC
A new narcotic. Only just hit the grid, but it’s making big waves. Makes the brain feel as if time is passing at one per cent its normal speed.
Anderson looks up to the height from which the men dropped.
And shudders.
The Paramedic is also gazing upwards, obviously having much the same thought.
PARAMEDIC
Must have felt like a long way down.
In Control, where rows of men and women sit in front of banks of monitors, operating the huge communication centre within the Hall of Justice …
… we find a screen, on which the faces of the murdered men are appearing.
The Control Operator manning this monitor speaks into his mike.
CONTROL OPERATOR
Positive on your IDs. All show convictions for possession of narcotics.
Close on monitor screen.
CONTROL OPERATOR
Pull back from the image on the monitor screen, to reveal we are now seeing it on Dredd’s PDA.
DREDD
Small-time perps. Junkies. No known gang affiliation. (To Anderson.) What’s your analysis?
ANDERSON
Drugged. Skinned. Displayed in public. It has to be a punishment killing. A message.
Above them, the balconies of the atrium are ringed with people looking down.
PARAMEDIC
Yeah. Don’t fuck with the Ma-Ma Clan.
On Dredd. Turning.
DREDD
Ma-Ma Clan?
In the twenty-fifth-floor medical centre, Dredd and Anderson are looking at a holographic display, on which we can see a rotating 3D mugshot of Ma-Ma, and her medical records.
In the background, the Paramedic closes the medical centre’s heavy security door, while he provides a brief bio of Ma-Ma.
PARAMEDIC
We have her on record from her whoring days. The picture’s pretty old, but – yeah. That’s her. Madeline Madrigal, aka Ma-Ma. Ex-hooker from the S-Nine pleasure district. Quit working after she got sliced up by a pimp. But she got her own back. Block legend says she feminized the guy with her teeth. Then took over his business interests, and never looked back.
The Paramedic sucks his teeth.
Anyone else, you’d say it was bullshit. But not with Ma-Ma. Her trademark is violence. Takes it further and harder than anyone else. I’ve been in Peach Trees fifteen years. Used to be there were nine or ten different gangs, hustling for control. Now there’s just one.
ANDERSON
How did she get away with it?
PARAMEDIC
You know how often we get a Judge in Peach Trees?
DREDD
You’ve got one now.
Dredd hits a console button, and the holographic display changes to a map of Peach Trees.
DREDD
The victims were registered to apartments on level thirty-nine. Likely killed over a turf issue, so the perps will be in the vicinity. (To Anderson.) Rookie. Next move.
ANDERSON
Locate where the Clan operate from on this level, and hit it hard.
The Paramedic lights up an area of the map.
PARAMEDIC
That would be here.
Cut to:
A viewing hatch sliding open, in a metal door.
Crowded into the other side of the viewing hatch, we see the faces of two Junkies.
One of them holds up credits.
The door is opened.
The Junkies enter an apartment.
A squalid shit-hole. In our day and age, it would be a crystal-meth or crack den, with piss-stained mattresses, schizoid graffiti on the walls, and crushed glass pipes on the floor.
But this is a slo-mo den. Much the same, but instead of crushed crack pipes on the floor, it’s broken and empty inhalers.
The man by the door is Sy, holding a shotgun.
Sitting in an armchair, with a pistol on his lap, is Kay.
Our two Junkies score off Kay, swapping credits for the glass ampules that fit inside their inhalers.
Cut to:
Outside the apartment.
Dredd and Anderson, taking position either side of the metal door.
Weapons drawn.
We can see Anderson’s nerves.
The door opposite them opens – and a Kid peers out of the crack. Anderson gestures for the Kid to go back inside. The door closes.
DREDD
Take it this is your first time in non-sim combat.
ANDERSON
Yes, sir.
DREDD
Been wondering when you’d remember you left your helmet behind.
ANDERSON
Sir – the helmet can interfere with my psychic abilities.
DREDD
Think a bullet might interfere with them more.
Cut back to:
The Junkies.
They find a space in a corner of the room, beside two people who are mechanically screwing on a filthy mattress.
Then put the inhalers in their mouths. Take a long hit.
Cut to:
Dredd, pulling a plasti-charge out of his utility belt.
He fixes the plasti-charge to the door.
DREDD
Ready?
Anderson nods.
Dredd notices –
– the glitter of sweat on Anderson’s face. The slight tremble in her hands.
DREDD
You don’t look ready.
Anderson tightens her grip around her gun to stop the shake.
ANDERSON
Just adrenaline, sir.
Cut back to:
Our Junkies, in the grip of the drug.
And we’re with it too.
Not just slow – ultra-slow.
All movements. Facial expressions. Blinking eyes.
And we discover why people take the slo-mo – as grim reality is transformed into something lyrical.
From sordid to oddly beautiful. Fascinating and hypnotic.
Even the couple screwing on the floor.
Then –
what was fascinating and hypnotic –
becomes slightly confusing.
Because the heavy door of the slo-mo den is very gradually starting to expand.
To bulge.
And in front of the bulge, a shock wave of air is starting to form.
And contacting the guard, Sy, who stands just behind it.
Lifting him delicately off his feet.
And now around the edges of the door, we can see a white and yellow brightness.
Which becomes a blossoming explosion of flame.
Until the door, and Sy, are flying backwards across the room.
Slow cuts between –
Junkies hunching.
Faces morphing into expressions of fear and surprise.
Hands reaching for guns.
Dredd coming through the door.
Followed by Anderson.
Now gunplay, gracefully erupting.
Bullets rifling through the air.
Punching through plasterwork.
Drilling through chests, leaving trails of hanging blood.
Drilling into the head of a Clan member, creating a spiral of flesh as it enters.
Smoke and dust unfurls.
Until it blinds us.
As the smoke and dust clears, it allows us to return seamlessly to normal speed.
Dredd and Anderson stand surrounded by the corpses of gang members and those Junkies who were foolish enough to reach for their guns.
The survivors crouch or stand with arms raised, dazed with narcotics and fear, with the guns of the two judges trained on them.
DREDD
Rookie.
Anderson is breathing fast. Still charged with adrenaline.
DREDD
Anderson. Judgement.
Anderson gathers her wits.
ANDERSON
Crime: possession and use of controlled substances. Sentence: two years in the iso-cubes.
DREDD
Don’t tell me. Tell Control.
ANDERSON
Sir. (Into radio.) Anderson to Control. Requesting meat wagon to Peach Trees. We’ve got four bodies for Resyk and six live for the iso-cubes.
CONTROL
(over radio)
Copy that. Meat wagon inbound.
Dredd nods.
DREDD
Let’s get them cuffed.
The perps are lined up and being cuffed.
One of them winces as Dredd pulls the plasti-cuffs mercilessly tight around his wrists.
Anderson is cuffing another man –
– but hesitates as she sees the distinctive Ma-Ma tattoo on the side of his neck.
ANDERSON
Sir, this one is a gang member. He –
Anderson breaks off. Frowning.
Then she turns the man round, revealing –
– Kay.
They gaze at each other for a couple of beats.
Then:
ANDERSON
Sir. It’s him.
DREDD
Him who?
ANDERSON
The man who murdered the people in the atrium.
Kay’s eyes narrow fractionally. Internally, he’s wondering how she could know this, but he’s far too practised with being on the wrong side of the law to give anything away.
You’re sure.
ANDERSON
Ninety-nine per cent.
DREDD
Can’t execute a perp on ninety-nine per cent.
Dredd steps over to Kay. Stares him down.
DREDD
Save a lot of paperwork if you confessed right now.
Kay says nothing. And clearly isn’t going to.
Dredd nods.
DREDD
We’ll take him in. See how he holds up after a few hours of interrogation.
As Anderson turns to Kay again, Kay’s eyes look up to the corner of the room.
We zoom on the place where Kay is looking, and find –
– a pinhole.
And through the pinhole, the glint of a lens.
Cut to:
This scene, viewed from the hidden CCTV camera in the corner of the room.
Pull back to reveal:
A monitor, showing the image of Kay’s arrest by Dredd and Anderson.
Next to the monitor, a red alarm light is blinking.
Pull back to reveal more monitors, showing various views around Peach Trees.
This is the CCTV room: the technological hub of Ma-Ma’s operation, at the heart of her base, overlooking the atrium from the top floor.
Supervising the monitors is the Clan Techie.
Twenty years old.
Hunted, undernourished, nervy: a dog who’s been kicked too many times. And he’s got no eyes. Instead, he has robotic eye implants. Around a pupil, formed exactly like a camera aperture, delicate circuitry spreads out around his iris and the whites.
And what these robotic eyes are focused on is making him worried.
CLAN TECHIE
Oh shit.
He reaches for a radio.
CLAN TECHIE
(into radio)
Uh, Caleb? I’m sorry to – no, I know. Yes, but – I think there’s a problem on level thirty-nine.
Cut to:
We look up from the middle of the building and see a figure standing at a balcony one floor from the top.
The figure turns and walks into the building.
An extreme close-up on Ma-Ma’s face.
Her cheeks are rippling weirdly, and slowly. Reveal –
– compressed gas from a slo-mo inhaler is jetting into her mouth.
Cut to:
– normal time.
Caleb enters the room.
Reveal Ma-Ma’s penthouse surroundings. It’s a weird mix of squalor and crass luxury. A Dolce & Gabbana crack den. Gold fittings, rococo design, holes in walls, wires trailing from empty light fittings. The artwork on the walls is softcore porn, in florid frames, much of it featuring Ma-Ma herself.
See Ma-Ma, sprawled on daybed, inhaler in mouth.
Behind her, her two Bodyguards, like statues.
CALEB
Ma.
Long beat.
Vapour curling out of Ma-Ma’s mouth.
The beat continues.
Ma-Ma frozen.
Then the drug rush fades.
Ma-Ma focuses. Turns to Caleb.
MA-MA
What?
CALEB
We’ve got trouble.
Ma-Ma and Caleb walk and talk, en route to the CCTV room, followed by the Bodyguards.
CALEB
The judges hit the distribution point on level thirty-nine. Shot the place up. Took out a few of the boys.
MA-MA
(unfazed)
So what? We’re overdue a bust. The law’s just showing their faces. Reminding the citizens they exist.
No. Ma – they picked up Kay.
Ma-Ma reacts.
MA-MA
Executed?
CALEB
Interrogation.
This stops Ma-Ma in her tracks.
MA-MA
What?
CALEB
He’s cuffed and they’re taking him in. Right now.
Beat.
MA-MA
Fuck.
CALEB
If Kay talks –
MA-MA
If they’re taking him in, he’ll talk.
Beat.
CALEB
What are we going to do?
Ma-Ma glazes a moment.
Thinking.
Cut to:
Dredd, Anderson and Kay, riding the lift to the ground floor in silence.
As the lift descends –
– Kay is looking straight ahead at the doors –
– in which he can see himself, and Dredd and Anderson, reflected.
Kay shifts his position very slightly.
Dredd’s head tilts fractionally.
ANDERSON
Sir – he’s thinking about making a move for your gun.
DREDD
Yeah.
Kay shoots a glance back at Anderson.
ANDERSON
He just changed his mind.
DREDD
Yeah.
The lift continues descending in silence.
The control room of Peach Trees. Banks of screens.
Many of them down, broadcasting static or blacked out.
Others showing water and electricity levels.
Power levels.
Refuse collection times.
Engineering schematics.
Manning the control room, three Technicians, playing cards.
Looking round in surprise as the door to the control room is kicked open –
– and Caleb, plus four other Clan members, pile in.
A vicious burst of gunfire, and the Technicians in the control room are cut down.
Caleb lifts a two-way.
CALEB
(into two-way)
Control room is secure.
Caleb walks over to the central console, pulls out a small router and plugs it in.
CALEB
(into two-way)
Router’s in. You’re good to go.
Cut to:
The Clan Techie, sitting in front of the bank of monitors and assorted hardware.
Ma-Ma and her Bodyguards stand behind him.
Ma-Ma leans down to the Clan Techie. Puts a slab hand on his shoulder. Makes him hunch instinctively.
MA-MA
What am I going to do to you if you don’t pull this off?
The Techie swallows.
CLAN TECHIE
Don’t know. (Beat.) Shoot me?
MA-MA
Worse.
CLAN TECHIE
(small voice)
Probably cut out my insides or something.
MA-MA
Yeah. That.
The Clan Techie takes a moment.
Then starts tapping commands into his keyboard.
We hear a phone ring over speakerphone.
Then a voice picks up.
SECTOR CONTROL
(over speaker)
Sector Control.
The Clan Techie forces his voice to sound casual.
CLAN TECHIE
Sector Control, this is Peach Trees Control. Just want to check you were notified about the def-con systems test today.
SECTOR CONTROL
(over speaker)
Copy that. Uh … (Beat.) Peach Trees, we don’t have you down for a def-con test.
CLAN TECHIE
We must be. Check the –
SECTOR CONTROL
(over speaker)
Nope. I’ve got nothing.
The Clan Techie injects heat into his voice.
CLAN TECHIE
God-fucking-dammit, Sector! I put in the notification myself, three fucking times! We’re set to go right now! I’ve got my supervisor breathing down my neck and –
SECTOR CONTROL
(cuts in, over speaker)
Hold fire, Peach Trees. Let me get on this. (Beat.) Okay. I put you on the system. Hall of Justice and all emergency services are notified to ignore your status. Run the test any time you like.
The Clan Techie’s relief is genuine.
CLAN TECHIE
Appreciate that, Sector. You just saved my ass over here.
SECTOR CONTROL
(over speaker)
You’re welcome, Peach Trees.
Ma-Ma nods her approval.
On his console, the Clan Techie hits the ‘Return’ key.
Cut to:
A blood-sprayed monitor in the control room, with the body of a Technician sprawled in front of it.
Caleb hauls the body of the man off.
On the bloody monitor, a command screen appears, headed:
DEF CON EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS
The command prompt moves down the screen.
Highlighting, in turn –
FIRE
BOMB
RIOT
CHEMICAL
And finally ending on –
WAR
On WAR, the command prompt stops.
Off-camera, we hear a tap.
And a moment later, a message box appears on the screen.
BLAST SHIELD PROTOCOL INITIATED
Dredd and Anderson walk Kay towards the south entrance.
The Homeless Man is still there, sitting in the doorway.
DREDD
Warned you. Get up. You’re headed for the cubes.
Dredd is interrupted by a siren, which abruptly starts sounding.
As Dredd looks round, cut to:
The outside of the block.
Moving down as, over every window we pass …
… a lead-lined shutter suddenly slams down.
The Peach Tree hologram flickers. And dies.
In the skatepark bolted on to the side of Peach Trees, the shutter comes down, trapping the Skaters outside.
SKATER 1
What the fuck?
Skater 2 pointlessly bangs his fist against the slab of metal.
SKATER 2
Hey! What’s going on? Open up!
At the south entrance, just ahead of where Dredd, Anderson and Kay are standing, a two-metre thick blast door slams down with incredible speed.
The Homeless Man, unlucky enough to be directly beneath it, is crushed as it drops.
His body vanishes beneath the concrete block, and a beat later, blood seeps out.
At the top of the atrium, a massive metal shutter is closing, blocking out the light from the sky above.
It looks like an eclipse.
The Clan Techie hands Ma-Ma a handset.
CLAN TECHIE
You’re patched in.
Dredd, Anderson and Kay have returned to the atrium.
Across the atrium floor, as the roof shutters close, twin shadows are moving across the floor.
Dredd, Anderson and Kay stand in the middle of the narrowing band of light.
All around them, people react with confusion and panic.
ANDERSON
What’s going on?
Kay seems to have an idea.
He says nothing, but the barest smile appears on the corner of his lips …
… as the roof shutters finally connect, and slam shut.
And the narrowing band of light winks out.
And the siren suddenly stops.
A moment of silence.
The whole building is now in a twilight of emergency lighting.
Then a sudden feedback whine comes over the block-wide Tannoy.
Piercing. Rising fast to a deafening level, which echoes around the atrium, making people jam their hands over their ears …
And Ma-Ma’s voice comes in.
MA-MA
Peach Trees. This is Ma-Ma.
The statement hangs a moment. Everywhere, everyone is frozen.
MA-MA
Somewhere in this block are two judges. I want them dead. And until I get what I want, the block is locked down.
As she talks, we move around the atrium. Seeing the confusion and fear on people’s faces.
MA-MA
All Clan, every level, hunt the judges down. Everyone else, clear the corridors and stay the fuck out of our way until the shooting stops. If I hear about anyone helping the judges, I’ll kill them and the next generation of their family.
She pauses a moment, to make sure the point is rammed home. Then:
As for the judges, sit tight, or run. Makes no difference. You’re mine.
The Tannoy cuts out.
Now, all across the balconies, above and below, and from the atrium floor, every single person is looking at Dredd and Anderson.
A beat.
Then:
DREDD
… We’d better move.
Dredd and Anderson move up the staircase, dragging Kay behind.
Dredd is talking into his radio.
DREDD
Control, we have a situation developing in Peach Trees.
Control. Do you copy?
Static.
ANDERSON
(nervous)
My comms are down too.
DREDD
The shielding must be blocking our transmissions. We’ll head for the med centre.
In the stairwell, Dredd looks up.
Clan are coming from above.
Dredd looks down.
Clan are coming from below.
CLAN MEMBER
(shouts)
THEY’RE HERE!
DREDD
Rookie. Call it.
ANDERSON
… Sir?
DREDD
Call it. You’re on assessment.
ANDERSON
(flustered)
Sir – multiple armed targets. Obstructed line of sight. Gas grenades.
DREDD
Respirators.
Dredd and Anderson pull respirators from their belts.
DREDD
(to Kay)
Advise you hold your breath.
From their utility belts, Dredd and Anderson pull out grenades.
They prime them and throw them. Dredd up. Anderson down.
Gas plumes behind them as they arc through the air.
As Dredd and Anderson fight their way through the gas cloud, and the choking, vomiting Clan …
… cut to:
A man, Japhet, with Clan tattoos, is pulling apart his kitchen.
He has a Beretta 9mm stuffed into the back of his trousers.
JAPHET
Shit, shit, shit.
He finds a box of bullets in the back of a drawer.
Checks it. There are three rounds inside.
Three fucking rounds! Is that all we’ve got?
Japhet takes out the clip and starts sliding in the rounds.
His fingers are shaking.
His wife, Cathy, watching from the kitchen doorway, holding their young baby, is watching, horrified.
CATHY
You’re going to take on two judges with an antique gun and three bullets?
JAPHET
They probably aren’t even on our level.
CATHY
Then just stay in here! Let the others get them!
CATHY
Please, Japhet!
JAPHET
What the fuck do you want me to do? Call Ma-Ma and ask if I can sit this one out? I’d be better off fighting the judges.
Japhet pushes past his wife.
Then turns.
Looks at her.
JAPHET
Lock the door. Don’t open it, whatever happens.
He’s gone.
CATHY
(quiet)
Oh God.
We track Japhet as he runs down the corridor.
As he runs, other Clan are exiting from apartments, carrying firearms of various types.
MAN
(exiting apartment)
Japhet!
JAPHET
Where we headed?
MAN
Big Joe said the med centre!
Japhet and the others join up with the crowd gathering outside the closed security doors of the med centre.
In the middle of the crowd is Big Joe.
Big Joe is huge. He has a SAW machine gun in one hand and an ammo box in the other.
BIG JOE
I want the North and East corridors totally covered! Sal is covering West and South! Spread out the hardware!
Big Joe lifts his SAW, and fires a burst into the ceiling.
We’re going to shoot these judges into hamburger and hand them to Ma-Ma on a plate.
Cut to:
On the other side of the area outside the med centre there is a door.
Slightly ajar.
Through it, a sliver of Judge’s helmet.
Dredd, observing the scene.
Dredd and Anderson are hidden in an access corridor.
Low lit.
Utility pipework and wiring.
Anderson is cuffing Kay to a pipe.
DREDD
We’re going to have to go through them.
Dredd pulls back from the slightly open doorway.
Takes something from his utility belt.
Flashbang.
He looks back through the doorway.
Let’s give them the good news.
Tracking a small spherical object, with a rubberised exterior.
Rolling silently along the floor.
Under the legs of the citizen vigilantes.
Until it comes to a stop –
– under Japhet.
He doesn’t see it, because his attention – and the attention of all the vigilantes – is distracted by the sound of Dredd’s voice.
His words are amplified, as if through a loud-hailer.
DREDD’S VOICE
Citizens of Peach Trees. This is the law.
The Clan look around, trying to see where the noise is coming from.
DREDD’S VOICE
Disperse immediately, or we will use lethal force to clear the area.
MA-MA CLAN ONE
Where’s that coming from?
JAPHET
Over there! The access corridor!
All weapons swing to the doorway behind which Dredd and Anderson are hidden.
Dredd and Anderson are pressed to the wall either side of the doorway.
Dredd is speaking into a mike, swung out of the inside curve of his helmet.
DREDD
You have been warned. You now have twenty seconds to comply.
Big Joe, SAW trained on the doorway, shouts back.
BIG JOE
It’s you doing the complying, Judge. Eleven of us, two of you. Come out from that doorway, or we’re blowing the shit out of you.
DREDD
Ten seconds to comply.
Big Joe flips the safety.
BIG JOE
You got five.
DREDD
Thanks for the heads-up.
In his hand, he depresses a small button on a hand-held device.
At Japhet’s feet –
– the flashbang detonates.
A blinding flash of light fills the space.
As our vision returns, bleaching back from white-out brightness, deafening tinnitus ringing in our ears …
… we can see Dredd and Anderson are already out of the doorway.
Guns blazing.
And the Clan Members are being shredded by the rain of rapid fire.
Before the effects of the flashbang have cleared, the Clan have been shot to the ground.
Cut to:
Anderson.
Taking in shattered bodies. The sprays of blood and bullet holes.
She’s looking at the one vigilante who is still alive.
Japhet.
Blood pouring from the wounds in his stomach. Doubled up on the floor. Kneeling. Still dazed.
Seeing his Beretta beside him.
With slow, drunken coordination, reaching for it.
Trying to bring it to bear on Anderson.
Anderson keeps her gun levelled at Japhet.
But she doesn’t fire.
Instead, frozen, watches as Japhet’s arm fails him.
And we glimpse – Anderson has fleetingly read him.
Japhet’s gun remains only half-raised. Swaying. As if it is heavy for him to lift.
Dredd’s voice cuts into Anderson’s reverie.
DREDD
Anderson.
Anderson doesn’t answer.
DREDD
His crime is attempted murder of a judge. His sentence is death.
Beat.
ANDERSON
(distant)
Yes, sir.
Anderson fires.
Japhet is hit in the head.
He drops forward, and lands face down.
Hold on Dredd a moment. Watching Anderson. His face is expressionless, but we can tell: as far as Anderson’s assessment goes, the balance just tipped against her.
The Paramedic is watching a monitor from behind his security doors.
On the monitor:
Anderson is pulling Kay out of the access corridor.
Dredd is walking over the bodies of the dead vigilantes, to the video intercom.
DREDD
Open up.
In front of the Paramedic is the door-release mechanism. But he makes no move for it.
DREDD
(leaning into the camera)
Open up!
PARAMEDIC
Negative, Judge.
DREDD
You know what’s going on. We need a place we can defend.
PARAMEDIC
Then you’d better find somewhere else. This is a medical facility. Neutral ground.
DREDD
You’re not neutral. You’re choosing sides.
PARAMEDIC
Peach Trees has been sealed by blast doors designed to withstand attack. No one is getting out. No one is getting in. And you have every Clan affiliate in the block after your blood. (Shrugs.) There are no sides. You’re already dead.
Dredd walks to Anderson, who has released Kay from the place he was secured.
DREDD
Switch weapon to silencer mode. Minimum profile. Conserve ammunition. Don’t shoot unless you’re going to hit.
They hit a button on their handguns, and a suppressor slides out over the barrel.
Kay smiles.
ANDERSON
Sir, what about the perp? Are we keeping him with us?
DREDD
Explain.
ANDERSON
… Just that under the circumstances, he could be a liability.
DREDD
Also a prime suspect in five homicides. What do you say, rookie? Want to cut him loose?
ANDERSON
(chastened)
No, sir.
Kay, with Dredd and Anderson either side of him, move up a stairwell. She notices anti-mutant graffiti.
Echoing from the corridors, we can hear the voices and shouts of the Clan, searching for the judges.
Dredd, Anderson and Kay exit from a stairwell and start moving down a residential corridor.
Almost as soon as they have done so, at the far end of the corridor, at a T-junction, we see three armed Clan appear.
They are not facing the Judges. They appear to be talking to someone out of sight around the junction corner.
Anderson’s gun raises immediately –
– but Dredd pushes her hand down.
He pulls her into the recess of one of the apartment doorways.
Down the corridor –
– the three Clan start to walk towards us.
In the recess –
– Dredd pushes Kay into the corner of the recess, face in, and levels his gun on the back of Kay’s head. Then waits, waiting for the men to draw parallel.
We can hear their footsteps.
Getting closer.
But Anderson is doing something else.
Her head suddenly tilts to the side –
– as if she is listening. Hearing something through the apartment doorway.
Then stays motionless like that for a moment.
Then – surprisingly, Anderson pushes the intercom buzzer.
Dredd turns.
She motions for him to be silent.
Then whispers into the intercom.
ANDERSON
Cathy?
Beat. Then:
(through intercom)
Who’s that?
The armed Clan are now only a few feet away.
ANDERSON
Cathy, open the door.
Another beat.
Then the door unlatches.
Immediately, Anderson jams it open.
Dredd and Anderson push inside with Kay, throwing Cathy back, and close the door behind them.
As soon as we see Cathy, we recognise her as Japhet’s wife.
Anderson stops Cathy from screaming with her hand.
ANDERSON
(quiet)
We aren’t going to hurt you.
Dredd watches through the spyhole as the armed Clan pass.
A silent beat.
DREDD
They’re gone.
He turns, looking at Anderson. She obviously just went up in his esteem.
DREDD
Secure the woman, somewhere where she can’t raise any alarms.
ANDERSON
Sir – we can’t. She has a baby. Asleep next door.
Cathy, wide-eyed with confusion and fear, nods.
We can’t secure her if we don’t know when she’ll get freed.
DREDD
Where’s her husband?
Anderson gazes into Cathy’s eyes. Not looking into them. Through them.
ANDERSON
Out there. Looking for us.
Cathy’s eyes open even wider. Awed and bewildered by Anderson’s abilities.
ANDERSON
Say that. What you were just thinking.
Anderson removes her hand from Cathy’s mouth.
ANDERSON
Go ahead. It’s okay.
Cathy keeps looking at Anderson, hyperventilating.
CATHY
I don’t – how did you –
ANDERSON
(cuts in)
Calm down. Just tell him what you were thinking.
Cathy takes a deep breath. Tries to control the tremor in her voice.
CATHY
I’m not raising any alarms. If the men out there don’t know where you are, you won’t be killing them.
DREDD
Go on.
CATHY
There’s a service elevator near here. The sign says it’s broken, but it works as long as you’re hitting a button above level seventy-five.
CATHY
I just want you off my level. Away from my family.
Dredd eases the door open.
Checks each way down the corridor.
DREDD
Clear. Let’s move.
Dredd leads Kay through the door into the corridor.
Anderson is about to follow –
– then stops dead.
She’s seen something.
On the wall – a framed photo.
Cathy, the baby and Japhet.
A terrible, frozen beat, as Anderson realises that the man she executed was Cathy’s husband.
From the other room, the baby wakes, and starts to cry.
Anderson looks back to Cathy.
A moment between them.
ANDERSON
Cathy, I –
CATHY
(cuts in)
Don’t thank me. It’s not for you. I just don’t want to see you again.
ANDERSON
(quiet)
You won’t.
An armed Clan Member stands guard in a lobby.
The glowing wall stencil reads LEVEL 76.
Behind him is the service elevator. A sign in front of it reads: OUT OF ORDER.
But – ping.
The elevator just arrived.
The Clan Member turns as the doors open.
And sees Dredd pointing a gun right at his head.
The next moment, the Clan Member drops, shot silently, right between the eyes.
Cut to:
A CCTV image of the dead Clan Member, crumpled on the floor by the service elevator.
CLAN TECHIE
(out of shot)
We’ve got one here.
Cut to –
– the strewn bodies outside the med centre.
CLAN TECHIE
(off-screen)
Maybe eleven outside the med centre.
Cut to –
– the bodies in the stairwell.
CLAN TECHIE
(off-screen)
Eight in the stairwell.
– the bodies in the corridor.
CLAN TECHIE
(voice-over)
And another five on level eighteen.
Cut to:
The bank of monitors on which these images are being shown.
Watching these images, over the shoulder of the Clan Techie, are Ma-Ma and her Bodyguards.
CLAN TECHIE
They’ve downed thirty plus, and haven’t even taken a scratch.
MA-MA
Where are they now?
The Clan Techie points to the monitors.
CLAN TECHIE
I don’t know. But they seem to be moving up the block –
The Clan Techie breaks off.
CLAN TECHIE
Wait – I just picked them up. Level seventy-six, West quadrant.
He points them out on the monitor. Zooms in the image.
CLAN TECHIE
Do you want me to hook you up to the Tannoy? We could get level sixty through eighty converging on them.
Ma-Ma processes. Quickly.
MA-MA
No. Can you seal them in there?
CLAN TECHIE
Sure. The war override gives me full control of the building.
The Clan Techie starts tapping in commands to his console.
CLAN TECHIE
There. I just triggered the riot protocols. All doorways to stairwells, elevator shafts, and access corridors are all sealed. Full lockdown. They’re going nowhere.
Ma-Ma nods.
MA-MA
They’re in the West quadrant.
Tight on Ma-Ma. The ice in her eyes.
I tried to do this clean. But they wouldn’t let me. So now we do it messy.
Cut to:
Dredd, Anderson and Kay stop in their tracks, as all around them, in a strange ripple of sound, all the doorways are locking.
The noise starts from down the corridor, then passes over them like a wave, and continues away from them.
Then a computerised voice comes over the Tannoy.
TANNOY
Warning. Warning. Block riot containment protocol initiated. All citizens remain in your apartments until further notice.
DREDD
This isn’t good.
Dredd’s gaze flicks to the CCTV camera in the corner of the lobby.
He knows the Clan are watching.
He lifts his gun and –
Cut back to:
– fires.
The monitor image goes dead.
MA-MA
Too late, Judge.
Ma-Ma lifts her handset.
Caleb, come in.
Caleb lifts his radio.
CALEB
Here, Ma.
MA-MA
We’ve got them cornered. We’re taking them down, right now.
A riot door has descended between the West and North quadrants.
Dredd is checking it out. Metal bars, an inch-and-a-half thick, block their way forward.
DREDD
We’ll need oxyacetylene to cut through.
Anderson looks around.
They are in a long corridor, with further corridors leading off. There is no cover, except the shallow recesses of the doorways.
ANDERSON
They know where we are. Why aren’t they coming?
DREDD
That’s what worries me. (Beat.) Take him to the main lobby. Hold position behind the elevator block. It will be a good place to defend.
ANDERSON
Where are you going?
He starts to walk away.
Then stops and looks back.
DREDD
If I don’t come back, and you get cornered, you might not want to be taken alive. (Beat.) Your call.
ANDERSON
… Sir.
Dredd turns and goes. Leaving Anderson alone with Kay.
ANDERSON
(to Kay)
Let’s go.
Dredd moves cautiously down a corridor.
As he walks down, doors close on him. Before they shut, we see glimpses of the interiors of the apartments and the lives inside.
The people. The families.
This is the reality of the world inside Peach Trees. Normal people, managing as best they can.
And right now, they are silent. Frightened. Huddled. Fathers with a hand on the shoulder of teenage daughters. Mothers trying to keep babies from crying.
Anderson takes her position with Kay by the elevator block.
Kay is sitting on the floor, hands still cuffed behind his back.
Anderson’s gaze is checking around the corner of the elevator block.
Kay’s gaze is only on Anderson.
Then, after a few moments –
KAY
He’s right, you know.
Anderson reacts. Partly because Kay has broken his silence. Partly because of what he’s said.
KAY
About not wanting to be taken alive. (Beat.) The stuff the Clan would do to a girl like you … (Shakes his head.) Nasty.
Beat.
I mean, there was this one time, we got a girl about your age and – (He breaks off.) Well anyway. I’m just saying. Save the last bullet for yourself.
ANDERSON
If I do, I’ll save the second to last for you.
Kay smiles to himself.
She’s made a mistake. By attempting to show that she isn’t getting rattled, she has in fact shown that she is.
KAY
Sure.
Beat.
So – you’re a mutant.
Anderson says nothing.
KAY
Most you poor fuckers get three stumpy arms. Or no arms. But I guess you lucked out. You fit together pretty well. (Beat.) Psychic. It’s so fucked-up. I mean, I’ve heard talk about your kind. But it’s sort of hard to believe it’s real …
Beat.
Like – what am I thinking about right now?
Anderson turns and gazes at him evenly, determined to show he can’t get to her.
ANDERSON
You’re picturing a violent sexual liason between the two of us in a pointless attempt to shock me.
Kay raises his eyebrows.
KAY
You’re good. (Beat.) But I wasn’t trying to shock you. If I’d been trying to shock you, I’d have thought of this.
Anderson suddenly winces at the image he dropped on her.
Then – snaps.
She lashes out with her fist.
Catches Kay full in the face, and drops him.
ANDERSON
What are you thinking about now?
Through bloody and busted lips, Kay looks up at her and smiles.
He might be bleeding and cuffed, but the victory in this encounter is his.
Dredd turns a corner.
Ahead, he can see the ringed balcony around the atrium.
Directly opposite, on the far side of the atrium, three miniguns are being positioned on the balcony rail.
Each with six rotating barrels, electric-driven, air-cooled, firing six thousand rounds a minute.
Behind the machine guns are Ma-Ma, her Bodyguards, Caleb, and his men.
In his hand, Caleb is holding an object that looks not unlike an iPad, with a camera lens on the back.
Cut to:
Citizens on the balcony facing the miniguns, seeing the weapons being set up.
We pick up a Dad, standing in the doorway of his flat.
DAD
… Oh shit.
He runs back into his apartment, locks the door, scoops up his Kids and runs to the back of the apartment, where he and his Wife tip over the kitchen table in a desperate attempt to create cover.
Cut to:
Dredd. Seeing Ma-Ma.
DREDD
… Damn.
Cut to:
Ma-Ma. Seeing Dredd.
She smiles.
MA-MA
Fire.
Cut to:
Dredd.
Sprinting back down the corridor.
As the miniguns open up.
Cut to:
The line of apartments opposite getting raked with bullets.
Cut to:
The interior of an apartment, belonging to the Dad, and Mum, and their Kids getting shot up.
Cut to:
Anderson’s face. She is seeing all this. Feeling all this. Hearing a massed choir of screams.
Cut to:
Ma-Ma and her gang. On the balcony.
One of the Minigun Shooters yells over the roar of noise:
SHOOTER
We’ve lost him!
Ma-Ma grabs Caleb.
MA-MA
Get that fucking thing working!
Caleb works the controls on the iPad.
Suddenly, the screen lights up.
Ma-Ma snatches it from Caleb’s hands, and holds it up.
Reveal – on the screen, a thermal image of Caleb.
MA-MA
Nice.
She swings the iPad round to face the opposite wall of the atrium.
Then uses a side control to enlarge the image.
A thermal image of the opposite flats appears.
We can see through walls and doors. We can see the thermal shapes of the people in the flats. Cowering, running, crawling, lying dead.
We can see hot spots where the bullets have impacted.
And then –
as she scans across –
the unmistakable silhouette of Dredd. Running.
Ma-Ma jabs a finger.
MA-MA
There!
The three Minigun Shooters open up again, concentrating their fire where she points.
Cut to –
Citizens on the North quadrant balcony, stunned, terrified, watching as the West quadrant is annihilated.
Cut to –
– the iPad screen.
On it, we see Dredd turn round the corner of a corridor.
Meaning he is now running parallel to us, rather than away.
Cut to –
– Ma-Ma. Still holding the iPad in one hand, she knocks one of the Shooters out of the way and takes control of a minigun herself.
Directing the stream of bullets …
Cut to –
– the thermal iPad screen.
As the line of white-hot bullets rakes across the flats, pursuing Dredd, dropping the silhouette shapes of the citizens as it moves.
Among them, we see a Mother trying to reach her Child. A Man cowering against a wall.
All cut down.
Then the line of bullets reach Dredd.
Cut to –
– Dredd impacted by rounds.
Knocked sideways.
But saved by his armour.
He manages to get to his feet and run again. Turning a corner.
Cut to –
– Ma-Ma. Looking at the screen.
She can see bodies, and wounded, and scorched bullet marks. But no Dredd.
MA-MA
Where the fuck has he gone?
CALEB
You have to change the range.
He reaches over and presses a button.
The range changes –
– moving forwards through the quadrant.
And Dredd is picked up again.
Running away from us.
MA-MA
Love it.
Cut to –
– Dredd, sprinting toward the elevator block.
Seeing Anderson look around the corner at him.
Shouting to her –
DREDD
Get back!
– as bullets break through his line of cover, and drill the air around him.
Dredd scrambles to shelter behind the elevator block, with Anderson and Kay.
Cut to:
Ma-Ma’s face.
Looking at the screen.
The thermal image of Dredd, Anderson and Kay, crouched in cover.
We’ve got them trapped! Concentrate the fire!
Cut to: