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Nothing’s changed.
That’s what Reggie keeps telling himself as they drive down the barren streets of what was once central Long Island, avoiding the burned out shells of cars and the larger cracks and sinkholes that have formed in the neglected pavement over the years. They skirt downed branches and other debris blown there by the winds.
Nothing’s changed.
He’s not sure if it’s wishful thinking or dread that has planted the thought inside his head.
Nothing’s changed.
Must be wishful thinking, because he can easily see how much everything has changed. Nothing’s the same anymore. At least on the surface.
The leaves, for example. They’d been so vibrant and green just a few weeks before. They’ve already turned. Long Island is now exploding with every color in the rainbow. It’s beautiful. But when you spend a moment to think about it, the turning leaves, when considered along with the ever present note of decay, are not-so-subtle reminders that the island is a cemetery. They’re surrounded by death. It’s coming for them. It’s already there. Those colors? They’re signs of putrescence.
The recent storm has also physically altered the landscape. There had been a fair amount of debris before, but now it’s everywhere, making the drive far more perilous. They’ve twice had to backtrack and go around because the roads were impassible, either blocked or actually washed out.
The doctor’s last words come back to Reggie. He wonders if Kelly had heard them. Had she been telling the truth? He doesn’t trust her. Her behavior earlier that morning had been more than just erratic or startled, it had been disturbing. Unfiltered. For a moment, she’d looked like she wanted to bite Kelly. She’d dismissed it by saying it was stress and a lack of sleep, but those rationalizations had felt disingenuous and evasive. He’d gotten the sense that she was lying and knew it.
Each time he pictures the scene in his head, new shivers travel up and down his spine.
And then, after finding out about all the things she’d done over the years? How can anyone possibly trust her?
He’d be glad to never see her again.
Maybe that’s what’s eating Kelly, he thinks. He had completely lost it when he found out about Kyle, or at least as much as Kelly ever loses it. Hell, anyone would have. But Kelly isn’t anyone. He’s always been rock solid, something Reggie usually secretly envies about his friend. Losing control like that was something he’d never seen Kelly do before.
He hasn’t spoken a word since they left the house. Reggie’s not sure he can get him to talk, not the way he’s glaring out the windshield and gripping the steering wheel. He’s like stone right now, hard and impenetrable. Reggie fears if he does say something, Kelly’ll snap the damn thing right off and drive them off the road.
They finally arrive at the parking lot below Jayne’s Hill nearly an hour after starting out, even though they’ve only covered some five or six miles as the crow flies. After getting out to clear away some more brush, Reggie offers to take over the driving, but Kelly refuses to relinquish the wheel.
The Audi’s tires roll over the thick carpet of wet leaves, sometimes sliding, often snapping bits of buried gravel and fallen twigs. The occasional shotgun report of a larger branch breaking makes Reggie jump. Kelly barely flinches.
They see only one infected undead. Reggie watches it as they pass. It turns to follow them. He loses sight of it when they round a curve in the road. He watches for it in the mirror for several more seconds, but it doesn’t reappear.
Kelly drives up Jayne’s Hill with the same rigid, unchanging determination that marked their approach to it, never accelerating or slowing down, just the same infuriatingly monotonous speed, as if he’s intentionally drawing out their torment. As if he’s not really all that anxious to find Jessie. Maybe he’s afraid of what they’ll find. As long as there’s uncertainty, he can believe she’s alive.
Reggie has his own personal reasons for not wanting to return to the complex. He doesn’t want to think about Ashley. He doesn’t want to see where she died.
Where she betrayed them all.
Where she broke his heart.
A gentle breeze blows through the wood, showering them with leaves. The deeper they go, the more forest detritus they’re forced to drive over or steer around.
Reggie puts his window back up, leaving it open only a crack. The air conditioner in the car had worked when they first got in, but it quit within minutes and hasn’t put out anything but stale warm air since. Without it, the long, slow plodding drive on the open road was almost unbearable, necessitating the open window. But here, under the shade of the trees, the air is much cooler, more humid. If not for the cloying smell lingering in the air, not of human flesh but of burnt chopper fuel and wood, the drive might actually be pleasant.
Reggie sighs at the window. The closer they get, the harder his heart pounds in his chest. He definitely isn’t ready. He’d tried to convince himself he would be, but he’s not. He doesn’t want to go back there, to the place where—
Where Jessie murdered her.
The car comes to an abrupt stop, flinging him into the dashboard. “What the—?”
“Looks like we’re walking from here,” Kelly says. His voice is scratchy and crackles. They’re the first words he’s spoken since the house. He lifts a finger from the steering wheel and points at the road ahead. A tree has come uprooted and fallen across it. It’s far too big to drag out of the way, and there’s no way around it. “It’s less than a quarter mile anyway.” He turns to Reggie. The muscles in his jaw ripple with tension.
“She’ll be there, Kel.”
He receives only a stony glare in response.
They leave the keys on the seat and the doors open and make their way around the downed tree and back onto the road. Except that the road is nearly gone now, buried beneath even more trees and brush. Only the cave-like tunnel through them marks its hidden passage.
Kelly points to a smaller, narrower trail running through the trees. It heads straight uphill. “That way,” he says. “It’ll be faster.”
Reggie tightens his fingers around his machete. “Right, then,” he replies, and swallows dryly. He looks back the way they’ve come. He has this sudden sensation they’re being watched.
Yeah, he thinks, like by the entire forest.
Watching and waiting.
It isn’t until they come to a clearing overlooking a town far below that they realize they’ve taken a wrong turn. Reggie lets out an exhale of frustration. He spins around to go back, but Kelly lingers. He’s staring at something in the distance. “Jessie?” he says.
Reggie squints and scans the horizon. He doesn’t see anything. Kelly startles him when he suddenly takes off running.
“Kel? Hey, man. What—”
And then he sees her, too, a figure rising up out of the tall grass, like some disembodied spirit. He can’t see her face behind the veil of unkempt hair. All he can see are the splashes of blood on her chin and arms. But he knows it’s her. Somehow, they’ve found her.
“Jessie!” Reggie whispers, when he realizes they’re too late. “Oh no.”
