Chapter 13 The Ice Age Arrives

Kenneth had emptied the entire Walmart Aeloria warehouse, transferring goods worth millions into his spatial pocket. Pretending to know nothing, he immediately reported the incident to Walmart’s upper management. The news spread quickly among the higher-ups in Walmart’s Aeloria division. Shocked by the scale of the theft, a group of executives rushed to the scene and contacted the police to investigate. Kenneth wasn’t worried about being exposed. It was impossible for such a massive heist—millions worth of supplies disappearing in just two hours—to be easily explained. Even with a full-scale investigation, the truth would remain hidden for the foreseeable future. Still, he put on a façade of nervousness and fear, cooperating fully with the police. After a night of interrogation, he was allowed to go home. The police, however, remained highly suspicious. They reviewed the surveillance footage from the warehouse and its surroundings. While the internal cameras had been disabled, the investigators found no evidence of vehicles transporting goods in or out of the warehouse. This left them with two implausible conclusions, either the supplies had vanished into thin air, or Walmart itself had orchestrated the theft. Logically, the latter seemed far more likely. Without some kind of supernatural event, there was no way that such a huge amount of supplies could disappear in such a short time. Though Kenneth and the other employees drew some suspicion, the investigators couldn’t connect them to the larger mystery. They were deemed unlikely to be central to the case. Kenneth was ordered to remain in Valkyrean and cooperate with further investigations from both the police and Walmart’s internal team. He agreed without hesitation and was released. Returning home, Kenneth peered outside through the blinds of his floor-to-ceiling window. It was December 8th—only four days before the Ice Age would begin. He felt a deep sense of relief. With the vast resources he had stored in his spatial pocket, he could now comfortably wait out the apocalypse. Kenneth went to bed, exhausted from the night’s events and interrogation. Kenneth slept until evening. Turning on the television, he saw the Walmart warehouse theft dominating the news. The bizarre nature of the heist, coupled with the staggering losses, had captured the attention of media outlets nationwide. “How could such a massive warehouse be emptied in just a few hours? It has to be an inside job!” “It’s definitely an internal scheme. The Walmart executives might’ve done it themselves to claim insurance.” “That’s billions of cubic feet of supplies! Even with a fleet of trucks, it would take days to clear it out.” Kenneth smirked. No one will figure this out before the apocalypse. For the next few days, Kenneth stayed at home, venturing nowhere. He knew the world had little time left, and for his safety, he decided not to leave his secure haven. The police and Walmart investigators summoned him again for questioning. Though some of his actions on the night of the theft raised suspicions, the lack of evidence made it impossible for them to act against him. Meanwhile, a few acquaintances messaged Kenneth, fishing for details about the incident. He brushed them off with vague answers, maintaining his alibi. December 12th finally arrived, at 2 a.m., a gamma-ray burst passed through the earth. Though it lasted only a fraction of a second, its impact was catastrophic. Kenneth had sealed his room hours earlier, with a roaring fire blazing in the fireplace. He knew that with energy sources soon depleting, modern heating systems would fail, leaving only primitive methods for warmth. Sitting on his sofa by the large window, a bottle of beer in hand, Kenneth watched the night sky intently. Suddenly, a white light appeared on the horizon. For a brief moment, the dark sky lit up as though it were dusk. The brightness lasted just two seconds before fading into silence. Most people slept through the event, unaware of the fleeting change. But Kenneth, who knew exactly what it signified, felt a chill run down his spine. He took a long swig of his beer, the cool bitterness steadying his nerves. Tossing a few more logs into the fireplace, he turned on the television, trying to distract himself while waiting for the world to change. Minutes later, snowflakes began falling outside. At first, they were small, like fingernails, but within two minutes, they grew into thick, heavy clusters. The wind picked up, howling fiercely as the snowstorm intensified. In no time, the city was buried under a relentless blanket of white. Nature’s power, as Kenneth knew all too well, didn’t offer warnings—it simply arrived, unannounced. Despite his perfect safe house, Kenneth couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety. He had lived through the previous Ice Age and couldn’t shake his worry. Would this million-dollar fortress truly withstand the extreme cold ahead? But as the flames roared in the fireplace, the room became not just warm but almost uncomfortably hot. The temperature inside climbed to 90.7°F, a stark contrast to the freezing chaos outside. Kenneth glanced out the window, where snow was already piling up, covering the city in a thick layer of white. His anxiety eased slightly, but he remained vigilant. Sleep could wait, I need to monitor the situation further. Within half an hour, the snow on his balcony had already formed a thick layer. Checking his phone, Kenneth saw the news of the sudden temperature drop flooding social media. Complaints filled the feeds, “This cursed weather—how is it already below freezing?” “Tomorrow the roads will be frozen solid. How are we supposed to get to work?” Some people, however, were excite, “With snow like this, no work tomorrow, haha!” In the south, people who rarely saw snow shared photos of themselves enjoying the novelty, marveling at the rare sight of heavy snowfall. Kenneth shook his head. This is just the beginning. The snow would continue for three months, with temperatures dropping even further. Soon enough, no one would be in the mood to enjoy the snow.