The figure in front of him was smiling a welcome. It was a woman,
despite the rasp of the voice, dressed in oversized trousers, tied with a rope,
but otherwise naked. Her head was shaved; her toenails lacquered. All this
he took in with senses heightened from the shock of the tree, and from the
pleasure of her nudity. The sheened globes of her breasts were perfect. He
felt his fists opening, the palms tingling to touch them. But perhaps his
appraisal of the body was too frank. He glanced back up at her face to see if
she was still smiling. She was; but his gaze lingered on her face this time,
and he realized that what he'd taken to be a smile was a permanent fixture.
Her lips had been sliced off, exposing gums and teeth. There were ghastly
scars on her cheeks, the remains of wounds that had severed the tendons
and induced a rictus that teased her mouth open. Her look appalled him.

Part 1 Chapter 4