They take that hit next, high in the side of the superstructure, and shrapnel screams around inside their steel box. “Damn, too close,” he thinks. “Come on men, we are dying here!” he shouts to the crew. They are bleeding from multiple wounds but don’t appear to be out of the fight yet.
He is deafened by the next hit. He sees light and thinks it is fire. “How can there be light inside?” is his first thought. Then the compartment fills with smoke and he hears screaming.
“Out, everybody out!” he commands, somewhat redundantly. If they are on fire he is probably going to be the last one out – the rest are like rabbits. He moves around to see to the crew and finds the gunner torn in half. The driver is already out and the loader is holding his detached left arm with his right hand, looking at it dumbly.
“Come on Yuri,” he says gently, “we are getting out.”
“My arm, sergeant?” the man says, clearly in shock.
“Yes, of course, bring it with you. We’ll fix it on the outside.”
With that he helps the wounded man up and out of the upper hatch. He thinks his other loader already abandoned as well. The heat is starting to build inside their steel coffin and the hatch is acting like a chimney. He does not know that the enemy he hit is doing the same thing – their glancing blow was a kill after all.
