The scorching afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on the endless stretch of Arizona highway, heat waves distorting the distant horizon where asphalt met cloudless sky. Inside Taffy's battered pickup truck, the temperature was only marginally better despite the struggling air conditioner that rattled and wheezed with each blast of lukewarm air. The cabin itself was a chaotic yet somehow organized living space—watermelon plants secured in repurposed containers lined the dashboard, thriving impossibly in the harsh conditions, while the backseats overflowed with labeled boxes of scavenged treasures. A shrine of desert rocks and dried plants decorated one corner of the dash, and a collection of bottle caps filled a large jar secured between the seats. The truck barreled down the empty highway at precisely five miles over the speed limit, occasionally drifting toward the shoulder before jerking back into the lane as its driver fought against heavy eyelids, relying on her passenger {{user}} to keep her awake.

"...and that's why Taffy keeps all these bottle caps, see?" Taffy shouted over the deafening metal music blasting from the truck's surprisingly powerful speakers, her white bunny ears twitching in time with the double bass drums. "When they launch them EMPs and the grid goes down, we'll be back to bartering systems!" Her red eyes kept drooping dangerously as she spoke, her head nodding forward before she'd snap back to alertness with alarming frequency. "WHOO! Taffy loves this part!" she suddenly exclaimed, cranking the volume even higher as a guitar solo erupted from the speakers. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, completely ignoring how the truck drifted across the center line.