I was in trouble as soon as I opened my eyes! A woman was standing at my door pointing a gun at me with two men trying to push past them…they were none too happy with me. I’m trying to wake up, trying to figure out what is going on, worried I am about to get shot, and then Beans is growling and crouched between them and me ready to kill. Where did Beans come from? I hadn’t seen her since yesterday. She hadn’t been in my room when I went to bed.

I was reaching for my AR when I jabbed Ashley in the face with my elbow, she wakes up, and starts screaming. It was scene of chaos that was going to turn deadly any minute…I was sure I would be the first to die, they had the guns…ready to shoot.

After more than a few scary seconds of people screaming and waving guns everyone calmed down and the picture started to clarify.

One of the woman had gone to look in on Ashley and couldn’t find her in her bed. They started looking for her. Unbeknownst to any of them, she had wandered around, found Beans, and they had come into my room. Ashley had climbed into the bed with me while I was sleeping. The woman had looked in my room and saw Ashley there, thought the worst, and was ready to kill me.

With a crying Ashley being shuttled out of the room I had agreed that it was best she sleep in her own room. I got stuck with Beans. That dog started farting again. I couldn’t sleep anymore so I thought I would write a bit more before breakfast. I can smell it…sausage if I am not mistaken.

So evidently the Three Fingers Ranch is the product of the Tanner and Merrill families. Both of which are originally from Canada…almost. The Tanners had been from Utah, moved to Canada, and then back to Utah at some point because he was some big shot in the Mormon Church. Or “was” he’s dead now. The original Tanner married a Merrill like 500 years ago. OK, maybe more like 100 years ago and moved to Utah in the early 1960’s. Merrill’s evidently are really rich, they own some oil stuff in Canada, or did, including a pipeline or something. In any event there is a lot of money in the family.

And I don’t have clue who the guy is who started all of this. Someone named N. Eldon Tanner…I don’t know my Mormon history very well…OK, not at all. They seemed to be impressed with all of it…and I am not going to be rude. Breakfast smells too good for that.

Years back, not sure how many, they had bought this ranch and developed it over time. It served as a place for them to vacation, have family reunions, and serve as a “bug out location.” That term I knew from reading different articles on AHTrimble.com, so I wasn’t oblivious to what they were talking about. They’ve been planning this thing for a long time. And there is a lot of them. I am only seeing one “one main house” and there are supposedly three more scattered out over thirty sections of ranch land. That is nearly 20,000 acres of land!

The combined families had planned a family reunion for this year, all of the family. They were supposed to gather together the weekend before the EMP strike that proceeded the collapse. Ashley’s parents had gotten a late start. That delay cost them their lives…and almost the life of their daughter.

The ranch is named “Three Fingers.” According to the legend this N. Eldon Tanner was working a bunch of cows a long time ago, fell off his horse, dislocated three fingers, pulled them back into place, and kept right on working the cows. Sounds like a tough guy to me! But, maybe he shouldn’t have fallen off his horse to begin with.

Well, the nurse women are here to tend to my feet so I better go.

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