Chapter 3: Something Inside

He buried his face in the zebra's fur and cried. "Oh god, I'm so selfish! How could I let this happen! I'm so sorry, Marty."

"Alex?" Alex froze at the sound of his name. "Alex, what's wrong?" Marty asked from the lion's arms.

"Marty!" Alex shouted in joy. Alex embraced him tightly. "I thought I'd lost you!"

Marty returned the embrace. "It's OK, I'm fine."

"I couldn't live with myself if you were gone." The lion cried out.

"I'm alright. I'm al-right," He assured his friend.

Alex let go of him and stared at him scanning every inch of his body, as if double checking to see if he really was alive. His joy was confirmed and a caring smile took his face. "I'm so glad your OK," Alex said with all his heart.

"Well, me too," Marty answered, "I'm glad your OK."

"Of course I'm OK, but look at you," Alex assumed a worried expression again. "Your half dead."

"No really, I'm fine."

Alex wasn't convinced, "Marty, what happened to you?"

"Alex, its nothing-"

"Marty," Alex said in an upset tone, "tell me what happened."

Marty replied submissively, "OK.." he looked at Alex "After you freaked out and ran into the jungle, I went after you." He took a deep breathe. He didn't want to make Alex feel it was his fault. "Well, I couldn't find you. I ran, and ran for... a long time."

"A long time?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, a long time," Marty replied.

"How long?" Alex asked with a clear tone of concern in his voice.

"Well..."

"Marty, how long!"

Marty took another breath, "A few hours..."

"A few HOURS!?" Alex shouted, mostly at himself. "I'm sorry. How could I let you do that. I should have gone out and find you. I should have known you would've acted that way-" Alex droned on about all the things he should have done. Marty's approached had obviously failed.

"Alex-"

"I should've just stayed their and dealt with the situation-"

"Alex-"

"I'm such a moron. I should be killed just to know what you've gone through..."

"ALEX!" Marty shouted. The lion fell silent. "Now let me finish. I ran for hours and passed out, then you came and woke me up." Alex just looked into Marty. The gaze lasted for a long time.

It was interrupted when Alex reached out an hugged Marty again. "Marty, I'm sorry,"

"Alex, I know," Marty responded while breaking away from the embrace. "Just tell me one thing."

"Yeah?"

Marty's face dawned a serious presence. "What happened with you and Skipper, and why did you run away."

The joy from Alex's face faded. His whiskers sank. "That thing... that thing I became when we first got here... Its still inside me." Alex sank even more and grabbed his knees. "I can feel it now, trying to come out. It came out when I saw Skipper. I didn't even want to eat him... I wanted to hurt him... to kill him..." his eyes grew watery. A tear rolled down his cheek leaving a dark stain in his tan fur. "I hate it. I hate this feeling... Ever since my instincts woke up that thing has been trying to come out. At first it was just for hunter, but yesterday, it just came out." Alex looked deeply into Marty's brown eyes, "I'm afraid, Marty. I love you, and I don't want anything to hurt you. Especially not me. I'm going to figure out how to stop it!" His arm reached out and rested on Marty's black mane, "I promise I'll never hurt you, no matter how bad it wants to leave me. I promise on my life."

Marty felt moved. He 'd never realized how close they were until that point. Even when Alex was fighting the biggest battle in his life, he still thought about him. "I know, Alex," Marty answered, "And I promise I'll always be here for you. Always." The two shared an unspoken moment. They both looked deeply into each other's eyes feeling their souls connect in a profound way. They both new that they would always be there for one another.

Alex stood up. "Come on, we should get back," Alex broke the moment. "Can you stand?"

Marty tried, but he simply collapsed again. His legs were just too fatigued. "No," He answered.

"I'll have to carry you then," Alex told the zebra while bending down. Alex had always been strong: working out three times a day or more at the Central Park Zoo, mostly for his looks, but it always came in handy. He hoisted Marty behind his shoulders and stood up again. "Which way should we go?"

"The beach is westward, and it's morning, right?"

"Yeah," Alex answered.

"Then go the opposite direction of the sun." He instructed. Promptly, Alex did so and soon they found themselves, once again, wandering through the jungle of Madagascar

"So tired," Marty muttered.

"Go ahead and sleep, buddy, I got you covered," he suggested to his friend. The sounds of birds echoed through the canopy giving the island a surreal ambiance. It took no time for Marty to drift into a deep sleep. Overtime, the sun had settled in the center of the sky, but Alex knew where he was going. By this time Marty was snoring loudly. But, Alex could care less. As long as he was helping his friend, he was fine. Suddenly, a new sound came to Alex's ears. It was running water. He walked slightly faster to catch up to the sound. It was a stream. Humbly, he stopped and admired its beauty: the blue ripples sparkling in the noon sunlight as they traveled down the shallow brook.

"Hey, Marty." He jarred his shouldered to wake the sleeping zebra.

Marty yawned, "What it it?"

"Thirsty?" Alex asked.

"Am I!" the zebra perked up. Gently, Alex let Marty down. Marty suppressed a grown as his hind leg touched the ground.

"Stay here," Alex instructed, aware of his friend's disability. He grabbed a large leaf from a nearby bush and bent down over the stream. Water pooled into the cupped leaf until it was full. Alex then proceeded to carry the leaf over to his friend and poured it into his mouth. Marty savored the cool liquid as his slid down his throat, cooling the hot pains that had developed from running.

Marty spoke apologetically, "I'm sorry of this is weird for you,"

"Don't be," he answered simply. He repeated the process, once again delivering the soothing drink. Alex, then returned to the stream and took a drink for himself. After swallowing a good mouthful he turned around to face Marty. "So, what around here can you eat?" the lion asked thoughtfully.

Marty scanned his surroundings. "That bush over their with the little white flowers," He pointed to the bush, "But, I can only eat the leaves."

"Can do," Alex said optimistically. He got the leaves and gave them to Marty. He happily ate them, his enthusiasm rebuilding itself. While Marty ate Alex stared at the stream. Small fish swam about under the surface. Alex extended his claws (something he did not do often). Predicting the refraction of the water, he darted his paw into the water. He caught a fish his first try. Not wanting to kill it, he swallowed it whole to let his innards to the dirty work. "You OK to go on, Marty?"

"Yeah," he answered brightly. Then, his attention shifted directly on his friend's eyes. "Hey, Al?"

"Yeah?"

Marty looked at his friend. He didn't know how to show his grattitude. Finally, he decided to show it as simply as he could. "Thanks."

Author: Sorry about scaring you at the end of Chapter 2. I felt it was neccessary to engage the reader. Please review. The next few chapters is when the story really starts to take shape.