Chapter 2: Fear
"Don't you think it's dangerous?" Yong said, pointing towards the endless sea of smog. Despite it being noon, the lack of sunlight made everything cold and dark. The rain from last night still lingered on the footpaths, tinting them with a layer of ice. Fire and grass types have a tendency to hate the cold climate, although I've gotten used to it, I have no idea how Guiying enjoys the rain as much as I do. I tend to wear a black bush hat to keep my ears warm despite it not being the most comfortable thing as they don't make these hats for us Pokemon, so my ears are bent parallel to my shoulders. Cutting holes in the hat wouldn't be an option, that just defeats the purpose of the hat. However, I shouldn't be complaining, Yong wears a ballistic helmet all day.
My eyes squeezed together and roamed around on the streets looking for Guiying. However, all I could see was the towering pillars of concrete that disappear into the sky and the shattered road. In fact, the road was quite busy dealing with white fence posts and toppled road lights. The surface rust on those items glared brighter than the broken glass shards from the light bulbs. Despite those things that could ruin any car that dared to drive on them, that wasn't the reason why people didn't drive. Though, I could only imagine what driving a "car" looks like.
All the colours of grey merged together and my vision became lost. However, I was guided back every time when a person walked in front of my view. They all act in a similar manner, rushing and shoving each other to get to work on time, not a single Pokemon in sight. People don't even work for money anymore, they work just to keep their jobs...that's what I think at least.
"Just don't use the roads," I replied, sitting on the curb.
"No, no," Yong snapped, pointing again. On the road was an armoured fighting vehicle, its cannon was around the size of someone's fist, small enough to be ineffective against tanks but can rip apart anything made of flesh. Although it was not steel tracked, its four solid rubber tires can easily crush any tin can into a perfect sheet. Its camouflage blended with the rubble on the road whilst still maintaining a focal point; a red star with a yellow outline painted on the sides.
"It's not gonna shoot at us,"
"No, dammit!" Yong cussed, whacking my bush hat off exposing me to the invisible sun. "Guiying is helping them refuelling."
"Finally, she's doing something productive," I yawned, bending over to pick up my hat. Usually, it was Yong's job to assist in refuelling, so it's nice to see a change in productivity since the departure of Xuiying.
Yong than let out a sigh of hopelessness before joining me on the curb and began making hand gestures as if he was explaining something to a kid.
"Guiying has a flame on her tail, and she's not the most careful person in this world,"
"Shit," I gasped, jumping up from the curb, before disappearing into the smog. Fire doesn't go well with fuel. I dived into a minefield of broken glass and rusted metal, carefully skipping over the small and large cracks for good luck. The claws on my feet sank into the thin layers of ice ensuring I didn't slip. Soon, I came in proximity to Guiying's flame, and she was in proximity of the barrels of black gold. Barrels that are painted with the glorious colour of red that shall be ultimately ruined by her. The LAV drivers opened their hatch and were delighted to see their fellow soldier assisting them in refuelling. Their black face paint where fossilised within the skin while the hot climates within the vehicle soaked their clothes in sweat. To them, it was a blessing in disguise. Although Guiying hasn't done anything wrong yet, with full momentum, I tackled Guiying to the ground face first. The ammo magazines placed on the front of my armour, sank deep into my stomach, letting out a gag. Our bodies than impacted the destroyed earth, sliding a fair distance with the sound of metal screeching before coming to a halt.
"Son of a bitch!" Guiying cussed, shoving me off her body. Apparently, she decided to wear her sunglasses today and the impact ended up popping out a lens. She then quickly stood up before turning around to spit out a mouthful of saliva which quickly became a part of the ice. I guess the magazines did a number on her as well.
"What's your problem!?" She then yelled, placing her foot in front of my face. "Let me do my job!"
"You were doing Yong's job," I groaned, lifting my face to make eyes contact. It was usually my job to yell at her but I was in no position to raise my voice. I was then interrupted by the immediate sound of metal slamming and the roaring cough of an engine starting, however, they didn't drive away. Probably the vehicle crew getting excited to see my ass or something, either way, they'll be disappointed by the results, if "you get what I mean".
"You scared away our tanker dudes," Guiying added, as I joined her standing on both feet. However, if you'd ask me, people in armoured vehicles don't usually get scared of infantry, especially Pokémon.
Turning around, I glared at the unopened barrels, "least you didn't-". Though they weren't opened, it was still enough to make me jump. The overwhelming might and the demanding yells of the engine of the vehicle froze everything in time. No one dared to disobey the monster of destruction, not when it has it's cannon pointed at you. The thing had no humanity, no sense of free will, ambition, it was designed and manufactured to kill anything that has the sanity to stand up against it. I felt my knees weaken, pulling me towards the earth, wanting to sink away. However, I've lost all the courage to move, it's cannon bypassed any rational thoughts and all I could think about was my desire to live. I left my fingers to loosen as if I've lost all control. Guiying's hand was no different, the sound of her sunglasses splattering on concrete echoed and bounced off the mighty towers. We were tiny, we were nothing.
"Friendly!" Yong yelled, followed by the sounds of his wings flapping. The turret quickly rotated and aimed at Yong, however, he still continued his approach and soon emerged through the smog.
"Friendly!" He yelled again before raising his shoulder. He then pointed at his shoulder guard which had the Chinese flag sewed on it. "Cease fire! Cease fire!"
However, the cannon remained on him and the engine still ran. Yong than yelled again, and again, and again until time resumed. The rattling stopped abruptly and the turret rotated in parallel with the main body of the vehicle. I felt my breath escape my body in a rush and my knees met their owner with the ground. Soon, the small beads of sweat joined the ever-expanding ice and I was left speechless.
"Dammit!" A voice cussed inside the vehicle followed by three metal hatches opening; two on top of the turret and one on the front under the cannon.
They simultaneously all pulled out their guns and pointed it at us. One at a time, they stood up and exited the vehicle. The face paint stripped them of all humanity and visible emotion; they were cold. Their guns were similar to ours but only more compact, if concealed well it could even fit into a violin case with ease; not to mention the stick thin magazine the gun uses.
"Put your hands on your head," Yong whispered, placing both hands on his helmet. Without hesitation, Guiying and I both followed.
Although the drivers had weaker guns and non-existing body armour compared to us, nothing mattered when you have a gun pointed at you. No matter who you are, Pokemon or human, a single bullet embedded in your heart of skull is able to bring down the toughest opponent.
"Down!" The soldier yelled, booting me in the knee, quickly collapsing back down to the earth again. However, I remained silent, not a single growl of retaliation exited my mouth. Guiying and Yong both followed my actions without resentment.
Without permission, a soldier frisked my pouches before locating the desired pocket. He then unzipped it and pulled out a red booklet whilst having the gun barrel still pointing at me.
"Name," he asked, reading the book.
"Fang," I responded immediately. His face shot up, surprised that I was able to speak Chinese.
"Age."
"Fifty-one."
"Birthplace."
"Kalos, France."
He then paused before wincing at my booklet before whispering to himself to confirm all the details.
"Unit number!"
"Three'o five."
Then, he went quiet, realising whatever he asked was guaranteed to get an accurate immediate response. Though he still hasn't ruled out if I was a spy…if they even still exist in this time and age.
Despite the cold climate, I could feel the warm droplets of sweat leave my body before getting absorbed by my fur. All I could see was the shards of glass on the ground and hear the endless drumming sound of my heart.
"Sorry, sergeant," he apologised, grabbing my paw. My eyes then darted up to meet his hand; his gun was no longer a threat and was instead holstered on his back. Despite him apologising, I was at a loss for words, so I remained quiet.
"Next time," he added, a sarcastic smile appeared on his face, placing the booklet back into my pouch, "please don't tackle your friend. We can't tell if you were…doing something vile."
He then saluted me without me having to salute back, they left as quickly as they came, in fact, they didn't even refuel. Perhaps they wanted to avoid trouble for assaulting friendlies.
"W-what j-just happened?" I stuttered, waking up from the shock.
It felt bizarre to have fellow colleagues hold me hostage at gunpoint. All of a sudden, they became friends and escaped without desires to feed the hungry engine.
"I-I'm not d-doing anything ag-again," Guiying continued. She then lowered her shivering body to sit on the fallen lamp post. She then searched for the cigarettes to only to drop them in a puddle of thin ice, spoiling the packet.
"You guys will be fine, looks I'll end up taking care of you" Yong laughed, placing his red booklet back, "seems to me those drivers were more scared of you, Fang, than you being scared of them."