Zoey began her shift. It was the first shift where she and Pete would take deliveries. It was exciting for her to get out and see the town by herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate Pete’s company—in fact, she loved having him around—but she also needed some alone time. She wanted to feel the excitement of getting to explore a new place.

She used that time to learn the town's layout as she traversed it time and time again. One of her deliveries took her passed a three-story, yellow building. It was near the Southeast corner of the plaza. It was taller than any she’d seen, so she took the time to get a better look. As she slowed to look at its sign, she learned it was the schoolhouse.

Concrete steps ran up and down parallel to the school’s entrance. It allowed people that lived on lower streets or higher ones to reach the front door. A fence jutted out from the wall’s southern corners, creating a square of chain-link fence. The metal fence surrounded a playground with swings, slides, and monkey bars.

She appreciated how similar the playground was to the ones they had back on Earth. As she thought about it, she let a smile creep across her face. Then she hurried toward her delivery.

Taking a delivery for M&P’s in Greenlake was a different experience than taking one back on Earth. She contrasted the difference in her mind.

Instead of having a car, Zoey had to walk the deliveries to their respective destinations. If she had to carry them in a physical sense, balancing pizzas while walking for blocks.

What would have made things more complicated was how M&P’s didn’t have boxes for the pizza yet. Instead, Mod was transferring the cooked pizza from a hot baking screen to a cool one. The Driver would lift the screen and dematerialize it into their inventory. When they arrived at the address, they’d rematerialize it. Zoey wished she could have done that with her deliveries back on Earth. It made things so much easier.

Another thing that made things easier was how she only had to think about the house where she had to deliver. When she did, a waypoint arrow appeared in her mini-map; she didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

Without having to hold anything in her hands and without having to worry about navigation, she sprinted to the address. Then she ran back to the pizzeria. She repeated it again. Then she did it again.

At some point, she realized that where she could run without getting tired, Pete wasn’t able to. It helped her take triple the deliveries he could. She wondered if her unlimited stamina came from her being a vampire. She guessed it did.

How did she become a vampire? She wondered. Why wasn’t Pete one? She had a theory about it.

Pete said he fell from the tree when he saved the cat; she had not. The last thing she remembered before waking up in Pizza and Games was the girl with Max the Cat. That woman in the nightgown had a creepy aura, and the last thing Zoey remembered was seeing that woman’s teeth.

If I had fallen when Max lunged at me, Zoey realized, Max would have brought me to this world as a human. If Pete hadn’t fallen, would he be a vampire? Zoey wondered if she’d ever see that other woman or max, again.

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“Watch out, lady!” A child’s voice shouted toward Zoey as she sprinted toward one of her deliveries.

She turned in the direction of the voice to see a red ball zipping toward her head. As she focused on it, it began to slow like how the air hockey puck had slowed when she played the game against Max.

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It gave her enough time to lift her hands and catch the ball in stride like a wide receiver running a slant pattern. After making the catch, she slowed to a jog and focused on the kids. There were three, two boys and a girl. She hurled the ball back to the girl who caught it and shouted, “thanks.”

“Anytime,” Zoey yelled back. Then she continued toward her delivery.

When Zoey gained some distance from the kids, she heard one of the boys say. “That was awesome. She had the reflexes of a ninja.”

A ninja or a vampire, Zoey thought.

She still wasn’t sure what it meant to be a vampire. Part of her wished she had asked Wanda more questions about vampires in Round. The other part of her was afraid to know about them.

Was it only a matter of time before she converted into some blood-sucking fiend? Or would she keep receiving sustenance from regular food? She should figure those things out sooner rather than later.

When she arrived at the next house—it was turquoise on the outside with a yellow door, a woman answered the door. She was short with blond hair, a red hat, and a striped white and blue shirt. From what Zoey could tell, she was a gnome.

“Hi,” Zoey smiled. “I have an order for Yam Hopler.”

“That’s me,” Yam answered back, her eyes squinting to get a better look at Zoey. “I don’t know you. Are you new to town? I thought I knew everyone in town. First, we have Pete that is new here. Now, we have you that are new here.” Yam blinked a few times and leaned back, recomposing. “I’m sorry about that. What I mean to say is hello. My name is Yam Hopler—I guess you already knew that—and I am the mayor of Greenlake. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Zoey giggled, materializing the pizza and giving it to the mayor. As the mayor took it, len appeared in Zoey’s inventory. “We will have to talk later. I have more people waiting for their dinner.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” The Mayor answered. “Have a great night.”

“You, too.” Zoey began to jog away. “Have a good one.” Zoey heard the door close, and she continued back to the store.

She took three more deliveries before her delivery shift ended, and M&P’s closed for the night.

As Mod closed the doors, he turned to the pixies, to Pete, and to Zoey. “Tonight was busy. In all my life, I don’t know if I’ve ever worked so hard. And you all kept up. I can’t thank you all enough.

“With this, I have some good news for everyone. After collecting the payment for all the orders, I’ve realized how much we made today. In three days of serving pizza in the bakery, we’ve earned what used to take me a full month.

“To thank you all, I want to double your pay.” He smiled. “You’ve all earned it.”

The pixies cheered, doing their signature celebrations. The only difference was this time Skye did a quadruple dab back and forth.

As the pixies and Mod said goodnight to each other and to Pete and Zoey. Pete and Zoey did the same back. Then the pixies returned to their homes, and Mod retreated to his room.

Pete was about to do the same when Zoey turned to him, “Hey, Pete.”

“What’s up?” Pete asked.

“Before we turn in for the night,” Zoey explained. “I was hoping you could go to the forest with me. I want to try to get some experience.”

Pete considered her request. “Zoey, I don’t think we can go and level up like that. It goes against the laws of the moderators.”

“I know, but I have a way around that.” She said, following up her declaration with a question. “As a paladin, it is my job to protect people, right?”

“Right,” Pete nodded. “That would be my guess.

“So hear me out,” Zoey held up a finger, pointing it near his chest. “If you go in search of ingredients for your pizza, and I’m protecting you…”

“That means you’ll be doing your job.” Pete finished her sentence.

“Bingo,” She winked. “We have a winner.”

“And what are you going to use for a weapon?” he asked her.

She smiled, causing a pizza peel and pizza fork to materialize in her hands.