Edge of Humanity: Book 2 in the Saving Humanity Series

CHAPTER 10

Caleb and Venger's attention was drawn to the opposite side of the room. As they both looked over Venger's shoulder, the barrel of the gun slowly lowered, and Venger's finger slipped from the trigger. The building shook again. The creak of metal sliding against metal shrieked through the room. Venger turned back to Caleb, his eyes wide.

"What's going on?" He tightened his grip on the gun and raised the barrel back to Caleb's face.

Caleb tightened the drawstring around the waist of his pants, then put his hands back in the air to show he wasn't a threat. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Do you have some friends looking for you?"

Caleb leveled his gaze at Venger. "I have no friends."

Another boom echoed through the building. This one sounded close, like it had come from down the hall.

"Tell me about the bite." Venger nodded toward Caleb's arm and spoke through gritted teeth.

Caleb fought back the annoyance growing in his chest. "Dude, trust me, at this point, I'm the least of your worries."

As if to emphasize Caleb's point, a loud roar echoed through the building. Caleb's heart leapt into his throat. Something about the sound seemed familiar. It was close to the sound he heard from the RBZ in the alley when he attempted to get away from Hale and his men. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. It was stupid for the creatures to show themselves and risk being exposed. Then again, they were in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps they weren't planning on leaving witnesses.

The only logical conclusion Caleb could come up with was Samuel had the truck followed. He was paranoid enough to do it, and if something happened to them, Samuel had backup. The only thing that didn't fit with this scenario was why it had taken them so long to come after them.

You need to get out of here now!

"Look, man, I don't want any trouble, and I'm not here to give you any." Caleb pointed to the door. "Whatever is going on out there has nothing to do with me. I just want to go."

Venger narrowed his eyes at Caleb. "I don't believe you."

Of course, he had no reason to, but it was his fault Caleb was there in the first place. The annoyance flowing through Caleb quickly turned into anger. "I don't care what you believe. You attacked me and then brought me here."

Footsteps thudded down the hall, followed by pounding. The walls shook again. Whoever—whatever—was out there sounded like they tore the place apart door by door. The urge to run surged through Caleb. His leg muscles twitched, his heart rate increased. The only thing keeping him from moving was knowing he couldn't outrun a bullet—and he didn't want to find out how serious Venger was about using his weapon.

"Time is running out, Venger. It won't be long before the threat comes pounding on our door." Caleb had to practically yell to be heard over the ruckus outside.

Still, Venger didn't waver. He must have been convinced Caleb was involved in some way and had leverage with the gun pointed at him. In most cases, his assumption would be correct, especially if Samuel had the truck followed for safety. Caleb imagined a car, with Hale and a few other officers, following them out of the city. He didn't notice them because they kept their distance and he wasn't looking for them. Caleb had no idea why it would have taken them this long to get here or why they wouldn't have helped after the accident, but they were here now with a vengeance. If his goons were outside, Caleb wouldn't be hurt—and Venger had a bargaining chip.

However, from the sounds of it, the goons had come with backup. As the footsteps continued to thud closer, Caleb was positive it was really big backup of the undead variety. RBZs certainly made the situation more complicated. The thought of warning Venger about what was coming flicked across his mind, but there wasn't enough time. Venger would never believe him and would more than likely ask ridiculous questions. It was a moment where he was going to have to learn a life lesson the hard way.