Beastars: The Discover Check

Chapter 144: Terror: Part 2

The armored car drove from Jack’s apartment towards the courthouse. Judge Kittu had arranged it given all that had happened in the day so far. They deemed it safer than Jack walking to work. A public official on the street at the time a sniper was running wild through the city was going to have a massive target on their back.

“Is all this really necessary?” Jack asked. “How many taxpayer dollars went into this?”

“Enough,” the hippo responded.

“There haven’t been any attacks on officials,” the DA said. “And there’s no evidence so far that this is gang or mafia related.”

“Better safe than sorry wouldn’t you say?” the judge asked.

Jack gave a half nod.

“So where are we on next steps?” Kittu asked.

“I was thinking we-”

The windshield shattered and the judge dropped dead in the seat next to the labrador. The suddenness of the shot surprised the driver who swerved the car and stepped on the gas, ramming the vehicle into a lamp post with enough force that their head hit the wheel before the airbag was able to deploy, which sent their head rocketing back when it did.

Jack gripped the seatbelt across his chest with one hand, and the door handle with the other one. His eyes were locked open and wide with absolute shock and terror. The hippo’s blood was splattered all over the back seat and pooling on the floor of the vehicle. The canine tasted the blood as it trickled down into his mouth as it hung agape in surprise. Luckily he didn’t have any carnivore genes that would be turning on at the taste. All he could do was stare, as still as a statue. After a minute or so he slowly shifted forward to get a better look at the dead animal before him. He heard another gunshot, far off. He snapped his head back as another bullet pierced through the windshield again, embedding itself into the seat cushioning. Modified armor piercing rounds. No wonder they were able to cut through the bulletproof windows so easily.

“Can we get this thing moving?” Jack asked, praying the driver was still, at the very least, conscious enough to drive out of gunshot range. No answer.

Another gunshot and the round hit the metal of the car. The loud ping exploded through the car, almost deafening the canine. He was safe in his new place, crouched down behind the driver’s seat, below any windows that would mean death. At least the bullets couldn’t pierce the metal. He carefully reached his hand up and through the driver’s seat headrest. He felt around for their neck, looking for a pulse. He found one but it was weak and getting weaker.

Something came over Jack just then. Like a dormant personality springing forward, he took a backseat in his mind. He was a sitting, stationary target out here. He dived to lay across the floor of the backseat. No shot rang out; meaning they had either moved on, were reloading, or they weren’t foolish to shoot at every movement they saw. Jack was on top of the judge’s body. He carefully took their phone from their pocket.

“Sorry,” he said. “I need this.”

Staying low, Jack inched his way up and over so that he was on top of the center console of the SUV, the dashboard being the only thin line of cover he had against any further attacks. He needed to get to cover, but he had no idea where the shooter was, therefore no idea which direction meant safety. He twisted from his stomach to his back, face up. He turned on the camera of the phone and slowly raised it over the dash. He snapped a few pictures before another shot rang out. Actually, a few shots. A few came through the windshield but most hit the metal. Jack slid over the center console and hunkered down in the floor pocket of the passenger’s seat. He flipped through the pictures he had taken and found one that caught his eye. He zoomed in and studied pixelated imaging, a shadow of pixels that took on a body shape.