A/N: Very angsty
It was the end of the world. We were sitting on that rock, watching the water surrounding us slowly elevate. All we could do was wait to drown.
Ellie had died about an hour before. She and Mammy couldn't fit on the rock, and they fell and were attacked by sea creatures. Diego floated away on another iceberg, out of sight within seconds. Sid went into hypothermic shock and fell off. So we were alone.
But there was no way that I was going to let go of Crash. I would hold onto him until we were both just dead bodies. Nothing as minor as the end of the world would separate me from my twin brother.
But he was hurt. Bad. Crash had tried to dive into the water once Ellie fell, and a piranha had nearly torn his leg off. He was soaked in ice cold water, and shivering harder than I thought possible. I was holding him both tightly, and softly. The same way I did when we were five years old and we were both crying because we were lost in a snowstorm. But this time, I knew that I wouldn't let go.
"Eddie?" He asked me feverishly, "What're we going to do?"
I stroked his forehead, "Um... we can't do anything." I said honestly. There was a rock about a yard away from us, and we could take a leap onto that. Then, maybe we could find more rocks, and then just maybe find land to survive. But Crash was hurt too badly to leap, and I was much to weak from the cold to carry him. And there was no way that I was going on my own.
"Jump onto the other stone. Don't worry about me, just jump." He said. "Hurry."
"No way, Crash. No way I'm leaving you." I said, feeling tears of stress well up in my eyes. I was overwhelmed by the situation -- who wouldn't be? And I'd die if I wasn't with Crash. It was that simple. I wasn't Eddie without him.
He didn't argue with me, he only clutched me tighter.
The water level rose a bit, and a small wave came and splashed onto us. Crash shivered, and threw himself into a violent coughing fit right before throwing up. I wanted to throw up too. I felt so sick that death almost seemed welcoming. Ellie was dead, and the water held her blood. Everyone else we had known and come to love was gone with her. And all we had was each other. All we had was the most important thing.
He curled up, lying his head across my stomach. The water rose so high that it would only be another yard before we were in over our heads. I gripped him in terror, my breathing becoming skimpy. Tears of fear and depression came to my eyes.
"Eddie?" He asked me quietly. The water level climbed once again, until we were sitting in it. Thirty seconds, I thought. In thirty seconds, we'd drown. Together.
"Huh?" I asked. It rose, and it was up to our shoulders.
His voice was trembling, just like his body, uncontrollably. "Are you scared?"
A wave came over us, burying every square inch of the rock and a good ten feet higher. I was so cold that I thought I would freeze to death before drowning.
Crash had asked me if I was scared. Was I scared? Of course I was. I was terrified. But I couldn't answer that now. I'd never answer that.
And so all that I did, was hold my brother tighter as the bleak, hopeless world faded into the darkness.