Love in the Midst of Chaos

Becky

When we get to the island we split up, Jackson really taking me to get something to eat, before we try to find the sheriff. "Do you like hotdogs?"

"Uh, yeah," I nod, "I don't eat them a lot because of what they're made of but who doesn't?"

"Just checking," Jackson chuckles. We find a food cart on the street and Jackson gets us two hotdogs, "ketchup or mustard."

"Mustard."

"Ah, what a shame," Jackson jokes as we gets the condiments on the hotdogs, "we could have been so good together."

I shake my head, "I thought you were all about Chloe?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous," Jackson shakes his head as he hands me my dog.

"What's so crazy about that? I've seen the way you look at her."

"Yeah, and I've seen the way you look at Mitch, but that doesn't mean I have a shot with her."

"Are you saying I don't have a shot with Mitch? If I wanted one."

"No, that is not what I'm saying, just... eat your hotdog." I chuckle and take a bite of the hotdog. As I do, my eyes widen and Jackson chuckles, "amazing right?"

"It's only this good because I'm starving, that's the only logical explanation. But why is it sweet?"

"Because they boil them in sugar water, or they did when I was a kid. Pretty good though, right?"

"Yeah," I nod and take another bite.

Jackson and I continue to walk around, looking for the sheriff before long we finish our food and not long after that we spot the sheriff, "there she is. Hey, Sheriff." As Jackson calls out to the woman she turns, but Jackson seems very surprised by who he sees, "Becky?"

"Jackson?"

"Yeah," the two laugh.

"Wow, I haven't seen you since... Forever."

"Yeah," Jackson nods, before gesturing over to me, "this is my friend, uh, Phoebe."

I smile to Becky and shake her hand, "nice to meet you."

Becky nods, "hello, friend Phoebe. I was his first love, but don't be jealous. We were 12."

"Oh, no, no, no," I shake my head.

Jackson shakes his as well, "we, uh, Phoebe's..."

"We work together."

"Yeah."

"Oh," Becky chuckles, "I'm sorry. You look, well, you look like two people who should be together. Again, I'm sorry."

I nod, trying to get over the awkwardness Becky has created, "uh, we want to talk to you about the rats that came off the ship the other night."

"What about them? Billy T, the fisherman. He has a gift for exaggeration, a fondness for whiskey. If he claimed he saw a hundred rats, you can be pretty sure he saw more like 12. There's nothing to be concerned about."

"Actually there is," Jackson nods.

I clear my throat, "you saw the bodies on the ship, right?"

Becky shakes her head, "you seriously think rats killed the crew? Rats don't eat live people. In fact, they're more afraid of us than we are of them. The coroner hasn't finished his exams yet, but unofficially, he believes it was a carbon monoxide leak that killed those men. And then the hungry rats came in and feasted on the corpses. It's tragic, sure, but not sinister."

"Yeah," Jackson crosses his arms. "We have been doing research on some odd animal behavior over the past few months and I think that you should consider evacuating the island. Just to be safe."

"Are you kidding? What is this all about, Jackson?"

I take a deep breath, "like he said, we have been studying animal behavior all over the world and there is a real danger here."

"You know how much this community depends on the tourist. Evacuating in the middle of peak season would cause a heck of a lot more damage than any rats ever could."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"If thousands of rats had shown up, someone would have seen them. So far, all I've heard about are a few being spotted over by the Wilson. Remember the Wilson Hotel?"

"Yeah, of course," Jackson nods.

"It's been closed for a while now. It's undergoing some renovations."

"All right, that's fine. Thank you very much, Becky."

"Well, it was really good to see you, Jackson. And if you stay on-island, we should get together. Just no more rat talk, you hear?"

Jackson and I walk away from Becky, not gong back to the group for a little while, just to make sure no one in any form of law enforcement sees Jaime, "The Wilson Hotel, that's where we have to go. It's huge."

I nod, "and if it's deserted, it would make the perfect breeding ground for them, once the ship was no longer viable."

"Let's go find the others."

I chuckle, "are we really not gonna talk about what just happened?"

"What?"

"She likes you. Like, likes you likes you."

"She liked me, as in past tense, as in when we were twelve."

"No, she likes you, as in present tense, as in right now." I laugh, "I mean, if you really believe you don't have a shot with Chloe, why not go for sheriff Becky."

"Ah, you mean I don't have a shot with you."

"No, you don't, sorry."