Scary situation indeed but you should be glad you live here in Texas where you can (if you wish) go take some classes, get a concealed-carry permit, and surprise the living heck out of the next bunch of punks that try to terrorize you!

(BTW, if you do choose that option, then really learn to use the gun -- handle and shoot it frequently enough to be comfortable with it. If you don't, you're better off not to get a gun or carry permit at all.)

I don't carry around here 'cause while I'm not huge I'm male and big enough that I've never been accosted by punks -- cowardly bullies, even in groups, are always on the lookout for the easy victim, not one that might bite back. If I lived in or frequented some parts of Dallas or Ft. Worth I might carry, anyplace else around here the punks are just gang-banger wanna-bees trying to convince themselves that they aren't pansies. I would have to imagine those in rural east Texas are even more lightweight in nature.

At the very least get some good pepper spray (another thing that's legal here in TX that isn't in some states). By "good" I mean an absolute minimum of 10% and, if you can find it, get the 15% stuff. Look for a spray that fogs a fairly wide area without having a ridiculously short range (i.e., avoid the tiny, mostly useless "keychain" sprays). Get an extra can of the stuff and "waste" it learning to trigger the spray quickly and how the pattern spreads. Just like with a gun, if the first time you ever spray the stuff is an emergency, you are very unlikely to use it effectively.

Finally, take some confidence / self-defense classes. From your own description it sounds like you had "victim" written all over you and to these punks that is like blood in the water to sharks. Build up enough confidence that you get more mad than afraid when threatened. Punks know the difference and they will mostly avoid the person who doesn't appear frightened. (Inside, you can be quaking like California as long as it doesn't show )

The confidence / self-defense classes won't turn you into a ninja assasin, but they will teach you to be very situationally aware at all times and to project an air of confidence and competency. In many, many encounters that is all that is needed to make punks wait for an easier victim.

Don't hide and don't be a victim!

John