"Damn, I miss winter," I muttered as I opened my eyes after a night of sweaty and uncomfortable sleep. It was hot again, as it always was since the Drop. I twisted myself out of my hammock which I had strung up between two old, knotted pine trees, and walked down to the stream near my camp to wash the sleep from my eyes. It was still early when I woke. Dew was thick on the grass, and the sun barely peeked over the tree line as I walked. Even early in the morning, the heat and humidity were suffocating, but I had slowly acclimated over the 3 years since the Drop. I often tried remembering the seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter. Winter and fall were harder to recall these days, but I could sometimes remember how the winter air felt on my skin, and the first frost of fall.

I consider myself to be a "winter-hot" guy, meaning I looked better with a few layers on. I've been told I'm decent looking, almost 6 feet 5 inches tall, and well-built. My dark brown hair was getting long enough to tie back in a ponytail. A couple of times a year, I would get someone in the nearby settlement to cut it for me, but with everyone so focused on the difficult task of staying alive, things like fashion sense take a back seat. I also wore a medium-length beard. I could say it was because shaving was a chore, but I just liked how it looked. I was stocky before the Drop, but not fat. I like to say I was a corn-fed country boy. I had leaned out quite a bit over the last few years but still considered myself larger than average.

Before the Drop I would put on a light jacket or hoodie during the cooler months, and my confidence would skyrocket. But in the three years since then, we had only experienced hot, humid summers, and with no electricity, I hated it even more. When the Drop happened, it caught everyone off-guard. Millions of orb-shaped objects fell from the sky, acting like electromagnetic pulses (E.M.P.s) that killed power worldwide and fried every electrical grid in the world. Society broke down quickly, and everything humans built was gone in months. It would be easy to think that society could bounce back from something like the Drop, but the reality is that nobody was prepared for a global event of this magnitude.

Living alone for the last three years has made me appreciate the solitude. I was the typical mid-20s career guy before the Drop. I had a degree in electrical engineering and an entry-level position with a company out of Dallas. It kept me busy and put money in my pockets, but it wasn't fulfilling. It wasn't my dream, but my dad's dream for me. I longed for something that brought me purpose, something that allowed me to leave my mark on this world, but I soon found out I was just another guy from Texas who would work until I couldn't, and leave this world without ever making a lasting impact. I am nothing if not an optimist, after all. I had made my peace with that, though. I was doing better than many, and had little to complain about, but then the Drop happened.

I remember it clearly. I was driving east on I-10, leaving a job south of Houston, heading to see my family for a weekend. The orbs burst through our atmosphere like hot coals through plastic, leaving trails of fire and smoke in their wake. They fell in every direction as far as the eye could see. There was an emergency broadcast on the radio, something to the effect of "Warning: Several unknown objects of unknown origin have entered our atmosphere. Take shelter and wait for further instructions from local and state governments." That was the last radio signal anyone heard before everything went dark.

There was no explosion, no sonic boom. In an instant, my truck went from running fine to completely dead, causing me to coast to the shoulder. The engine, the radio, everything died. Down the interstate, cars collided as they lost power. A log-hauling semi-truck jackknifed on the westbound side, crashing into slowing cars. Above, a passenger plane descended toward Houston. It was apocalyptic chaos. That day, not just my world, but everyone's world transformed.

In this new world, forming close bonds with people was challenging, and I didn't have the luxury of family ties. I often thought about trying to find my family, but they lived a few hundred miles east of me in Louisiana, and the aftermath of the Drop was mayhem. For the longest time, it was all I could do to keep myself alive, much less think about traveling a couple hundred miles on foot with limited supplies. Aside from the challenge of making the trip on foot, riots and looters posed a constant threat. If the roving bands of thugs suspected you had something valuable, they wouldn't hesitate to kill you and take it. My dad was always the type to prepare for the worst, and I hoped he and my family were okay. But I had no way of contacting them, and for all they knew, I was dead.

After the Drop, billions of people died because society had become too dependent on technology. With the loss of electricity, most cities couldn't get clean water; the food was gone in a matter of days with no shipments coming in, and people couldn't survive. The elderly were the first to go, but others succumbed as well. Those casualties were based purely on the lack of infrastructure and the general population's lack of preparation. To be fair, who prepares for alien technology falling from space and knocking out the entire world's power grid?

It happened in early March, three days after my 27th birthday. Winter was in full swing in most of the US and many people couldn't adjust to the sudden change in temperature from winter cold to 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit within a month. People got sick and couldn't get water or medicine, and in many cases, the worst happened. The challenges of living in a world without the comforts of modern technology were immense, and many couldn't adapt in such a short time.

Looting and crime became rampant in densely populated areas. Most people realized they couldn't survive the changes to the planet and fight gangs of criminals at the same time, so they found places outside the cities where they could get support from other like-minded individuals. The good people left, and the large cities became home to bandits and criminals. Outside the cities, settlements formed, and people banded together to rebuild. Over the next few years, these settlements grew and thrived as people found hope and made a new home.

About a year after the Drop, rumors spread that the government was trying to rebuild the power grid. People were hopeful, but after a year of waiting, the orbs suddenly powered up, and another E.M.P. blast erupted worldwide. That was the end of it. No one heard anything else about it. People knew they were on their own if they wanted to survive.

A year and a half after the Drop, I found a small settlement in Southeast Texas. I mostly kept to the woods, camping, foraging, and fishing when I could to keep myself fed. I would check abandoned businesses and stores for supplies, but after a year and a half, most had been picked clean. I decided it was time to make a home with a small settlement of people I had bartered with. The settlement accepted me into their community easily enough. We all worked, we all helped each other out, and we did what was best for the well-being of the community. Still, I kept everyone at a safe distance.

My home was in the woods near a small river, about 50 miles east of Houston. Despite the proximity of the gulf, I didn't feel the urge to make the 60-mile trek just to see a dirty brown ocean. I constructed a small lean-to, but I preferred sleeping outside in a hammock due to the heat. With my engineering background, I contributed to the settlement's various projects and traded my labor for food. I could fish in the river and set trotlines; there were always fish if you knew how to catch them. I did miss meat, though, and hunting wasn't my forte, so I had to depend on the supplies the settlement offered if I wanted something other than fish. The settlement, now known as South Town, had established a thriving micro-economy. Its residents cultivated gardens and raised livestock, ensuring they had what they needed to survive, and I could get supplies as long as I had something to offer.

Despite not living in the settlement, everyone knew me, and I was there almost every day. So today, like most days, I trekked the half mile through the woods, emerging into the outskirts of the settlement, ready to see if any help was needed or any trades were available.

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"Andy! Glad to see you're still alive!" C.J. called out to me.

Craig Jennings was about 30 years old, around the same age as me. He had lived in the area before the Drop, and we had spent many days together since. He was balding, a little overweight, and would just about sell his right leg for a cigarette. Unfortunately, there weren't any more cigarettes. He was also my closest friend in the settlement.

"What's up, C.J.? I decided to come in and do some shopping." I laughed as I tugged on my mostly empty pack.

"Well, I figured you would have people to do that for you," C.J. joked as he walked up and fist-bumped me. "Hey, have you heard about the Orbs? People have been saying that they are acting weird." He seemed excited, because let's face it, Orb news, as scary as they were, was still news.

"Yeah, God forbid the giant metal orbs that fell from space act weird." I rolled my eyes. "What exactly do you mean when you say weird? They are just there. Other than the electrical fields surrounding them, they don't do anything."

"Well, I haven't seen it myself," C.J. said as he looked around and leaned in, "but some of the other guys said they were out in the woods the other day, near the one southeast of the settlement, and it started acting weird. It was making some noises, and the field was like pulsing."

I looked over at C.J., seeing his excitement. He loved talking about the Orbs. "Look, bro, the best thing everyone can do is avoid those things. We still don't know anything about them. I would love to know what they are as much as anyone, but it isn't worth the risk." I turned and started walking toward the butcher shop.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" C.J. asked, jogging to catch up with me.

"I'm just going to see the butcher. I can't do fish again, bro. I'm gonna lose my shit if I don't get something else soon," I said, shaking my head in disgust.

"Look, Andy, a few of us talked about going there tonight to check it out. If you wanna come I can blow them off though, sound like a plan?" C.J. asked as he followed me into the butcher shop.

I know he wouldn't let this go, and I didn't have plans anyway, so I relented. "Look, I have some things to do here, then I've got to go inspect that damn water wheel again." I pointed at the on the edge of the settlement. "That damn thing hasn't worked right yet." I ran my hands through my hair in contemplation. "I don't think the flow is strong enough. When I finish that, we can meet at my place." I saw the look of satisfaction on C.J.'s face and could tell my concession made him feel better about his plans.

A few hours later, I was back at my paddock enjoying the bounty I got from the butcher shop. "God, I love bacon." My mouth watered from the smell of the meat sizzling in the cast iron skillet over my small cooking fire. The local butcher had been working on perfecting it, and I'd say he had just about nailed it. So, between the bacon and a few eggs I traded for, I had one of the best meals I'd eaten in weeks.

I looked up to see C.J. walking down the well-worn path to my camp.

"Ready to go?" he asked with a nervous smile, looking around, chasing the smell of the bacon I had just eaten. "I'm guessing you didn't save a piece of bacon for a fat boy?" he joked.

"Sorry man, I only had enough for one." I smiled smugly, enjoying the last tastes of salty goodness on my tongue. "Alright, let's head that way. Just let me grab my pack."

I almost always carried my pack wherever I went. After the Drop, I decided I would never be caught off guard again, so I always took a go-bag with me wherever I went. It didn't have much in it: some military rations, or M.R.E.'s, that I had hidden away, plus a couple of bottles of water, some basic first aid supplies, candles, and a flare gun that I had found in an old boat about a year ago.

"You don't have to bring that pack with you everywhere you go, weirdo," C.J. said. "It's only a 30-minute walk. I mean seriously, bro, between you living outside the settlement and carrying that pack with you everywhere you go, it's no surprise you don't have a girl."

It was true, I didn't have a girlfriend. Sure, I had relationships before the Drop, but with my job and travel, building meaningful, long-lasting relationships was hard. After the Drop, it became more about the fear of trying to keep someone else besides myself alive. Don't get me wrong, there were women in the settlement. Hell, there were even attractive women my age. Some were widows, and some were just stragglers who had wandered in over the last three years, but I kept to myself, and I liked it like that.

After about half an hour of avoiding C.J.'s questions about my love life, we were getting close to the Orb. "What the hell is that?" I asked. "Is that the Orb lighting up the woods like a disco ball??"

Emerging from the dense pine forest, I spotted it from approximately 150 yards away. The Orb, roughly the size of a two-story building, emitted a glow. The lights displayed a pattern, though it was unfamiliar to me. It consisted of geometric shapes and indecipherable scripts that made no sense.

"I told you!" C.J. yelled. "These damn things have been dead for three years, and now all of a sudden, they light up like Christmas trees?! What the hell do you think it means?"

I slowed down and nervously crouched lower to the ground. "Look, man, I don't think we should mess around with this thing. We don't even know what they are, and we sure as hell don't know what they do, all we know is that they dropped from the sky, and the world ended."

C.J. crawled up and stopped beside me, squinting to try and make sense of what he was seeing.

"Maybe we should head back and tell the mayor. He can send a patrol out here to take a look," I whispered.

"Forget the mayor, Andy. He's not going to send anyone out here. You know he is scared to death of these things."

I looked nervously up at the glowing orb. It began to buzz, and arcs of electricity started to spring from its surface in every direction, and that's when I heard it.

"What in the hell is that?!" C.J. exclaimed as he fell backward. "It's making a noise. Do you hear that, Andy? It's making a noise!"

"Calm down!" I put one hand on C.J.'s chest to reassure him. The noise was an electronic buzz like a copy machine scanning a piece of paper, just way louder. It felt like it was scanning my bones. I could feel it in my teeth.

"Maybe we should check it out." I inched ever so slightly closer.

C.J. just looked at me like I asked to cut his left hand off. "Jesus, man, the alien Orb thingy starts glowing and making noise, and now you're interested?"

"Fair point, but if these things were going to kill us, don't you think they would've done it by now?" I stood up to a crouch and started slowly walking toward the glowing, humming sphere.

In minutes, we were within 25 feet of the Orb. Contrary to my expectations of heat, it was exceedingly cold. The surrounding air was as chilled as an A.C. compressor in the middle of a Texas summer. A delicate fog emanated from it, blanketing the ground in every direction.

"This is getting weird," C.J. said. "What do you think is happening?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's waited three years to do it. I'm gonna get a closer look. I don't think it will hurt us." I stepped closer to the Orb.

"There is no way in hell I'm going any closer to that thing, Andy," C.J. said. "It came from space. For all we know, there are aliens inside it just waiting to kill us! This is a bad idea, man."

C.J. was getting more nervous by the second. He was pacing back and forth, pointing at the Orb and talking to himself.

Jesus, he is losing it, I thought to myself.

"Look, let's just see if anything happens when we get closer, if it starts to react, or anything happens, we book it back to the settlement and tell the mayor." I turned to C.J. and put one hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

"I'm not touching that thing, Andy, and you shouldn't either," C.J. said, waving his hands and shaking his head emphatically. He was right, of course, but an overwhelming urge to touch the Orb overcame me. It didn't make sense. I usually avoided them, yet something was drawing me in, igniting my curiosity. I wasn't sure if C.J. felt the same pull, but my only thought was to place my hand on it. As I neared, the scrolling symbols halted, the humming stopped, and the Orb began to levitate. Witnessing the giant silver sphere defy gravity was disconcerting, and C.J. began to panic.

"Fuck this Andy, I'm outta here!" C.J. yelled. He quickly spun and started to run away from the Orb. I could hear him running, dry leaves and branches cracking under his feet, but I couldn't look away.

As the Orb hovered in front of me, I felt drawn to it, not with fear but with a mesmerizing pull, like a moth to a flame. I reached out slowly, setting aside the primal urge to flee and allow the internal screams to escape. My body overruled my mind, and my hand edged nearer to the Orb. Approaching within inches, a cold burn tingled through my fingertips. I flinched at the spike of cold but ignored it and pushed my hand closer. The moment my fingers grazed the metallic surface, a robotic voice began to speak.

"Welcome to the Crawl, Participant Andrew Dawes."

And immediately, everything went black.

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