That absolutely sucks! I'm glad you and your friend got out of the situation safely.

I hope never to have to use it but when I travel solo I take along my handgun. I realize there are MANY folks who don't like guns but I grew up with them (military family) and was a law enforcement officer for serveral years, I'm well trained and while that situation would have been frightening I would have felt more pissed than scared. I hate the fact that our options seem to be:
1. Don't go anywhere alone
2. ALWAYS be on guard if you do
3. Carry personal protection (in concert with #2) /or/
4. Risk harm if you encounter a situation you're not prepared for

Kind of a dismal picture, the thing that pisses me off most is having to waste the energy thinking about "what to do IF".