Chapter Sixteen
Some of the bunkers of the medical compound had been built above ground. Their camouflaged roofs made them look like great lairs of mythical beasts. The morose and desolate atmosphere of the Argonne Woods made one susceptible to thoughts like that, Marie reflected as she walked past. There was a section for internal injuries, one for head wounds, and one for joint traumas. At the end of the row, separated from the other huts, the gangrene section resembled a tumour that had risen from the ground. This was where Marie feared to go. Nevertheless, she went every day. The gangrene cases were humans transformed into pus-dripping gargoyles. When she entered this section, she tried to “see, feel, and fear no evil,” her father’s adage. On good days, she tried to imagine herself ra
