"Legend has it that at the height of its glory, the Ancestral City was home to over 20,000 people, known as Herenites." "Caught between the sky and the earth, this tribe had existed for thousands of years, living in harmony with the stars and the desert." "Much later on, colonists arrived and built a settlement around the City." "Surrounded, most of the ancestral tribe opted to leave." "Only a few hundred Herenites decided to stay in the City." "They were its guardians, those whose destiny was to protect the sacred sites." "Outside the settlement's walls." "Herenite rebels protesting colonial control increased their attacks against the colonists and the occupying army." "The Ancestral City was a prisoner of the settlement." "The settlement was a prisoner of its fortifications." "It was a prison inside a prison." "THE CITY" " How many nights?" "Two." "Heading home, that's good." "Is there a telegraph in the city?" "At the café, five blocks from here." "Here you go." "Come on!" "Hurry!" "Move it!" "Ever since I arrived" "In godforsaken Africa" "Playing the fool with a sack across my back" "My old friend" "I've been as thin as a rake" "I'm nothing but skin and bones" "There goes the battalion" "Those whose service is over" "Long live the Parisians" "I want to confirm my departure from Hebili." " All right." "Your name?" "Maxime Vincent." " Tuesday's boat?" "That's right." "It won't be long." "FT]" "Good old Max!" "So, you're still alive! Come on." "George, meet my friend Max." "Welcome, Max." "Are you a medic, too?" "We ran the Sidi Khaled infirmary together." "How long ago was that?" "300 years?" "Captain Julien Mandel." "He was what, 13 when he arrived with his mother and father?" "Yes, about 13 years old." "They had the good sense to enlist him in the army, because when you're 13, you're not afraid of anything." "So he became an excellent soldier, a veritable killing machine." "He made Captain at the age of 20." "He has 15 campaigns under his belt, and not a single scratch on his entire body!" "Some say he's a genius." "Yes, and others say he's completely crazy." "Doctor!" "It's for you." "The caravan is late, you'll miss your boat." "Should I book a ticket for the 26th?" " Yes." "All right." "Doctor Vincent!" "Doctor Vincent?" "Sergeant Christian Deroche, 8th Division." "The Captain would like to meet with you." "Doctor, you must come with us!" "Those are our orders!" "One coin and I'll tell you your future..." "Just one little coin, that's not much to ask!" " Do you need a hand?" "N o, that's fine." "All right, you can go." "Do you know any?" "What?" "Herenites, do you know any?" "No." "One, two!" "One, two!" "I CAN NOT BE TAMED I CAN ONLY BE BURIED" "Come on!" "Forward, march!" " Forward!" "You sons of bitches!" "Move it!" "What is this?" "Come on in back!" "Keep up!" "Forward!" "Hup!" "One, two!" "Doctor Vincent?" "Captain Julien Mandel." "Lieutenant Félix Lamy." "Sons of bitches!" "You're slow!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" "We have nothing here." "The men are dying like dogs." "He was captured by the rebels." "They interrogated him." "Do you know how a Herenite conducts an interrogation?" "He sticks a knife in your stomach, and then he asks questions." "If you don't answer, he twists the knife." "We carried him for two days to get him help." " It was that or the butcher." "I've finished my service." " You can't abandon the men!" "Go see Dr. Greg." "We need a doctor, not a drunkard." "My father is sick." "Can you come?" "I can't." " Go see Dr. Greg." "He's not in." "I said, get out of here!" "Would you like to know your future, Doctor?" "You've gone astray" "You lost someone dear to you on the frontlines." "I thought we would talk about the future." "Yes, that's right." "You've lost someone dear to you." "Yourself." "You've lost yourself." "You're still there, on the frontlines." "You ask yourself why you didn't die there with the others." "You're here, but you're not here." "You're like a ghost, asking itself why it's still here." "You want to leave this place." "But in reality, you want to escape the frontlines." "No charge for you, Doctor." "From the Minister of the Interior, Lieutenant." "LAUNCH OPERATION CODE JL542" "I need 20 Herenites." "You want to eat?" "You work, you eat." "Go get me some Herenites." "You understand?" "Other cockroaches like you." "And hurry." "The rats are starting to smell." "There's a problem." "Herenites." "We found them near the City." "They were already dead." "It's the plague." "The bubonic plague, Lieutenant." "We have to close off the settlement." "We're going to isolate the Herenites and burn the dead rats." "Gentlemen." "Our men will gather the Herenites and send them to the cliffs." "Will you give them access to their land'?" "They'll get supplies." "Announce a curfew and set up checkpoints, and I want 10 men guarding the entrance to the settlement." "That is all, gentlemen." " This will do." "Fine, Doctor." "All right, you can work." "The settlement is under quarantine!" "Go home!" "Go on!" "The street is closed!" "The settlement is under quarantine!" "Go back to your homes!" " Dirty Herenite!" "You stink!" "Vermin!" " Go back home!" "Keep your plague to yourself!" "Rot in hell!" ".'F'-'L" "Let me through, he's going to die..." "You think you can crush us?" "They've been trying for 1,000 years!" "We always survive!" "Go home, you thieves!" ".'F' II.'F'-'L" "He's my brother." "I can help you, I'm a doctor!" "I'm a doctor, I can help you!" "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "You're not allowed to be here!" "Go away!" "If we wait, we'll have to cut off his leg." "Get out of here!" "You're going to let us die here?" "Even our goats wouldn't eat this." "Isolate those infected, or you'll all die." "No one's infected, none of it's true!" "Consider yourself lucky to be a doctor." "Disinfect him." "Can't you read?" "It's closed!" "Open up, you jackass!" "We're thirsty!" "Can you find out when the next boat is leaving from Hebili?" "The cross-Mediterranean service is suspended until the end of the epidemic." "It could last for months." "Is there anything to eat?" "Of course." "What would you like?" "It's not for me." "It's for my friends." "They're hungry, they have no money" "Who are these friends?" "Herenites." " Herenites?" "They're Herenites." "Do you have others?" "There are crates of dates back there." "They've been there for months." "I'll take the bottles, too." " What are you doing?" "it's a delivery" "They're hung?" "" "We all have to make sacrifices." "Then I'm sacrificing my dates, Captain." "Go on." "Breathe in." "I have to get into the City." "Listen, Max, you do what you want, but I think trying to save a town from the plague is like trying to stop mould from growing on cheese." "The best thing to do, is to enjoy it while it's good." "Wouldn't you like something simpler?" "A nice Bordeaux?" "A lamb?" "Lamb is good." "Any news from the port?" "They say service will start up again in five weeks." " Reserve a seat for me." "I already have, sir." "Not like your father..." "Don't worry." "We have to cut off his leg." "Is the leg black?" "Yes." "I'm coming." " Evening, Doctor." "Good evening." "Put this in your mouth." "I won't cut off his leg." "He has to drink this." "Show me your garbage." "Now, we have to wait." "This tea is from the mountains." "You pick the young, soft flowers." "There are only a few days when you can do it." "He has to leave." "I'll kill anyone who touches him." "He has to go." "He's hereto help us." "He doesn't see things like I do." "Why do you stay here?" "My great-grandfather." "My grandfather." "My father." "MY Spot." "The guardians of the City." "I've known I would die here ever since I was born." "That's how it is, that's my destiny." "I am a guardian of the City." "I must die here." "You've been here for 50 years." "You think you know everything, you think we're savages." "But we've been here for 1,000 years." "And for as long as you've had us confined here, we haven't had the plague." "Not a single one of us." "It's working!" "In three days, when there's no more black flesh." "Take the larvae off with water and pour alcohol on the wound before covering it." "I'll come back in a few days." "Thank you." "I'm fed up, Max." "It never ends!" "You see, I'm getting old." "And I'm tired." "I want to let my teeth rot, and eat puree for the rest of my days." "I want a pretty nurse to give me a bath in the morning because I shat in my frock." "Come on." "Come with me." "You'll be all right." "What are you doing?" "You're putting everyone's lives at risk." "They don't have the plague, Captain." "No one is infected up there." "Lieutenant, put them under arrest." "There are many tunnels, Captain." "Send in scouts." "Tell me, old friend..." "If you really wanted to cure a city's people of the plague, would you lock up the only doctors in the area?" "Do you have nightmares?" "Have you had nightmares since you returned to service?" "We all have nightmares." "Especially the doctors." "When I was a boy," "Herenites came to our settlement." "They killed everyone." "They came into my house, my mother hid me in a trunk." "I could see through a crack." "They grabbed my father, they tied him up." "They grabbed my mother." "They slit her throat in front of my father." "Then they slit my father's throat." "But they messed up." "My mother was still alive." "She was thirsty." "I gave her something to drink." "It was no use." "The water poured out her throat onto her dress." "That's war." "There comes a point when time no longer heals hate." "It stays in your blood." "It crosses generations." "I told them that the war made you lose your mind, that you had to be sent home." "You leave for the port in three days." "You're a free man." "You're going home." "I hate my job, Max." "I want you to guard the City." "You want to make war?" "Look." "Help me undress him." "He has the disease." "Is he going to die?" "We don't have the plague." "He's going to infect us." "Why did you bring him here?" "Get out of the way, he's sick." "If our children get the plague..." "I swear I'll kill you." "Back away!" "He'll give you the disease!" "The doctor left with them." "They killed Champlain in the tunnel." "They're rats, Captain." "They can get in anywhere." "I WILL RETURN ONE DAY" "Cut off the supplies!" "Not an ounce more of food!" "Post warnings." "Anyone who helps the Herenites will be charged with treason and shot." "Deploy all available troops around the cliffs." "Get the canons out, we must retaliate." "Yes, Captain." "What about the do mm" "He can die with the others." "This is all I have left. little ones..." "A village has gold nuggets..." "If the head of the next village over wants to take the nuggets without having to declare war," "what does he do?" "He goes to the cave near his village, he finds the monster who lives in the cave and he tells him," ""Go to the next village," ""eat those who are guarding the safe," ""and bring me back the nuggets."" "That's how a country must wage war." "You find a monster." "You tell him to do the dirty work, you steal the gold, and later, you can blame the monster for all the evil that was done." "The most important thing in a war, is to find the monster." "He's cured!" "I have to go." "Where are you going?" "To show the soldiers that I came here and that I didn't die of the plague." "They have to see that you saved me." "Never forget who you are, where you came from." "You promise?" "They injected me with rot so I'd die as though I had the plague." "They want to eliminate you, let you starve to death." "How many know how to write French?" " Not many." "How many?" "20 to 30..." "Have them come." "The doctor didn't die of the plague." "Really?" "They say he was assassinated, that the plague doesn't exist." "9321" "3,000!" "Iii-j" "Fire!" "Am I going to live?" "What does it say?" ""There has been too much war." ""Too many bitter tears," ""too much blood on the ground." ""Even though we have different gods," ""we are all brothers."" "It's the doctor." "He's alive." "Do we shoot, Captain?" "He has the plague!" "Don't shoot!" "You fabricated the plague!" "Cease fire!" "Explain yourself, soldier." "War is won by shaping thought, by instilling fear." "I'm obeying orders, Captain." "What orders?" "What orders?" "Max!" "Max!" "What are your orders, Captain?" "Open the gates." "Set the Herenites free." "Open up the settlement." "Telegram addressed to the port of Hebili." "Maxime Vincent's departure has been cancelled." "The doctor has already gone home." "He is a guardian of the City." "THE CITY"