The Breeders

P3 XXIII

"Venus!" Peter's voice carried over the debris-filled air as the sounds of gunfire echo around them.

Disoriented MBs moved about the gym as Venus wailed over Mars's body. Venus rocked him back and forth, feeling as if her heart had been ripped from her chest.

Her best friend and the father of her children laid lifeless in her lap. She had meant the last words she spoke to him. She might have had a feeling for Peter, but she had feelings for him as well. She loved him and wanted to be with him. Not just for her children but herself as well.

Peter swiftly darted across the gym, stilling when he caught sight of her with Mars. Shock overtook him at the sight of Mars' dead body. He forced himself to pry his gaze from the dead man and shift to her.

"Venus," he dropped down next to her. Peter feebly tried to attempt to pry Mars out of her arms. "We have to move." The building was crumbling down around them, and it wouldn't be long before they too would be corpses trapped under rubble.

"I can't leave him!" Her tear-filled eyes dropped to her friend.

"We have to go, Venus. This base is under attack. You need to survive for Dax and Pepa." Peter knew he was using the motherly love she has for her children against her, but was the only thing he could think of to get her to move. He needed her to move, and now.

"He needs help, Peter!" Her finger desperately clung to Mars' shirt.

Peter laid a hand upon hers and tilted her chin up with the other. "He's gone, Venus. You have to let him go."

Seeing she wasn't about to move independently, Peter knew that he'd have to force her. The sound of firearms was drawing closer, along with the rattle of tank treads. Whatever was going on, he knew they didn't need to be in the middle of it.

The ground shook beneath them when something crashed onto the side of the building. A cloud of dust filled the gymnasium, and Peter dove over Venus, protecting her from the chunks of ceiling that came raining down around them.

When the quaking stop, he jerked his head up to see what the hell happened. The backside of a large green tank had crashed through the wall. When it started to pull away, the walls around it trembled, sending more debris showering down.

Peter's eyes grew wide when he saw their moment. The tank provided a means of escape. Jumping to his feet, Peter grabbed Venus's arm and pulled her up next to him. He didn't have time to give orders or check with her if she was okay. They had to move.

Breaking onto a run, he pulled Venus with him and hoped the other survivors saw the same opportunity, including his sister.

Just as he approached the hole, a soldier in tan camo stepped in the way. Freezing in place, Peter locked sights with the chocolate eyed man. The soldier's brows were knit together as he scanned over the blonde boy and his violet-eyed accompany.

Moving one hand from his gun, the soldier spoke into a mic attached to his helmet, "We've got MB survivors. Moving them out now."

Turning his attention to the crowd that gathered behind Peter, the man ordered, "Follow me."

The military isn't that type of people that Peter trusted. Especially Norm ones, and judging by the man's size, he was one. "Who the hell are you?"

A smirk pulled at the man's mouth, "You're saving grace, kid, now let's go. I'll explain later."

With literally no other hope other than trying to brave the chaos outside on their own, Peter nods, and grabbed Venus' hand, and followed after him. The few MBs left the crowd in close as guns fired and bombs blew around them.