DreamWorks Madagascar (Rose Version)

Chapter 8: Crates

Alex's eyes opened warily and he groaned when he was trying to wake up. It was dark and he could barely see. He tried to stand up first, only to his head above him. He snapped awake and his vision cleared to reveal all his surroundings were wood. Panic settled in quickly for the male lion. "I'm in the box!" he exclaimed. "Oh no. Oh no! Not the box!" His ears went flat and panic started to break through him as his thoughts clouded his mind. "Oh no, they can't transfer me! Not me!" He backed away into a corner and slid down, wrapping his arms around himself in fear. "I can't breath. I can't breath." He muttered to himself. "Darkness creeping in. Can't breathe. I can't breathe. Walls closing around me!" Tears started to form in his eyes and threaten to fall.

"Alex, it's me!" A familiar female voice called. Alex nearly felt relief wash over him like a wave, but it dissipated when he realized it was Tessa's voice and where they could. 'Oh no, not my precious girl.' he whimpered in his mind, worry poisoning him. He look down at the bottom of his box, feeling something knock underneath. "Tessa, you're here." he claimed. He laid down on the box and put his ear against it.

Underneath his box, Tessa the lioness was knocking above her box to Alex. She had a pink box next to her and a small pink ribbon was holding it shut so it doesn't open. "What happened?" Tessa asked, a bit scared. Alex hesitated to answer, but he didn't want to worry her. "We might be in boxes." he whimpered pathetically. He didn't like showing fear to the one lioness he liked. Tessa, on the other paw, felt bad for the male lion for she already knew his fear of the box, due to hearing him above her. Despite that, his answer to her question left her scared. "Are we going to be okay?" she whimpered. Her ears flattened against her head before she felt Alex's paw place over where her paw was knocking on the wood. "We'll be fine, Tessa." he comforted the best he could. His fear of being alone was gone, now that Tessa was here now.

"Alex, Tessa, are you there?" Marty's voice cut in, curiously. The two lions felt relief, but Alex had a grudge against the zebra. But with Tessa around, he had to hold it back. "Marty?" he called. "Are you there?" Tessa asked. Next Alex's box, the male zebra was awake and happy to know two of his friends are around. "Yeah! Talk to me, buddy!" he exclaimed, happily. But his happiness vanished to concern and confusion. "What's going on? Are you guys okay?" he asked, concerned. "This doesn't look good, Marty." Alex said. "This may be bad." Tessa added. Marty could sense the slight fear in the two lions, but he didn't feel like teasing them since he knew the fear of the box scared Alex.

"Alex, Tessa, Marty is that you?" Gloria's voice was head right below everyone. She had already regained conscious quickly and she was very confused where she was at the moment. The others were relieved to hear the hippo's voice. "Guys, can you hear me?" Cassidy's voice had almost surprised everyone since she was right below Marty's box. Like Tessa, she had a had purple box next to her and a small purple ribbon was holding shut so it doesn't open. "And me?" Ryan's voice had added. He was above Marty's box and he had a box that was taped shut instead being tied shut.

Everyone was happy to hear Gloria, Cassidy, and Ryan. "Gloria! Cassidy! Ryan!" Alex exclaimed in joy. "You three are here too!" Tessa cried out. "I am loving the sounds of your voices!" Marty jumped in joy, though he stopped so he doesn't crash through his box. Cassidy and Ryan were starting to notice their wooden surroundings and confusion had crashed down on them like rockets. "What is going on?" Cassidy asked, confused. Alex didn't want to answer Cassidy, because he knew what would happen when Cassidy gets scared, but he had to answer her. "We're all in crates." he answered. Shock had settled in quickly for the three animals as they looked at their surroundings. "Oh no!" Gloria exclaimed. Ryan attempted to punch the top of his box open to no avail. "Dang it!" he growled. He was about to try again when a groan caught his ears. The others seemed to hear it too and they listened closely. Then a soft pounding sound was behind them.