Section 3 Summary

This section begins with the phrase, "They gave us a short rest..."

The war nightmares continue and Bardamu survives many dreadful nights, filled with fear of attack, the backbreaking labor of moving supplies and the uncertain dread of carrying messages from post to post. On one of his missions, he has to discover whether the German enemy has captured the village Noirceur. While he searches for the village, he dreams of escaping the certain death of the war by being taken prisoner.

On the way, he meets a family mourning for their small son, who had been stabbed by the Germans; when he asks to buy a bottle of wine from them, the mother forgets her grief long enough to haggle the price.

Moving on, Bardamu finally spots Noirceur around two in the morning. Bardamu finds the village suspiciously calm, undamaged by flames...