Good Night, Irene

As Irene and Dorothy drive, they stop to serve a group of soldiers walking on the road. A tall man named Swede calls another soldier named Garcia a racial slur. In response, Garcia uses the butt of his gun to knock Swede’s legs out from under him. He steps over Swede and orders coffee from Irene. A jeep pulls up to the Clubmobile, and they recognize Rusty. Unbeknownst to anyone, a German soldier watch them from the woods with binoculars. Russell asks Irene and Dorothy to transport stolen brandy for him. They agree, and he promises to find them later that night and share it with them.

Irene, Dorothy, and the troops stop near a French town in which they will rest for the night. They park their truck and wander into the town, looking for a place to eat. As they walk, they meet a family standing by the side of the road. The man begs the women to take his daughter with them. He tells them that he used to be the mayor of the town, but he knows that when the Germans come back, they will kill him and his family. Irene and Dorothy tell him that they cannot take his daughter. As they walk further into town, the Germans suddenly attack.

Projectiles from tanks shatter buildings as people chaotically run to find cover. Surrounded by chaos, Irene follows Dorothy as they run through the burning town. Bullets fly over their heads, and they find cover behind a wall and listen to people screaming. Irene sees a house further on whose door appears to be open. They make it inside the house and eat the food on the table as they wait. Suddenly, a German soldier pushes in through one of the windows and aims a weapon at them. They scream that they are Red Cross volunteers, not civilians. The German smiles at them and appears bored. He tells them that he kills women all the time and promises to come back to kill them later.

Dorothy and Irene breathe a sigh of relief at the German soldier’s departure. Irene keeps watch as Dorothy sleeps. After a few hours, Irene hears men running outside speaking German. She wakes Dorothy up, and they hide under the kitchen table, huddling together as they listen to the voices of women screaming outside.

Irene and Dorothy shake in fear as the shooting and screaming continues. When they hear children screaming outside the house, Dorothy breaks down in sobs. Irene comforts her as she prays to God to protect the children. They hear gunfire start again, and suddenly an American soldier bursts in. He gives them a .45 and tells them to shoot anyone who comes through the door, then urges them to try to escape the battleground when the area is clear. When he leaves, the women decide to go upstairs to hide. A cuckoo clock startles Dorothy, who aims her gun at it. The women start to laugh. Suddenly, a Panzer tank hits the side of the house, and the floor and walls around them collapse. Dorothy and Irene scream as they fall into the basement below.

The wreckage traps Irene and Dorothy in the basement of the house. Dorothy suggests that they rest while they wait for the soldiers to leave. Then, they plan to crawl their way out of the wreckage. While they sleep, the pipes in the house burst, and the basement starts to fill with water. Irene swims upward and pushes at the wreckage above them until she finds an open area, then she swims down and brings Dorothy up. Together, they push at the wreckage and make a small space for themselves to crawl into, escaping the rising water beneath them. They start to fall asleep again when rats rush in, trying to survive drowning. They throw the rats off and push at the wreckage above them. It slowly begins to move, and eventually the women crawl out of the wreckage to the open air above them. The town lies decimated around them, but they stare at each other in amazement to realize that they have survived.

Irene and Dorothy wander through the destruction. As they walk, Irene points out a form that rises from the rubble. They recognize the German soldier who promised to kill them. He sees them and chases after them with a bayonet. They run toward a bonfire in the village center, and Irene recognizes Garcia standing by the fire. He sees the German chasing them and shoots the German in the chest. In their terror, Irene and Dorothy realize that they completely forgot they had the .45. Garcia keeps watch while the women sleep by the fire. When they wake up, Dorothy finds the Rapid City where they left it.

As they examine the truck for damages, survivors from the town start to appear. Dorothy and Irene make donuts and coffee for the survivors. Resistance fighters wander into town. They are part of a non-military organization fighting against German occupation. Dorothy realizes that they have a woman with them who carries a machine gun. The woman introduces herself as Colette and tells Dorothy that her job is to lure German soldiers into alleyways and shoot them.

Later, Rusty finds Irene and Dorothy. Rusty did not take part in the combat because he is an officer, and the sight of his well-pressed uniform next to Garcia’s tattered uniform makes the women angry. Rusty tells the women how to get to the next checkpoint, and Garcia offers to drive the truck for them because he can tell they are about to collapse from exhaustion.