Carla had no idea how long she had been out. However, when she awoke, She was still in Carson's arms. And she was well aware that he did not tire easily. She looked up at the moon and wondered how many hours had gone by. Joshua appeared close by, blurry, but unmistakably him. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Carla had a searing headache and a huge bump where the man had hit her. "It's as if someone tried to crush my skull."
"They might well have," Carson muttered, his grasp on Carla's body still tight. "Animals, the whole fucking lot of ‘em."
Then, the prior events came rushing back, and she twisted out of Carson's grasp, almost forcing him to drop her. "They took all of our stuff," she exclaimed. "They took everything."
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," he groaned. "Everything I owned was in that bag."
"Oh, yeah," Carla said, forgetting that she and Josh still had a home to go back to.
"Can't you just go back to your wife and apologize or whatever?" Joshua proposed.
"Yeah... I've already tried that," Carson confessed. "And right now, I'm not sure whether I'd rather face those thugs back there or my wife."
"So, why did you cheat? I mean, dude, Chelsea is cute. I mean, y’all make a cute couple."
Carla, who was still suffering from a severe headache, berated Joshua. "Are we going to do this right now?"
"It's a long way back to San Antonio on foot," Joshua teased. "We might as well find a way to pass the time. Abusing Carson works for me."
“Jesus dude, why does it even matter to you?" Carson asked bitterly. "Relationships break down all of the time. Few marriages even take out a long-term contract these days."
"That's true, but you still don't rush into another one before the current one is over. That's just wrong. You couldn't have at least tried to make it work?" Joshua said.
"Don't you believe I tried? I tried everything I could to make her happy. But nothing I ever do is enough. I even suggested couple's counseling. But she was insistent that she didn't want a shrink to dig into all her issues. Man, I have no real defense here. I'm an ass, and I know it's worse for you because, well..it's Carla. But she was there for me when I needed her the most."
"Yeah, Carla?" Joshua's comment came off as a shared indictment of both of them. "You're a handsome guy; you could have dated anyone on that street. Why did you choose Carla?"
"Um, excuse me," Carla muttered, forcing Carson to come to a halt as she struggled to stand on her own two feet. "You know, I can speak for myself. I'm not a prize steer at the auction. I was just as much to blame as he was."
"Exactly!" replied Carson, pleased with himself. "And Carla was readily available," Carson added, causing Joshua to grimace. "OK, so hooking up with Carla wasn't the best idea. But guess what? At the very least, I recognized what I desired and pursued it! I mean, if I were you, I'd have spent most of my life pussyfooting around before ever asking her out!"
"What exactly are you talking about?" Joshua asked, his voice seeming very low.
"Oh, come on." Carson smiled. "Everyone knows you have a thing for her. Always have. Anyone with eyes and a brain would know immediately."
"I don't know what he's talking about," Joshua remarked hesitantly. "I believe they gave him a hit on the head as well."
"Guys!" Carla exclaimed, striving to keep walking in a mostly straight line. "Does this appear to be the setting for a fucking love triangle? We've got more important concerns here. Like, what the hell was going on in Vineland? Last week, it was a refugee camp! Now it's armed highwaymen."
Joshua nodded, but realized Carla was suffering more than she was letting on. He moved up close and gingerly put an arm around her waist to help support her.
Carson saw the gesture and smiled. He'd been right about Joshua. Still, that stab of jealousy did arc through his body, seeing the two of them.
"At a guess, I would say our more primal instincts are kicking in," Joshua said, suddenly eager to move on from the previous topic. “People no longer have to be concerned about the police. All they can think about is survival and protecting what is theirs. It makes them erratic and violent. They'll probably attack anyone.”
"Do you think they were the mayor's soldiers?" Carson asked, closing the gap behind them.
"I'd like to believe he would look out for his people a little better than that, but I can't think of anyone else who could of organize it," Joshua conceded.
“But Carla and I had official business in Lehigh, we’re working with Cleveland,” Carson said.
Joshua offered, "Could just be lousy communication. The mayor damn sure isn't coming out here to the front lines to write hall passes. My guess is the man is just barely hanging onto power, and if no help comes, he won't last long. One thing I've learned in life is that you should never underestimate what people in power will do to keep their positions."
"I'm not worried about that," Carson added. "I'm not sure what we're supposed to do when the rest of San Antonio is heading in the same direction as Vineland."
Carla grimaced. Not merely because of the suffering. Carson, on the other hand, had been voicing his concerns for some time. Vineland did represent San Antonio's future. Dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest. Carla was going to need had to step up her game and decide if she was going to continue being a victim or learn to survive.
"Could someone please tell me what good this doom and gloom is doing for us?" Joshua wondered. "We're too far from home, and we'll be lucky to get back before daybreak. We only have the clothing on our backs."
Carla blinked as he spoke, and looking up, she felt water hitting her face. Thick drops of a hard summer rain began.
"Oh, great!" Carson exclaimed.
"Why don't we try to find someplace to stay?" Joshua asked, still attempting vainly to stay positive.
"Sure, take your pick," Carson grumbled, motioning to the empty buildings around them. They were in an area near the old interstate. Random stores and a few strip malls from a half century earlier. This place had been on the decline long before the war came to town.
"We can stay for a few hours until the rain stops," Joshua said.
The three of them made their way to an old department store. Some of the clothes were still on the racks, as the looters had not yet raided them.
Once inside, the trio constructed a bed out of numerous winter clothes. Carla subsequently collapsed on them. She did like the kind attention she was receiving from the two, knowing that she was not alone in the world. Carla allowed herself to drift off to sleep, giving herself a break from worrying about the future.