Chapter 38: Over the Fence and Under the Zoo
After being dismissed by Alex, Gloria decided to take a quick swim and then head straight over to Melman's. She stepped carefully over the fence into the giraffe enclosure. "Melman," she called.
The lanky giraffe came out from his brick shelter, "Oh hey, Gloria. I was just about to take a nap. What do you want?"
Gloria answered honestly, "I just wanna talk to you. You know...about nothing..."
Melman shrugged. He wasn't one for unprovoked conversation, but he enjoyed time with Gloria. He stepped forward and stood next to the hippo. "Sure is great back here in the zoo. I feel safer than...well I've never really felt this safe before."
"Well it is safe now," Gloria told him, "For once we don't have to worry about Alex pulling some dramatic stunt, or Marty chasing on after him, or the other way around."
Melman nodded, "Those two have always been a pair... it's always Alex and Marty, we're just the two other guys, I guess. I'm cool with that, but that's the way it is."
"Well, you know..." Gloria thought for a moment, "I actually always thought of the two of us as a pair."
"Really?" Melman inquired.
"Well," Gloria looked a bit flustered, "Yeah...actually... don't you?"
Melman grinned, "Actually, I do. I was afraid it would be stupid to say it."
Gloria looked back. Melman's green eyes were filled with a security that she could tell he never felt before. "I don't think it's stupid."
Meanwhile, Marty was peacefully trotting along on his old treadmill, as he did often in the morning. Two gray haired men watched him, they also were carrying one a boring conversation about why the Clinton administration was the best thing that ever happened to the elderly.
Marty looked up and gazed at the large mural on the wall just ten feet away from him. A golden sunset over a green clearing next to a sparkling blue lake. Around the clearing was a forest of beautiful trees and exotic plants. In front of the beautiful background were beautifully tiled animals. Zebras, a lion, and others as well.
Looking at the mural, Marty remembered playing tag with Alex on the green grass on Madagascar. A smile appeared on Marty's face. His eyes glazed over with memory. But then he remembered making Alex run like a real lion. Then the weird behavior that followed. Then running from the monster that his friend had become. The smile disappeared. After, he remembered the grueling pain that Alex felt every minute afterwards. They thought they had cured it, but it only came back, and stronger. Marty remembered being crammed into a metal cage and taken on a rusty boat; then bumping along in complete darkness in the trailer of a semi truck. Marty then remembered the harsh disappointment of realizing that they still weren't in New York. He remembered the pure evil of King Kuju. He remembered when It almost killed him and taken over Alex. He remembered the loud explosion of a gun and the horror of his best friend bleeding to death. Watching Skipper say his last words before staying behind. The agony of finding Alex had no pulse. And then, the long wait, desperately clinging to the hope that Alex would survive.
He looked away from the mural. He couldn't stand to look at it again. The very mural that once held so much of his hope now brought pain at a glance. Marty dismounted his treadmill and sat on the ground, his back facing the tiled piece of art behind him. He could feel it's ominous presence behind him. Clearly, it would take a while to recover from this incident.
Suddenly, Alex's voice drifted up beyond the far wall. "Marty," Alex called out.
Marty stood up, "What is it, Al?" The zebra walked across his enclosure up to the black iron fence that separated the two. He gazed down to see Alex looking up at him with Julien on his shoulder.
"What is it, Al?" the zebra asked.
"Help me up there!" Alex called.
Marty retaliated, "With your ankle? Hell no! You sit down right now, before you break something...again."
"Marty, it feels fine," Alex persisted.
The zebra rolled his eyes, "That's because your all drugged-up on painkillers!"
"Fine," Alex gave in, "Then, you come down here." He pointed at the designated area.
Marty jumped down into the lion's den below.
Meanwhile, one old man turned to the other, "...where did it go?" The other simply shrugged.
Marty asked Alex, "Are you alright? Are you in pain? Do you need something? 'Cause I'll do anything-"
"Marty. It's fine," Alex informed, "It's not about me."
Julien commented, "Pardon me for asking, but what is my part in this?"
"What's this?" Marty answered, "We don't even know what this is."
Alex stepped forward, "Melman! Gloria!" the two answered promptly appearing in the enclosure quickly. Alex said, "Ok, now let me explain."
"...I'm listening," Marty urged him.
"Remember what I said right before I got rid of It?" Alex asked.
"What's that?" Gloria inquired.
"I said that I could make a difference. That I could make the Central Park Zoo a better place. Just like I did for the Pala Pride!" Alex pointed out.
"Why the enthusiasm for this project?" Julien wondered.
Alex looked serious, "Because I can't let this ever happen again. I can't let any other animals endure what we had to deal with... so much blood shed. So much loss. Kuju, Malik, me, and then Skipper... I just can't risk the chance that more could die or be left behind."
A long pensive pause soon followed.
"But how are we going to do it?" Melman asked.
"We have to tell the people," Alex informed, "The problem is, I don't think the people can understand us."
"There's got to be some way," Julien tapped his forehead.
Marty inclined, "What about the penguins! They know a lot about inter-species communication."
"If you call knocking people unconscious communication," Alex jested, "...but it's worth a shot. Come on, everyone."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gloria held an arm in front of the lion, "You can't just go walking around the zoo while there's people around."
Alex laughed, "What are they gonna do? Shoot me?"
Gloria shook her head in disapproval, "Besides, you're hurt. You can hardly walk."
"Gloria, this is important!" Alex's tone grew forceful. He took a breathe and calmed himself, "I have to do it... for animals all around... and for Skipper."
"Alex..." Gloria was at a loss of what to say.
Melman broke the silence, "Alex you're not going anywhere. Sit down!"
Alex was surprised at the command in Melman's voice. Weakly, he nodded and sat where he stood. "But Melman, we need to do this."
"I know," Melman nodded, "But, we can't go stomping around in the middle of the guest's paths. I think we're going to have to wait until the zoo closes."
Alex felt the inevitable disappointment. But, I guess he could wait.
"We don't need to wait," Marty said. The others glanced at him.
Julien made a waving motion with his hands, "Go on."
"Right here!" Marty, with quite some difficulty, climbed up into his enclosure. The others soon followed him with the exception of Alex, being unable to climb from his bad ankle. On the way up, Melman got his foot caught in-between two black iron bars. After a moment of struggling, his hoof finally popped out leaving a large dent in Marty's gate. "Oops...sorry Marty..."
The old men, still speaking of the advantages of the Democrat party, gazed in awe at the strange spectacle. What were all these animals doing in the zebra paddock?
"What is your plan, Marty?" Gloria asked Marty.
"Like I said, right here!" the zebra pointed at the ground with his hoof. Melman, Gloria, and Julien's focus shifted to the indicated spot. Marty was pointing at a small, but deep hole buried deep into the grass and beyond.
"This is a tunnel the penguins made!" Marty exclaimed.
Melman's excitement faded to confusion, "...what about it?"
"Chances are, this tunnel leads straight to the penguin's enclosure. We can go and talk to them, and the people will never know," Marty revealed his plot.
"But who's gonna fit down there?" Alex shouted up from his enclosure.
Marty pointed, "That's where Julien comes in."
"What! Me?" Julien held his hands up in defense.
Marty nodded, "Yes. You're going to go into the tunnel, and find out where the penguins started is, which should be in there enclosure. When you're there find out if theres a way to talk to the people."
"Fine. But I expect some royal treatment when I get back," Julien barked. He hopped down onto the ground and stared at the hole, and looked down into it. An earthy scent blew into his nostrils with it a warm moist blast of air. He already knew he wasn't going to like this. Begrudged, he started his progression down the small, dirty shaft. He grumbled along the way, "I can't believe I'm doing this. Getting the king's hands all dirty... well ex-king to be precise..." he imitated Alex's voice, " 'Come to New York Julien. It's the greatest, Julien. Theres always something fun to do,' he says." He was far out of earshot from all the others and no light could be found. Julien felt something slimy squirm past his fingertips. He nearly gagged at the sensation. He continued his rant, "I don't even know why I came to this place!" but he soon realized his own words were a lie, "...actually I do know... " his words drifted into thought, 'I came here for Alex. Sure, I met him at a party. Sure, I even exploited him to get rid of the Foosa... but he showed me that theres a bigger life to live out there. He showed me a kindness that I never got so readily. Everyone was kind to me because I was a king. But he, being a king, he was kind to me simply because he truly liked me. And that meant something to me... I was getting bored of Madagascar anyway. And I sure did have some new adventures. But that cat's become something close to me. When I thought that he might be gone...I felt lost... I felt like the only thing steering my new life was withering away. I don't think I've ever been so afraid. Everything used to be all fun and games and wild parties. But I really learned what companionship should be. I just hope that I'm as good a friend to Alex as he is to me...' After this last thought, Julien continued his decent down the dark wet tunnel.
Meanwhile, Kowalski, Private, and Rico sat inside their bunker beneath their enclosure. They didn't care if the people didn't see them... they didn't really care about anything at this moment. Rico was aimlessly flipping though channels on their small black TV set. Rico sighed as he past channel 37. He remembered Skipper stealing basic cable from beneath the Zoo-keeper's office.
Kowalski was fiddling with his abacus. With a childlike lack of focus, he spun the wooden beads on the rack. He wasn't doing anything the least bit Mathematical, but at least he could do something that could keep his mind off... recent events...
But, Private's actions were of the most depressing. He was where he had been for the past four days: in his bed, staring blankly at the concrete brick wall. He hadn't gotten up to eat or anything. Rico and Kowalski tried to get him up, but the penguin wouldn't budge. Eventually, all three of them succumbed to this silent torture. This silent misery.
Suddenly, their silence was ended. Julien poked his head into the penguin's bunker, "Hello? Oh there you are. The tunnel went two ways, and I went up and- well you can imagine a lemur such as myself suddenly showing up in the area of another animal-"
"What do you want?" Kowalski shot venomously.
"Why so much attitude?" Julien removed himself from the hole, landing neatly on the floor, "I just wanted to ask for a favor."
"A favor, for you," Kowalski was feeling quite irritable, "Why should we do anything for you? You never did anything for us. We saved you from that crazy Malik lion, and you have yet to do anything in return. The numbers don't add up! In fact, just leave! Go away! Scat!"
Julien felt a little hurt. He took a step back, "For your knowing, this favor is for Alex. And I would be more grateful that you didn't get left behind yourselves. What would your leader think if he heard you snapping at anything that moves."
Kowalski was reaching his breaking point, "Don't you ever talk about Skipper. You didn't know him. You know nothing about him and what we've been through!"
"Kowalski," a voice said from behind.
Kowalski turned around, "Private. You're up."
"Didn't you hear him? Mr. Lion wants us to do a favor," Private explained, "So let's do it, ok? It's what Skipper would do."
Kowalski seemed to be gaining more perspective. He turned to face Julien once more, "...I'm sorry...I just haven't been in the best of moods."
"I could see that," Julien muttered.
"Rico, are you coming?" Kowalski asked. Lazily, the penguin slid off this seat :a 2 liter soda bottle bottom, cut in half and turned upside down. He nodded slowly.
The three penguins and Julien climbed into the small hole into the long tunnels beneath the Central Park Zoo. Moments later, they appeared in Marty's pen. Marty, Alex, Melman, and Gloria all crowded around the small opening.
"So can you help us?" Alex asked.
"Help you with what?" Kowalski asked.
Julien explained, "I thought it would be better if you told them."
"Alright then," Alex agreed. He explained his idea, and the consecutive dilemma that came with it.
"Communication?" Private clarified. He thought vigorously.
"I've got it!" Kowalski exclaimed, "Those two chimpanzees! One of them is unable to speak, therefore he uses an alternate form of communication. He uses his hands. And furthermore, the people seem to understand this form of communication."
"Great!" Alex chimed, "We'll just get them to translate so we can talk to the people."
Melman hated to dampen the mood, but he had to bring the others to reality's grasp, "You're forgetting that the zoo is still crowded with morning guests, and I'm sorry to say Alex, you're not going to be fitting into any of those tunnels."
"Damn..." Alex searched for an alternative, "We can't wait until the zoo closes, because that's when the zoo staff leaves!"
"Then we have no choice, but to hit the guest's trail," Marty pointed out. "Wait!" the zebra had an idea, "Kowalski, Private, Rico. What if you could make a distraction so all the zoo guests will be away from the primate area."
"A distraction, eh?" Kowalski rubbed his feathered chin.
Private questioned, "Where are we going to get a distraction."
"...kaboom?..." Rico suggested softly.
"That's it, Rico!" Private acknowledged.
Rico nodded his head.
"Alright, you have your distraction. Head over to the chimps in 02 minutes," Kowalski nodded at Alex. The three penguins disappeared into the tunnel once more.
"Well that didn't take long," Julien commented.
Meanwhile, the one old man turned to the other, "These are the weirdest animals I've ever seen..."