Paige remained still, letting him come to her, noting the red scratches on his bare skin from his run through the jungle. His bewilderment matched her own, though she had a better idea of what was going on than he would. It certainly was not Jihadists, the Thorne Islands did not have the Muslim insurgency problems like so many islands in Indonesia and the like. There was a current of restlessness among the natives however, those who resented the intrusion of the Western world, bringing with it good and bad. For every person like Pastor Dan who brought his nursing degree and God's love there was men like the ones who ran Hobbes-Horizon. The hotels were a glitzy front and for those lucky enough to work for them they often had no quarrel with their employers. It was those that lived in the growing slums in the shadow of the luxury that grumbled. Those who had their villages bulldozed to make way for roads and buildings to serve the resorts. Anger festered in those who had been relocated from traditional fishing grounds to less productive waters to make way for tourists to frolic and play. Those who now sought a living from prostitution and theft, the families of those now hooked on the increased supply of drugs available. Elders bemoaned the loss of their very fabric of society, replaced with a thin veneer of what would be called civilization. 

She knew about these and some of the angry natives saw all foreign faces as invaders and would not be picky on who they killed. Though she was not sure, she wondered if the destitute Vaki could afford explosives and helicopters or could fly them. There had to be other parties involved. Paige looked at him with surprise and nearly laughed when he asked about the cops. Her face softened at the ignorance in the question. 

"No, honey, once the choppers are involved it's beyond the local cops," she replied, her Texas accented voice just above a murmur. "One of them shot up my Land Cruiser. I heard explosions from the direction of the hotel but I wasn't there, I was west of the resort." 

She looked around, she was unsure which way to go except to stay away from the beach and likely the roads. "I don't know who they are or what they want other than they have weapons and are pissed. We are going to have to hike it, can you manage barefoot?"