He stumbled through another layer of pines and then the ground opened up before him, and he had to slide to his knees to keep from going headfirst over the bank and onto the frozen riverbed. There it was beneath him, and beyond it the dark, unfinished compound that had come to haunt his dreams, though this was the first time he had laid eyes upon it. The thing was gigantic, acre upon acre of cleared trees like the ruins of an ancient city. The river had doubled back, and though they had come a more direct route through the trees, they had met it again at this place. Now he faced a wide, empty stretch of snow and ice that offered no cover whatsoever. But what was more important, what was infinitely more terrifying and yet somehow reassuring, was that he recognized it. He had not to this day seen the plant, or pictures of the plant, nothing other than the technical drawings and descriptions in the briefs he had read. Yet one darkened building across the empty ice caught his eye, made him stop and stare in dumb astonishment. He recognized it because he had seen it in his head, not twenty minutes ago. Jessie was there, he was sure of it.

He threw himself over the steep bank, using the heels of his heavy boots to slow his progress down as much as he could, sliding along the snow and frozen ground until he reached the bottom. He glanced back and saw Hank’s dark form at the top of the riverbank, arms raised and holding the shotgun out. David gave the thumbs-up sign, and turned to look across the ice.

The wind was stronger out here in the open and the snow continued to fall, but the storm had died some, he was sure of it. The simple fact that he could make out the buildings across the ice testified to that. He knew that whatever happened next, he would remember the look of the half-finished power plant, like some disease growing in the depths of the forest, a scab on the face of untamed wilderness.

He started running and his boots sank into the fresh snow, cold flakes touching his mouth and cheeks and the wind pulling at his jacket. He heard nothing more from the building, and he held the gun at his side, feeling the awkward weight of it bouncing against his upper thigh with every running step.