I had just put the cap back on my canteen, having filled it with icy water. I stood on the asphalt, admiring the burning tank 300 meters away. Ammunition popped and burst, cooking off in flaming diesel. I began recording the fire. I had a good ten or fifteen seconds of rounds exploding when I stopped, putting the camera back in my cargo pocket. As soon as I did, the 120mm HEAT round in the main gun blew up.
Crap, I wish I had- gotten that on video, was the thought I had tried to finish. I was rudely interrupted by a seventy ton armored vehicle detonating its entire ammunition load in one blast. The concussion kicked me in the chest and I ran. My legs pumped with too much weight, too slowly, the world crawling in time. Tiny pieces of the tank skittered down the pavement as I sprinted towards the ditch. Huge pieces of the vehicle flew in the air, wobbling like jagged metal birds of prey. Behind me, pieces landed that could of easily torn me in half.
Fucking awesome. I thought from the safety of the ditch.