Punch Bus, No Punch Back

I'm in Bakersfield with Chrobot. We arrived after getting a three hour ride from a kind gentleman who had been doing some work on the PCT. He was awesome enough to take us all the way from Kennedy Meadows, through the Mojave Desert, and into town to the bus station. We're only a two hour bus ride from LA where we will spend a few relaxing days on various beaches. The only problem is that the bus is late. It's getting dark, which means it's getting past our bedtime. Today, in itself, was relaxing, considering we didn't do anything but eat and sit while waiting for a ride from Kennedy Meadows, but nevertheless, we just want to get to a bed. This no longer only means finding a relatively level spot of open ground.

About 40 minutes after the departure time, the bus finally pulls up to the station. Around us is a sort of crowd, all waiting to exit through door #7. The line isn't much to look at, given that it doesn't really exist in the first place. A few people get off the bus, some permanently and some just to use the bathroom. Meanwhile, the pseudo-line finally begins moving.

Getting on the bus is no big deal, just handing over my bag, going through the door, and ignoring the conversation going on between a security guard and a passenger who allegedly got off the bus to take a hit and might not be allowed on as a result. I look around, and there's no row open for me and Chrobot to inhabit, so I end up picking an aisle seat somewhere near the middle of the bus. Beside me is a suitcase, but no person.

Soon after sitting, the owner of the suitcase starts coming on the bus, and because of some sort of small fiasco going on in the row in front of me, I decide to vacate the seat and fall back to the second to last row. The person I'm now sitting next to is quiet, hunched, and looking down at his legs. Nothing really seems wrong with him.

I'm sitting, I just want to get to bed, and I feel a little out of place. No big deal though, because I'll just pull out my headphones and listen to music. I pull out my phone, and immediately as I do so, the kid next to me simultaneously says, "What did you say?" and throws a couple of punches to my face. Meanwhile, I grab my stuff, lean into the aisle, and think, "What did I say?"

The kid stops after about ten punches or so and sits back down in his seat. I'm a little freaked out, but honestly, I would have probably just sat back down next to him if the security guard didn't board the bus.

This might sound stupid and irrational (my response that is), but the punches didn't hurt, and he doesn't seem like anything I can't handle.

In any case, the security guard asks what happened, and I tell him. The guard orders him off the bus. Now the kid starts swinging at the guard. I don't know why anyone would do this, especially when the guard has about 150 lbs on you.

The guard handcuffs the kid and takes him off the bus. I still don't really know what happened. I'm a little freaked out, and I really just don't know what to do. I mean what do you do after someone randomly started punching you? Laugh? Cry? Sit back down?

I choose the last option. The security guard comes back and asks if I'm alright. I say yes, of course, because I am alright. Others around me are mentioning things regarding refunds or pressing charges or whatever, but I'm simply worn out and leave it be. Now the scariest part of the whole night comes: The guard holds his hand out, and I'm not sure whether to shake it or go for some more complicated form of handshake. Such is life.