The Apocalypse
Authors: Jack Parker
Copyright
Copyright ©
2012
by
Jack Parker
Cover and internal design
©
2012
by
Jack Parker
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This Novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locations is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
"Hannah, slow down!"
The school cafeteria was packed with enough bodies to make air conditioning necessary, even though the December weather was frigid. Ignoring her friend's plea, Hannah Ayers didn't
slow
down as she elbowed her way through, trying to make it to the front of the line. It was Thursday. Every Thursday, tater tots were served at Butler High School, and every Thursday, there was a war over them. Although the general population of students also tried hard to get to the tater tots, two individuals were the main soldiers of the war: Hannah Ayers and Jake Allen.
"Excuse me…sorry about that…oh hey, excuse me…" The murmurs kept escaping Hannah's mouth as she shoved through, getting a fair share of dirty looks from her peers, but Hannah didn't mind. She was seconds away from
reaching
the tater tot bin and shrieking out joyfully when Jake Allen stomped on her foot. With five separate lunch periods, one would think that Hannah and Jake wouldn't have to eat together, but no, they shared the period. Hannah faced him furiously, taking in his familiar green eyes and brown hair. "Ouch! Must you be so immature,
Jacob
?"
He smiled, but Hannah could tell that it was
a
fake smile. "This coming from the girl who cut in front of the entire line?" He scoffed and pointed into the bin. "And you still lose."
Hannah's blue eyes narrowed as she peeked where he was pointing to discover that there were no tater tots remaining. Before she could scream at him, Hannah looked at Jake's tray, something that she hadn't even bothered to get for herself. "You're tater tot-less too, jerk," she smirked. "I don't know why you're acting so damn proud of yourself. Sheer habit?"
"Look." Callously, Jake laughed and pointed out a door toward the large lunch table that he and his friends always sat at. Two of his friends held up a tray heaping with bags of tater tots, both of them laughing. "Better luck next week, Ayers."
"You're unbelievable," Hannah snapped. He had to be the most insufferable male in all of Ohio! People moved around her and Jake as though they were used to them hashing it out and holding up the line. "Did you seriously buy all of the tater tots just to piss me off?"
A faux-contemplative expression appeared on Jake's tanned face, and then his fake smile was back. "No."
"No?"
"Not quite."
"Not quite?"
The growing smile on Jake's face told Hannah that he was amused by her. "No, not quite. I
did
want to piss you off, but you know how much I like tater tots. Pissing you off was just an added bonus."
"I hate you," Hannah spat at him, turning so as to walk around him. However, Jake had other plans as he placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in his presence. Since he was a good six inches
taller
than she was, Hannah had to look up to meet his eyes. "What?"