I was happy to see the walls of Sanctuary in the distance. It truly felt like I was coming home after a trip away. Diane was also watching the approaching walls with a bit of relief, although it could just be because we had been sitting for so long.
I grinned as I looked once more upon the huge colorful sign on our palisade that proclaimed this place to be Sanctuary. The sign was taller than I was and much, much longer, it could be seen from quite a distance away.
Eventually, the trucks came to a stop inside of the truck shelter. Two other truck shelters had been put up against this one to provide shelter for all three sets of trucks. I could see that Roland's trucks were here, but the other group was still out trading as they tried to fill their trailers with trading profits.
Most of the population had gathered to help us unload and the help was really going to be needed this time. Even with the amount of stuff that we had left at Toga Place, the trailers were still quite tightly packed.
Roland looked curious, possibly wondering why we were back so early. Dave smirked at him in good spirits before swinging open each trailer door with a flourish. Roland's jaw dropped and laughter echoed all around at his expression. I giggled and danced in place as I finally got to see Roland taken aback.
Roland shook his head as he approached, "How on earth did you manage that?"
Dave chuckled, "Let's just say that I have a few secrets."
Roland wasn't stupid and eyed up Diane and Ace. He knew firsthand about Diane's Raider skills and knew that Ace had been able to train Raiders when it was needed. He glanced back at Dave, "So what place did you raid?"
Dave grinned at being caught so easily, "A Walmart."
Roland shook his head, "Somehow I am not surprised..." He straightened up and called out, "Okay! Let's get this unloaded so these trailers can quit mocking me!"
There was a bustle of activity as people grabbed stuff and packed it off to the correct storage cave. A line of people actually formed between the one trailer and the food storage area as people simply turned into a human conveyer belt. I also helped pass the bags and boxes.
There was no current way to get the pallets out with a pallet jack since we didn't have a proper ramp built yet. I suspected that would be one of the first building projects come spring. It took us almost an hour before we managed to unload everything, which was a record even with so many people pitching in. Every little crack or gap in those trailers had been packed with something.
Amber called out, "Ah, Diane, I have something for you."
Diane paused in curiosity as she waited for Amber to approach with a small paper bag. "Something for me? I don't believe I was expecting anything to arrive."
Amber grinned and passed the bag to her. Diane opened it up and scowled. Amber chuckled at her reaction, "Trevor said to tell you, 'good try though'."
Diane rolled her eyes, "That guy should just accept my payment like he does from everyone else."
Amber was quite amused by the refusal of all Messengers to accept payment from Diane and just grinned in response. I also found it quite hilarious. Diane had been quite ingenious in a few attempts to get someone to pass some form of trade good to Trevor, but he always managed to get it back to her.
I noticed that Ace looked particularly amused, but not overly surprised. I kept my thoughts to myself, but couldn't help but to muse over the fact that Ace would have known that Diane always insisted on overpaying. He had also been the Messengers' main trainer for Raider or fighting stuff, which gave him a lot of time alone with that group.
They could have easily asked him for ideas and Ace knew as well as everyone else that Diane wasn't much for objects. He was quite sharp and would have known that she valued those letters from her friends at Wainwright Fort.
It was just an unfounded suspicion though, and I doubted that he would tell me if I asked. He wouldn't lie – he never did – but he didn't have to outright lie to give a philosophical response that didn't answer your question. It also didn't hurt anyone, so I would just keep watching to see if I could figure out this rather entertaining riddle.
The hair on the back of my neck raised and I dropped to my knees in the soft snow to avoid the missile heading in my direction. Thank goodness for Heartfire intuition. I had felt the object coming towards me and just managed to evade it.
I rolled over in the melting snow and crawled forward as I remained out of sight. The air was filled with the whizzing noise of snowballs being thrown at extremely high speeds. I looked around, but didn't see Diane.
Ace was on the other team, so I wouldn't see him unless I ended up on the wrong side of the battlefield. Todd had threatened to kidnap me and hold me as hostage though, so I kept a close eye out for him.
Everyone I saw on the ground had blue eyes. This game had been limited to only those who had been fired for at least a month. Almost everyone else was on one of the decks above watching with interest.
There were at least a hundred of us down here split into two teams. We had spent quite some time making snow forts and snow banks to hide behind. A warm wind had come through and most of the snow had melted, and the rest was soft enough to stick together.
I had never seen a snowball fight like this before, and from the comments I overheard, neither had anyone else. Everyone here had taken part in the fighting training and this spirited game resembled an intensive training exercise on teamwork.
I peeked above a packed snow wall and ducked with a squeak as a snowball was aimed at me. It was soft and thrown much more gently than the hard-packed things that resembled ice that flew elsewhere at lightning speeds.
I made a snowball, but didn't pack it too tightly. I didn't want to hurt anyone even if it would heal within an hour. A quick peek above showed that our opponents were focused on the other adults, not really counting me as a potential combatant. That was a huge mistake and even I knew better than that from when Ace trained both Diane and me together.
I pulled my Heartfire higher to lend me speed and strength. Speed to even have a chance of hitting the people with Heartfire reactions and strength to simply get the snowball across the large space between the two snow forts.
I readied my snowball and jumped up to throw it. I dropped back down, not making the mistake of lingering to see if I had actually hit Sandy or not. A blue eyed man crawled over to me, "Good shot, you actually managed to hit her. To make things better, she was so shocked that a dozen others also managed to hit her."
I was proud that I had hit her, but I felt bad for causing her to get hit by the others. Perhaps competitive team sports where the other person got injured just weren't for me. Admittedly, a snowball fight was better than the actual fighting practice, but there seemed to be a lot of similarities.
The man kept heading towards another part of the snow. My Heartfire stirred, but there was no way a snowball could hit me where I was crouched down. But something still made me uneasy. I looked around and my eyes widened at the sight of Todd slowly sneaking up behind me.
I quickly crawled down one path, but came to a dead end. If I stood, I could easily get pelted with several hard snowballs. Todd came into view as he also crouched below the low snow wall. He grinned evilly at me, clearly planning to take me hostage like he had originally planned.
I backed up against the end of the trench in snow and watched with wide eyes. My throat went dry and I couldn't seem to muster up my voice. I didn't see any of my teammates, even though I knew that over fifty were around here somewhere.
He was still about twenty paces away and rapidly approaching. I looked around, but I was at the far end of the battlefield and I didn't have anywhere else to go. Someone jumped over the snowbank and tackled Todd facefirst into the slushy snow in one smooth movement.
I found my voice and cheered as Diane swiftly shoved several handfuls of snow down the back of his light jacket. Todd squealed in surprise as well as in reaction to the cold stuff coming into contact with his warm skin. Diane didn't lose a beat as she smoothly pitched him over the snow barrier into the middle of the area between the two snow forts.
I peeked over the snowbank to see Todd being pelted with snowballs from both sides. Served him right for sneaking onto our side and trying to catch me. I turned to grin at Diane and she grinned back at me. Her eyes were very bright with how high her Heartfire was. It was true, she would always come for me.
She moved towards the main part of the fort to confuse the other team since they would be watching for her in this corner. I followed carefully behind her lest Todd return. Although even if Todd had caught me and managed to get me to the other side, I bet Diane would follow and still get her revenge before dragging me back.
I whispered to her, "Have you gotten hit yet?"
She glanced over her shoulder, "Not yet. Have you?"
I shook my head, "No. Have you managed to hit Ace yet?"
She chuckled, "Once."
I grinned in glee. She still had the edge over Ace.
The snowball fight continued and I made sure to remain where my team members could see me in case someone tried to come after me again. Now that I had my wits about me, I made backup plans. If my throat went dry again, then I was going to throw a snowball at the offender. I had never had my throat go dry before, but then again, it was a close friend and not an enemy.
The insane snow battle lasted almost three hours before the cooks decide to break it up by ringing the supper bell. Roland's laughing voice rang out, "That was an awesome game! Truce for the moment while we eat." He stood up and his slightly glowing eyes and wide grin were visible. The rest of us also stood up.
I skipped happily over to Diane. I had not been hit once by a snowball. To the best of my knowledge, Diane had also dodged every missile sent her way – and lots had been thrown at her. She had trained dodging missiles many times since our days at Wainwright Fort, so she was well practiced. Others hadn't been so lucky or skilled.
I could see a few scrapes here and there on exposed skin from where a hard snowball had broken the skin with its impact. Another reason to limit this sort of battle to those with Heartfire, those minor grazes would be healed in an hour. Most injuries obtained early in the game were already gone.
Everyone headed towards the mess hall with wide grins. Our Christmas feast awaited us and we were all eager to partake in it.