Karen sat in her Humvee ambulance beneath the shade of what appeared to be an open lumber warehouse beside the Cuyahoga river on the outskirts of Cleveland Ohio. She'd had to drive a very random pattern since leaving the highway because of abandoned cars in the bottle necks near bridges and the river. 

She was eating a jar of canned peaches she'd found at an abandoned farm. The flavor while not repulsive did puzzle her because the person who'd put them up had for some unknown reason used a cinnamon stick in the center. She set the quart jar down and snapped open the lid of a gallon clay pot and plucked from the oily green brine a fat Jalapeño pepper and ate the tangy little thing with a smile. She'd lucked out about three months ago when she found a truck that had been looted of all edibles except four gallon cans of Jalapeño peppers. They'd been deemed unworthy of other scavengers but Karen had seen them as a godsend because of their vitamin C content; she was now sure that she was safe from scurvy for a while.

As she ate her meal Karen didn't stupidly let down her guard but remained hyper alert which is how she managed to hear the motor of a vehicle near by. Rather than chase the unknown vehicle possibly exposing herself to danger Karen stepped out of her own slung her shotgun over her shoulder then tucked her ball bat into it's blue jean back holster. 

She climbed a nearby ladder that took her to the top of a large loading crane that sat by the river. She didn't climb slowly knowing that she might only have a small chance of seeing the source of her interest. She reached the top and sat atop the operators cab then began her scan of the surrounding area even across the river.