As we set off for Pueblo, I asked Mahya and Al to take full responsibility for the wheel, and focused on warnih about the impending danger. I drafted a warning that expined what was happening oh, the reason for all the problems we saw in the article, how easy it was to gain new skills, and reended learning some martial arts, meditation to feel the mana and ohe article was about three thousand words long, summarizing the situation and how to prepare. I po post it on social media aes frequented by preppers, survivalists, and the like.

  After finishing the draft, I reviewed the tent, trying to put myself in the shoes of someone reading it. I facepalmed, shaking my head helplessly. If I had e across it, I wouldn’t have believed a word and would’ve beeain some nutcase posted it. I’d have moved on without a sed thought.

  Instead, I opened a new dot and started writing everything that had happeo me sihe day I discovered the Gate. On one hand, I expected some people would sider it a work of fi, but oher hand, even if only a handful trusted me and begaing ready, it would be worthwhile. On purpose, I included various details that people could verify to ehat I was a real person and not an imaginary character.

  “Hello Reader,

  My name is John Rue. I’m either 45 or 49 years old—but I’m not sure with the time skips, and it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Despite growing up in the foster care system in Birmingham, Abama, I mao make my way into the Uy of Chicago Pritzker School of Medie. Afterward, I spent nine years patg up bullet and knife wounds and stitg up broken lives in the ER at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago. But don’t take my word for it; check the records if you think this is all a fairy tale.

  I’m writing this as a st-ditch effort to warn you about what’s ing. What you do with this information is up to you. You might think I’m a coward for leaving, and maybe you’re right. But the truth is, I’ve got nothi here. My wife’s gone, my family disowned me before I evehem, and the only es I ever made died with her. So, I’m not stig around to py hero...”

  The drive to Pueblo was very short, about an hour, so we arrived before I even finished writing the Prologue. In Pueblo, we did the usual round of shops and I also added toy shops to the list. Mahya discovered Pueblo is called “Steel City” because of the Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel Mill and bought all the steel stock—raw material and finished products. Pueblo is famous for its green chiles, so naturally, I bought a rge supply. We didn’t visit any drug dealers.

  After two days in Pueblo, we tinued our jouro Colorads. In Colorads, we did the usual round of shops and also bought a lot of outdear. I stocked up on a vast supply of Enstrom’s almond toffee, while Mahya purchased a rge quantity of Rocky Mountain whiskey. We didn’t visit any drug dealers here as well. After spending two days iy, we proceeded to Fort Collins.

  This pattern tinued as we made our way to Lethbridge, AB, in ada, stopping at every major city along the route. We emptied every store that piqued our i and bought some fasating local items before moving on. Al didn’t ask me to find drug dealers even once, which led me to realize that the big deal we entered was more signifit than I initially thought, and he seemed satisfied with the amount.

  Ihbridge, Mahya found a jeep meic willing to teach us for a more modest sum of 2,000. We eagerly went to learn to be Jeep meics. Al even joined us, though I suspected his motive was to earn another ability point rather than to learn meical skills.

  After a week, we all gaihe ability and this time, we decided not to tinue leveling it up. Expressing ratitude to Albert, we redirected our focus to other matters.

  We wanted nothing linking us to Calgary, so we hahe tributions we wao make from Lethbridge. We went over the list of stuff I “liberated” from the warehouse in Vegas and decided which items to donate. I wao dohe entire list to foster homes, but Al preferred to donate some items to LGBTQ+ youth shelters.

  Mahya wao keep all the eleics, even if they wouldn’t work. She had pns to use the ‘dead zone’ in my house to study them and possibly vert them to Magitech.

  “We might as well keep all the stoleronid phones,” she suggested, st the boxes. “They could be useful for metals and basic materials, or maybe future Magitech experiments.”

  “Fine by me,” I replied. “At least it empties my ste a bit.”

  After my massive food purchase, my Ste overflowed agaie all the points I’d ied in it. We divided the rare s among the three of us, each taking our share. Both of them insisted I keep the gold bars and silver ingots since I was the one who did all the “wetting the stuff.

  “Let’s burn all the stoleification dots and credit cards,” I suggested.

  “Agreed,” Mahya said, and Al nodded. We gathered the papers and tossed them into a fire.

  As an experiment, we took a fuel ister, and I poured mana into it. Afterward, we checked the fuel, and it looked normal. P some into a metal bowl, I set it on fire. It burned just fine.

  “Looks like we’ve got some extra campfire fuel,” I said with a grin.

  Al, meanwhile, had cimed some of the fetish and bondage equipment for himself. Mahya and I couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Remember the Shibari workshop we attended in Paris?” Mahya asked, nudging me.

  She turo Al and said, “Maybe you should find a workshop for your private pleasure.”

  Al’s face turhe color of a ripe tomato. “Very funny,” he muttered, looking away.

  We threw away the adult DVDs, magazines, inftable dolls, and the rest of the fetish equipment Al didn’t take. They were just taking up space.

  “And this prank dy?” Mahya held up one box with a look of disgust.

  “Defirash,” I agreed. “That stuff is repulsive.” We tossed it in the bin and tinued s through the remaining items.

  After all the s, trashing, and burning, we had a full donation list.

  SpoilerRare stampsRare ic books and memorabiliaLife-size cardboard cutouts of Elvis PresleyInftable sumo wrestling suitsA giant inftable gorilA colle of rubber stamps with funny sayingsA set of velvet Elvis paintingsSeveral sets of y lise ptes (e.g., “I LUV MY CAT”)Singing birthday cardsLife-size dinosaur es with realistic r aA crate of singing birthday cards that op singingPallets of DVDs and CDsA crate of luxury watchesPallets of video gamesBoxes of sports memorabiliaPallets of softallets of puter posBnk wedding invitationsVacuum ersDinosaur Bubble Handheld Bubble MaesDang and Talking Cactus ToysSmart Trashs with a sensorBoxes of vintage movie postersA colle of talking parrot toys that mimic everything they hearA giant, inftable dinosaur with LED lightsA crate of voice-ging megaphonesA life-size mannequin dressed as a wizard with glowing eyesA giant inftable uni e with sound effects[colpse]After an online search, we made a list of pces to donate, bought boxes, and started pag. Four days of hard work ter, UPS came to pick up the packages to send them on their way to their new homes.

  SpoilerFoster Care Homes Donations:

  Bright Future Foster Care Home, Denver, Colorado50 rare stamps1 crate of rubber stamps with funny sayings50 CDs50 DVDs50 video games50 sports memorabilia1 life-size cardboard cutout of Elvis Presley30 luxury watchesHope Haven Foster Care, Portnd, on50 rare stamps1 crate of rare ic books and memorabilia1 inftable sumo wrestling suitA crate of puter pos10 vacuum ers50 video games10 y lise ptes1 giant inftable dinosaur with LED lights1 box of bnk wedding invitations10 luxury watchesSunshine Foster Care ter, Phoenix, Arizona50 rare stamps1 inftable sumo wrestling suit1 crate of dinosaur bubble handheld bubble maes1 crate of dang and talking cactus toys10 smart trashs with a sensor50 DVDs50 CDs50 video games1 voice-ging megaphone10 luxury watchesRainbow Foster Care Home, San Francisco, California50 rare stamps1 giant inftable gorilMost of the vintage movie posters120 voice-ging megaphones50 DVDs50 CDs50 video gamesA box of sports memorabilia10 y lise ptes10 luxury watchesLGBTQ+ Youth Shelters Donations:

  Safe Haven LGBTQ+ Youth Shelter, New York, New York50 rare stampsVelvet Elvis paintings1 life-size dinosaur e with realistic r a1 giant inftable uni e with sound effects1 crate of singing birthday cards that op singing50 CDs50 DVDsA crate of puter pos10 luxury watchesPride House LGBTQ+ Shelter, Austin, Texas50 rare stamps10 y lise ptesA crate of puter pos10 luxury watchesA crate of talking parrot toys that mimic everything they hear50 CDs50 DVDsA box of sports memorabilia1 crate of dinosaur bubble handheld bubble maesUnity LGBTQ+ Youth ter, Chicago, Illinois50 rare stamps1 crate of singing birthday cards1 crate of bnk wedding invitations1 life-size mannequin dressed as a wizard with glowing eyes62 CDs96 DVDs49 video gamesA box of sports memorabilia1 crate of dang and talking cactus toys10 luxury watches[colpse]After all the shipments were on their way, we checked our financial situation. We had a little over two million dolrs left. I couldn’t believe that with all the shopping, we barely made a dent in our funds. We raided every shop iy, buying everything we could find from every store and supermarket. I suspected that we might have created a she iy because of our extensive purchases.

  We mao reduce the moo just below one and a half million dolrs.

  “I want to set aside fifty thousand dolrs for our expenses before we cross the Gate,” I suggested.

  “A sum of twenty thousand should suffice,” Al tered, leaning ba his chair. “If that turns out to be incorrect, we alay an ued visit to a drug dealer.”

  I frowned, not liking the idea. “I don’t want to risk us in Calgary.”

  He waved off my . “We travel for an hour, perhaps even two, to pay them a visit.”

  “I just want us to be safe,” I insisted.

  “We will be,” Al reassured me. “Rest assured, we have the capability to ma.”

  Relutly, I nodded. “Alright, we’ll keep it in mind, but let’s hope it doesn’t e to that.”

  Except for the twenty thousand dolrs we put aside for our final push oh, we went to visit jewelry stores and spent the entire remaining amount on jewelry. We then divided the loot among the three of us.

  With that, we were almost ready and headed to Calgary.