Chapter 2: Loss of a Friend

Marty advanced forward in search of his friend. He didn't get it. 'Alex would never hurt anybody. Maybe the penguin was lying. Maybe he wasn't. Alex always liked the penguins, aside from his jokes.' Marty's mind raced as he scouted the island for any trace of the confused lion. 'How could one lion be so hard to find!' he thought frustratedly. At first it was nice to run through the jungle alone, but now it was getting arduous.

"ALEX!" he shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU?" His pace quickened. Random rocks began hurting his feet as he trotted. His speed increased as his worry did. "ALEX!" his hoofs barely touched the ground. "ALEX, PLEASE COME OUT!" . 'What if Alex got hurt.'

"YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!" Marty became but a white and black blur as he frantically searched. He had been running for an hour already. His knees pushed out trying to bring him down, but Marty fought to stay standing. Every branch seemed to hit like a blow to the stomach. His fatigue began to mount. A wave of pain coursed through him. Suddenly, his back legs gave way. "ALEX...please" he uttered as he collapsed onto the ground.

His heart raced. 'No' he thought as he tried to stand up again. Every muscle ached. His legs trembled as he forced them into his control. It seemed to take an eternity, as his body began to rise off the ground.Finally he made it on his feet. Despite his pain, he began running again. His body told him to rest but nothing would stop him so easily.Panicked, he thought of every bad thing that could've happened. 'What if Alex fell down a cliff. What if he got swept away by the river. What if he got attacked by a group of vengeful foosa.' he listed within his troubled mind. He ran and shouted for hours. The sun had completely set and the moon had risen half way. He had not stopped to rest or drink once. His pace slowed from fatigue, regardless of his best efforts to speed up. As he ran, the reality came: he wouldn't be able to continue much longer, yet he endured, running for an hour more. But then, anunbelievable pain crept into his legs. Taking his last steps, his knees buckled forcing him to the ground.

Marty tried to stand up again but his muscles wouldn't obey. He panted and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Oh, god, I hope he's OK..." His eyes grew pale and everything went black.

Meanwhile, Alex sat quietly by a spring. He couldn't sleep. He held his knees in his large paws. 'How could I have done that!' he thought. 'How could I have talked to Marty like that. He was just trying to help me.' He felt a catch in his throat. He wasn't negative in general, but he found his mind dwelling on dark thoughts.'Are we ever going to go back home?' he thought. Then, he remembered more recent matters. He replayed him choking Skipper in his head.The thought haunted him.'What is wrong with me?' He remembers asking himself this same question yesterday.

'Oh my god! Is it this again! I thought I got it under control! I'm not even hungry! But if food isn't the problem, then what is? And after Marty worked so hard to help me.' He felt like he was going to be sick. He lied down trying not to think. To simply exist and not hurt anybody. He didn't even want to hurt anybody. His paw clasped over his face. 'Don't think...don't think...just don't think...' After thinking nothing but 'don't think' to himself, he fell asleep, completely unaware of his friend's situation. Subconsciously, he rolled into a ball and put his thumb in his mouth.

The night passed and the sun rose over the island. On the beach, Melman paced back and forth making large tracks in the sand.

Gloria began to get annoyed, "Melman, would you stop your pacing!"

"I can't help it, Gloria," Melman answered, "What if something bad happened to them."

Suddenly his expression grew grim, "Oh my God!" he shouted.

"What, what it is?" Gloria inquired.

Melman's eyes grew wider, "What if they got Malaria!"

"Malaria?" Gloria looked skeptical, "I'm pretty sure that kind of thing doesn't happen overnight."

"Oh, we should've followed Marty." he said darkly.

Gloria tried to hide her mutual worry, "C'mon. Marty can handle himself. He would've asked us to follow if he needed our help."

Melman simply let out a groan to suffice as an answer. "Would he even realize if he needed our help or not?" Melman worried further.

Gloria shook her head, "I don't think so," she admitted.Melman and Gloria looked into the jungle hoping for some sign of Marty and Alex.

Meanwhile, Alex awoke in his clearing. 'Man, I don't know how I managed to sleep' he thought as he stretched blissfully. 'Poor, Marty, he's probably worrying himself to death on the beach.' Alex felt he was ready to face his friends, though the dark thoughts still loomed over him like a thunderous rain cloud. He stood and walked out into another clearing. 'Which way is home? ... which way is New York...' his mind began dwelling on his true home.

He chose a random direction and followed it in hopes of finding the beach. He resisted the temptation to walk on all fours, even though he would go faster. He gazed lazily at the sky, mesmerized at the sight of its beauty. It was so blue. Also, he never really realized how big the sky was. A bird flew by. It looked so graceful, shining a blue gleam in the light. It chirped. Alex thought it was a beautiful sound.

But, Alex felt that something was wrong. Suddenly, his eyes were distracted. Amongst the green foliage was a black and white figure. "MARTY!" Alex yelled as he broke into a run. He reached the zebra's lifeless body. He bent down and held the Zebra's neck in his arms. "Oh, god, Marty." The striped body gave no hint of response. Alex held his neck close to him. "C'mon, Marty! Get up! Please get up!" he sobbed over the zebra's head which dangled from the neck joint like a doll's head. "Marty, buddy, please get up." Alex waited for some sort of signal. But, there was no reply.