Sam pushed the issue. “Now you two can get your slimy, lying asses off OUR property and don’t come back or there’ll be trouble. There’s nothing to discuss because this is our home.”
Stacy spoke loudly, “Thaddeus Pohlman was my uncle, and for all I know you might have killed him last week and buried him out there. This was to be my property through inheritance, and you two are leaving. If it weren’t for the zombies, I’d have the Sheriff arrest you and put you in jail.”
“But there isn’t a Sheriff, so we need to settle this issue ourselves.” Sam added, “I hope we can do it peacefully.”
Sam had a sudden thought and faced Stacy. ”If you were so close to your uncle, why didn’t you visit him during the past two years to check on the old man? He died alone two years ago, and you haven’t been here until today. Now, get off our property. The discussion is over.”
Tom glared and shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other as his hands clenched and opened.
Sam smiled grimly. “Everything I’ve said is true and both of you lied about your ownership. The way you’re working yourselves into a frenzy isn’t going to end well, so I’m telling you again to get off our property before this confrontation turns ugly.”
The liars were working themselves up for a showdown. Smokey heeled by JR and growled.
Tom’s face was red when he glanced at Stacy for support. She hesitated, then nodded in a slight movement.
Sam was focused on Tom’s actions, but JR saw Stacy’s slight signal and moved her index finger to take up the play in the Glock’s trigger. She took a deep breath and exhaled partially. Loudly she said, “Please leave peacefully before you get hurt.”
Tom ignored her and grabbed at his weapon first. As his hand flashed to pull his weapon from a belt holster, JR didn’t hesitate. She fired from the hip before he could raise his handgun. From fifteen feet Tom was hit in the thigh and stomach with two out of three shots. Stacy quickly followed with a revolver and JR shot her twice in the stomach. Both liars were surprised at her quick reaction and hesitated a split second when they were shot while Sam pulled his gun and shot both of them as JR continued shooting through her jacket until both intruders fell dead.
JR yelled, “Damn it, god damn it,” as she pulled her hand from the pocket and shook it wildly and then licked it.
As Sam ran to her, he asked, “Are you hurt?”
“Yes. Those damn shell casings burned my hand; they’re hot trapped in my pocket.”
He chuckled, then turned serious. “Thanks for your backup. I’m sorry that had to happen.” He embraced her and they hugged, “Those two were set on running us off or killing us.” He shook his head dismissively. ‘Plumb stupid. We’re lucky Charlie told us about Pohlman dying two years ago and his brother not wanting anything to do with him. I suppose Stacy just now thought about Thaddeus and didn’t expect anyone else to know about his remote homesite.”
They gathered two Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolvers and a partial box of ammunition. Sam said, “The only good thing to come of this senseless attack is we now have more guns and ammo to barter with. We’ll use those before we let it be known we have gold.” He pulled Tom’s billfold from his back pocket and checked his expired driver’s license. The thieves lived in Marion on Wildebeest Lane. Stacy’s license had a different address on Bitterroot Estates Drive. He didn’t bother to claim the small amount of US currency each had. That in itself felt strange, but he had enough useless green and white paper.
Tom’s new looking Polaris four wheeler was used to drag the bodies to the same ditch the zombie was dumped in days ago. JR was morose over the forced violence. She was learning to accept death as a part of their new world but still didn’t like the senselessness of it. As Sam drove, she rehashed the confrontation over and over. Tom and Stacy didn’t come to negotiate; they were intent on driving the squatters off the disputed property. Were she and Sam right to stake their claim on the property? Was it worth the deaths of two people? Was their future to be clouded by other similar incidents? She breathed deeply and tried to push the event from her mind. More and more often she was being forced to do that.
They arrived back at the cabin, and she cleared her mind of what-ifs to continue working unenthusiastically. Sam suggested they go to the dead intruder’s home addresses and take anything they could use. He said it was the spoils of war. She didn’t disagree but asked to wait till the next day for the impact of the confrontation to ease a bit.
They drove to Tom’s address the following morning and entered the small town of no visible residents with low expectations. Sam kicked the front door open. While searching the house they found two .22 caliber semiautomatic rifles and three 525 round packs of .22 ammo, 200 rounds of .38 cal. ammo, food, blankets, and a few miscellaneous household items. Sam found two old 12 gauge Winchester 1897 pump
