Free Orbs II: Stranded by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

gasped for air until finally he was so tired his body simply stopped responding to his requests. Defeated, he closed his eyes and worked on moderating his heart rate and breathing, the two things that he still had control over. He resigned himself to watching the walls of the craft pulse in and out. At least the distraction would keep him from getting bored.
    Just as his breathing calmed, an abrupt vibration shook the ship. Jeff cried out in pain as he was spun and another electric shock pulsed through his body.
    When his eyes snapped back open, he was upside down. Below, he could see the vague shapes of buildings through the translucent skin of the craft. Jeff tried to look for landmarks, but the ship was moving too fast.
    The craft soon eased to a stop and hovered over a field that extended as far as his small prison would allow him to see.
    The view was hazy, like looking through a fogged-up windshield. There was something moving toward him across the ground. He squinted, trying desperately to see. Slowly the shapes grew bigger and more pronounced. The blurred outlines began to come into focus.
    They look like people.
    Another jolt of electricity shocked him as he strained to get a better look. In seconds, he had maneuvered himself so he could see clearly.
    “Holy crap,” he mumbled.
    There were people below. Hundreds of them.
    Before he had time to react, a hole opened in the bottom of the craft. He screamed as he fell, bracing himself with his hands as he dropped face first to the ground a few feet below.
    The taste of dirt and blood filled his mouth. He scrambled to his feet. He didn’t have time for pain. Around him was a crowd of people, real people! There were other survivors, and they weren’t holed up in some bunker like Dr. Sophie’s team.
    He looked at their dirt-streaked faces. Few of them returned his gaze. Most of them simply slogged past him.
    “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Jeff shouted. He moved closer,cautiously. As he scanned the group he realized something was very weird. Their clothes were loose and tattered, like they hadn’t eaten or bathed in weeks.
    “Hello?” Jeff said.
    There was no response.
    He froze when he saw a familiar blue glow in the distance. The light was coming from hundreds of rods protruding from the hilltop.
    The crowd marched past him like mindless zombies, shoulders and arms brushing him without care. Their faces were emotionless, their eyes glued to the poles like a ship captain fixated on a lighthouse.
    Too terrified to move, he watched them pass in silence. Most of them were kids, but there were a few adults as well, men and women who looked to be his parents’ age. And they were all staring at the poles, transfixed.
    He took a step forward only to be knocked to his knees. Through the dozens of passing human legs he saw something else—something not human.
    One of them.
    He should have known it was too good to be true. Why would the drone have dropped him off into a crowd of survivors?
    These were not survivors, he realized. They were prisoners.
    Jeff quickly pushed through the crowd until he burst out the other side. A set of claws tore through the air, narrowly missing his face. He jumped back, bumping into a hideous woman with thin, dark hair draped across her forehead. She tilted her head and gawked at him. And then she snapped out of her trance, her eyes softening.
    “Come with me,” she whispered, ushering him forward with a filthy hand.
    Jeff glanced over her shoulder. She was the last person he wanted to go with, but behind her the Spiders were swiping at the prisoners with razor-sharp claws. He could hear the whoosh as the talons swept toward the humans.
    He had no choice. It was either follow the witch of a lady or face the Spiders. He jogged to catch up with her and focused on the glowing rods in the distance. There was something weird about them. His eyesfollowed one of the poles into the sky. Every eight feet or so, a dark shape hung off the pole like