Grubb's Disease: The Fungus That Kills You From the Inside Out

There are a lot of horrible ways to die in Mega-City One. You can be eaten by mutants. You can be vaporised by a malfunctioning vehicle. You can be eaten by a dinosaur. You can get sentenced to a thousand years in the Iso-Cubes. You can be eaten by an alien. Or, if you're particularly unlucky...you can grow mushrooms.

Today we're looking at one of the more disgusting diseases in the Judge Dredd universe. Grubb's Disease.

If you've got a fear of mushrooms, fungi, or anything vaguely resembling body horror...Well, you might want to skip this one.

Because Grubb's Disease isn't simply a nasty infection. It's a slow-moving death sentence and by the time you realise exactly what is happening to you...it's probably already too late. So let's take a look at what Grubb's Disease is, where it came from, what the Judges did about it...

Then we're going to bring it into Sector 102. Because I've created a new character who has just walked back into the sector carrying one of the most dangerous diseases in Mega-City One. And the worst part? He's the only one who made it back.

What Is Grubb's Disease?

Grubb's Disease is a slow-acting, fatal fungal infection and the clue is really in the name. The disease causes the victim's body to become covered in large mushrooms. Not one or two. Not a little patch of fungus. These things grow and they keep growing. Eventually the mushrooms cover more and more of the victim's body until the host finally dies. But that's not actually the worst part. Because when the host dies...the mushrooms explode. They then release spores. Which means the person who has just died becomes the mechanism for spreading the disease to everyone around them. It is basically nature's version of a biological bomb.

This is where Grubb's Disease becomes particularly nasty, because the victim isn't simply sick anymore. They're effectively becoming a walking fungal colony, and the closer they get to death...the greater the potential danger becomes.

The Origins of Grubb's Disease

The disease was discovered in 2104, shortly after the Apocalypse War, and its discovery is tied to a man called Jim Grubb. Grubb was a former Mayor of Mega-City One. Unfortunately for Jim Grubb, he also became the first known victim of the disease and that's how it got its name: Grubb's Disease. Not exactly the sort of legacy you want as a former Mayor. Imagine being remembered in history for helping run the largest city on Earth...only for a horrible fungus to be named after you.

But Grubb wasn't just unlucky. He also inadvertently helped spread the disease. He came into contact with the fungus and, before anyone really understood what they were dealing with, brought it into contact with other people. Those people became infected, and suddenly the Judges had a serious problem. Because Mega-City One isn't exactly famous for having small populations. You're talking about millions upon millions of people living incredibly close together. One infected person can potentially become a much bigger problem, and that's when the Justice Department has to do what it does best.

Contain the problem.

The Judges and Grubb's Disease

The Judges eventually managed to contain the outbreak. But that doesn't mean Grubb's Disease disappeared, and this is an important distinction.

Because when the Judges discover something potentially useful...or potentially dangerous...they don't necessarily destroy it. Sometimes they study it. Sometimes they experiment on it. Sometimes they try to figure out how it works. And sometimes...they make things considerably worse.

Grubb's Disease was experimented with over the years. One research station on Luna-1 managed to create an even more dangerous version, a fast-acting strain. Which sounds like exactly the sort of thing you don't want sitting around in a laboratory, and, inevitably, something went wrong. The scientists who created the strain were accidentally infected by their own creation. It's a perfect example of the sort of dark humour that runs through Judge Dredd.

Humanity discovers an incredibly dangerous fungus. Scientists decide they should make it work faster. Scientists then accidentally infect themselves, and somewhere, presumably, a Judge is filling out a report.

Grubb's Disease as a Weapon

But here's where Grubb's Disease becomes even more disturbing. Because eventually people realise that a disease like this doesn't have to be an accident. It can be a weapon. The criminal underworld has used Grubb's Disease as a means of eliminating people. Mobsters, Hitmen, Criminal organisations, if you can infect someone and remain undetected...you don't necessarily have to shoot them. You don't need an explosive. You don't even need to be standing nearby when they die. You just need to give the disease time and that's a terrifying concept. Because the victim might not even know who infected them. They might not know why they're sick and by the time the mushrooms start appearing...the clock is already ticking.

But What Happens When It Reaches Sector 102?

And this is where I want to take Grubb's Disease into Sector 102. Because one of the things I love about the Judge Dredd universe is that you can take a piece of established Mega-City One lore and ask: What would this look like in my sector?

And for this story, we're heading into the Blackwater Exclusion Zone. If you've followed my Sector 102 worldbuilding, you'll know that the Blackwater Exclusion Zone isn't somewhere you casually wander into. It's dangerous. It's isolated. It's the sort of place where the Justice Department has essentially put up a sign saying:

“Don't go in.”

Which, naturally, means people go in, and one of those people was a man called...Jack Hankers.

Jack Hankers — Helltrekker

Jack Hankers was a Helltrekker. A kind of explorer, scavenger and professional idiot who was willing to go places sensible people wouldn't, and Jack went into the Blackwater Exclusion Zone. He wasn't alone. There was a small expedition. The sort of expedition that probably began with someone saying: "How dangerous can it really be?"

Quite dangerous, as it turns out. Because Jack came back...alone.

Everyone else was dead. Jack was the sole survivor. When he finally reached the outskirts of Sector 102, he was barely recognisable. Because Jack wasn't simply injured. He wasn't covered in radiation burns. He hadn't been attacked by mutants. He was covered...in mushrooms.

The Return

Imagine being a Judge stationed somewhere around Sector 102. It's been a relatively quiet shift. You're dealing with the usual nonsense. Somebody's been arrested for illegal food production. There's a mutant trying to sell counterfeit citizenship. Someone has driven a car into a wall. Basically…Tuesday. Then the sensors pick up a lone figure approaching the sector.

He's exhausted. He's dehydrated. He's barely walking. The Judges go to investigate and that's when they see him.

Jack Hankers. His clothing is torn. His skin is pale. His body is covered with fungal growths. Small mushrooms cover his arms. Larger ones have pushed through his clothing, and across his back are enormous fungal structures that look almost like shelves growing from his body. The Judges don't immediately know what they're looking at. Jack does. Or at least...he thinks he does.

And when the Judge asks him what happened in the Blackwater Zone...Jack gives him one answer.

"Don't touch me."

Because Jack knows something the Judges don't. He knows that whatever he encountered in the Blackwater Exclusion Zone...came back with him. That's the real horror. Jack isn't necessarily the threat. Jack is the evidence. He's proof that something is alive in the Blackwater Zone. Something capable of infecting people. Something capable of surviving And something that may now have a route into Sector 102.

The Judges quarantine Jack. They bring in medical teams. They seal the area. They start scanning him and then somebody notices something. The mushrooms aren't just growing. They're moving.Very slowly. Very subtly. But they're spreading. One mushroom disappears beneath his clothing. Another appears several centimetres away, and Jack begins to realise the truth. He's dying.

But that's not the real problem.The real problem is...what happens when he dies?

Because if this really is Grubb's Disease...then Jack Hankers isn't just a patient. He's a potential biological disaster. If the mushrooms covering his body rupture, they could release spores. Those spores could infect other people and Sector 102 is not exactly an ideal place for containing an airborne fungal outbreak. You've got massive population centres. You've got the Spillways. You've got maintenance tunnels. You've got underground communities. You've got the Arkham Conapts. You've got people living on top of people. And you've got plenty of places for fungus to grow. Which means the Judges have a decision to make.

Do they quarantine Jack? Do they try to cure him? Do they send him back into the Blackwater Exclusion Zone? Or...do they do what the Justice Department has done so many times before? They eliminate the problem.

Jack Hankers' Last Walk

And that's where I want to leave Jack for now. He's sitting in quarantine. He's covered in mushrooms. He's exhausted, and the Judges are arguing over what to do with him. But Jack knows something they don't. Because before he came back to Sector 102, he spent weeks inside the Blackwater Exclusion Zone and he saw something. Something that nobody else saw. Something growing. Something enormous. Something that wasn't simply a fungus and Jack believes the Grubb's Disease infection isn't an accident. He thinks it came from somewhere. He thinks something in the Blackwater Zone is producing it. And if he's right...then killing Jack won't solve the problem. Because somewhere out there, there could be an entire ecosystem of Grubb's Disease. Waiting. Growing. Spreading. Jack may be the first person to come back from it. But he probably won't be the last.

Closing

And that, for me, is what makes Grubb's Disease such a great piece of Judge Dredd lore. On the surface, it's wonderfully disgusting. People grow mushrooms. The mushrooms get bigger. Eventually they explode. It's classic 2000 AD body horror. But underneath that is something much more interesting.

It's a disease that can be contained. Studied. Weaponised. And exploited. And that makes it perfect for Mega-City One. Because in this city, even something as horrible as a fungal infection eventually becomes somebody's weapon, somebody's research project, or somebody's terrible business opportunity, and now Sector 102 has its own case. Jack Hankers, Helltrekker, Explorer, Scavenger, Sole survivor of the Blackwater Exclusion Zone and currently...the most heavily quarantined man in Sector 102. Covered in mushrooms, he's dying, and somewhere underneath all that fungus, Jack is still insisting that what happened to him isn't the real story. Because according to Jack, the thing in the Blackwater Zone is still alive, and it's growing.

This is Adventures with Peps. If you're enjoying these deep dives into Judge Dredd lore and the ongoing worldbuilding of Sector 102, make sure you subscribe, leave a comment, and let me know:

Would you send Jack back into the Blackwater Exclusion Zone or would you put him in an Iso-Cube and burn the entire place to the ground?

Until next time...Long live the law.