"My men can eat their belts, but my tanks have gotta have gas."
— George S. Patton
The sun had risen when Rowan and Tex finally reached the next bunker. Exhaustion was beginning to take a toll on them, as neither had slept in 30 hours. "Are we safe, Blink?" "Yeah, we're safe." Tex slowly eased his way out of the vehicle and nearly fell - Rowan caught him just in time. He spat on the ground and asked "How the fuck are we alive, Blink?" "I dunno. How close was that?" Tex pointed at the bonnet of the car. "I think I saw a scratch there." Rowan walked up to it and saw a white line where the fins of the APFSDS round had sheared off the paint. It was a good 2 inches from the windshield.
"How close, Blink?"
"Way too fucking close."
Tex chuckled without humor. "Son of a bitch." He bent down to the ground and started coughing.
"You okay there?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tex said before coughing again.
Rowan frowned and put a hand to Tex's forehead. It didn't seem too hot, so he shrugged it off. "Come on, let's go inside." He draped Tex's arm on his shoulder and hauled him up to the entrance.
"Thanks, Blink."
"Don't mention it."
Rowan turned the knob and pushed open the door, where he was met with a cold blast of air rushing out the doorway. He ushered Tex into the building, the door loudly clanging shut behind them.
A few hours later Rowan checked on Tex in the medical room. Tex was laying down on one of the beds, but sat up as Rowan came in. "Hey Blink! Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Then why are you in the medical room?" Rowan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Dehydration, apparently. Makes sense, I guess."
"Well, take care of yourself, then."
It was Tex's turn to raise his eyebrow. "You sure there's nothing wrong with you? You seem distracted."
"Nah, I'm good."
"You better be."
They both laughed.
"See you around, I guess. Try not to die."
Tex gestured at himself with a smile. "Already doing that."