#sonoran desert death metal

[hayleyrippy]

Gatecreeper / April 2017 / Club Congress / Tucson, AZ

-Hayley Rippy

[thetitanovterror]

No soul. No hope. There’s no escape.

[gatecreeper]

GATECREEPER - SWELTERING MADNESS out now!!!

Listen on...

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iTunes / Apple Music

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[kuramirocket]

The U.S.-Mexico border as we know it is a relatively recent invention. Established after the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the first formal barriers didn’t begin to materialize until the early 20th century in locations such as California and Arizona — to regulate the movement of people and cattle. 

In fact, it wasn’t until the Clinton administration in the 1990s that the border began to assume its modern look, when steel helicopter landing mats left over from the Vietnam War were used to mark the divides between territories. The architecture of the border has grown increasingly defensive, aided and abetted by the xenophobic rhetoric of politicians like former President Donald Trump, who operated by the mantra, “Build the wall.”

In the meantime, Indigenous groups such as the Tohono O’odham of Arizona, who have inhabited the Sonoran Desert for centuries, have seen their historic homelands quite literally torn apart by the border — sacred sites and environmentally fragile zones blasted away to make way for ever more wall.

“Passage,” which is entering its final week at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum at the Mesa Arts Center in Arizona and “Indigenous Women: Border Matters,” on view at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe through early October, expand the frame to center the Indigenous view of the border.

“Passage,” which was organized at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum examines the toll the border has taken on human life in an installation that also nods to O’odham tradition. The exhibition features the collaboration of Indigenous and Mexican artists from around the Southwest and beyond.

Thousands of contributors submitted handmade clay beads from locations around Arizona and the country, with each bead intended to symbolize a life lost along the U.S.-Mexico border over the last 30 years. Luger also teamed up with two local Indigenous artists — Thomas “Breeze” Marcus (Tohono O’odham) and Dwayne Manuel (Onk Akimel O’odham) — who contributed a floor mural inspired by O’odham creation myths.

Viewers are invited to navigate this labyrinth, coming into intimate view with the beads, which bear the distinct imprint of thousands of human hands. The effect is bone-like and funereal, a veil of manufactured death hovering over the O’Odham imagination.

The taut and tiny “Indigenous Women: Border Matters” at Santa Fe’s Wheelwright, looks at the ways in which modern notions of the border have disrupted Indigenous life.

A series of wry linocut prints by Makaye Lewis (Tohono O’odham) capture the vagaries of life along the border — in which to be Indigenous is to be suspect and to be subjected to the continuous surveillance of border authorities. Strangers on their own land.

Particularly visceral is an installation by Daisy Quezada Ureña (Mexican American), whose featured works depict articles of women’s clothing — principally undergarments — hung on plastic spikes that emerge from the wall. In some cases, she renders the clothing in porcelain, which gives these personal items an unsettling, ghostly sheen. Another sculpture by the artist features a woman’s shirt supported against the wall by a metal fence post.

Redolent of sexual violence, the sculptures are a gripping memento mori to the steep bodily price often paid by female immigrants to the United States.

These are difficult subjects. But even as these exhibitions offer an unblinkered view of the ways in which policy can play out in real and violent ways, they also reflect the ways in which artists and communities can come together — to work, to tell a story and to show resilience in the face of political forces that don’t see people, only the imaginary geopolitical line.

[metal-patches-vinyl]

ALBUMS OF THE WEEK. Here are the nine albums that got the most plays from me this week. The clear winner this time was Inferi’s wonderful new E.P., “Of Sunless Realms” (technical death metal from Nashville, Tennessee!). Right after that was Necrophobic’s new album, “Dawn of the Damned” (a fantastic follow up to 2018’s Mark of the Necrogram). The rest are various favorites and classics that got me through the madness of another week in 2020. 💀 1. Inferi – Of Sunless Realms (2020) 2. Necrophobic – Dawn of the Damned (2020) 3. The Misfits – Static Age 4. Dumal – The Confessor (2020) 5. The Misfits – Legacy of Brutality 6. Havok – V (2020) 7. Gatecreeper – Deserted 8. Gatecreeper – Sonoran Depravation 9. Ettinskjalf - Intramental ☠️ What topped your charts this week?

[wolverineblues]

Top 9 most listened to albums in 2019

Those Once Loyal - Bolt Thrower (first death metal album i ever heard in full which kickstarted my love for the genre. I also think it’s Bolt Thrower’s best. fave/s: The Killchain, Anti-Tank (Dead Armour), When Cannons Fade)

Wolverine Blues - Entombed (this followed soon after hearing the album above this. i had heard the title track before, and it captivated me with its blend of death metal and rock. fave/s: title track, Full of Hell, Eyemaster)

Sonoran Depravation - Gatecreeper (weird this one got so high... I think it’s mostly because of the song Flamethrower. it has a killer riff and was also one of my most listened to songs this year. if you like the swedish death metal sound with some doom and slight hardcore mixed in, check out Gatecreeper. fave/s: Flamethrower mostly.)

Killer Be Killed (self titled) (fun sounding record with some serious subject matter. its got a bit of lots of different kinds of metal mixed in. plus it’s a supergroup! fave/s: Wings of Feather and Wax, Snakes of Jehovah, Dust Into Darkness)

The IVth Crusade - Bolt Thrower (the usual Bolt Thrower stuff but a bit doom-ier. the title track is one of my favorite death metal songs ever. fave/s: title track, Ritual, Where Next to Conquer)

We Are Not Your Kind - Slipknot (didn’t expect i would be getting into Slipknot this year! but i did,,, at least this album. definitely glad i decided to give it a chance. fave/s: will be revealed soon...)

The Grand Descent - Fuming Mouth (basically death metal mixed with hardcore, which, you could call deathcore, but that’s something else entirely. THIS is what i imagine deathcore would actually sound like if it didnt already get applied to something else. fave/s: also gotta wait for that!)

Deserted - Gatecreeper (continuation of what was done on the previous record, but much improved. I enjoy this overall more than the first. fave/s: cant tell you just yet)

Nightmare Logic - Power Trip (im one of those who listens to Power Trip mostly because they sound fun as fuck. sometimes its a bit of a curse they sound so good because you dont always get the serious subject matter especially because I can’t understand Riley most of the time when he’s shouting. but i’ve always been a “sound first, lyrics later” kinda guy, so it doesnt bother me too much. fave/s: Executioner’s Tax, Soul Sacrifice, title track)

Left Mastodon out of this because they’ve been included in this twice already, and this would’ve been their second time in a row taking all the top spots. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Comparing these to the years before, this is the year I went full metal... I barely listened to anything that wouldn’t be qualified as “metal”.

Also here again are Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower and Nightmare Logic by Power Trip! BT got bumped up while PT got bumped down compared to last year.

There’s A Few on here I’ll be talking about more at length soon, so stay tuned if you’re interested 👀

For the past few years, I’ve liked to turn this into a tag game of sorts: list out 9 albums (or EPs) you’ve listened to the most this year, talk about it if you’d like, then tag some others to do the same.

@birchmen @edgtheow @the-mighty-het-speaks @loserdust91

Idk who else to tag so if anyone sees this and they want to do it, go ahead

[happymetalgirl]

Gatecreeper - Deserted

After a lot of work on the more local level Gatecreeper came out of the Phoenix death metal scene with their debut LP in 2016, the short but slimy Sonoran Depravation, and the boys got a lot of love for their direct, meaty, filthy take on sludgy modern death metal and they got a lot of people excited for what would come next them, but I was not one of them. I liked the album, but there was so little there in the way of anything unique to make me want to return to it over something even sludgier like a Primitive Man album or even more grotesque like a Cannibal Corpse album or even more technical like a Beyond Creation album. Again, it’s not a bad album per se, but it’s just not a very special or particularly creative example of what this type of death metal can offer, just the bare bones of what the genre has to offer.

But of course there was a lot of hype surrounding the band’s sophomore effort and a lot of people asserting that the album had lived up to their hopes and expectations, so I was open to what Deserted might have to offer. After hearing it, I can definitely say that it is another fine, appreciable offering of this form of death metal, but any improvements the band have made from their debut to here are minuscule. Deserted is full of the same muscular, aggressive, grimy, slow-blast-beat-riddled death metal its predecessor was.

The album does have some compositional positives though; the slow-churning title track, whose buildup from its savory slow start highlights the filthy guitar tone and the crisp drum sound and whose closing guitar solo shows the band getting a little more dynamic for a moment, being one. There are several strong riff-based passages like those on “Puncture Wounds” and the melodic backing guitar line on “From the Ashes”. I like the primal grunts that sync with the bass kicks on “Ruthless” and even some of the percussive rhythm ups and downs that provide the needed dynamic on several other tracks. But the band do of course run out of novelty rather quickly, and their sluggish death metal does lose steam without constant rejuvenation through imaginative compositional choices that they don’t bring quite frequently enough, with songs like the monotonous “Everlasting”, the unenthusiastic “Barbaric Pleasures”, and the rehash-ish “Sweltering Madness” just a dragging the album’s momentum down.

Gatecreeper have a strong baseline of performance competence and comfort with this style of music, but the band is going to have to do more than just play standard, predictable, tone-reliant death metal with not a whole lot of flair to really get me, at least, invested in what they’re doing. Again, I’m not saying that they have to go out and toy with their sound and transition to something else; there are plenty of bands I love that keep it very simple and direct. But if this what Gatecreeper want to keep playing, the quintet will have to do some serious work on their composing to not run out of the gas they are fortunate to have from their adoring fans who don’t seem to find their relative lack of musical imagination as much of a problem as I do. And again, I’m not trying to hate on Gatecreeper, or this album, I just don’t see the excitement over what appears to be a second batch of serviceable, but rather generic death metal timesuckers.

I wouldn’t turn it off, but I wouldn’t turn it on either/10

[grindpromotionrecords]

An Unexpected Reality is Gatecreeper like you’ve never heard them before. Exploring both ends of the tempo spectrum, this release offers two opposing sides of the band’s musical personality. Side one consists of seven short, sharp shocks that have a total running time of less than seven minutes. Inspired by grind, punk and hardcore, tracks like “Starved,”“Rusted Gold” and “Amputation” are some of the fastest offerings the Arizona death metal squad has ever recorded. Side two is the exact opposite. Consisting of a single 11-minutetrack entitled “Emptiness,” this is Gatecreeper at their slowest and most funereal. Think of it as an extended version of the death-doom tracks that the band closed out Sonoran Depravation and Deserted with. Engineered by Ryan Bram at Homewrecker Studios, mixed by Kurt Ballou at Godcity Studios and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side. #gatecreeper #anunexpectedreality #closedcasketactivities #metal #death #deathmetal #metalhead #metalmusic #vinyl #vinyladdict #vinyllover #vinylme #vinylpress #vinylstore #vinylrecords #vinyljunkie #vinylwrap #vinyligclub #vinyldecals #vinylpossessed #grindpromotionrecords (presso Grindpromotion Records Hq) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjsgfoOoySG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rjzimmerman]

I’m posting some of the more interesting photos and infographics from the article, so we can grasp a little better not just the insanity of constructing (and maintaining) a wall, but the stark beauty of the area affected. We know about the wildlife that will be adversely affected, including several endangered species, but that’s another topic.

Roughly 105 miles of the 140-mile border California shares with Mexico are walled off by pedestrian fencing or vehicle barriers, beginning on the west coast with a tall, metal fence that juts into the Pacific Ocean. Getty Images/John Moore

More than one century, $60 million, and 2 million cubic yards of dirt later, this is what Smuggler's Gulch looks like now. Flickr/Romel Jacinto

While much of California's southern border is secured by fencing or vehicle barriers, two main stretches of land have remained somewhat unscathed. One, the Otay Mountain Wilderness, includes a 3,500-foot mountain peak known for its steep climb and abundance of tarantulas. Getty Images/David McNew

The Jacumba Mountain Wilderness also occupies a large stretch of bare borderlands known for their brutal conditions for migrants. Though Border Patrol agents monitor the area on horseback, the area is vast and remote, and migrants often die before help arrives. Getty Images/John McNew

Throughout much of the Sonoran Desert, which spans Arizona's southern border, the barriers consist solely of short fence posts that prevent vehicles from crossing, but that people can easily step over. Associated Press/Guillermo Arias

The small barriers intersect much of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Tohono O'Odham Nation Reservation, which are known for their extreme desert conditions and have seen growing numbers of migrant deaths in recent years. Getty Images/John Moore

Most of the corpses found in Arizona in 2018 so far were discovered near the Tohono O'Odham Nation Reservation.

Further to the east, rising up from Arizona's desert floor, is an archipelago of mountainous borderlands called the Sky Islands, which sustain thousands of different types of species that couldn't survive just miles away in the Sonoran Desert. Getty Images/John Moore

Big Bend National Park contains river, mountain, and desert ecosystems that sustain fragile populations of black bears and other large mammals, which are slowly recovering from an over-hunting epidemic that began back in the 1950s. Associated Press/Michael Graczyk

In a $1.6 trillion spending package Congress approved earlier this year, the lawmakers explicitly said Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge would be exempt from any new border-wall construction. Associated Press/Eric Gay

[djgreenjeans]

#6. Gatecreeper - Deserted

Deserted is a continuation of all the ideas that worked on its predecessor. And though Sonoran Depravation was an album that stayed very much in its lane, the band succeeded wildly in crafting an almost wholly visceral work whose slender and straightforward rippers hit the mark every single time. A similar thing can be said of Deserted, but it carries a heavier doom metal influence as well. It’s as much an album of ferocious beatdowns as it is ghoulish dirges, all of which carry seamlessly from one stylistic pursuit to the next. And that guitar tone I mentioned is no joke—it’s locked in, and the band (along with engineer Ryan Bram and mixer Kurt Ballou) deserve a lot of credit for locking in an aesthetic that keeps a certain cohesion among these 10 tracks. For how much variation there is between the band’s approach on the ominous, slow moving title track and the galloping death metal anthem “Puncture Wounds,” or between the death-doom lurch of “Sweltering Madness” and the groove and strut of “Boiled Over,” there’s no mistaking that this is a Gatecreeper record through and through.

The greatest moment of stylistic departure on Deserted comes right at the end, with the soaring doom metal of “Absence of Light.” It’s here where Gatecreeper prove that there’s plenty of opportunity to allow more space into their music, not to mention variation in arrangements: An eerie organ drones beneath the harmonized guitar riffs, reminding listeners that this album’s October release probably isn’t coincidental. “Absence of Light” opens a door for Gatecreeper, suggesting that the band may well have plenty more to explore and exhume with coming albums, but in its placement here, a little bit of a surprise goes a long way. It’s the extra topping that pushes a good death metal album closer to being a great one. This is a death metal essential for 2019, and another justification for Arizona’s heavy metal bragging rights.

Standout Track: Sweltering Madness

[rockrevoltmagazine]

BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER Fuse Funk and Psych Rock with Retro-Visuals on “Funky Town Sex Machine”

Arizona based boogie rock band BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER has set aside time from their intense touring schedule to release the official music video for their new single, “Funky Town Sex Machine”!

“Wanting to show the true funkadelic style of this project and for people who have not seen us live, this song and video are a glimpse into the fun and fresh world we are creating.” – BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER

Download / Stream “Funky Town Sex Machine” online: iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | Bandcamp

Catch Black Magic Flower Power LIVE: 09/13 @ The Dead Horse Bar – San Angelo, TX 09/14 @ El Patio – Las Cruces, NM 09/20 @ The Hut – Tucson, AZ 10/05 @ The Grand Ballroom/club Palazzo – Phoenix, AZ 10/30 @ Launch Pad – Albuquerque, NM 10/31 @ Taos Mesa Brewing – El Prado, NM 11/02 @ El Patio – Las Cruces, NM

“Black Magic Flower Power has coined the phrases “Stoner-Disco” and “Desert-Boogie” to describe their unique blend of Disco, Pop, Psychedelic Rock & Funk. BMFP is a quintet comprised of synth guitar, clavinet, slap bass, wah wah, strings, horns, hook laden vocals and percussive disco beats. It’s impossible to not be transported back to the golden age of roller disco and classic cop shows when drinking their special acid laced Kool-Aid dialed into a radio station that plays Issac Hayes, The Cure, Beck, & Eagles Of Death Metal simultaneously. The band performs 150 + shows a year and resides on the outskirts of the Sonoran Desert when not on the road.”

Connect with Black Magic Flower Power: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER Fuse Funk and Psych Rock with Retro-Visuals on “Funky Town Sex Machine” was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

[gigsoupmusic]

BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER Fuse Funk and Psych Rock with Retro-Visuals on “Funky Town Sex Machine”

Arizona based boogie rock band BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER has set aside time from their intense touring schedule to release the official music video for their new single, "Funky Town Sex Machine" "Wanting to show the true funkadelic style of this project and for people who have not seen us live, this song and video are a glimpse into the fun and fresh world we are creating." - BLACK MAGIC FLOWER POWER https://youtu.be/eteYuT0vb_w "The song and video serve as a perfect introduction to the band, showcasing their funk licks with vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on a rock record out of the Joshua Tree scene – which makes sense because the band calls the Sonoran Desert home when they’re not on the road...." Matt Matasci - mxdwn

Catch Black Magic Flower Power LIVE: 09/06 @ Poor Boy’s – New Orleans, LA 09/07 @ Freetown Boom Boom Room – Lafayette, LA 09/12 @ Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX 09/13 @ The Dead Horse Bar – San Angelo, TX 09/14 @ El Patio – Las Cruces, NM 09/20 @ The Hut – Tucson, AZ 10/05 @ The Grand Ballroom/club Palazzo – Phoenix, AZ 10/30 @ Launch Pad – Albuquerque, NM 10/31 @ Taos Mesa Brewing – El Prado, NM 11/02 @ El Patio – Las Cruces, NM

"Black Magic Flower Power has coined the phrases “Stoner-Disco” and “Desert-Boogie” to describe their unique blend of Disco, Pop, Psychedelic Rock & Funk. BMFP is a quintet comprised of synth guitar, clavinet, slap bass, wah wah, strings, horns, hook laden vocals and percussive disco beats. It’s impossible to not be transported back to the golden age of roller disco and classic cop shows when drinking their special acid laced Kool-Aid dialed into a radio station that plays Issac Hayes, The Cure, Beck & Eagles Of Death Metal simultaneously. The band performs 150 + shows a year and resides on the outskirts of the Sonoran Desert when not on the road."

Read the full article

[metalshockfinland]

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Sonoran death metal legion GATECREEPER and Gore metal maniacs  EXHUMED  announce a co-headlining US tour through the Fall. Both bands will tour in support of their new albums Deserted & Horror – both out on October 4th. The tour begins on October 31 in Austin, TX and ends December 4 in Las Vegas, NV. Additional support by Necrot & Judiciary. All confirmed tour dates are available below.

Comments EXHUMED’s Matt Harvey:

“We couldn’t be more stoked to bring folks such a stacked lineup for this tour. It’s gonna be a neck-breaking extravaganza of massive proportions! We can’t wait to get out and play stuff from Horror for all the Gore Metal Maniacs out there and showcasing the tunes alongside Gatecreeper, our Bay Area homies in Necrot and Judiciary will really be a trial by fire for the songs. We’ve got a new setlist, new production, and the same old body odor, so come out and make some noise with us!”

Additionally, GATECREEPER share the Decibel Magazine Flexi exclusive song “Social Decay”. Listen now AT THIS LOCATION. GATECREEPER will perform their first concert of 2019 next week on August 30 at HOCO Fest in Arizona.

Stream GATECREEPER’s new song “Deserted” HERE and EXHUMED”s new song “Ravenous Cadaver” HERE.

TOUR DATES:

Oct 31 Austin, TX @ Barracuda Nov 01 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Nov 02 Houston, TX @ The Secret Group Nov 04 Tampa, FL @ Crowbar Nov 05 Miami, FL @ Chuchill’s Nov 06 Winter Park, FL @ The Haven Lounge Nov 07 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Hell Stage Nov 08 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlie’s Nov 09 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups Nov 10 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Nov 11 Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ The Fillmore Nov 12 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bazaar Nov 13 Somerville, MA @ ONCE Ballroom Nov 15 Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club Nov 16 Lakewood, OH @ Foundry Nov 17 Hamtramck, MI @ Sanctuary Nov 18 Madison, WI @ The Crucible Nov 19 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry Nov 20 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Nov 22 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre Nov 23 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge Nov 24 Boise, ID @ Neurolux Nov 25 Bozeman, MT @ The Eagles Ballroom Nov 27 Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown Nov 28 Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret (No Exhumed/Necrot) Nov 29 Seattle, WA @ Substation Nov 30 Portland, OR @ Dante’s Dec 01 Arcata, CA @ Rampart Skatepark Dec 02 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Shop Dec 03 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s Dec 04 Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon

GATECREEPER’s new album Deserted is due out October 4th on CD/LP/CS/Digital. Physical packages are available for pre-order via Relapse.com HERE. Digital Downloads / Streaming Services are available HERE.

EXHUMED’s new album Horror is due out October 4th on CD/LP/Digital. Physical packages are available for pre-order via Relapse.com HERE. Digital Downloads / Streaming Services are available HERE.

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour Sonoran death metal legion GATECREEPER and Gore metal maniacs  EXHUMED  announce a co-headlining US tour through the Fall.

[johnerigo-blog]

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED -Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour #gatekeeper #exhumed

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED -Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour #gatekeeper #exhumed

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED -Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour #gatekeeper #exhumed

Gatecreeper Share Decibel Magazine Flexi Song “Social Decay” Sonoran death metal legion GATECREEPER and Gore metal maniacs EXHUMED announce a co-headlining US tour through the Fall. Both bands will tour in support of their new albums Deserted & Horror – both out on October 4th.…

[capitalchaostelevision]

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour

GATECREEPER & EXHUMED Announce Co-Headlining US Fall Tour

Sonoran death metal legion GATECREEPER and Gore metal maniacs EXHUMED announce a co-headlining US tour through the Fall. Both bands will tour in support of their new albums Deserted & Horror – both out on October 4th. (more…)

[writethatrhythm]

hmm

Phoenix is a shitty town. Far from the gleaming city of my youth, the grit and grime of the West has overtaken much of the commonwealth. Scorch marks mar the skyscrapers still standing, though most of the windows are blown out and shattered. A hot wind whistles through the skeletal remains of the city splayed out in front of me.

Somehow it feels more like home now than it ever did before.

“I can’t believe you’re gonna be in this shithole for three whole days,” the voice on the comm crackles through a burst of static, “there’s probably not even a decent bar here.” A flicker of annoyance burns in my chest. I smother it with ruthless precision. This place isn’t my home anymore, regardless of any familiarity pulsing through my veins.

“It’s a good thing I’m not here to drink, then,” I whisper back. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me, Lu? This seems like your kind of place.” She splutters indignantly in my ear.

This shithole is the crown jewel of the outlands. Made up of several small towns and camps strewn across the Sonoran desert, the city draws all types to its sun-soaked vistas. Mostly those who live outside of the law, smugglers and outlaws, gunslingers and gangsters. The black market flourishes here, beneath the unforgiving sun. Most of the more illegal contraband passes through Phoenix before dispersing throughout the West. From what I’ve heard, business is better than ever.

Forty miles to the west is the Stronghold. Started by some rich oil tycoon before the War, the Stronghold is home to the real criminals of the outlands. Rich retirees flocked to the Stronghold when their own cities were ravaged by death and suffering during the omnic crisis. They sit behind their walls in their fancy houses and hoard money and power. Their little paradise in the West keeps them from thinking about the people they abandoned to save their skins and their profits. A place like that breeds cowardice and corruption, and the Stronghold is no exception.

Lucky for me, it’s also our new job site.

“Alright cowboy,” her laugh comes through choppy, uneven, “I won’t talk shit about your town anymore. But promise you won’t miss our meet, yeah? Can’t have you getting distracted by all the pretty guns and fucking up our job.” I laugh in spite of myself. If everything goes according to plan, it won’t be the guns distracting me.

“I’ll be there, Lucky. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“No promises.” The comm channel slides into static, then fades to nothing. No doubt Lu is hurrying towards Stronghold already, in search of a strong drink and a decent ac unit. I squint against the sunlight that reflects off of chrome and steel. It’s the smart thing to do. The thought sends a nervous spark skittering down my hand and I pause to crack a knuckle. It gives with a satisfying pop, and I exhale anxiously with it. I’m too close now to turn back. I have to see this through.

I won't be able to forgive myself if I don't.

The city is ghostly as I walk through it. Hard-packed gravel crunches under each step I take through the steel graveyard. Enormous skyscrapers stretch high above me. If I crane my neck and squint, I can just barely make out the top of them. Even tilted and rusted as they are, they are a sight to behold. The original city fell in the omnic crisis, supposedly. I never saw it as it was meant to be seen, towers stretching towards the sky. We lived outside of the city, where the damage wasn’t was bad. Sneaking into the city ruins was expressly forbidden. Even if I had gotten the chance to see the city, it would have already been desolate. The war may have ended when I was a toddler, but people were still feeling the effects.

The camp doesn’t come into view until I’m standing in the shadow cast by the very last skyscraper. The sun glares down from a gloriously blue sky, casting shimmers against the sand that stretches to the horizon. Three tents, dark brown smudges against a drab tan landscape. If I squint I can almost see their canvas rippling in the distance. My heart stops in my throat. All I have to do is close the distance between us, and everything will be fine again.

At the base of the building, I carefully remove the comms system from my ear and bury it. Geotagging it does little to soothe the sharp rush of fear that pulses through me. Leaving the little device behind means severing my last contact with Lu and the handlers. It means for the first time in seven years, I am well and truly alone. The weight of the rifle strapped to my back is comforting, at least. It presses against my shoulders and I take a deep breath. Now is not the time to give in to fits of nerves.

I hesitate as I turn to leave. Maybe I should take it with me, just in case. Lu would tell me to take it, would expect me to call if something goes wrong. But she doesn’t know the full story. She’d eviscerate me herself if she knew my true motives for coming here. And besides, criminals don’t appreciate wired marksmen storming onto their property. I kick some sand over the spot where I buried the comms and glare at it. Then I take a deep breath and step into the sun.

By the time I reach the little campsite, my back is slick with sweat. The tent itself is a dark brown canvas, almost black. In front of it is a wide space before the camp fire. Two heavy crates sit off to the side. They look almost like a reception desk. It’s silly but I step toward them and wait. Just for a moment. If someone comes, great. If not, well, then no one needs to know about this.

The first crate nearly comes up to my waist. It’s thick green metal is dented and scored, signs of a rough passage. Most likely contraband originally, though what needs a crate so big to transport is beyond me. I catch the sharp edges of the Talon logo on the second crate. I blink at it, intrigued by the recognition. But then I turn away and see it.

The tent sits not two feet away from me. A shiver runs through me as I stare at it. A thick metal stake driven into the ground keeps the entrance uncovered. I catch flashes of plush red beyond the opening, before an angular figure steps into my view. I shuffle a half-step backwards.

“Alright, hand the weapons over,” the guard points an ancient revolver in my direction. Greasy black bangs hang limply over his forehead. Lord only knows how he can see through them to aim. I glance at the gun aimed at me; it doesn’t move. Shit.

“Look,” I say, already unslinging my rifle from its place on my back, “I was recommended by my employer to find another rifle here.” I grip it loosely to show I’m harmless. Technically it isn’t true; I could kill this man in six different ways without my rifle if I wanted to. If I weren’t so off-kilter. Just holding the weapon away from my person has tremors skittering through my body. The guard looks unimpressed, understandably. I had hoped being vague would be enough to let me skate right past the gates. I tap the stock with a finger to grab his attention. “Does this help? I’m really just looking to shop.”

He goes white when he sees it. They all do.  A small logo engraved into the metal that marks me one of the most dangerous people on the globe. Only six of us have one, but officially, none of us exist. When he looks back at me I try a smile. He grips his weapon. For a moment he stares, like he could pull the trigger and be rid of me, but it passes. He spits off to the side and glares at me. Silence stretches between us, thick, stifling, before he holsters his gun. I sling my rifle back over my shoulder and let it settle there.

“I’m not the salesman,” he says finally, “that’d be the boss.” A bolt of energy shoots through my core. This is almost too easy. I’ll be on my way to meet Lu in no time. Maybe even get to her early. The guy says something else, but I’m too busy thinking about Lu to pay attention. Her laugh, her smile, her  beautiful brown eyes. The way she shudders, from head to toe, when I finally crack, finally start begging. My mouth goes dry at the images running through my head.