Title: Sudden End

Author: H.L. LeRoy

Series: The Fountain of the Earth Series (Prequel)

Genre: YA Dystopian

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: May 16, 2015

Edition/Formats Available In: eBook

Blurb/Synopsis:

Long before the events depicted in The Fountain of the Earth, the end came. This is how it happened.

Lisa Evans, sixteen, lives with her mom and dad in a cute little town, Rose Vista, California, It's an idyllic life, except when you reside at the bottom of your high school's social ladder. Picked on, laughed at, and embarrassed daily, it's been rough for Lisa. But the next day things are going to change. She has an opportunity to take her life back.

Then catastrophe strikes. In the beginning, everyone thinks that it's a simple power outage and everything will be back to normal in a week or two.

Instead, the entire world has gone dark, cities have burned, and the jails have emptied. There is sickness, starvation and death everywhere, and each day that goes by, the population shrinks even further.

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I sat in my first-period science class scribbling stuff in the margins of my notebook and looking up like I was paying attention. My brain was stuck on the time. At 8:54 I heard the muffled ring of the bell.

"Don't forget, tomorrow's quiz on—"

I missed the rest of what he said. I was already out of the door, narrowly avoiding a collision with a gaggle of cheerleaders.

I tore down the hallway to my locker, where I grabbed my gym bag.

"Lisa!"

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of blue-blonde hair, "No time, Chrissie." I said.

I waved at Charlie out by the gym and hustled into the locker room. I changed into my practice jersey and headed out to the court. Coach would make the cuts early, and those who made it through would have a short workout. I sure didn't want to be late.

I sprinted into the gym, my Nikes chirping on the hardwood.

"Morning, Coach."

"Good morning, Miss Evans. Glad to see you could make it."

All the other girls laughed.

I looked up at the clock, 8:57. She had a slight smirk on her face, so I knew she was just jerking my chain. "Sorry, Coach."

I lined up with the rest of the girls and Coach eyeballed each of us, making checkmarks on a clipboard.

Looking at the group, I could pretty much tell who was going to be cut. Evelyn Perez for sure. She was always on her phone and seemed to show up late to every workout. The coach didn't have a lot of patience and had already warned her twice. I thought today would be her last. There were a few others, a couple with the height but not much skill who would likely be gone, too.

"I want you to know I'm very proud of all of you. I know these tryouts have been hard, but you've all impressed me, and if I could, I'd keep all of you."

Someone behind me laughed and Coach glared at the offender. "Today I've made the final cuts and Ms. Franklin has posted the results on the hall bulletin board."

It was then that the lights flickered and went out.

Author Information

H. L. (Holly) LeRoy is an American short story writer and novelist, author of the award winning Street Crimes anthology and the novel The Fountain of the Earth (Nov. 22, 2013), first in a series of young adult adventures. Book two, Heralds of Juno, will be released in 2015. Born in San Jose, California, LeRoy currently resides in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with his family.