Ethan had emptied the entire Walmart South Mega Warehouse.
Billions of dollars' worth of supplies were now safely stored in his dimension.
And to complete the illusion, he immediately reported the "incident" to upper management.
Within hours, the news sent shockwaves through Walmart's entire South Region.
Executives flew into panic. Police were called.
When Tom Watson, the general manager, arrived and saw the empty warehouse, his face turned whiter than snow.
"Oh my God… how am I supposed to explain this to headquarters?!"
In truth, Walmart's U.S. HQ had already issued a top-secret order:All overseas inventory must be shipped back to America immediately.
Word was—it came straight from the top of the U.S. government.
Freighters were already en route to Oceanview Port.
But now?
There was nothing left to ship.
Ethan wasn't worried. Not even a little.
The idea that someone could steal hundreds of millions worth of goods in under two hours was simply too ridiculous.
Even with a full-scale investigation, they'd find nothing.
Walmart was a foreign company—not a state-owned enterprise.There'd be no high-level crackdown.
Still, Ethan played his role: nervous, cooperative, "shocked."
After a night of questioning, he was released.
Investigators were baffled.
Inside security footage was disabled—clearly tampered with.
But the cameras outside?
No trucks.No suspicious activity.No mass movement.
Which meant…
The supplies had either vanished into thin air, or
It was an inside job—Walmart looting itself for insurance.
The second theory was more "realistic."Because the first?Only made sense if magic were real.
They eyed Ethan suspiciously.He was on shift. He had access.
But nothing tied him to the missing cargo.No motive. No method. No evidence.
So they let him go, with one condition:
He was not to leave Oceanview City and had to be available for questioning at any time.
Ethan agreed, of course.
Then he went home.
He stood behind the blinds of his reinforced window, watching the city lights.
December 10th.
Just two days left.
All he had to do was stay home and wait.
He had everything:
A fortress
Food, fuel, weapons, medicine
And a warehouse's worth of goods tucked away in his pocket dimension
He laid back in bed and closed his eyes.
He'd earned this rest.
That evening, he flipped on the news.
Every major station was reporting the Walmart warehouse incident.
"A warehouse that size emptied in hours? Has to be an inside job."
"I bet upper management did it for the insurance payout."
"We're talking millions of cubic feet of supplies. No way this was done overnight with trucks."
Ethan smiled faintly.
You'll never know.
For the next two days, he didn't step outside.
No visits. No errands. No risks.
The police brought him in again. So did Walmart's internal audit team.
They were suspicious, sure.But suspicion wasn't evidence.
He answered calmly. Smiled politely.Then went home.
A few friends messaged him, trying to dig for info.
He fed them vague nonsense.
Then it came: December 12th.
At exactly 2:00 a.m., Earth was struck by the long-anticipated gamma ray burst.
It lasted a second.
But its impact?
Apocalyptic.
Ethan had already sealed up the house.The fireplace blazed to life.
Once the power grid failed—and it would—there'd be no more heating.
Only flame would keep him alive.
He sat on his couch in front of the massive window, beer in hand, staring into the sky.
Then it hit.
A flash of pure white illuminated the horizon.
Nighttime turned to daylight for two seconds—Then faded to black.
Most people slept through it.But Ethan?
He knew.
A chill ran down his back.
He took a long pull of beer and tossed more logs onto the fire.
He turned on the TV and waited.
Minutes passed.
Then—Snow.
At first, small flakes.
Then thick, heavy flurries.
Within minutes, it turned into a full whiteout blizzard.
The wind howled like a beast.Snow smothered everything.
Nature had made its move.
Ethan's heart pounded.
He'd seen this before.
He was prepared.But still… anxiety crept in.
Would this fortress hold?
He glanced at the digital thermometer.
90.7°F (32.6°C) inside.
Cozy. Almost too warm.
Outside?
The snow was piling up fast.Visibility dropped to near zero.
He turned down the fire slightly.
No sleep tonight.
He needed to monitor the situation.
He had plenty of time to rest later.
Within thirty minutes, his balcony was buried.
He checked his phone—Social media was exploding.
"What the hell is going on?! It's like 10°F outside!"
"I didn't even get winter clothes yet! It was 60°F yesterday!"
"How am I supposed to get to work tomorrow?! The roads are ice!"
Some users were excited.
"SNOW DAY! No work—let's gooo!"
People from southern cities were sharing snow selfies, laughing in the cold.
Ethan shook his head.
This is just the start.
The snow would fall for three months straight.
Temperatures would drop far below zero.Some cities would hit -100°F.
Let's see who's still smiling then.