“When we came out of the shelter, I led these people here. I didn't know your exact location, but I knew it had to be in this general area. Plus, I wanted a town that we could use as a good starting point for rebuilding. This town is perfectly situated, we even have an airport. We don't have any planes, obviously, but I knew you did. For the past ten years, I've been working everyone here pretty hard, getting as much work done as possible to prepare it for your arrival.”

He gestured with his right hand toward the area around them. The description of dilapidated buildings the previous day's teams had reported certainly didn't pertain to this little town. New construction was readily apparent, and everything was neat and clean. There were flowers in places and some grass which looked recently mowed.

“Sir, I think it's great that you've gotten all this done and you're ready to work with us, but I need to understand how you know so much about us,” Brad said, the tone of his voice a little firmer.

David smiled. “I understand your concerns. Everything I know about you and your team, I learned from my mother. Do you have someone named Amy Travers on your team?”

Brad glanced behind him and nodded. Amy stepped forward. With a noticeable hesitation in her voice, she spoke. “I'm Amy Travers.”

The old man's face lit up. “My parents always spoke so highly of you! Other than my mother, you were my father's closest friend.”

Amy shook her head. “I'm sorry. Who are you?” she asked nervously.

The old man smiled when he answered. “My name is David Cowan; my father's name was James.”

Epilogue

6 MONTHS LATER

Brad Warren drove the Humvee down the gravel road leading out to the airport. It was an exciting day because RJ was on her way back from Massachusetts with what they hoped would be the first group of survivors who wanted to join them. In the passenger seat beside him was an eager David Cowan. David appeared in better health than he had six months before. The day to day stress of leading his people had taken a heavy toll on the man. Now that the sleepers were here, and even though things were more exciting than ever, he finally thought he could slow his pace a little.

During the drive, Brad reminisced about everything that had been accomplished in the short period of time since the awakening.

After the initial meeting between Brad and David, relations and interaction between the former sleepers and David's people proceeded better than anyone had hoped. Long ago plans were modified and put into motion and there'd been massive amounts of building construction and road repair.

Over eight thousand sleepers had been awakened and were contributing to close to a hundred different projects.

The local power generating facilities along the Colorado River was partially back online, and relatively reliable electricity was flowing.