Wayward

Five years have passed since an unexplained illness began drawing ordinary Americans into trance-like journeys across the country. Each sleeper moved toward a single destination that only they seemed to sense: Ouray, a small town in Colorado that became one of the few places where organized life carried on. Friends and relatives, known as the shepherds, abandoned their former lives to follow and protect them. The sleepwalking was only the opening move in a series of disasters that brought the old world to an end and set the stage for a different one.

The people who made it through, sleepers and shepherds alike, are now trying to rebuild society. Benji, a scientist still weighed down by grief, has taken on the task of leading the town. Marcy, a former police officer, cares about nothing beyond keeping her loved ones safe. Shana, a teenager who was the first shepherd, is an improbable champion whose bravery will soon be needed once more.

Ouray is not the only community still standing, and what its residents are building remains fragile. Cruelty and brutality are gathering strength under a man who calls himself president, Ed Creel. Meanwhile, the most powerful survivor in Ouray is Black Swan, the artificial intelligence that foresaw the catastrophe, and it has its own plans for the future.

Wayward continues the story begun in Wanderers. Against these dangers, Benji, Marcy, Shana, and their companions have little to rely on except each other.