Ambitions End

The Valley

"Hey! Open the gate! I'm freezing my ass off out here!" Stephanie yelled after banging on the entrance gates of the community. The amount of snow that had fallen earlier in the morning made it difficult to tread through. Our horses were tired and had almost given up, but after some sweet words and promises of fresh fruit to our four legged companions, they found the strength to make it home.

"I swear to God I'm going to catch frostbite! How the hell are you not bothered by this weather? It feels like it's below zero out here!" Stephanie asked in frustration while we waited for the gates to be opened.

Everyone in the community thought it was weird how I always dressed lightly all year round. Especially during the winter time. I often forget and always have to remind myself that not everyone is like me when it comes to the hot and cold seasons. The sweet reality of being a Test Subject. "I told you, I'm extremely hot blooded. I can't feel the cold so this weather is nothing to me. It actually feels really good." I explained nonchalantly.

A familiar voice then shouted from above the gates. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're going to have to give the password to come through!"

We looked up at the guard towers and of course it was none other than our great friend, Tomas. Tomas was a middle aged man, a little on the heavy side, but don't be fooled. In a serious situation he could out run even the youngest of our community. He was a kind guy, always giving and checking on everyone, but slightly annoying when he wanted to be.

"Tomas, I swear to god. Open the damn gate or I'll give your rations to someone else tonight!" Stephine threatened Tomas with a tone of annoyance and anger.

She wasn't serious, but I could tell she was at the point where she might actually go through with her threat. Tomas always got on her nerves. He was the only person she just couldn't get along with, but that didn't stop Tomas. He still tried to make some kind of friendship with her even though she clearly didn't want anything to do with him.

"That's not the password! You're supposed to say please!" Tomas shouted back.

Stephanie was about to shout back with some unappealing words, but I quickly jumped into the conversation for Tomas's sake. "Please open the gates, Tomas. We're very tired." I said with a soft smile.

It was silent for a moment. I was worried that he was going to play the same game with me and I'd also lose my temper, but the gates soon opened for us. We sighed with relief and walked through. Our horses seemed just as happy as us to finally be home. Once on the other side, we met face to face with Tomas and the other guards at the top of the watchtowers.

"Ah, Ms. Everwood. You're always the sweetest. Tell Matthew I said hi, by the way." Tomas said, smiling sweetly towards me as he leaned on the railing of the tower.

It was funny to me how he never realized how much he annoyed people. Or maybe he did know and just didn't care. "Sure thing, Tomas." I said with a smile while shaking my head at him. Stephanie just ignored him and led the way to the horses stables.

"God, he's such an asshole." Steph said to me with irritation.

"Mm. Yeah, but he's our asshole." I said jokingly. Stephine just scuffed at my words and continued on in front of me.

We had to walk a short path through the community to make it to the stables. On our way there we were greeted by most of the residents as they continued on with their daily lives. That consisted of their routines of either trading valuables and livestock or simply helping out around the community. While traveling through, everyone was happy to see we had made it back in one piece. Being out for long periods of time didn't always result in the best case scenario, and everyone knew that. So us actually coming back was a sigh of relief for everyone.