Monty and I sit at the table, enjoying the show, while the general yells and waves a stick of dynamite at the corporal. “You complete MORON! Not only did you fail to search them or their belongings, but you also lied about what happened, nearly causing these two to blow the room up!”

  The general stops, suddenly realizing something, and asks us, “How much dynamite do you have?”

  Monty looks at me, nudging me to answer. “I counted forty-nine sticks, and they each weigh a pound, so that’s forty-nine pounds of dynamite.” We watch as the corporal’s face loses all color while the general turns red with anger.

  “Forty-nine pounds!” The general grabs the corporal by the collar. “Do you even realize what would happen if that went off in here? This room would be gone! The floors above us would collapse. Hell, the whole hotel would crumble if it detonated near a load-bearing pillar.”

  The general releases the corporal’s collar and orders, “Get the fuck out of here, private!”

  We watch as the general rips the insignia off the now-demoted corporal’s uniform. The private hurries out, but before he can leave, the general calls out, “Wait outside my office. I’m not done with you.” The private salutes him and runs out of the room.

  The general sits back down, takes a drink, and lets himself calm down before speaking. “Where did you even find dynamite? This isn’t even modern stuff.”

  Monty speaks up, “We found it in a saloon, along with some of our weapons.”

  The general sighs. “We could use some of your luck.” He takes another sip of his drink and asks, “Would you two be willing to trade some dynamite? Whatever you need, we’ll see if we have it.”

  I turn to Monty, unsure of what we might need, and he asks the general, “What do you need the dynamite for?”

  The general explains, “We have an enemy on the sixth level. Their base is an old metro station with two entrances. We’re planning to blow up one entrance and force them out through the other while our men wait for them to come out.”

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  I ask, “Won’t they just escape through the metro tunnels?”

  He replies, “They could try, but from what I understand, the dungeon gets confused by tunnels; it turns them into a mess of intersecting paths. The real issue is that the dungeon still treats them like summoned buildings. No new summoned buildings means no new supplies.”

  Monty asks, “How will you find their base? Doesn’t the dungeon shuffle everything around every few hours?”

  The commander smirks slightly. “The dungeon changes drastically after the first three floors. Unlike the upper levels, the lower floors have more boundaries.”

  Monty turns to me, “It’s your dynamite—trade or not.”

  “If I have five sticks left, I’ll be happy. Just trade them for something we need. You’re better at haggling than I am,” I say, trying to keep my eyes open.

  “It’d be nice to get materials for hydroponics,” Monty mumbles.

  This catches the general’s attention.

  “You have hydroponics?” the general asks, looking intrigued.

  Monty responds, “Not right now, but we have the option to build one. Why?”

  The general, now excited, explains, “Our base moves from floor to floor, beginning here at the second and ending in the ninth before we come back up. But, we can’t build farms like the others because the second and third floors won’t let us upgrade outside the building. Everything has to stay inside. While we do have basic hydroponics, they’re a joke compared to the real ones.”

  I tell him, “That’s cool, but I’m pretty sure we can’t give it to you.”

  The general responds, “That’s where you’re wrong. If you join us, we could share the information and help build one here.”

  Suddenly, the system prompt appears.

  I sit up straight and meet the commander’s eyes. “Look, man, what you’re doing is noble, but we’re not made for military life.”

  I click No.

  The general looks surprised but tries a different approach. “I understand, but it would save countless lives if we could stay on these floors longer before having to restock at the base on the fifth floor. How about this: we become allies. you can come and go as you wish, trade supplies, and all we ask is that you share the hydroponics design and stay civil with other survivors.”