The crunch of footsteps outside jolted Venus from her sleep.  She quickly looked around the cave to see all but Peter asleep.  He quickly pushed his finger to his lips to make sure she stayed quiet and pointed to the entrance of the cave.  venus couldn't see anything except for the roots and a few blades of grass dancing in the gentle breeze.

The sounds of several footsteps trampling the fallen leaves and cracking branches could be heard outside.  It sent a chill up her spine knowing that they were only a few feet from being caught and prayed that no one out there noticed any trace of them hiding in the cave.

Cas began to stir and Venus slipped her hand over her mouth to make sure she didn't make a noise.  Case jerked and her eyes flew open in surprise.  The moment she heard the footsteps outside her eyes flew around wildly. 

Venus let go of her knowing she would stay quiet.  Venus crawled across the cave floor to try and get a better view of the outside.

Cas desperately pulled at the hem of her shirt to pull her back.

The view of the portal widened as a set of heavy black boots dropped into view.  The sight made Venus jump but she stayed quiet.

A mumbled voice was coming from outside but she couldn't make out what they were saying.  She had to know if they were on to her and slowly started to crawl closer to the opening. She reached out to the edge of the tube when someone reached out and pulled her away. 

She was trapped on Mars's lap before she had a chance to think. She squirmed to get off but it only caused him to squeeze her tighter.  She twisted to scowl at him but was met with the same face in return.

The footsteps sifted and slowly faded off into the distance.  Anger curled its ugly finger around Venus.  Mars has stopped her from hearing the conversation outside.  They didn't know if they had followed a trail to the entrance of the cave or where whoever was hunting them was going next.

"Let go of me," Venus demanded as she pushed away from Mars.

Mars released her but not before growling out, "What the hell were you thinking?  Were you trying to get caught?"

"Shut up both of you," Peter hissed through gritted teeth.  They had no idea if anyone was still up there and Peter didn't want to risk getting caught over some ridiculous lovers spat.  

He looked over at his sister who was rubbing her sore legs and not paying attention to what was going on in the cave.  He was even more worried about her now seeing how much she struggled the night before.  He wasn't sure how she was going to make the long hike to the new camping ground.  It was a couple of days walk if they headed straight for the camp but Peter didn't want to head straight there.  He wanted to take an indirect route so that they could lose anyone that might be trailing them.  The last thing he wanted was to lead a group of soldiers right into his camp for three Breeders.

Venus moved away from Mars but didn't cross the cave floor back over to Cas.  Cas wanted the comfort of her friend again ad quickly scurried back over to Venus.

"I'm hungry," Cas whispered to her friend.

Venus sighed and leaned her head back against the cave wall.  Venus was hungry as well.  Their entire life the Breeders were accustomed to eating three meals a day.  In fact, they were forced to whether they wanted to or not. 

Venus started to doubt if she really did Mars and Cas a favor by trying to get them out.  Venus realized that things were going to be difficult on the outside.  She had spent weeks thinking about it, but she sprung the escape on Mars and Cas.  She didn't even give them the choice of whether they wanted to leave or not.

Maybe if they would have had the time to think about it they wouldn't have chosen to go.  Maybe they would have rather of stayed in The Cube.  They wouldn't have their freedom but they would have food, clothes and a warm bed.  

Peter started digging in this pack that Venus didn't notice he had the night before. He pulled out five slender silver packages and hand for out of the five to Pepa, "Pass them around."

Pepa took one and passed it on.

"What is this?" Venus asked when she received hers.

"It's called NEGS, nutritionally enhanced grub sticks," Peter informed them,  "the military sends it with their troops when they are going on long excursions.  They taste like shit but they are filling."

Venus tore up the silver package to find a deep green stick tucked into it.  The color didn't look like a natural color one would want to eat, especially in the form of a stick, but the smell was even worse.  A muddled overpowering scent of vitamins permeated Venus's scenes.   After the discussion with Peter, the night before Venus didn't want to turn her nose up at it.  She didn't want him to think she couldn't handle being outside of The Cube and if eating the death stick was one way to prove it, then down the hatch, it wouldn't have been the first time that she forced her body into doing something it didn't want to.  At least with the NEGS it was for a good reason.  

The first bite was torture, it was like eating an entire meal mixed together, squished into a block, and then dehydrated with the bitter aftertaste of vitamins.  The second bite... was even worse.  It wasn't a taste that you could ever get accustomed to and the more you ate the worse it got.  Venus regretted ever complaining about The Cube's horrible food, she had no idea that it could have been worse.  It didn't matter though, it was still worth her freedom.

Peter was right NEGS were very filling.  For something so small it filled her up quickly.  

A/N:

Just wanted to give my silent readers a big thank you.  I know I thank all of you for reading and commenting and voting, I love it, but if your one of those who are just reading through the story in complete silence don't think I don't notice you.  I see the reads number rising every day and I truly appreciate you as well.  It helps me want to keep writing so that I can keep you guys reading.

Love,

Reading_Mermaid08