Play it cool, don't draw attention

The goal is to keep things low-key and inconspicuous--you are, after all, trying to avoid gunmen searching her out, and clear her name in the meantime. So you decide it's best not to drag Anna away. She's already pretty memorable to this crew--best not to give them something to report to the police. So you toussle your busty companion's hair and pull out your best Totally Cool Dude voice.

"Glad you found the party spot, Brittany!" You crouch down next to her.

Anna scrunches up her face, which actually looks pretty cute, and starts to reply. "But my name i--fmmph"

You grabbed the empty Corona from her hand and brought it quickly up to her lips, trying not to hit any teeth in doing so. With remarkable instinct, she rolls the mouth of the bottle around on her lips (nearly as plump as Angelina Jolie's, you notice), then starts to nurse it.

You stand up, holding the bottle against your shorts, and basically feed it to her, to the renewed cheers of the trio of gangly boys near the campfire. You're not sure if she knows what's going on, but she's certainly helping you ingratiate yourself to the crowd. Except the slightly older woman, who does not look like she's enjoying the direction this gathering has turned.

"Show her who's boss, man!"

"Make her earn it!"

You keep up the act with the clear bottle for a few seconds more, then tap her head to let her know you're pulling out. After her ordeal with Bruce earlier that day, you can't imagine she's in the mood for much more throat plundering. Then again, it's hard to imagine why she wandered out here in the first place.

Anna looks confused and miffed at you in equal measure. She sits back on her heels, shakes her head and long blonde mane a bit, then grabs her new Corona and starts back toward the fire and the log benches.

After an hour of general chatter and occasional drunken antics, you learn that the three guys--Eric, Ryan, and Steve--are computer engineering students at the local university. The girl with them, Rebecca, is in some of their classes, but mostly came along as Steve's kinda-sorta date. They have two good-sized tents for themselves, and you imagine Steve expects to end up in one with Rebecca.

Then again, Steve at the moment is sitting right beside Anna, who'd doing a decent job remembering to call herself Brittany. You think you can see his hand on the small of her back as they make inane small talk and joke with Eric and Ryan. Rebecca moves over to your Log of Outcasts, and gives you a funny look.