Chapter 11: Staying Alive

"Kenya! Where's Kenya?" Marty panicked.

Skipper sighed. "It's in Africa."

"AFRICA?" the zebra jumped, "Why were we sent to Africa?"

"As you pointed out earlier," he explained, "You four are from Africa."

Julien sighed, "Ah, good. If this were New York I'd be greatly disappointed."

Gloria shifted, "I don't care where your coming from, this is not a good thing!"

Melman shook his head, "Now I'm never going to get the health care I need."

"I think someone else is gonna need health care, if he keeps getting shot at like that," he looked at Alex, "That's..." he counted in his head, "...four times he's been tranquilized, now!" He walked over and sat next to Alex's sleeping body, "I just don't have the heart to tell him what's happened. He's been disappointed so much all ready."

Gloria walked to Marty, "Well, someone has to..."

Marty looked at her, "I will," he looked down again, "I guess I'm the best man for the job..." Everyone took a moment, all imagining how Alex will feel when he iminentlyfinds out.

Melman severed the silence, "Well, what are we going to do, now?"

Private sat on the ground, "I don't think anyone wants to do anything, now."

Kowalski called out, "Skipper, sir,"

Skipper pointed at him, "Yes, Kowalski?"

The penguin took a step forward, "I think it's safe to say, sir, that this agreeably bites."

Skipper sighed, "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Julien looked annoyed. He stood and approached the down trodden penguins. "What is wrong with you?" he yelled, "This isn't the end of the world!" he looked at everyone, "We still have each other! We still have our bodies, and we are still alive!" He jumped on top of Alex's cage, using it like a miniature stage. He continued, "We are going to find a way to New York, come Hell or high water!"

Skipper agreed, "The squirrel's right, boys-"

"I'm not a squirrel! I'm a lemur, a quitehandsome one at that!" Julien bragged.

"Fine, then," Skipper rolled his eyes, "The lemur's right. We have to get ourselves in gear, and figure out a way home!"

"I agree! It's no good sulking like this," Private chimed in.

"Good form, Private," Skipper complimented. "Are you ready for action, boys?" Kowalski and Rico nodded. "Good." he turned around to face the others. "We're going to search the area for any links to the civilized world. We will report back here if we get a lead." He faced his followers again, "We'll get a drink from that pool, and get a move on it. We'll eat our reserve fish. Do we have our reserve storage?"

Rico waved.

"Good. Now let's get a drink, and we'll go," Skipper commanded. They proceeded to the shallow muddy puddle only ten or twenty feet away. Skipper stopped in front of Alex's cage. He looked from Alex to Marty. "You keep him safe, my monochromatic friend," he ordered. Marty nodded. Skipper resumed to the puddle. They took their drinks and waddled off. "Stay in this area. We will return in a few day's time!" he shouted before disappearing among the tall grass.

Julien smiled, "See? A little encouragement goes a long way."

Marty feigned a smile, but he really wanted to be with Alex.

Melman spoke up, "Should I light a fire?"

"Not here," Gloria said, "With all this dry grass we could get in big trouble in little time."

"So, what do we do, then?" Melman inquired.

"We wait," she answered plainly.

And they did wait, and for a very long time. Julien attempted to engage the others in some sort of activity, but no one wanted to do anything. The sun hung low in the sky, casting an orange-ish light on everything it touched. Everyone just wanted to get away from this place. After getting so excited to return to New York, the zoosters didn't much have a taste for much else.

Suddenly, Marty looked ecstatic, "Alex is waking up!". Everyone stared at him in anticipation. He was correct. The lion shifted restlessly on the ground. Finally his eyelids parted.

"Marty?" he questioned, "Why aren't you in your enclosure? You didn't have to stay in mine. I've been through this before."

"Alex," Marty bit his lip. "We're not in your enclosure."

"You brought me to yours? But your legs still must be a littlesore..."

"Alex, look around," he lifted the lion's head for him, effectively sitting him up.

Alex looked around lazily. His eyes grew open. He grew alert. "Marty...what is this? Where are we?"

"Alex, we're not in New York... the ship brought us to Africa," he informed his friend.

Alex's face sunk low to the ground. He felt a catch in his throat. Heavily, he collapsed to the ground. He pounded the dirt with his fist, and sobbed. "Don't look at me," he uttered, facing the ground.

"Alex, it's ok," he tried to comfort him. Marty turned and made a 'go away' motion with his hands. The others understood, and moved away, silently.

"It's not going to be ok, Marty. We're never going to get home! The humans don't want us home. They want us to die out here!" he shouted sadly.

"Don't even say things like that!" Marty scolded.

"Can you look me in the eye and tell me that there's still hope?" he cried.

Marty grabbed his shoulders and looked straight into his swollen eyes, "There is always hope!"

"How can you say that," Alex tried to avoid Marty's piercing gaze.

Marty released his friend, "Remember that time you got that infection when you were little, and the vet said you were too small. He said you were going to die. And your still here." he listed, "Remember that time the Paris Zoo offered one hundred thousand dollars for you, and the Central Park Zoo had it's worst income in years? They were desperate for money, yet you are still here." He straightened his posture, "There is always hope!" Marty's expression never faltered. "We are going to get through this, just like all those times. I promise."

Alex looked up at Marty with his big blue eyes. "Marty..." he hugged his friend. He closed his eyes and released the embrace. "I know we will..."

Marty smiled, "Now, that's the Alex I know."

Alex sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry...it's just- I've been through so much these last few days."

"I know, Al, I know," Marty understood. He had been disappointed, himself. He sighed, "I really thought we were going home..."

Alex's nose twitched, "I kinda knew it was too good to be true."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Marty asked.

Alex thought, "Well, I was kinda tired of being the guy that worries. You know what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah, actually," Marty knew the feeling.

Alex looked around to get a grasp on the situation, "Are you sure there's hope?"

Marty nodded, "Yeah! The penguins already left looking for a way home."

Alex looked down, "Without even saying good bye?"

Marty smiled, "You really like them, don't you."

"Being in Madagascar taught me something," he told Marty, "It taught me that you're given what you're given, but if you don't appreciate it, it'll be taken away from you."

"Truer words were never spoken," Marty agreed.

"I know..." he got up and sat on his cage, "It just feels like someone doesn't want us to go home."

"I seriously am doubting that," Marty sat on the cage, next to him, "As you've said, you have to trust the people. They can be a bit understanding, but they wouldn't hurt us."

"Well, I'm starting to doubt what I say,"

"Alex," he patted his friend on the back, "I believe in you. And I know you can pull through anything. Just tell me. I didn't think you'd react that badly to the news. Something else is going on..."

Alex nodded and took a breathe, "For one thing I'm hungry, and I'm angry at the situation. And those are the two prerequisites for it."

Marty's expression darkened, "Can you handle it?" he whispered.

"Today, I can manage. But I'm going to need something to eat soon." he looked concernedly at his friend, "And there are no fish here."

"You could-"

"I won't kill anything. I feel bad killing fish, and they don't even have a thought in their head," he made his guidelines, but it was Marty's turn.

"If it's life and death, then-"

"There's another way. There has to be another way."

"I would hope so, but-"

"Marty! You're starting to sound like me. Cut it out. Everything will work out. I bet food's just around the corner. Did the penguins bring any fish, here?"

Marty shook his head, "Only in Rico." Alex mad a face in disgust. "My sentiments, as well."

Alex sighed, "I guess I'll eat whatever you guys are eating."

"I don't think I could get you to eat a plant if I tried," Marty looked about, "Besides, I don't think we have anything to eat either. Other than dead grass, there's really nothing out here."

"I guess we'll have to go out and find something better," Alex sighed.

"We've survived the wilderness before, we can do it again," Marty said confidently.

"C'mon. We should have a talk with the others," Alex leaned his head to their direction. The two walked over the grass and found their friends. Apparently, they were talking. Melman noticed them coming.

"Hey guys," the giraffe greeted them, "How are you doing?"

Alex sat next to them, "I'm ok, now."

Gloria petted Alex's mane, as she often did to comfort him. "So, you guys have a good talk?"

"Decent," Marty commented, "But, we all need to talk. We're going to have to figure out how to survive this."

"Survive?" Melman groaned, "We really are in trouble, now."

Julien, however, was not worried. "I, myself, came from the wild. Therefore, I proclaim myself your survival guide."

Alex looked at Julien, doubtfully, "Alright, oh mighty, surviving one. What should we do first."

Julien's eyes lifted up and to the left, "Um...we should definitely do something ... like... um... yeah... something..."

"As I thought," Alex remained worried.

"I guess, we have to go to the bottom of the food chain," Marty looked at the grass.

"What about me?" Melman whined, "I don't eat grass."

Gloria sighed, "Ok, Melman. What do you eat?"

"The supple leaves of the African Acacia tree," Melman stated.

"Well, we're in Africa," Gloria pointed out the obvious, "Do you know what an Acacia tree looks like?"

"Well...no... I just eat the food rations at the zoo," Melman looked down.

"Just try all the trees around. You'll recognize the right one when you taste it," Alex held his hand out and stretched it across the view. There were many trees around. One of them had to be the right one.

Melman raised an eyebrow, "What about you, Alex?"

Alex cleared his throat, "Oh, I'll eat- er- something," he tried dodging the question.

Author: Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been really busy. Don't worry the story will pick up soon. Just keep reviewing. If you don't review, I may stop writing...Just teasing. I'll finish this story, just keep reviewing. And get some more people over here. A new audience would be nice. I'm thinking of redoing the first two chapters... they kinda suck. Anyway, I'll let you know if I do.