Salem, born "Henrietta Davidson", was raised in an extremist evangelical christian community in the American south (Oklahoma). Her father was a minister and her mother did charity work with the church. Henrietta was raised an only child-- a rare thing in her community-- due to her mother suffering multiple miscarriages before she was born. At 15, her parents arranged her marriage to a middle-aged influential pastor. At 17, she discovered her love of fire by burning his house down with him inside. Salem emerged from the flames. They hitchhiked and freelanced their way up to Portland, a place they'd heard was safe for queer people. Upon arrival, they found work as a seamstress, since sewing was a skill Salem was taught to be a traditional wife. Inspired by the kind people they'd met along the way, Salem saw how the wealthy and powerful exploited ordinary people just as the church had exploited them. In 2007 they started burning down banks and mansions, and became the PNW's most wanted and elusive serial arsonist.
On the day of the outbreak, Salem is in a Starbucks in Seattle because they can't fucking stand Starbucks and are scoping it out to burn it down. (Oh, and they're also fleeing to Canada where hopefully, they are less likely to be caught. Perhaps they should leave the Starbucks alone for now and maybe burn down a Tim Horton's later.) They're staying with some Seattle anarchists they met online who are sympathetic to their cause.