Fuzzy images of gently waving ink-black tree branches were all Waits could see in between periods of pitch blackness. In those short moments, he felt pain pulsing all over his body. Something hot and wet was running down the side of his head. The smell of smoke and things burning back in the colony, and his head throbbed harder the more he breathed it in. Then everything faded again.

The next waking image was different. Someone, or something, was standing over him. In its hands was a bloody cloth. One eye was large and blue, but the other was milky white, and something about it was vaguely familiar. When it saw Waits's eyes were open, it reached down, touching his forehead. Everything smelled different. There were flowery and herbal scents, much more pleasant than the smoke, and didn't hurt his head as much. It all faded as quickly as it came.

When Waits awoke again, he could feel something lying against his head, and felt it moving. Rhythmically, like breathing. Something moved on his chest, and he glanced down to see an animal's tail draped over him. A soft coo was heard, and Zinnia appeared on his right side.

As more of his senses came around, Waits found he was lying on a cot of sticks and furs, inside a tent. Early-morning sunlight was spilling in through the tent flap, and he could hear cooing and chirping and squeaking. The smell of food cooking was strong, but equally strong was the pungent smell of herbs. A poultice of some kind was covering wounds on his arms, chest, and back. His head had been wrapped with a bandage, and a throbbing sensation grew stronger the more he woke up.

Waits's first thought was to sit up, but the dull ache quickly turned to a sharp pain when he made the effort. He groaned as he lay back down. Zinnia gently patted his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, grunting in pain. "What happened? Where am I?"

Another marten-like creature entered the tent. He was dressed differently than Zinnia, wearing a black cloak. Tiny pouches lined his belt, and he wore a necklace of small bones and carved stones. His right ear had a pronounced nick near the top, and his right eye was lifeless and clouded. The gray around his whiskers suggested he was older.

Zinnia left the cot, bowing to the other creature before chattering and gesturing to Waits. Nodding, the older creature approached Waits, climbing up onto the cot to examine him.

"Hey, I know I can't understand you, but can you... show me how I got here?" Waits asked.

One-Eye pointed to Zinnia, then made a dragging motion with his paw.

"She found me, and took me here?"

Nodding, One-Eye began cutting away the bandages covering Waits's head. He made no sounds as he wiped away the poultice with a damp cloth, but he did show the cloth to Waits. It was covered in blood and dark-green fluids from the poultice.

"Yeah, I can feel I'm hurt, genius." Waits bit back a grunt as the creature continued cleaning his wounds. "Fuck, I gotta go back to the colony... Gotta get back..."

One-Eye chirped something to Zinnia. Dipping her head, Zinnia left the tent and returned a minute later with a bowl of water. After wrapping a new bandage around Waits's head, One-Eye got off the cot, gesturing to Zinnia. They both helped Waits sit up, then Zinnia gave him the water.

It was hard to stop himself from drinking too fast when Waits realized how long it had been since he last ate or drank anything. A weak feeling threatened to overtake him the more he thought about it, and he lowered the bowl. The pounding in his head grew worse.

Zinnia took the bowl, giving Waits a sympathetic look. She chattered to One-Eye, who gave her a nod. Then she left the tent again.

Waits glanced over at One-Eye. "Look, I can't stay here. My people—you know the colony here? Big buildings? Lots of humans?"

One-Eye nodded.

"I think you'd have to be deaf to not know that we've been attacked. I-I don't know by what. They're tall, skinny, bluish color. They're killing us on sight. I have to go back."

Shaking his head, One-Eye pointed to the bandage around Waits's head, then picked up two small rocks to knock them together.

"I know I've got a concussion. It's not my first. Just point me in the direction of the colony and I'll be on my way." Waits grunted as he tried shifting his right leg off the cot. Something deep inside was telling him it was a bad idea, but he refused to listen. More people are going to die if I just sit here and do nothing!

One-Eye watched, not making any movements aside from the occasional tail twitch.

Waits forced himself up, grabbing the edge of One-Eye's workstation to hold himself steady. A dizzy feeling surged through his head, and he tried to push that out of his mind when he saw his AUG and Model 4506 along with his vest and helmet on the ground. As soon as he tried to go for them, the dizziness rose up like a tidal wave, and he collapsed by the cot.

Swallowing past an urge to vomit, Waits eased himself into a sitting position. "I can't stay here." He drew up his knees, resting his arms on them. Frustration clawed viciously at him, but he couldn't make himself stand. "I can't stay here." He rubbed his face, not wanting to cry. "Can't fucking stay."

Waits started feeling better after having food and water, but One-Eye was hesitant to let him leave. A couple of hours passed before Waits regained strength to walk. He still felt lightheaded, but he was determined to fight it.

When he was allowed to leave the tent, he found he had been taken deep into the forest, into a camp of the marten-like creatures. More tents surrounded the one he had been, but not in a disorganized fashion. They were very carefully laid out in perfect rows almost like miniature streets. More of the creatures could be seen around the camp, or going in and out of the tents. Some were handling molten metal, and others were cooking food, while still more were busy with other various tasks and jobs. Waits thought back to the vague memories he had of pictures in history books, and it occurred to him that apart from the creatures themselves, the camp looked like a small US town from about the beginning of the twentieth century had been picked up and turned migrant.

Nearly all of the creatures were armed as they went about their business, each with a weapon either slung over their back or within easy reach. Their weapons seemed to be a mix of bolt- and lever-action rifles, along with a few pump-action shotguns, while some had revolvers on their belts, all appropriately sized for use by the creatures.

He could hear the shrill sounds of baby creatures, and three of them scampered into the area, squealing and screeching. An adult screamed back at them, shaking her fist. Terrified, one of the young creatures started climbing Waits's pantleg.

"Now, who said you could do that?" Waits plucked off the little creature by the scruff of his neck. Before he could set the critter down, he heard the familiar sound of someone clicking the safety off a gun, and an adult creature carrying a shotgun stormed towards him with a screech. "Hey, hey, we don't need to get pissy here—" Waits slowly lowered the younger creature down. "I wasn't gonna hurt your kid."

It took all of a second for Zinnia to race over and put herself in between Waits and the furious parent. After a lot of chirping and squeaking, the parent creature took her young, leaving Waits and Zinnia alone.

Waits glared down at Zinnia. "Alright, I'm not staying here any longer if I have to deal with your spawn using me as a fucking jungle gym! I really don't care if your medicine mouse-man says I shouldn't leave, I'm leaving!"

Zinnia made a sad sound.

"Don't give me that look. Just don't." Waits looked up, wondering if it was possible to see the smoke from the laboratory explosion from the camp. There was no way Zinnia had taken him too far.

The tall trees and the slope they were on made it difficult to see. Despite the pain in his head, Waits was hellbent on going back to the colony to keep fighting. As he made his way back to One-Eye's tent to grab his stuff, a thought crossed his mind. He paused, looking around at the critters wandering around the camp. This might be stupid to consider, but these guys would give us an edge and let us hold out until the Marines get here.

Waits shook his head. It'd be selfish to ask for their help. He heard a chirp behind him, and turned to see Zinnia trotting up to him. "What now?"

Zinnia reached up to take Waits's hand. She still looked sad, but something about the look in her eyes told Waits that she had accepted him leaving.

Sighing, Waits knelt to look Zinnia in the eye. "You can come with me if you want. I mean, I kinda need you to show me where to go anyway. The extra firepower would be appreciated, too."

Nodding, Zinnia let go of Waits's hand, and made a gesture for him to stay put. She dashed off to the residential part of the camp, and returned a few minutes later with her rifle and a large burlap sack over her shoulders. With a chirp, she started running over to One-Eye's tent. The old creature was still in there, grinding up leaves with a mortar and pestle. He hissed when Waits leaned over to pick up his vest and guns.

"Sorry. If my colony wasn't being annihilated right now, I'd stay, but I have to go," Waits said.

Zinnia walked up to One-Eye, whispering something. After a short conversation, the two touched noses, and One-Eye opened a small chest on his workstation. He pulled out a tiny jar of ground-up leaves, and handed it to Zinnia. Then he looked at Waits, gesturing to his head.

"What is it? Is it for pain?" Waits asked.

One-Eye nodded.

"Thanks. And... thanks for helping me. I know I'm acting ungrateful by leaving before I'm recovered, but I really appreciate what you've done. If there's something I can do to repay you, feel free to visit me. Zinnia knows where to find me."

Another nod. The older creature simply watched as Waits gathered up his belongings and followed Zinnia out of the tent, then went back to his mortar and pestle.

The walk uphill did no favors for Waits's headache. The pain came and went like tides, and there were moments where his head hurt so bad, he was squeezing his eyes shut to keep out the light. The sunlight dancing when the wind rustled the leaves on the trees made the pain worse as he tried to steady himself on a tree trunk, and he was starting to feel sick to his stomach. Finally, he decided to sit and take a rest. "Zinnia, wait up."

Her ears perking, Zinnia turned around, and dashed over to Waits, cooing.

"Don't worry about me. I just need to sit for a minute." Waits stared ahead, trying not to grimace with every painful throb in his head. He silently cursed himself. "I can't be sitting here. Every second I sit here, more people are gonna die. I can't do this."

It was hard to force himself back up. Resisting the urge to swear out loud, Waits gave himself a minute to rest. One minute. That's all I need. That's all I can afford.

Zinnia had been silent since Waits sat down. She suddenly turned to her left, sniffing the air and gripping her rifle tightly.

"What is it?" Waits asked.

Zinnia held up a paw as if to tell him to be quiet. Her ears were erect, and her whiskers twitched. Then she raced up the tree Waits was sitting against. She perched on a branch, looking through the scope of her rifle at something Waits couldn't see.

Despite his headache, Waits brought himself up to a crouch, holding his rifle in both hands. "What do you see, Zinnia?" he whispered to himself, knowing Zinnia couldn't tell him.

Several long minutes went by before Waits spotted something blue sticking out among the green of the forest. Four alien soldiers and a commander were headed in their direction. Waits held his breath as he centered the crosshairs of his scope on the commander's chest and fired. The alien went down screaming, forcing the others to take cover behind trees and rocks.

As if she had been waiting for his cue, Zinnia began shooting as well. Blue energy whizzed by both of them, then Waits noticed one bolt of energy going backwards... No, that couldn't be right. Unless-

Waits whirled around to see four more soldiers coming up behind them. He fired a long burst into the first two, taking them down almost instantly. The next two ducked into the bushes. Waits had to drop when he heard more bolts from the four they first encountered, and lay on his stomach as he fired into the bushes.

Suddenly, he felt something grab him by the back of his vest. Waits looked up to see the piercing violet eyes of an alien scowling down at him. The scowl turned into terror when a horrific screech was heard and the alien looked up to see Zinnia dropping down from the tree. Knocking the soldier off of Waits, Zinnia rolled with it onto the ground, hissing and digging her claws into its neck.

The remaining aliens were confused, and they wouldn't shoot at Zinnia. There were two survivors of the first group, and the last one of the ambushing group joined up together, aiming their guns at their comrade as it wrestled with Zinnia. One of them turned to deal with Waits, only to find the Marshal was gone.

Waits was frantically crawling through the undergrowth, shoving aside young plants and dead leaves. A thorny shrub tore his bandage and clothing. Fresh, bleeding scratches appeared on his hands. He heard something moving alongside him, and rolled over to see another alien following him. Before he could grab his handgun, he was kicked in the side. He bit back a scream as pain seared through him, and he began praying that he hadn't broken a rib or damaged a kidney.

The alien watched him writhe on the ground. Waits couldn't understand what it was doing? Was it debating whether or not he was worth the ammunition? Was it getting pleasure in Waits's pain? Was it trying to decide whether or not to take him prisoner?

His mind cleared a little, though he still wanted to scream. He moved onto his other side, angling his hand over his holster, and hoping the alien hadn't caught on to what he was doing.

When he heard the alien shout something, he yanked his gun free, shooting it twice in the chest. The body collapsed on the ground, and Waits managed to sit up. Using a low-set tree branch, he stood, putting his handgun back in its holster while he reloaded his AUG. Two mags left after this one. I need to be careful. He nervously looked around, not seeing or hearing anything. He jumped when Zinnia appeared out of the undergrowth. She was covered in purple blood.

"Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Waits snapped. Regaining his breath, he looked at Zinnia. "We gotta be close if we're finding patrols. Lead the way."

Waits struggled to contain his relief when they reached the colony perimeter. His relief was trampled by rage and despair when met with the bombed-out buildings and corpses scattered on the ground. The laboratory was still smoldering from the previous night.

Zinnia cautiously crept forward. She froze, and then Waits heard a familiar voice calling his name. Is that... He jogged toward the voice, and found Administrator Naraleth propped up against a wall—all that remained of a restaurant. Naraleth was covered in soot and blood. An M1911 lay in his lap, and a large burn encompassed the right side of his chest.

"I never thought I'd say this—" Naraleth broke off coughing, blood running from his mouth, "but it's good to see you."

Waits got on his knees, still in shock to find the administrator alive. "Honestly, it's good to see you, too. I gotta get you to the Bureau. Can you walk?"

Naraleth shook his head. "I'm done, Waits. I... I found the Marshals hours ago, with a group of people I've been keeping watch over since the attack, most of them Colonial Administration and ICC, and some Weyland-Yutani employees. We stuck together... but the aliens... they're hunting us relentlessly. Aslett ordered us to split up. She took me and a few others, sent groups off with Shea and Nicosia... told us it would give the aliens a harder time finding us. We were ambushed. Aslett and I held them off while the rest of our group ran. I was shot, and told her to leave me."

"Well, I'm not leaving you. I'll help you up, get you to the Bureau. You'll be safe there." Waits put Naraleth's arm around his shoulder, helping him stand.

"You'll just make yourself an easy target." Naraleth grunted in pain.

"Fuck that. I'm not leaving anyone to die." Waits looked at Zinnia. "Watch my back."

Naraleth managed a look of confusion through the pain. "Who are you talking to?"

"A... friend I met in the woods."

Zinnia made a sound that made Waits wonder if it was a laugh.

"What? You thought I was gonna call you an annoying little pestilence, didn't you?" Waits grinned a little, then saw Naraleth giving him a somewhat concerned look in the corner of his eye. "Yeah, her people dragged me away from the lab when it blew. That's why I disappeared."

"Aslett will be happy to see you, that's for sure," said Naraleth. "She seemed distraught after you vanished."

She probably thought I was dead. Guilt crashed over Waits. He couldn't imagine Aslett distraught. She was normally very calm and collected. Even during that time he lost his footing when they were hiking and nearly fell down into a valley, she was calm while pulling him back up. She could see me then. She knew I was okay. This is different. This is worse. She has no idea what happened to me. Waits held back on his emotions. Getting Naraleth to safety was more important.

It was bizarre that the long walk to the Bureau was relatively smooth. They had to take cover and hide from aliens once or twice, but Waits and Zinnia didn't have to engage them once. Where had they gone? Waits could only pray that they assumed they killed every colonist and weren't actively searching the compound anymore, but even that didn't seem likely. Regardless, Waits was glad he didn't have to put an already injured Naraleth in more danger.

He was relieved when he entered the Bureau after ordering Zinnia to keep watch in the lobby, and found the door to the armory was locked. Knocking, he called, "It's Waits! Open up!"

A Marshal by the name of Faulkner unlocked the door, holding an AUG. "Sir," he said. "What's changed out there? We've been out of radio contact for the group you took out last night for several hours now."

"Nothing's changed," Waits replied, letting a nurse take Naraleth. He paused at Brooks. "How's he doing?"

"Alive," the nurse said. "He needs treatment soon. His pulse is weak and he's lost a lot of blood. There's... There's no way his eye can be saved at this point. The best I can do is make sure his wounds don't get infected."

"If that's the best you can do, then that's the best you can do. There's too much damage to go to the hospital and try to salvage anything, otherwise I would've sent a group over there already." Waits opened his magazine pouch and walked over to a key-locked storage container, where he added four more AUG magazines to the pockets in his vest. "I'm going back out there. We got the stuff to make thermite from the lab before the sons-of-bitches blew it up. I'm gonna find Aslett and the others and start planning some sabotage. Faulkner, if the aliens try to get in here, get everyone out through the firing range tunnel and go to the housing lot. Radio me. We'll come and keep the fuckers off your tail."

Faulkner nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Naraleth, do you remember where Aslett took her group?" Waits asked.

"Not entirely. They were headed in the direction of the housing lot. That's all I remember." Naraleth winced as a nurse felt the area around the burn on his chest.

"Better than nothing. I'll check in periodically." Waits left the armory, and heard Faulkner lock the door behind him. He jogged up the stairs, joining Zinnia in the lobby. She was wearing her gas mask.

Waits took that as a bad sign. "What's going on?" Nervously, he opened the door, and heat bathed over him, like he just opened an oven. An acrid stench had filled the air. Beyond the colony, Waits could see the sky just above the trees was wavering, and then he saw flames dance upward. Black smoke began billowing out as well.

"The leaves and bark are full of an oil that produces a toxic substance when burned. Four Marshals and about twenty workers died in a fire last year." Waits could hear Aslett's voice telling him that only a month ago. Fire... They've set the woods on fire. Why? Is it because they caught me out there and they think other survivors are hiding out? Is it because of Zinnia's people? A tight feeling coiled in Waits's chest. He closed the door, and looked down at Zinnia. "I have to get everyone outta here before they trap us in the compound. I-It's risky, but I think the only thing we can do is run north." Waits looked out the glass doors, panic intertwining with the tightness in his chest. "First, I need to find the others." I need to find Lace.

Jogging back down to the armory, Waits banged on the door before Faulkner let him in. "Get these people out through the tunnel. Now."

Faulkner gave Waits a confused look. "Are the aliens coming?"

"They've set fire to the woods on the east side of the colony. We're not just dealing with a forest fire; the oil those trees have is poison. I'm ordering an evacuation now. We'll go out the north side." Waits looked at the nurse taking care of Naraleth. "Do whatever you need to do to make sure the wounded are prepped and comfortable. This might be a long walk." He turned back to Faulkner. "Don't wait for me and the others. Just get everyone out of here. We'll find you."

"Yes, sir."

Waits went into the back of the armory, unlocking a case of gas masks in foam insets. He tossed one to Faulkner before grabbing one for himself. Just when I thought this shit couldn't get any worse, Waits thought. He could see the heat waves as he approached the Bureau lobby doors, and slung his rifle before stretching back the retention webbing on the gas mask to put the mask over his head. When he could hear his breath rapidly going in and out of the filter, he took his AUG off his back and mentally braced himself for the intense heat as he threw open the doors.