Amber and Dane returned to their town of Pythe with much less excitement than they had planned on. What they were expecting to be a long night of celebrating an easy score would turn out to be a walk of shame to their potential buyer, to inform him that the job was a dud.

“Well, I would be lying if I said I was disappointed.” Spiro said, the heavyset man leaning back on the rocking chair outside of his shack and strummed his banjo. “But I also would be lying if I thought any less of you for getting stopped by the PK’s. Probably had you two tagged the second you got a hair’s width outside of Pythe.”

That bit of understanding seemed to soften to blow to Amber’s ego, Peacekeeper’s weren’t something that anyone would want to get into a fight with, at least not if they wanted to ever see the outside of a prison or work camp afterwards.

“Sorry again, Spiro.” Amber said, clearly upset by the entire ordeal that she had undergone the other day.

“That’s alright, y’all can try again in a few weeks, when the heat dies down and the PK’s lose interest in the scrapyard.” Spiro insisted.

“It ain’t that easy…” Dane said. “The badge said he was gonna minefield the place, I don’t think we should risk anyone going down there again.”

A grim look set down on Spiro’s face. Scrapyards like the one Amber and Dane had found were among the most valuable finds available. The metal and old tech was worth more than clean water, and finding one that other towns hadn’t discovered yet meant that Pythe could have gotten first pickings.

“Well… don’t that just beat off?” He said, letting out a deep sigh. “Well, I at least owe you what I promised for making the hike out there.” Spiro grunted as he got out of his rocking chair, and made his way inside of his shack. Moments later, he returned with a small metal box. He handed it to Amber, who noticed how it felt much heavier than she expected it to. Spiro gave her a smile, one she returned.

“Thanks, Spiro.” Amber said. “Let us know if you have any other jobs you want done. Preferably anywhere I don’t have to worry about running out of filters and passing out.”

“Heh, no promises.” He said, waving the two off as they left for the hub of the town as Spiro plucked away at his banjo again.

Pythe wasn’t like many of the other villages and towns that sprung up outside of the walls of Aurum. While a lot of towns were made from scrap metal or old ruined buildings, the buildings here were mostly prefab left behind by a work camp after they had stripped all the raw materials they could from the earth. Although the metal and clean water had been taken, what they left was arguably far more valuable: a safe place to live. The land nearby was relatively farmable, and whatever else was needed could be scavenged or hunted in the wilderness. It was a far cry from the place that Amber had grown up in.

“What do you say we head to Underground, grab ourselves a few drinks to forget about that shit show, huh?” Dane asked, nudging Amber’s arm. She rolled her eyes at Dane’s enthusiasm. If he wasn’t trying to celebrate a successful gig with a few drinks, he was trying to cheer up from a bad one.

“Alright, but we can’t go too crazy. We only got half our pay, after all.” Amber replied. Dane grunted, reluctantly agreeing as they approached the center of Pythe. A few of the administrative buildings left behind were turned into proper shops and homes, though some of the citizens got a little creative with the infrastructure. Underground was one of these places.

As the name might imply, Underground was underground. A small subterranean passage used for maintenance was stripped of anything that wasn’t load bearing, and furnished with enough seats and libations to make a proper bar. The place didn’t even need much of a proper sign, everyone knew where the narrow staircase tucked away in the corner of town led to. A few people were already outside, drinks in hand as they took a break from a hard day’s work and caught up with friends and loved ones. Voices and clattering echoed from down the staircase as Amber and Dane made the descent for the umpteenth time, and in no time they were at their second home. The flood lights had been replaced with some more appropriate ones hanging from the ceiling, or with lamps scattered strategically around the large room. Stains on the concrete floor and walls show where machinery had been taken out, and near the back of the cluttered bar was a young woman trying to keep up with the demands of her clientèle. And Amber smiled as brightly as she did every other time she saw her.

“Hey there, sweetheart.” Amber said, giving a smirk as she leaned on the bar top. “I was gonna go for a whiskey, but now I’m wondering if you’re on the menu?”

The bartender looked over with a stern face, devoid of any emotion. “Ma’am, if you don’t watch it, I’m going to have your fingers broken, and then you’re going to be thrown out.”

“Well, that would make it awkward when you got home tonight.” Amber replied. The bartender’s glare softened, and broke into a smile as her body language shifted to something more relaxed.

“Glad you’re home.” She said, leaning over to kiss Amber. They had been married for over a year, but every time Amber came down to visit Valerie at the bar she had opened, she would open with some awful pick up line to see if it would finally be the one that got a laugh out of her. So far, none of them have been successful.

Dane soon came up from behind Amber, taking the seat next to her as Valerie took out two glasses, and an unlabeled bottle of liquor out from under the table.

“So, how much did you bring back this time?” Valerie asked, pouring them both a drink.

“Ugh! Don’t get me started!” Dane cried out, swiping his glass and taking a deep swig before shuddering. “PK’s ruined the whole job.”

“What?!” Valerie snapped, glaring daggers at Amber. She felt her chest tighten, Valerie wasn’t pretending to be mad this time. “I thought you said you were just going on a salvage run, how the hell did you get mixed up with Peacekeepers?”

Amber pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh as she shot a look at Dane.

“I think what he meant to say was that the PK’s stole the salvage from us and ran off. We didn’t get in any trouble with them. I promise.” She said, trying to calm down her wife.

Valerie let out a sigh, rubbing her temple and shaking her head. “Well, at least you made it back ok.” She resigned. “Did you at least get something up front for the trouble?”

Amber left the metal lock box on the counter, opening it to show off the contents to Valerie. Inside were several small bars of reclaimed metal; scrap that had been melted down and refined into something more usable. A universally accepted currency in the area.

“Yeah, you know that Spiro takes care of us. Maybe we can finally get some traps and solve that rat problem we have.” Amber said. Dane wriggled his fingers over the lock box, taking out a few of the reclaimed bars and stashing them away in his coat pocket as he gave a chuckle.

“And what are you doing with your share, big guy?” Valerie asked, already pouring him a second drink.

“Probably gonna buy something nice for Mama,” Dane replied. “She’s been talking about wanting a few more chickens, so I might make a trip out to see Henrietta and buy a few.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” Valerie replied. “You could also pay off your tab.” She said, flatly.

“Hey! I’ll pay my tab once you grow a spine and cut me off!” Dane said, laughing as he finished his second drink. “Alright, I’m gonna take off and go give Iris a visit.”

“You know, you should probably go see your girlfriend before you go to the bar.” Amber said, as Dane started to leave.

“Get a wife who doesn’t own one, and we’ll see if you do any better!” Dane shouted as he started walking through the crowd, catching a middle finger from Amber just before he disappeared up the stairs.

Amber rolled her eyes, turning back to Valerie as she opened a bottle, and slid it across the bar to another patron.

“Hey, Jake, watch the front for a few?” She asked the old man cleaning out glasses a few feet away.

“Alright, but I’m counting this as overtime.” He said.

“Don’t slack off, and I’ll think about it.” Valerie replied. Jake gave a toothy grin and snickered as Valerie walked over to Amber, and took her hand. “Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.” She said, leading Amber to the back room that Valeria had turned into an office. It looked like it used to be some sort of utility closet, but Valerie had brought in a desk, a safe, and a box where she loosely stored paperwork.

“I saw my dad while you were out, and got something for you.” She said, as she knelt down next to her safe, and pulled out a small box after tinkering with the combination. Amber opened it up, to see a few dozen small bullets packed neatly inside.

“Dad made a few extra, so I convinced him to let me have some of them.” Amber’s jaw dropped at the gift, guns were one thing, but functioning ammunition was hard to come by. Only a handful of people even knew how to make it anymore, Valerie’s father being one of them.

“Wow, Val…” Amber stammered. “This is probably worth more than what I made, why don’t we sell it? You know, make up the difference?”

“No way. This is for you. I’ll feel safer knowing that you’ll have the upper hand in case anyone thinks you aren’t as tough as you look.” Valerie said. Amber put the box down on the desk and held her wife's hands, leaning in for a long kiss, savoring the moment before pulling away.

“So, was this the only surprise you had for me?” She asked, squeezing Valerie’s hand.

Valerie smiled and let out a soft laugh, pulling away. “Wait until I close up. I don’t have the money to pay Jake for any more overtime.”

The loud gunshot echoed against the cliff side as another glass bottle shattered, Amber smiling as her streak continued.

“Four in a row.” She said, handing her sidearm over to Dane. He ejected the single round from the chamber, and loaded in one more. Amber watched as he looked down the site, aimed it at another bottle, and squeezed the trigger. Dust and debris shot out from the canyon as Dane’s shot missed, and the bottle remained intact.

“Damn it!” He said, handing the gun over to a cackling Amber.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Amber said. “Not like you can shoot properly with those big, meaty hands.”

“Hey, at least I don’t need a toy to protect myself.” Dane protested, as he dug a bar of reclaimed metal out of his pocket, and handed over his wager to a rather smug looking Amber. As he took the metal out of his pocket, something else came with it. Falling to the ground was what looked like a folded up piece of paper.

“What’s that?” Amber asked, as Dane picked it up.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Come on, what is it?”

“Just a flier I picked up on the way from Henrietta’s.” Dane said, Amber snatching it out of his hands. She opened it up, and saw a caricature of a man and a woman looking up at Aurum, the walled city that lorded over the better part of the continent. At the top of the flier read: A better life awaits the brave and the strong!

“What? Is that an ad for Gilding?” Amber asked, scoffing at the idea of Dane having something like that on him. Everyone knew about the process of Gilding. It was some trials that the Aurum government cooked up as a way to apply for citizenship. There are all kinds of rumors about what goes on during the trials, but the one thing that everyone can agree on is that you would be putting your life on the lone by signing up.

“I know, I know…” Dane said, taking the paper from her and shoving it back into his pocket. “I just… I wonder what it’s like in there, you know? Behind those giant walls.” He said, taking a seat on a nearby stone.

“Probably a bunch of Peacekeepers monitoring your every trip to the bathroom and people trying to screw you over for a quick buck.” Amber said.

“Yeah, like that’s so different from our lives now…” Dane groaned.

Amber shook her head, Taking a seat on the stone next to Dane. “Come on, you can’t be serious, right? Only junkies and greenhorns sign up for that.”

“Exactly!” Dane said, quickly standing up from his seat. “Think about it, they probably throw a bunch of morons into a ring with guns and fight each other for citizenship! How many people do you think have ever seen a gun before they sign up? You and me? We’ve got a leg up on most people!” He said, pointing to the makeshift pistol they had been practicing with.

“Dane, come on. Don’t be stupid.” Amber said, standing to look her friend in the eye. “You’ve never trusted anyone from Aurum, why do you think this would be any different? Do you really think they would just let people like us in with open arms? And what if this is just a trap to get idiots on a one way trip to a labor camp, or to have their organs harvested, or worse?”

Dane couldn’t look Amber in the eye, his gaze was cast down at the dusty ground as he grit his teeth.

“Dane?” Amber asked. She had never seen him get this worked up over anything. Not since his brother died.

“I’m just sick of never knowing if I’m going to go out on a job, and the last Espinoza brother is going to wind up left for dead in some ditch.” He said, pacing back and forth. “Every time we go on a salvage run, or deliver cargo, we’re risking getting killed by outlaws or other Lancers. I don’t want Mama Es. to worry about losing her last kid.”

“And so your solution to that is to sign up for a death match…” Amber said, unable to contain the sarcasm in her voice. Dane dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“I think about it a lot, Amber.” Dane said. “I think about if it would be worth risking my life for a shot at something better, instead of risking it to just barely get by.”

Amber crossed her arms, staying silent for a few moments before finally speaking up.

“I know what you mean.” She said, sighing. “It would be nice to not worry about a bad crop wiping out your town. But still, no way I could leave Val behind. I’d rather put up with this shit hole with her than live comfortably without her.” She said, smiling.

Dane turned around, finally looking up from the dirt. “You know you get a plus one, right?” Dane said.

“What?”

“Yeah. You win, you get to take one person up to Aurum with you. What, you thought I would leave Mama Es. behind?” He said, laughing.

Amber stayed silent. She had never given much thought to getting herself Gilded, everyone talked about it like it was a scam or a death trap for the poor suckers outside of the city walls. But as Dane talked about it, the thought of winning started to sound glamorous. Tantalizing, even.

“Huh.” Was all that she could say in reply. Dane gave her a small smile, and started heading down the path back to Pythe.

“Think about it, huh? We sign up together, and they put us on the same team. Wouldn’t want anyone else watching my back.”