His efforts over the past years hadn't just brought the group to this town but had enabled them to grow in numbers. There were now many times the number of residents as there'd been when they had first arrived.

Mike could still remember sitting with the old man in the shelter, asking him questions about what things were like before the comet came.

The old man could describe the old days with such great detail, a younger Mike had been able to envision living back in those times. Even better were the promises that in the future they would all be able to leave the shelters and return to that life. The old man even told of his dreams in which people from the days before the comet would be waiting for them outside and help them start over.

Drawn back from his thoughts, Mike nodded his head to confirm he was ready, and Wade forced the door open. The two teens raced out into the storm.

Wade stopped just long enough to make sure the door was tightly shut before he ran after his friend. By the time the two of them had run the twenty yards to the generator shed, they were thoroughly soaked.

Since it was evening and they couldn't leave the door open for moonlight to light the shed, they used matches and lit a kerosene lantern which was easily more than a century old. The dim light it gave off was just enough for the boys to do their work.

It took less than ten minutes to get the generator running at full power. As soon as the generator spluttered to life, the two overhead light bulbs lit up brightly, and Wade extinguished the old lantern.

Mike leaned over and pressed the talk button on the intercom mounted on the wall. “Generator on,” he called.

Mike thought this final act was rather ridiculous; the lights in the offices of the main building would have come on as soon as the generator started, and if the lights were on, obviously the generator must be working. Nevertheless, it was the required procedure.

“Thanks, boys,” came the friendly reply.

“Was that him?” Wade asked, sounding shocked.

“Sure was. You almost never see him in the admin building at this time of night.”

The boys picked up a deck of worn playing cards that they kept stashed in the shed and were just a few hands into their game when the sound of screaming and yelling erupted from the administration building. The storm was loud and fierce overhead, but the boys still heard it.

Without any thought for the rules requiring at least one of them to stay with the generator at all times, when it was running, they both took off at a dead run. Mike reached down and ran his fingers over the revolver that was always on his hip. The only explanation for the sudden eruption of screams was desert raiders.