Chapter 36: Over Land and Sea

The plane had just lifted into the air. With the high screams of the wind, the landing gear and wheels folded into the cargo hold. The doors closed and the noise ceased. It was a larger cargo area. About 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall. A single plastic light illuminated the entire area.

Marty returned to Alex's side. Gloria and Melman sat across from him, leaning against one of the boxes. Melman rested his head on Gloria's shoulder. Julien lied down in the middle. All held thoughts of Skipper in their minds.

Meanwhile, Private was still standing in front of the cargo door. He whispered, "...I can't believe he's gone... he's been here since I first came to the zoo... I-I can't do it alone."

Kowalski looked up at the penguin. "Do what?" he asked.

Private's voice cracked, "This!" he gestured around, "Leading others, missions... life... I can't do it without him..."

Rico looked down in anguish.

"Well, we don't have a choice, Private," Kowalski put a flipper over the penguin's shoulder. "It'll be alright in the end. But, for now, we need to focus on our mission. We need to get to New York."

Private started, "But-"

"Skipper needs us to do this!" Kowalski told him.

Private nodded quietly. "Alright then... let's get some rest. I expect it'll take a while to get to New York City from here."

Melman looked over to Marty, "How's he doing?"

The zebra answered, "He's getting colder."

"Don't worry too much Marty, we're on our way right now," Gloria tried to spark the hope that Marty once held so proudly, "Once we get there, some doctors can fix Alex right up. Right Melman?"

Melman took a moment to answer, and he sounded false, "...sure...yeah, they'll get Alex fixed up fine..."

Julien stared at Alex with watery eyes. He didn't know what to say... he didn't have anything to say...

Hours past and eventually they all fell asleep. They had all had a long day. Saying goodbye to their new friends, stealing a bus, and now...

One animal still stirred. Marty still watched Alex with keen eyes.

Suddenly, Alex moved he coughed again, more violently this time. Blood dripped onto his chin.

Marty looked around quickly. Desperately, he opened the box nearest to him. In it was an array of fabrics. He grabbed a swatch of an ornate blue fabric and wiped Alex's mouth and chin. The once beautiful clothed was now bloodstained and hideous.

Marty looked downward. The red stain in the bandage on Alex's chest was growing larger. The bleeding wasn't stopping. Marty held his hooves against the wound trying to build enough pressure for the blood to stop. The blood only soaked onto him.

Losing hope by the second, Marty began to weep again. He remembered all the moments Alex and he had shared.

The day Marty first glanced over to the enclosure next to him and saw a young Alex.

The day they became friends.

The time when the two of them befriended Gloria, the hippo.

The first time they saw a star in the New York skyline.

Their first Christmas together.

Singing "New York, New York".

Staring over the zoo walls watching the busy streets together.

Playing tag around Alex's enclosure.

The time they sneaked into the reptile house to see if snakes sleep at night.

Meeting Melman for the first time.

When Marty made the birthday wish to go to the wild... 'Why did I make that stupid wish...' Marty thought silently.

The bleeding seemed to be stopping. Marty removed his hoof causing Alex to stir. He groaned, lifting himself into a weak sitting position. Pain coursed through every vein in his body.

"Alex?" Marty called out, wiping the tears from him eyes.

Slowly Alex opened his eyes and turned, "...hey there, Marty..."

Sparkles danced in Marty's aqua colored eyes, "How are you feeling?"

Alex laid down once more looking up at Marty, "...awful... where are we? What happened to me? Why does my leg hurt?"

Marty answered, "That boy on the ship shot you with a real gun. You fell down and broke your ankle," he explained, "Then we put you back on the bus and got you bandaged up. After that, we knew we needed to get you to New York faster so Skipper brought us to an airport. Right now we're stowed away in a plane to New York."

Alex took in this information. A lot had happened while he was gone. Softly he commented, "We're going home..."

Marty answered back, a tear falling to the floor, "Yeah..."

Suddenly, a panicking sensation came to Alex. He sat back up and glanced around. "Where's Skipper?" he asked.

Marty laid Alex down again, "The way we got onto the plane... someone had to clear the boarding stuff... he stayed behind."

"Skip..." Alex whispered, "I can't believe he did that... for me-" suddenly Alex coughed again. More blood spilt onto his mouth and chin.

"Let me get that," Marty said while taking the blue clothe and once more wiping the lion's chin clean.

Alex gazed with open eyes at the bloodstained rag, "Marty...what's happening to me?"

Tears began to pour down Marty's cheeks, "Alex... I'm think you might be..."

"Dying?" Alex finished the sentence.

The word stabbed at Marty. He felt a a pain in the back of his throat.

Alex couldn't stand to see Marty like this. He tried to lighten the mood, "Hey, Marty. Remember our first Christmas together?"

"Clear as day," Marty answered, "We had just met in September."

Alex answered, "The snow had fallen and made a dirty brown slush all around the zoo."

Marty laughed, "I remember seeing you making slush angels in your enclosure."

"Yeah," Alex smiled, "They had just built the podium in the middle, and the snow would never melt because of the shadow. I would lean up against it and play in it."

"We were so young back then," Marty muttered, "You hadn't even started growing your mane."

"And then," Alex continued, "On Christmas morning, we got Gloria and we went around the zoo singing Christmas carols, even though we didn't know all the words." Alex laughed but soon ceased feeling a stabbing pain in his stomach and back. He started another coughing fit, spilling more blood around his mouth. His fur was becoming more stained.

Marty once again wiped the crimson from Alex and all the fear and worry returned.

Despite this action, Alex smiled, "I remember a lot of things now. Things I couldn't remember before."

Marty questioned, "Like what, Al?"

"Like when we went sneaking into other animals enclosures at night, just for the thrill of it," the lion answered.

"I remember that," Marty's eyes lit up with this revelation, "I can't remember why we quit doing it."

"We got caught," Alex answered, "The old zoo-keeper, Joe Decamp, woke up when we got to the Rhinos."

"Zoo-keeper Joe..." Marty searched his memories, "Oh yeah. He's the one that brings you steak every morning for breakfast."

"Yeah," Alex nodded, "He knows me better than all the rest of the zoo staff. Nice guy."

Marty grew detached from the conversation. He stared blankly at the floor.

"What is it, Marty?" Alex asked concernedly.

Marty made up an answer, "Um...I was just wondering where we were right now." In truth he was really wondering if Alex would ever see Zoo-keeper Joe again.

Alex was unconvinced, but answered regardless, "I dunno. How long have we been flying?"

"About nine to ten hours," Marty estimated.

"I don't know anything about geography..." Alex thought, "But I'd guess we're over an ocean. I heard somewhere that most of the world is ocean."

"One thing's for sure," Marty reflected, "We have to go over a lot of land and sea to get home. We've come a long way."

Alex gazed at Marty sharing the emptiness that he felt, but then a warm serenity seemed to fill that void. "As long as it's with you guys, It doesn't matter. I'm glad all this happened."

Marty's eyes twitched back and forth between Alex's various wounds, "I'm not glad this happened."

"But, we've been brought so much closer," Alex explained.

Marty began to cry again, "But that doesn't mean anything if we aren't together in the end!"

The two shared a silent moment. Marty wiped his eyes, he didn't like crying. Alex held a paw on his shoulder. Marty felt comforted as long as Alex was there.

Recovering, Marty looked around, "Should I wake the others?"

"For what?" Alex asked.

Marty stammered, "Well... I thought that everyone should get to... before..."

Alex patted Marty's shoulder, "Hey Marty...don't worry, ok? There's always hope, remember?"

Marty feigned a smile, "...always..." Marty began to doubt his own words.

Alex slowly closed his eyes. "Hey Marty," he said, "I'm going to get a bit more sleep. I still feel kind of woozy. You get some rest too, ok?"

"Alright," Marty wiped his eyes again. Alex drifted into peaceful slumber on Marty's legs. Marty however found himself incapable of sleep. He had to watch Alex. He had to. Then Marty thought, 'What if that was the last conversation me and Alex are going to have...'

Hours past and the others eventually awoke due to a new onset of turbulence. They joined Marty in watching Alex. Marty, Gloria, Julien, Private, Kowalski, and Rico formed a loose circle around the two.

"Is Alex doing any better," Julien asked.

"He woke up earlier," Marty told them, "We talked for a while and then he went back to sleep."

Melman muttered, "That's a good sign."

The joy was short lived. Marty felt a dampness at his shins. Gently he lifted Alex and examined the source of this wetness. Alex's exit wound was bleeding though the bandages. Marty cried out, "Melman! We need to get something else. Alex is bleeding again! Worse than before!"

Gloria shrieked, "No!"

"Search the boxes!" Melman ordered.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private began tearing open the brown boxes that lines the wall. Kowalski shouted, "What are we looking for?"

"A big piece of cloth," Melman explained grabbing boxes, himself.

Julien held up a pristine white sheet, "I found one!"

Melman took the sheet from the primates hand. Attentively, he tied the sheet tight around Alex's waste, though not too tight as to make it difficult to breathe. Blood was already pooling into Alex's lungs. "Check his pulse!" Melman tapped Marty.

Marty held a hoof to Alex's heart. "I can't feel anything!" Marty panicked, "It's too bumpy!"

The rocking of the plane became more and more violent with each passing second. "Check the side of his neck," Melman informed.

Marty complied and held his hoof to various sections of Alex's neck. Finally, he reported, "He's got a pulse, but it's really slow, and it's getting slower!"

"Wake him up!" Gloria shouted.

Marty nodded, and quickly began tapping the lion, "Alex, buddy, wake up. We need you to be awake now!"

Alex was limp and lifeless.

Melman and Gloria watched in horror, holding each other close.

Julien covered his swollen eyes.

"Don't do this to me again!" Marty cried. Suddenly, Marty's stomach lurched. The plane was descending. "Alex, we're almost there, you can't leave now. Not now. Not when we're so close!" Marty held the lion close to him, trying so desperately to bring him into conciousness. "If you can't keep going then please just be here long enough to see New York again," Marty's eyes glistened, "...to see home again..."

Suddenly Marty felt an arm embracing him. "I'm awake Marty..." Alex uttered softly, "...I don't feel so good."

Marty hung his arms around the lion's neck, "Just stay with me."

Alex whispered back, "To the end..."

Down the plane went, through cloud and air quickly approaching the LaGuardia Airport. The zoosters were at a complete loss of what to do. The plane made a swift and simple landing. It wasn't long before the airport personnel arrived to unload the cargo.

The cargo door opened with a clank, letting blinding white afternoon light fill the room. Then there were footsteps.

Marty's heartbeat quickened. However, Alex's continued to drop.

A bearded man wearing a blue jumpsuit peered through the door. "Jesus Christ!" he shouted shocked at what he saw. He looked away trying to find his co-worker. He looked back at the nine animals.

"We have a second-looker..." Kowalski stated.

The man ran back down the ramp and found his fellow blue-suits. Hastily, the man explained what he saw.

"A lion?" an older man said in disbelief.

"That's what I'm telling you!" the bearded man defended with a thick Manhattan accent, "A lion, a zebra, and a bunch of others."

A younger man simply shook his head, "Bill, you gotta stop working nine hour days."

"Listen to me! I saw them!" Bill said, "You believe me right, Andy?" he asked the older man, "...Andy?"

However, Andy was no longer interested in the conversation. Instead, he stared transfixed at the sight of a a zebra carrying a lion followed by a hippo, a giraffe, a lemur, and three penguins, all casually making their way down the boarding ramp.

"Call the cops, Bill," Andy uttered still staring at this strange spectacle.

Bill quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie at his waste. He pressed the 'talk' button and said, "Security, we're going to need some cops or animal control or something. We have nine...animals on the runway."

A distorted voice emitted from the device, "Animals? Like pigeons or something?"

Bill answered back, "No, not pigeons... big animals...zoo animals..."

"We're on it," the voice answered.

Meanwhile, the nine animals clumped together. Julien rested on Melman's back. Alex held an arm over Marty's shoulder, standing on his good leg. Marty was getting restless, "We've been spotted. What are we going to do?"

The animals exchanged glances of confusion.

Alex answered, "...nothing."

"What?" Marty questioned.

"It's too late," Alex muttered, "look." He pointed across the runway.

A myriad of policemen, a swat team, and three animal control men were teaming up on them. They came quickly in a military fashion. Soon they surrounded the nine animals. The police had their hands on their weapons in the back while a swat team made a front row lined with Plexiglas shields. In front of the shield was three swat men, armed with tranquilizer guns.

Melman gasped, "With all this strain, if Alex gets hit with a tranquilizer dart...he'll die for sure..."

Alex closed his eyes and tried to stay as still as possible.

One of the policemen informed from the back row, "Animal Control. Fire at will."

The three men raised their guns, pointing at the highest potential threat: Alex. Their fingers tightened their grip on the trigger.

"STOP!" A man's voice came from the back. The men lowered their guns. "Stop this instance!" The man staggered through the crowd until he reached the front row. Determined, he penetrated the row of swat men and made his way towards the zoo animals, unarmed.

Alex pointed out, "It's zoo-keeper Joe!"

Joe came closer, until he reached the front of the group of animals, facing Marty and Alex.

"I know this lion, anywhere," Joe stated. He patted Alex softly on the head, "He is as harmless as you or I. This is Alex the Lion!"

The crowd gasped. The King of New York City had returned.

Alex smiled weakly, but he felt odd.

Joe scanned Alex head to toe, "My god, what's happened to this creature." He turned to face the others, "These animals will be taken immediately to the Central Park Zoo, and without the aid of tranquilizers!"

The smile faded from the lion's face.

"Alex?" Marty asked, "Are you alright? Y-you're getting all cold."

Alex couldn't feel his feet anymore, the effects of weight and gravity seemed more prevalent than ever. "...Marty..." Alex said as he tumbled to the ground. He felt the hard pavement against his jaw.

"ALEX!" Marty shouted. But his voice was distant. Echoing. And Alex slipped from conciousness, and the fabric of life.

Alex the Lion, was dead.