Serendipity (Karlnapity Fantasy AU)

Chapter 22

being sick doesn't stop me from writing, and I want to say something because my author notes are really rare. I just wanted to say thank you for all the support. You guys don't know how great it is to read all the comments you leave after a chapter. Thank you so much! <3 And now have fun!

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Somewhat refreshed from their sleep, the two continued on their way, this time with the goal of finding the abandoned academy where Philza wanted to unite all the groups. The bad thing was that Sapnap and Quackity had only received a vague description of where it was and were now heading off aimlessly. They traversed the fields for hours, trotting side by side. At midday, with the sun blocked by the thousands of clouds, Quackity stopped.

"What?", Sapnap also stopped and followed the other's gaze, which was directed to the sky. Further away, jet-black clouds spread across the sky. Rigid with shock, the surroundings around them grew darker and the ground at their feet pulsed ominously.
"Fuck, that's-" but before Sapnap could voice his suspicions, sirens sounded in the distance. The eyes of the two met. Horror was written all over their faces. While light rain showers were not uncommon, it was almost impossible for the rain to fall so randomly.

The intensity of the sirens that rang in their ears indicated a heavy downpour that they would not survive without shelter. Sapnap felt Quackity's hand cling to his and his whole body vibrated with fear.
They could not dawdle. They had only about 400 heartbeats to find shelter, after which the sirens would end and the rain would cauterize their bodies to the bone.

Immediately Sapnap ran, pulling the Duck hybrid behind him. The two ran across the fields, keeping eye contact with the patch of forest that opened up to them. If they were fast enough, they might just make it in, even if it wouldn't save them. It was better than being exposed to the rain in an open field.

The volume of the sirens was too loud, Quackity had no idea what Sapnap was shouting over his shoulder, he merely nodded, not letting go of his hand.
He would never let go, he thought and tightened his grip. Perhaps they would die here together, hand in hand. They would never know what had happened to Karl and the others, and vice versa.

Quackity counted. Two hundred, three hundred, they wouldn't reach the forest. They would die. Then Sapnap stopped, Quackity ran against him, looking up at the larger one. The Blaze Hybrid looked around, sweat prickling his forehead, and the world around them grew darker, heavier. Quackity wanted to scream against the sirens, that he loved him and that he was sorry, but instead, he was pushed away by the other, with an apologetic look. He stumbled back, feeling the ground sink behind his feet, and he fell backward. His cry for Sapnap, who ran backward away from him, went down in the roar of the sirens.

Quackity landed in a dirt pit, just barely fitting in, banging his head against the earth wall behind him. Coughing from the dust he had kicked up, he tried to fight the dancing dots that were trying to pull him into the darkness. The sirens grew quieter and Quackity frantically kept counting.
398, 399, Quackity gulped, 400.
As if on cue, the acid rain pelted the earth, eating away at any being not protected from the poison by evolution, and he closed his eyes, a final cry for his friend stuck in his throat as darkness overtook him.

He didn't know how long he had been in this hole in the ground, how long he had been asleep, or how long the rain had been raging over the world. His throat ached from screaming, desperately trying to get a sign of life from Sapnap.

"Sapnap, Sapnap, please! Answer me-"; his voice broke and he slid back against the earth wall. The hole in the ground would have been too small for the two of them, maybe even too small for Sapnap alone, so he had pushed Quackity in, hoping that at least one of them would survive. But Quackity would rather have died than be the only one to survive.