The Report of a rifle snapped Karen's attention towards it and off of the search for the source of the motor noise. To her the sound of rifles was salvation and dread for they were carried by both sinner and saint. 

She lay down on the roof of the crane cab to limit her profile against the sky just as she'd been taught by the soldiers she had traveled with for several months. It was a strange world she now lived in and as frightening as it all was what worried her most of all is how she had adapted to it. The unimaginable was now fact, the brutal, normality an through it all she had become a person that would have held her old self in awe and fear.

Karen continued to watch in the direction of the rifle report and heard more sounds of gunfire she slid off the roof of the crane cab onto the walk then quickly slipped down the ladder to the concrete below. Once she was out of the ladder's safety cage Karen unlimbered her combat shotgun and chambered a round which she replaced in the magazine with one from her pocket.

"Always go in heavy" echoed Sergeant Hilderbrant's words in her memory, she missed the over weight man who'd taught her what he knew before the raiders had killed him. Then remembering what the sergeant taught her Karen did a perimeter sweep with the shotgun held in a relaxed grip against her shoulder and saw something moving near her Humvee. 

Approaching cautiously Karen spotted a group of five horrors that had been attracted for reason's unknown to stand near her vehicle. She slung her firearm judging that she should be able to take out the shuffling bastards with her loaded bat.

She quietly moved closer to the farthest from the group and planted both of her feet before swinging the titanium alloy weapon with every once of weight she could muster. At 5'9" and 120 pounds Karen was stronger than she looked which meant that the first victim of her bat had his head caved in before he feel. The other monsters heard the metal bat crack their fellow diner's head open and moved towards the noise.

Karen dropped three more before she realized she wasn't facing five foes but about fifteen and she was in danger of being surrounded or cut off from her ambulance. Taking four quick steps back Karen tossed the bat onto the concrete distracting them briefly but allowing her to unlimber her gun.

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!" Went the 12 gage combat shotgun taking out five shufflers in rapid succession. Then finding a short pause Karen slipped in four rounds to replace those she'd spent. "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!" The big bore weapon repeated so quickly she anounced she was military and semi auto to any with and ear for guns.

Karen ran to her concealed Humvee and closed the door locking it after jumping inside the gun still smoking. The military vehicle was a mini ambulance that had been up armored in the last desert war and basically immune to small arms fire so in it's confined space Karen felt safe against the weapons most lurkers and scavengers carried which was why she decided to start the military diesel.

She had to allow it to idle a little bit before moving out but still it's fording exhaust spewed black smoke into the air with a puff. She had to take a chance and head for the highway while it was still daylight so she could find another safe bivouac to spend the night.

As she headed down the street she thought of the gunshots she'd heard and hoped that whoever had fired them would read the white lettering on the front, sides, rear and top which read
[H2]Doctor Don't Shoot[/H2]