She had left and driven for an hour before finally pulling over on an empty road. Her eyes closed as she rested her tired head against the steering wheel, the weight of the world burdening her bones. Within ten days she felt as though she had lost everything. Every connection and cornerstone that tethered her to society, made her feel human, were now severed. She was so tired of being a ghost, haunting her own empty life.

She had numbly stepped from the car, dragging her basket with her, packed with food by Ines, a half-hearted gesture upon her leaving. An unspoken, tactile apology, a gift of grief. Audrey walked deftly into the forest nearby, hoping to find a moment of peace and solitude against the autumn leaves.

She had walked in her daze for a long moment when the unfamiliar words reached her. She had paused against a tree, ears strained against the unfamiliar tones and syllables. She edged forward, pulling the paring knife from her basket and wrapping it in a handkerchief, stuffing it into the pocket of her dress. She took them in, the group of men in the gully, laughing loudly, dressed in different shades of brown and grey.

At first, she considered them to be Romany Travellers, perhaps men seeking work, but as her eyes adjusted to the scene she saw the unmistakable twisted bodies of uniformed men, the bloody sheen on the bat held by the tall man. The tones became familiar.

English.

English speaking men in the French countryside, surrounded by the bodies of bloodied Nazi's, pinning a young soldier to the ground, drawing on him with a knife as he screamed as though it were a pen to paper.

Audrey froze in place, eyes wide as she took in the scene.

Inglorious Basterds.

A myth, or so she thought, of American Jews exacting biblical revenge on the Nazi's that had infested France as though they were rats. She had heard Arthur speak of them, in hushed and excited tones to his fellow rebels. This fairy-tale which inspired fear in some and hope in others. The violent angels sent to water the fields with blood, the national anthem made real. Audrey watched the Nazi soldier run away, laughter spreading through the American men like fire.

Audrey took a small step backwards and froze at the echoing snap of a stick beneath her shoe. The laughter froze, heads swivelling to her. She stood frozen for a second too long, running only a few steps away before an arm wrapped her waist with firm hold when he caught her, deaf to her screams in French to be unhanded. Her feet couldn't reach the ground as she kicked, lugged by the unseen American, who was laughing and calling out to his fellow soldiers.

She was tossed to her knees at the centre of the gully in front of their leader, the picnic basket flinging from her arm, food flying across the floor. The leader walked over easily, picking up an apple in a fluid movement and taking a loud bite from its red flesh.

"Well, what do we have here?" He called in his American drawl, the apple still in his gnashing teeth. She was frozen on her hands and knees, looking up behind a curtain of blonde hair that fell around her face.

A laugh rippled through the men and she felt her stomach constrict in all too familiar fear and anticipation.

"Do you speak English missy?"

She didn't answer, she simply stared at him, frozen in place.

The leader began to pick up the contents of the basket, tossing it to nearby soldiers who ravenously ate her picnic, laughing and chatting with their mouths full of food.

"Now did you see what our boy could do with a bat here?" The leader asked. She still didn't respond, despite a hand behind her grabbing her shoulders and pulling her so she kneeling in front of him, as though taking mass.

The huge man with the bat sauntered to her easily, raising the bat to her head. She winced at the smell of fresh blood and he grinned, pulling it away.

"Sorry sweetheart," he said in his unfamiliar accent. "Let me clean that up for you."

The men laughed rowdily once more as he wiped it on the uniform of the dead solider behind her, his head an unrecognisable pulp. She looked and gulped the sick that climbed her throat, training her eyes back in front of her once more. The tall man walked in front of her, smiling easily with dark eyes as he once again lined the bat up against her head.

"What did you see here sweetheart?" the leader called out.

She was silent, keeping eye contact with the tall man in front of her. Her expression was unreadable.

"Maybe she doesn't speak English Aldo," the tall man said to his leader. Aldo shrugged, the two glancing to one another, his eyes breaking from hers for only a second.

She seized her opportunity, her hand diving into her pocket and snatching her knife with expert grip, slashing outwards at the tall man. He dropped the bat with a yell and she rushed away, scrambling over the dead Nazi and reaching her feet, stumbling into a run.

The American's surrounded her, arms outstretched with gleeful smiles to see someone finally put up a fight.

"Bring her back!" Aldo yelled with a laugh, mouth full of fresh apple. "Alive!"

Audrey slashed at a nearby soldier who jumped back with a startled chuckle. She was eyeing for an opening to rush through when she was knocked to the ground, the knife falling from her hand and bouncing across the leaves. She struggled and fought, crying out as a strong hand caught her wrists above her head, the tall man crowding her body, his knees either side of her waist. She kicked viciously but fruitlessly, yelling out in French for him to 'stop'. The laughter ran through the platoon as the tall man glared down at her.

Aldo walked slowly, clapping languidly as he went. She could see his grinning face over the shoulder of the man pinning her to the ground.

"My boy Donny here doesn't take well to a sneak attack," Aldo said.

"I could break your neck." Donny snarled and she glared vehemently.

"Do it," she spat in English.

A fresh wave of laughter ran the men, some whistling, others clapping.

"Well looks like our little lady here is braver than all those Nazis we just scalped," Aldo said and the laughter spread once more. "Now if we let you up little lady, will you fight us?"

"Yes," she snarled. "You and your bat man!"

She struggled once more and the laughter spread.

"You gonna kill us because you're a Jew-hating nazi, huh?" Donny asked with a nasty sneer.

She stilled, total indignation on her face.

Audrey spat. Donny reared back and she scrambled away. She only got a foot of distance before he grabbed her roughly and pinned her beneath him once more.

"I am not a nazi!" Audrey shrieked. "You don't call me that! Fuck you, fuck you!"

Aldo roared with laughter. Her English had failed her and she shrieked her rebuttals in French. Donny pinned her harder until Aldo whistled.

"Stand her up," he said with a grin. Donny held her up and dragged her roughly, standing her front of him. His arm wrapped vice-like around her neck, her chin tucked atop the crook of his elbow. She was on her tippy toes, doing her best to keep herself free. Fresh blood that she had extracted from his arm sat against her skin. She stilled, glaring viciously at Aldo.

"So, you're not a nazi then?" Aldo asked. She shook her head viciously.

"How dare you," she spat.

A murmur of laughter ran through once more.

"Who are you then?" Aldo asked, walking closer to her. She leant back involuntarily into Donny's grip, swallowing thickly at the predicament. Her temper had gotten the better of her and now her mind was running out of ways to escape.

Aldo snatched her purse from her shoulder and tossed it to a nearby soldier, ordering them to go through it.

"Audrey Loewe," she finally uttered. "I live in Paris."

"What are you doing out in these parts Miss Loewe?" Aldo asked.

"Bringing my godmother to her sister," Audrey offered tensely. "She is unwell."

The solider with her bag whistled, passing a small rectangle of paper to Aldo. He looked at it, eyebrows furrowing before conferring with a nearby soldier who spoke softly in a German accent.

Aldo nodded, hand coming to rub his chin as he casually walked back to her. He held the card between two fingers and lifted it to her view.

"Care to explain this missy?"

She looked at the small card with dread, Standartenführer Hans Landa's name printed clearly, Nazi insignia decorating the small white space.

"I can.. I…" Audrey began helplessly.

"Now we don't take kindly to Nazis," Aldo said, a hard, new expression setting his face. She felt Donny's arm tense on her neck.

"I'm not," she said, her eyes filling with panic.

"You just know the Jew Hunter?" Aldo asked sarcastically, raising an unbelieving expression towards her.

"No," she said. "Yes… his officer gave me this black eye, he, he just stopped it- I don't know him-"

"The Jew Hunter saved you?" Aldo asked, quirking his eyebrow as laughter rippled through the men.

"No," Audrey said. "Yes… I… he just gave it to me. I don't know him."

"So, what are we gonna do with you?" He asked. "Gentile beauty? Hans Landa's act of mercy?"

She felt her stomach constrict, panicked tears clouding her gaze.

"It's not-"

"Nazi or nazi sympathiser, you're all the same to us," Aldo called. A shout of agreement ran through his men.

"I-"

Donny's arm pushed hard to her throat and she reached up to pull at it, slippery from the blood she had drawn from him. Her toes momentarily lifted from the ground, scraping across the dead leaves.

"Ok, let's take a vote!" Aldo yelled. The men jeered their enthusiasm. "How we gonna deal with this?"

"The same way we deal with all Nazis," an American called, swinging the fresh Nazi scalp above his head. Laughter erupted from the platoon.

"Maybe make that batting cage two-for-one today!" One man yelled. "I could use another movie."

Donny rumbled a chuckle behind her and she crushed herself to him, trying to loosen the ever-tensing grip he exerted onto her windpipe. Her hands scratched at his arm. She reached up and tried hitting his face with an open palm as she desperately tried to draw compressed breath, but he smoothly moved his head, laughing once more.

"Well we wouldn't usually do that with a woman," Aldo called. "But… she ain't a woman, she's a Nazi."

The hoots and hollers arose once again. A new man walked forward and picked up Donny's bat, handing it to him. He held it in his spare hand, calling out to the crowd, eliciting a spark of vicious excitement. His arm was cutting off her air now, but he seemed unaware, too busy pumping the bat above his head to notice her nails dig to his skin, her back pressed to him, feet scrambling for the ground, trying desperately to free herself from the force she felt against her throat.

"Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad."

Donny froze at the desperate, breathless words beneath him, his arm slacking. She took in a choked gasp, hands clinging to his arm to keep herself upright as her feet met back with the earth.

"What the fuck did she just say?" Aldo called, noting the silence that now prevailed the men around her. The laughter petered-off across the gully replaced instead by wide-eyed shock.

"Say that again," Donny ordered, spinning her around and grabbing her chin in his grip. She gasped for air, hands pushing at him as she tried to dull the ringing in her ears. "Say it again!"

"Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad," she gasped weakly, her hand coming to wrap her throat and protect it from further harm, the other still pushing against Donny's chest. Donny let go of her, swiftly stepping back in shock, bat slacking in his grip.

Silence ran the group as she sunk to her knees, gasping for air, one hand dug to the ground below, the other encasing her throat. Donny glanced back to Aldo in genuine shock.

"Could a Nazi learn that?" Aldo asked quietly. Donny stared, unable to answer. Aldo walked slowly to her, crouching in front of her gasping form.

He held up the card, the insignia glaring at her as she looked up, pale and breathless, still trying to fill her crumpled lungs.

"Does he know that you're Jewish?"

She shook her head, dropping it to focus on her breathing once more. She could hear them talking amongst themselves as she willed her breathing to return to normal, taking thick swallows against her crushed throat, her eyes watering.

"You're gonna wait here with this one," she heard Aldo call. "Wicki, make sure she's breathing and talking by the time we get back from the damn orchid."

She heard the clearing of footsteps as the men marched away, muttering worriedly between each other. She saw his boots enter her vision and she looked up, eyes still stinging, to see the imposing Wicki.

"Try breathing slower," he offered. She nodded weakly, settling back as she fell hard on her behind, legs crumpled, her hand still encasing her tender throat as she took deep and purposeful lungful of air. He settled into a crouch in front of her, his gun slung in front of him as he lit himself a cigarette.

"Where in Paris are you from?" He asked casually. She noticed the German lilt to his English. She shook her head, eyes drifting to the dead Nazi nearby, his blood still slowly pooling around his body.

"Nein, Rumelange," she corrected. He raised his brows and nodded, giving a thoughtful frown.

"Bad place for Jews," he murmured in German.

"Everywhere is," she countered, finally feeling her breath return.

They had stayed in silence, Audrey massaging her throat, considering running once more, and Wicki smoking steadily, his free hand pressed to his gun as a friendly reminder that running would not be in her best interest.

The Basterds returned 6 cigarettes later.

"Up you get," Aldo called, fresh scalps hanging from his belt. Unfamiliar rough hands lifted her to her feet and she clenched her jaw, trying her best to keep her nerve.

"Relax," Aldo called. "We ain't about to kill one of our own."

Killing her wasn't what she was worried about.

"How'd you get that black eye and that bloody lip?" Aldo asked, taking a fresh snort of powder from a small tin box.

"The SS raided my godmother's home," she said.

"What, they just socked ya?" He asked. She could see the men milling in her peripheral vision, as Donny slowly walked to stand behind Aldo, his intense eyes burning into her.

"They…." She trialled off, closing her eyes as she steadied her nerve, seething in humiliation. "They tried to…"

"That's alright," Aldo interrupted, understanding the drift of what she was saying. "And the Jew Hunter stopped that?"

She opened her eyes and nodded slowly. Aldo gave a bemused frown, shaking his head.

"Well we all have to draw a line somewhere," he offered, a dark laugh running from the men around him. He saw her eyes nervously dart about.

"You don't need to worry about that," Donny said, pulling an offended furrowed brow. She nodded slowly, dropping her gaze once more.

"So what, Landa following you 'round now?" Aldo asked. She shrugged before nodding, her hand nervously coming back to her throat.

He gave another thoughtful frown, sighing heavily.

"Alright," he said. "Alright…."

Aldo scratched his chin and looked her over again. She was pretty and soft, the black eye giving her an air of vulnerability. Did Landa see her someone to protect or someone to investigate? Either way Hans Landa's interest in the little French female stood in front of him was a gift from the heavens.

"We could use you, sweetheart," he said after a long moment of silence. "Someone to keep an eye on him."

He saw the protests edge her lips, but his firm gaze silenced it.

"I don't…" she begun, voice trailing.

Aldo's eyes looked up to the dusky sky behind her, grinning softly.

"Take your time to think sweetheart," he said with a grin. "Getting dark, we can't let our new asset out after that curfew."

She looked up and nodded in uneasy agreement, realising that he was ultimately correct. They'd set up camp and she had uncomfortably loitered about, keeping her eyes low, doing her best to stay out the way. They'd dragged the dead bodies out of the way, into a nearby tunnel. They'd started a fire, set up an impromptu camp, taking turns to guard above with their almost cartoonishly large guns.

Audrey sat quietly to the side, watching them unfurl and cook dead rabbits they'd caught on their earlier escapade, emptying a knapsack full of apples near the fire. She sat on a nearby log, eyes downcast, wondering if she could escape later in the dark. Would she rather chance her luck with the Nazi's or the Basterds?

"Eat it."

She looked up to see Donny nearby, holding the apple out to her. She took it timidly and muttered thank you, dropping her gaze once again. He sat down uninvited, staring down at her with an intensity that she didn't like.

"Your neck won't bruise," he offered after a long moment. She nodded, finally looking up to meet his eyes.

"Ashkenazi?" Donny asked. She nodded. "Yiddish?"

"A little," she offered. "Not a lot. I'm out of practice."

"Where the fuck would you practice," Donny agreed, laughing at his question.

"Where in America are you from?" She asked quietly, taking a fresh bite of sweet apple.

"Boston," he said with a grin. "you know a lot about America?"

"I know about baseball, and coca-cola, and chewing gum."

She heard Aldo laugh nearby, turning back with a grin at her answer.

"That's all you'd need to know," Aldo called.

"And King Kong," she quickly added.

"He wasn't American," Donny added.

"Oh," Audrey said.

The men had fallen into a pleasant banter, enjoying their time by the campfire, chewing on rabbit and apple, making lewd jokes to one another. Donny had chatted easily at her, building a small rapport with Audrey as he saw the relief on her face to discuss her real self with another human being.

Aldo waited till everyone was fed before he finally turned his full attention to her, Donny still sat by her side.

"You think your Hans Landa saved you cause he's got humanity?" Aldo began, crouched easily in front of her. She shook her head, a shiver running her in the cool night air. Aldo whistled and one of the soldiers dropped a Nazi's coat at her feet. She stared at it but shrugged it on, hoping quietly that it wasn't too blood-stained.

"That's good," Aldo drawled. "Cause a Nazi ain't got no humanity."

She nodded in silent agreement.

"We're gonna kill as many Nazi's as we can," Aldo continued. "You got a problem with that?"

She shook her head, the image of dead Arthur spilling across her mind.

"Who you got to worry about?" Aldo asked. She stared blankly at the question. Aldo sighed to himself, tilting his head from side to side.

"Our boy Donny here's got a girl back home," Aldo begun. Donny nodded, shouting a jovial 'shut up' as the wolf whistles his fellow soldiers rained towards them. "Zimmerman has a wife, kids. Kagan has a sister, a Ma. Me? I got mountain people. Who you got?"

She looked up to see his men, watching her intently, their faces illuminated by firelight. They looked like her mother's brothers and cousins, the manly Jewish men in the pictures she had seen as a child.

She stared at the question, the crushing loneliness suddenly forcing itself up her throat.

"No one," she said, clenching her teeth. Aldo tutted his understanding, slapping a hand on her knee.

"Nazis?"

She nodded, looking away as angry tears filled her eyes. She bit hard on her injured lip, willing the pain to stay at bay.

"They don't have humanity," she said quietly.

"Well," Aldo said. "Now you got us. And we got you. And we got a plan."