you tugged at the collar of your shirt
the damn heat
well no one said the desert was going to be comfortable
you just wish they let you wear shorts in this thing
you were already freeballing in this coffin
you palmed the shell before you loaded it
the weight had gotten easier since basic
a boom rippled through your skeleton
”ANOTHER!”
the voice to your side was a constant
he always managed to shout over over the noise
you had no idea how he could do that
you complied instantly
another shell slapped in
fuck this heat
Teddy up front aimed and fired again
”ANOTHER!”
commander demands and you provide
you were just the loader
another shell and it was gone before you could formulate a thought
Teddy was hammering on something
then Louis further up front was getting shouted at
he had to maneuver again
you steadied yourself as the tank treads churned the desert sands and the machine rushed off
Sergeant Howard shouted instructions to everyone the whole time
he was partly why you didn't bitch too much about the BDU making the heat being hell
his voice was bellicose and demanded respect
yet the black cat looked like he couldn't have passed training
he was a scrawny manlet
but appearances could be deceiving
for one, he stayed in his BDUs without so much as a single complaint
his black fur must have made shit worse for him
the only sign he gave of surrendering to the boiling sun was he rolled up his sleeves
from what you all knew he'd been in the army for a good decade or so
one of his few moments of being open he said it was a family tradition
ever since there were tanks the men in his family were in them
they… enjoyed this
that was the best idea you could gather up
he'd earned a nickname that no one dared used around him
”Blackie”
you didn't dare bring it up
he at least had some sort of sense of humor
his left eye got fucked up somewhere down the line
it took him out of his gunner seat
however his experience meant they kicked him up to commander
his eye was covered in a white heart-shaped eyepatch that contrasted with his twilight black fur
he shouted down to the driver to stop
without looking from the computer readouts, he pointed over to you
you didn't need the shouting to know to load the gun
you caught him mouthing “good” when you slapped another shell in
sarge furrowed his brow and he rubbed his chin
a rare moment of quiet thought
his eye scanned the camera screen and then he corrected Teddy's aim a little
he wasn't arrogant and presuming the gunner was off
he was humble enough to know his depth perception meant his aim was off
just picking a far nicer target
something Teddy hadn't initially caught
sure the sarge's aim wasn't perfect but he could still pick up on something
the gun boomed again
today was a good day despite the fucking desert
no one had ever gotten a shot off in your direction and the day looked to be going fast judging by the position of the sun from the open hatch above sarge and you
you swiped the sweat from your brow as the cat ordered the tank to pull ahead and you to load another shell