Chapter 82: Pizza Chicken Sandwich
"All of it?" Fredrinn raised his brows in amusement, looking down at the neat row of steaming containers.
Vivienne offered a proud, radiant smile, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, indeed. I made sure everyone had something proper to eat while we were holed up in here."
"Refusing would be impolite then," Fredrinn replied with a easygoing shrug. "We are starving anyway. Our breakfast was a nourishing packet of cup noodles and an apple."
Vivienne paused, her hands hovering near the trays as her eyes traveled up and down his figure blankly. For a brief second, her polite demeanor faltered under sheer disbelief.
"It’s... an interesting breakfast indeed..." she said awkwardly, fighting with all her willpower to control a rising laugh, making sure nothing in her tone suggested she was mocking their meager scavenged rations.
"It wasn’t by choice, trust me," Fredrinn chuckled, amused by her visible attempt to remain professional.
"Ah, that makes a lot more sense. Then I guess every single one of you will be glad you rescued us today," she smiled widely, her massive breasts swinging with the fluid movement as she turned around to properly look at the rest of their rescue group.
The squad was composed of two women and three men, though one of the women appeared remarkably... weird.
She possessed a pale, greyish skin tone reminiscent of a corpse or a high-tier zombie, yet her skin looked impossibly smooth, youthful, and healthy.
Her posture was stiff, and her facial expression remained so completely impassive and flat that a cold chill ran down Vivienne’s spine whenever their eyes crossed.
However, that unsettling, frozen mask would instantly melt into a sweet, dazzling smile the exact second her crimson eyes drifted back toward Fredrinn.
What threw Vivienne the most was the fact that there were two horns on her forehead, something a human had no business in possessing.
They emerged out of her temple, curling demonically and glinting in the light. It gave Vivienne a bad feeling, but she held it in as...
’There are so many strange Awakening skills and physical mutations floating around these days... I shouldn’t be trying to doubt my own saviors. I would be dead if it weren’t for them.’ Vivienne scolded herself silently, quickly averting her gaze from Rose.
’Even that little boy Ash awakened his skill just yesterday. Though he’s certainly gotten a lot bolder ever since... Hah...’
She let out a soft, internal sigh as she recalled the grey-haired teenager with the bleached locks. The boy had turned eighteen only a few months ago and had been lucky enough to awaken a combat capability during the panic.
He was undeniably favored by luck, blessed with good looks, and possessed an... okay personality, at least before the apocalypse hit.
But Vivienne had zero interest in entertaining the flirtatious advances of her own student. She had no desire to indulge in some taboo, forbidden teacher-student dynamic in the middle of a disaster; she preferred a straightforward, mature relationship with someone who actually carried themselves like an adult.
Setting her wandering thoughts aside, Vivienne stepped over to the ceramic casseroles and polished stainless steel utensils holding the cooked feast.
She picked up a wide spatula, neatly scooping a large, cheesy slice of homemade pizza onto a clean plate. Alongside it, she placed two drumstick-shaped, golden-brown items.
They were thick and meaty on one side, tapering down into a clean piece of bone at the bottom—crispy fried chicken leg pieces, though the exact culinary name escaped Fredrinn’s immediate memory.
In fact, his foggy mind couldn’t even instantly register what type of meat it was.
Finally, Vivienne added a neatly cut tuna sandwich to the tray before stepping forward and pushing the loaded plate toward Fredrinn with a gentle, inviting smile. She then turned her attention back to the counter to assemble the next serving.
As she reached for a second plate, a sudden wave of confusion washed over her own mind. She paused, wondering why she had instinctively served Fredrinn first.
Technically, the closest person to her counter had been a broad-shouldered, decently jacked man wearing a tactical police vest with a submachine gun slung casually over his hip.
Yet, she had deliberately taken extra steps past him just to hand the primary plate to Fredrinn.
’I suppose I just did it because I was already talking to him,’ she rationalized internally, brushing the lingering thought away. ’I just wanted to see his reaction to my cooking.’
Noticing the food being plated, a few of the older high school students stepped forward to assist Vivienne with the serving. Within moments, Rose and the rest of Fredrinn’s squad were handed their own overflowing plates.
Vivienne pulled out a chair and sat down directly across from Fredrinn. This time, it was purely a matter of coincidence, as the surrounding seats had already been claimed by her students and the two other surviving teachers.
Fredrinn sat quietly, blinking as he stared down at the colorful spread before him. He glided his gaze to his left, noticing that Rose was staring intensely at the fried chicken leg, completely ignoring the sandwich and the pizza.
To his right, Jenny picked up her tuna sandwich, taking a tentative, small bite into the toasted bread. Her eyes instantly widened in surprise.
Without missing a beat, her eating pace accelerated exponentially, her initial politeness disappearing as she began devouring the food.
Aadav and Max were acting no differently, both of them digging into their thick slices of pizza with ravenous enthusiasm.
Fredrinn still struggled to recall the formal names of the dishes sitting on his plate, but the rich, mouth-watering aroma wafting into his nose—combined with the shameless reactions of his squad—told him everything he needed to know.
It was going to be infinitely better than a cup of lukewarm noodles.
Deciding to follow the other guys’ lead, Fredrinn reached down and picked up the pizza slice.
Saliva immediately pooled in his mouth as he stared at the glistening layer of melted, sizzling cheese stretching over the crust.
Tentatively, he brought it to his lips, took a modest bite, and began to chew.
The moment the savory explosion of rich tomato sauce, melted cheese, and seasoned crust hit his palate, he completely froze. He swallowed the bite in a daze.
Without waiting a single second, he pulled the slice back to his mouth, taking another bite, then another, and another. He practically inhaled the food, chewing relentlessly until the entire slice had completely disappeared into his mouth.
Only after the last bite was swallowed did the sheer quality of the taste fully register in his mind.
With that sudden burst of familiar flavor, a sudden wave of forgotten memories came crashing back like a broken dam.
He vividly remembered sitting inside a warm, brightly lit pizza parlor with his family years ago, long before he was swallowed into the magical world of Apolasia.
It was a cozy, pet-friendly joint, and his childhood dog had been sitting right under the wooden table, waiting patiently for fallen crusts while his family shared loud laughter over a quiet weekend dinner.
Before Fredrinn even realized what was happening, his sharp vision began to blur around the edges, a heavy tightness gripped his chest, and his eyes grew wet...