We need a quick decision.
* * *
Suddenly we hear a calm, clear voice of command - Kotzer’s voice: "Group one - in the jeep - drive directly to Negba - forwards!" Can you stand up in this hail of bullets? Isn’t it suicide? But the voice dri-ves the soldiers on. One after the other they jump into the jeep and race off.
A green glowing shell is fired at them from ten yards’ range, flies past over their heads, and disappears. A barrage of withering fire fol-lows them. But they get through it and disappear.
* * *
"Group two - in your jeep - forwards! " The jeep races off and breaks through the circle of death.
"The truck - forwards! " Will the heavy vehicle overcome this bar-rier? We hold our breath. It gets through.
"Jeep three - forwards!"
I jump on. Shaul has already started the engine. The jeep acceler-ates. My heart has stopped beating. A tracer shell flies past a few meters away. Bullets are flying in front of us and behind us, but we are already out of danger and don’t look back. We reach Negba, stop next to the ruined water tower, and breathe deeply. The three of us get out and look at each other. None of us feels like talking, none of us is capable of talking.
* * *
We wait for the two last jeeps. Five minutes, ten minutes, quarter of an hour. They don’t come. Terrible thoughts haunt us. Has some-thing happened?
Suddenly we hear a strange noise. It is not a tank, but also not a car - tak-tak-tak-tak-tak, what is that?
An odd-looking vehicle appears out of the darkness. No. That is no longer a jeep. Both back wheels have gone. The front wheels are turning. In the destroyed vehicle sits one man-Abraham Bendarski, the driver.
We rush over, drag him out of the jeep, want to ask him questions. He just mumbles a few words. He doesn’t know what happened. Aryeh Kotzer and Moshe Vanzover were sitting behind. He just felt a tremendous crash, the brakes failed. He had already selected four-wheel drive. His ribs are crushed and he is suffering from shock.