[center][h2]Simona Ricci[/h2][/center]

[i]Oh Dio Oh Dio![/i] Simona tries to keep her thoughts calm. She glances at the church, less than fifty meters away. [i]The truck is right there. Reach it and you're safe. You can do that, Simona. Of course you can.[/i] She can faintly hear soft music drifting out through the beer hall's windowpanes, but it does little to settle the nurse's nerves. It's not like she hasn't seen people being shot right in front of her before, but the last time it happened was not a banner day. [i]I had two legs at the start of it.[/i] She waits outside the back door, pistol in hand and tucked somewhat behind her back, feet planted firmly. 

She was careful to exit a bit before the others, grabbing her coat, backpack, and crutches. The latter have been left leaning against a wall nearby.

At the very moment she recognizes the tune playing inside, church bells start ringing and a lone gunshot rings out. It doesn't even have time to resonate through the crisp winter air when it's followed by further gunfire, shouts, and the sound of running feet on wooden floorboards. Coolly, Simona raises her pistol. Something really heavy opens fire inside. There are panicked words in German. The door bursts open, a Nazi staggers out, and then all of the nurse's fears, moral compunctions, and self-doubts no longer matter. She puts a bullet into his chest and then a second to be sure.

She catches a glimpse of chaos inside and quickly steps back. Her heart is beating so hard that she can hear her own pulse. A second man in an SS uniform staggers through the door, grabbing one of the posts for support. For a moment, their eyes meet. His look defeated, bitter, and scared. For the barest of moments, they beg her just like those of a hundred nameless soldiers have when they know that death is coming. 

Simona shoots him in the head.

Then a snowdrift beside her explodes in a spray of powdery white. A sudden feeling of heat near her cheek causes her to flinch, and as she steps sideways to move out of the doorway, something seems to yank at her prosthetic leg and it's all that she can do to keep her balance. A handful more rounds come screaming into the empty space, and then there are rushed footsteps. [i]This one's ready. He shot to cover his escape. Holy shit. Holy shit![/i] The next three seconds will determine whether Simona Ricci lives or dies and she knows it, so she focuses intently on the footsteps and their closeness. 

The floorboard beneath the door creaks with a higher pitch.

Without any hesitation, she pivots and fires as Friedrich, whose arm she came in on hours ago, brings his gun around. Her first shot takes him in the gut and he falls to the ground writhing and screaming. Simona's pretty sure that she didn't do either when she was shot. His eyes bug out and he tries to raise his weapon. Part of her tries to panic. [i]He's not dead. He's gonna shoot![/i] She fires at his head and there's a spray of sticky wet crimson. It takes her a moment to realize that she missed. [i]Neck, instead.[/i] She supposes it was good enough. Her hands are shaking.

Simona tears her eyes away from Friedrich, still on the ground with his throat blown open. [i]There may be others.[/i] But then she hears Robert's voice: "Okay. Job's a good 'un. Let's get to the lorry and as they say in Hackney, rightfully fuck off, shall we."

The nurse doesn't know what a Hackney is, and Robert's accent is thick enough that understanding him is tough, but she got 'lorry', and that's good enough. Besides, they're already heading for the door. She tucks her pistol away, shoulders her bag, and grabs her crutches. Immediately, she can feel that something's wrong. [i]Legnoso's janky. Ahhhh CAZZO![/i] That yank from earlier. It must've taken a bullet. [i]God, I must look ridiculous running on crutches with this huge backpack.[/i] She knows that she should ask about wounds, but speaking English requires thinking and she doesn't think well when she's halfway to complete panic. Finally, once she's moving at a decent pace and and the Opel's getting comfortingly close, she manages to say something. "Ahhh, you needa sew uppa we do in za truck. You tella me zen, Okay?"