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Relief washed over Waits when his mind was flooded with pleasant memories of him and Lingard. He couldn't count how many times he visited her office over the last two years, especially since he had done so several times a day. Even before they admitted to liking each other.

They spent long hours doing nothing in her office, sometimes just sitting and gazing dreamily at each other-until Lingard reached over to yank on Waits's cap. They grinned at each other, then began leaning closer to each other over the desk. Waits's heart fluttered, and he knew that meant they were leaning in to kiss.

When it came to love, things that most would consider simple and mundane became the most powerful of memories.

Waits remained focused on every memory. Every kiss. Every cuddle. It felt like all he had. It was his source of motivation, despite everything that had gone wrong over the last several weeks. He had to keep going. For Lingard.

Something suddenly tugged at his mind, pulling him out of his happy memories. A sound. Something creaking. He paused, letting himself return to reality, and glanced around, shining his flashlight toward the ceiling and the walls of the tunnel. His heart pounded faster and faster. There were several ports leading to the vents and maintenance tunnels all over the walls. Had that thing gotten in here?

The creaking gradually turned into a screech. The entire tunnel began shaking, slightly at first, then so hard that Waits could feel it in his core. Then he saw his shadow suddenly elongate in front of him as a light turned on from behind.

Waits looked over his shoulder, and his blood froze. Somehow, the transit had started back up again, and it was rushing toward him. He had seconds, heartbeats, to act.

Jumping clumsily over the rails, Waits threw himself against the door to a maintenance shaft. "Come on, come on!" he breathed. He swore when the door handle refused to budge. "Shit! Dammit!"

He couldn't bring himself to look at the train. He knew that would shorten the amount of time he had before the speeding transit turned him into a red smear on the wall.

The wall . . . Waits glanced at a vent by the door. Without thinking, he crouched in front of it, watching the cover slide open, and shoved himself in, just as the train rushed by. Silence fell over him, and the shaking subsided, but his heart still pounded on. It was the only sound he could hear now.

The cover closed behind him, and he lay flat on his belly, in shock at how close to death he had just been. Once he regained his breath, he crawled forward, eventually finding a cover leading out to the maintenance tunnel. The tunnel was just as dark as the one he just escaped. It was narrower. Waits had never been terribly claustrophobic in the past, but he was beginning to think his nerves were slowly shattering, and they just couldn't take being so stressed all the time like this.

He was finding it harder and harder to breathe. The walls seemed like they were starting to close in on him. Which way do I go? Which way do I fucking go?! He glanced around frantically, until spotting a sign on the wall with his flashlight. One arrow pointed back toward the habitation towers. The other toward SciMed. He breathed a little more easy, following the arrow he knew would lead him to Lingard.

It was difficult for Waits to go back to thinking about those pleasant memories. He was still rattled, and he was becoming aware of how much he had been neglecting himself over the last several weeks. He hadn't slept much; just napped at his desk at random hours. He knew cryo wouldn't replenish the sleep he lost, but it sure would feel good to just do nothing for three weeks.

Then again, he knew his sleep would be plagued with nightmares. About this. About the creature. About Sterling and Lissa. About sheer darkness and powerlessness and hopelessness. Post-cryo sickness would be a joy after that, but at least he would be able to recover with Lingard. At least he would be starting a new chapter in his life, and he could leave this behind.

It was that moment when he realized just how tired he was, and it made him want to cry. He didn't stop walking, but he shivered with cold and intense emotion as tears began running down his face. He prayed that when he got to Gateway, he would be able to sleep. Sleep, drink, and eat. Replenish his physical and mental strength.

Since survivors began sheltering in the Bureau, Waits made sure they all had food, refusing to take any for himself. With more people coming in, any scraps left for him became smaller. He dealt with it, even when hunger started to hurt. There were times where it kept him from sleeping, though tiredness fought hard to make him put his head down. When he wasn't stressed, he would feel claws digging in and slowly raking across the inside of his stomach. Sometimes the pain in his belly translated over to his nightmares involving that damn worm.

He remembered Lissa had woken him one night after hearing him moaning and seeing his arms tightly wrapped around his stomach. "Marshal?" she whispered, gently shaking him. "Marshal Waits? Are you sick?"

She would give him part of her rations when he told her he wasn't sick, just hungry. He argued, and caved when she told him he needed his strength. She had no reason to be so kind, did she? Perhaps it was her way of thanking him for trying to do something when her husband went missing. That seemed like the only explanation.

He wished he had thanked her. He wished he had thanked her for standing by him when most of the civilian populace had turned their backs on him.

He could whisper and think his thanks all he wanted, but he knew it just wasn't the same as saying to her in person.

That reminded him of how he really hadn't told Lingard he loved her. He knew his actions had said it, but it wasn't the same as looking her in the eye, holding her hand, and saying that he loved her. I probably focused too much on it being that perfect moment. First it was that dinner on Valentine's Day, then it was that moment in the mall, and just . . . there were so many more moments where I wanted to say it. Waits sighed. I should've said it when I knew it in my heart I loved her.

He would tell Lingard when he saw her. No holding back. He was telling her.

Despite the pain in his chest from disappointment and grief, it still couldn't contain all the love he felt for her. It was hard to express, because he had never felt it so strongly before. Every hug, kiss, cuddle, and laugh conveyed their love for each other. Every time they held hands, no matter who initiated it. Waits's grip was strong, protective. Lingard's was gentle, comforting.

Despite having shown her that he loved her, Waits's heart ached to tell her those three little words.

Waits wasn't sure how much time had passed since he fled the oncoming train. He imagined it had been more than hour. Then again, maybe only a few minutes had passed. At least he was still following the signs to SciMed.

He heard something moving. It sounded like claws on metal. Waits didn't want to look for the source. He had to keep going.

Behind him, something crawled down from a vent shaft, hissing and snarling. Waits quickened his gait. I can't be trapped in here with that thing!

Frantically, Waits looked for an escape. He spotted a door to a smaller tunnel that led to Sevastopol's Engineering Deck. Locating the way to SciMed would be tough once he reached the Deck, but it was better than being easy prey. Waits released his breath when the door opened with no resistance. He slammed the door shut, trying to find a lock. The alien screeched as it charged toward where it had last sensed Waits. He forced the lock in place just as the creature ran and struck the door with a heavy bang, and then he released his breath again. That would hold it for a little while.

He turned to jog down the much narrower tunnel. The rush of adrenaline yanked him out of his tiredness and made him forget his hunger. He kept glancing over his shoulder, afraid that creature had somehow gotten in. When he saw it hadn't, he tried to regain his breath.

The Engineering Deck was usually active with workers and androids. Now, it was nearly devoid of both-almost.

"You really shouldn't be here." A Working Joe strolled over to Waits from the shadows, its casual tone eerie in this situation.

"Son-of-a-bitch." Waits had nearly jumped from his skin. He backed away before unslinging his shotgun, pumping a shell into the android's head before it could get closer. White fluid stood out on the floor when the body toppled over.

A chill shot down his spine when he heard a human voice say, "What was that?"

"What was what?" another voice replied.

"Sounded like a gunshot."

"Probably Diaz finally taking out that damn Joe that keeps pacing near the tunnels. He should be back by now with supplies."

Waits could see two men standing in a makeshift camp, illuminated by a portable lamp in the middle. One was walking around, the other was sitting on a sleeping bag. The one pacing was wearing a sweat-stained T-shirt bearing a medic's symbol on his left shoulder. The one sitting was wearing patches that read "Sevastopol Science & Medical Center" on both shoulders.

"That sounded close. If that was Diaz, he'd be here by now," the sitting man said.

The pacing one paused, then nodded. He checked the rounds in his revolver, and walked toward Waits's direction. Anxiously, Waits ducked under a computer desk, hiding under a drawer and a tangle of wires. He turned off his flashlight, and held his breath.

The pacing man scanned the room, and called back to his companion. "I ain't denying you heard something, Raine. Look-someone shot that Joe."

The sitting man, Raine, got up to see what his friend saw. "Holy cow. Should we thank 'em?"

"We don't even know who it is, yet. It's every group for themselves, remember?"

"I do remember that, Jav, but I also remember Marshal Waits telling us we can't just fall apart like this. We can't just-"

"Keep your voice down. Sinclair's guys are everywhere, and they hate Waits with a burning fucking passion. Anyone who's heard supporting him will get shot. You wanna go join Waits in the Bureau? Good luck. You won't survive out there on your own. Not with the Joes, or Seegson Security, or that fucking creature."

How long has it been since someone cleaned under here? Waits was finding the dust under the desk unbearable. He clamped his hands over his nose and mouth, trying not to sneeze. The sneeze came out anyway, and both Jav and Raine pointed their revolvers at the desk.

"Alright, come on outta there, buddy," Jav said. "We know you're under there."

Somewhat reluctantly, Waits emerged, his hands where the two men could see them. "Don't shoot, OK?" he replied.

"Speak of the devil," Raine whispered, lowering his gun. "What the hell are you doing all the way down here, Marshal?"

"I'm headed to SciMed. Oh, and you're welcome, by the way." Waits gestured to the corpse of the android.

"Why're you headed to SciMed?" Jav asked, his weapon still trained on Waits.

"We have enough supplies," Raine said, positioning himself to get between Jav and Waits. "Don't-"

"I'm not going for supplies," Waits interrupted. He wasn't sure he should tell them why. How could he trust them?

"Let him go, Jav. Please." Raine gave Jav a hard look. "He's not here to hurt us."

Sighing, Jav lowered his revolver. "Telling you, Raine, you're too fucking soft. It's a miracle you're still alive. I'm going to go look for Diaz." He turned to head down a darkened corridor, along the tunnel leading to the habitation towers.

"I wouldn't go that way alone if I were you," Waits said. "I had to run from the creature back that way."

"Fuck!" Jav angrily whirled around to face Waits. "Are you saying you led that thing here?!"

"No. I wasn't intending to come down here at all. Something's wrong with the transit-"

"It's been randomly stopping and starting all over the station," Raine said.

"Yeah. I almost got run over. Look, I have my own reasons for going up to San Cristobal. If you two want to stay here, that's fine by me, but you're more than welcome to come with me and shelter in the Bureau." Waits glanced over their shoulder patches. "You're both medical, and we need people with medical expertise in my shelter. I only know basic first aid."

Raine looked at Jav. "That'd be better than staying here."

"Who else is in your group?" Waits asked.

"There were . . . five of us. One was dragged in the vents by that monster. Another was shot by one of Sinclair's men. Diaz went out to find batteries for our lamp here. He's been gone over an hour."

"Then he's either lost or dead," Waits said.

"I refuse to believe he's dead!" Jav snarled. "He can't be dead!"

Waits gave Jav a sympathetic look. "Son, it's definitely a possibility." He let out a quiet sigh. Lingard needs me, but I can't just abandon these guys, or their companion . . . if he's still alive. "Did you friend say where he was going to look?"

"There's a storage unit down the corridor," Raine explained, "The corridor's blocked by some debris from an explosion-"

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"So Diaz said he was going to down a separate hall to go around. We knew it'd be a long way, but . . . not this long. He could be hurt and hasn't been able to contact us."

"Alright. We'll go look, but neither of you are going off on your own." Waits glanced at Jav.

Jav nodded a little. He made eye contact with Waits. "Do you know what exactly that creature is?"

Waits shook his head. "No. All I know is that it's big and it's dangerous. I think that's all anyone knows at this point." He was quiet for a moment. Jav looked apprehensive, while Raine seemed to be regarding Waits as being in charge. "Alright, what're you two thinking?"

"I think we'd have a better chance of getting off Sevastopol if we go with Waits," Raine said, looking at Jav.

"And why do you say that?" Jav asked.

"Whoever comes to rescue us will be in contact with him. We won't get left behind."

Waits felt a hard twist in his stomach, wondering if these two knew that long-range communication was down. He wasn't sure he should tell them. After all, rescue was coming, wasn't it? He kept his mouth shut.

"We're finding Diaz first," Jav said. "Then we'll go with the Marshals."

"OK." Raine looked back at Waits, as if to make sure he approved.

"If you want to come along, I won't stop you," Waits replied, shrugging. "Like I said earlier, I'm going to San Cristobal-"

"Why are you going to San Cristobal anyway?" Jav asked.

"To rescue the doctors. Sinclair's men have been killing patients, and Morley and Lingard ran out of ammunition."

"We've got ammunition," Raine said, gesturing to his revolver. "We gave Diaz the shotgun."

"OK. Hopefully, we'll find him, and we'll have some extra firepower on our hands."

Raine led them down where he had last seen Diaz. The corridors were dark, and all three men were aiming their weapons at wherever they heard a sound.

It didn't take very long for them to find evidence of what might have happened to Diaz. Below a vent in the ceiling were puddles of blood and a clear substance. A shotgun lay nearby.

"No . . ." Jav breathed. "Son-of-a- . . . I . . . He . . ." He turned to face Raine and Waits, eyes wild with shock.

"Take a deep breath, son," Waits said. He could feel their grief. He knew it all too well. His heart began aching as he thought of Sterling and Lissa.

"Marshal, you better have a damn good plan to kill that thing," Jav growled.

"We're working on it. You can grieve in my office. I don't think standing around here will do us much good."

After gathering up their supplies, the group headed in the direction of SciMed Tower. They were close and Waits could feel it. He just wanted to see Lingard again, and make sure she was safe. He didn't say that to either Jav or Raine.

Raine jogged up to the elevator, and pressed the call button. He waited patiently, but when he heard a loud crashing sound, his face paled.

"Well, that's not good," Waits muttered.

The doors opened, revealing an empty shaft, and the elevator itself sitting below them, stuck.

"I'm not staying here," Jav said. "I'm climbing up."

"That's a long way up," Raine replied, quietly.

"I don't care! I'd rather take that risk than stay here and be slaughtered by God-knows-what!" Jav slunk into the shaft, grabbing whatever he could to hang onto the wall and get to the ladder.

"You next, Marshal." Raine gestured to Waits.

Not saying a word, Waits cautiously stepped into the shaft, finding a narrow ledge. There wasn't much in terms of handholds, and he tried to move as slow as possible. Don't look down, Jethro, don't look down . . .

Raine joined them when he had room. "You doing alright, sir?"

"Oh, I'm doing absolutely fucking amazing," Waits groaned.

"Just breathe evenly. Take your time."

Jav had made it to the ladder. As Waits inched his way closer, Jav held out his hand. "Easy does it, Marshal . . . Alright, grab on, and pull yourself over."

Waits moved faster once he took Jav's hand. When he could grab a rung of the ladder, Jav let go, and started climbing. Waits paused, holding the ladder with one hand, and extending the other to Raine.

"Thanks." Raine released his breath when he gripped the ladder.

As they ascended the dark shaft, the only sounds they could hear was each other's breathing. It was Jav who broke the silence. "How many floors do we have until we reach San Cristobal?"

"Five, I think," Raine replied. "If the doors aren't shut at the next stop, we could find another route."

"I just hope Sinclair's men aren't camped there," Waits muttered.

The doors to the next floor were open, and the three climbed out. Waits could see signs for transit, and directions up to San Cristobal and Seegson Synthetics. "We want the hospital," he said. "There's probably a stairway somewhere. Has to be."

"This way." Raine started jogging forward.

The sound of their boots on the floor echoed through the empty hall. Then they halted abruptly when they heard a heavy thud somewhere up the stairs, followed by a snarl.

"Dammit, hide!" Raine hissed.

They scrambled to find somewhere to hide as the alien began marching down the stairs, eventually closing themselves in lockers and closets in an office overlooking the transit platform. Waits peered through the slits in locker to see the creature scanning its surroundings outside the office. His heart pounded faster when it drew closer to the doorway.

It stuck its long head into the office. Waits moved as far back into the locker as he could, holding his breath and sucking in his gut. The creature looked around, and Waits froze altogether. He tried not to breathe, or twitch, but he could feel blood pulsating through his body. He prayed the slight movements went unnoticed. He prayed Raine and Jav weren't moving as well.

The creature was only in the room for a few minutes, but it felt like a few hours. Hissing to itself, it turned and left, its long, heavy tail lashing behind it. Once it was gone, Waits breathed.

They waited another minute before quietly emerging from the lockers. Raine and Jav were pale. "Where did it go?" Raine whispered, breathlessly.

"I don't know," Waits replied. "Let's go before it makes another round."

They dashed up the stairs, not stopping until they came to a sign pointing to San Cristobal. Waits's heart was in his throat. He had an overwhelming urge to run. Run until he found Lingard. Run and lift her up and hold her and tell her how much he loved her. He was so overwhelmed with anticipation that he nearly burst into tears.

Question: How is Waits's attitude to other survivors different or similar to Amanda Ripley's?