Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

MIA

A/N: Hi guys, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. And I apologise for the cliffhanger in the last chapter... I just couldn't resist ;)

Thanks for all your votes, comments and faves. You guys are brilliant. And of course a big shout-out to the fantastic paradise1963 :)

Bull was crawling through the ditch, trying to outrun the dead tank that was somehow still moving forward. Over the general ruckus, he heard somebody scream. Was that Johnny? A few yards ahead of him, a figure tumbled down the embankment, the momentum knocking the soldier's helmet off.

A loud crack tore through the air behind him and sparks flew. Bull glanced back, hoping that the snapped powerline would be enough to stop the tank.

It wasn't, the machine just kept going, slowly heading for the ditch. Hurriedly, the tall man continued his crawl.

As he neared the slumped-over figure, he caught a glimpse of caramel-coloured hair. His heart nearly froze in his chest and he doubled his speed, scrambling forward as fast as he could.

Even from a few feet away, Bull could see the blood pooling under the girl's head. Oh no. Dear Lord, please let her be alive, he prayed. With the gentleness of a brother who gets to hold his new-born sister for the first time, he turned Ella onto her back, trying to find the source of the bleeding. His stomach dropped.

Blood was streaming down the left side of her head, staining her collar and crusting her hair. He couldn't really see how big the wound was, there was just too much blood, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Her sun-tanned skin was abnormally pale, probably even more so in contrast to the red coating half of her face.

With trembling fingers, Bull searched for a pulse. He let his head drop in relief when he felt a regular throbbing. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, but steady cadence. She was alive. Thank you, God.

Bursts of gunfire hit the dyke, reminding him that they were still in danger.

***

They were retreating. For the first time, Easy Company was retreating. Lipton was gathering the sergeants' reports as they loaded onto trucks, taking stock of who was where. Guarnere had just told him that they didn't know where Bull was. That made four dead, eleven injured and one missing.

"First Sergeant Lipton?"

He turned and was faced with an uncharacteristically nervous Doc Roe.

"Sir, Ella hasn't made it back", the Cajun said, wringing his hands.

His heart sank. Four dead, eleven injured, two missing. He nodded and the medic bustled off again to see to the wounded.

Lipton took a deep breath and went to report to Captain Winters.

Their CO crouched behind a jeep, Lt Nixon leaning against the tire. "Captain, we got four dead, 11 injured", he said.

Winters nodded. "Okay, let's move them out." He started to get up, but was stopped by Lipton's hand on his chest.

"Oh and sir, Randleman and Ella are missing."

***

Once they had retreated far enough and were digging in for the night, Lip asked around, trying to find out what exactly had happened to their missing man and woman. Guarnere decided to accompany him.

Johnny Martin had been the last one to see the two and by his account, Bull had been trying to outrun a burning Sherman tank. The normally fiery man was pale and shaken.