Once back at the base, the whole group made sure to surround Kael from every position, they didn't seem hostile, but they definitely weren't friendly. It was the kind of "escort" that didn't need ropes to feel like one.
Bodies shifted to keep him centered no matter which way he glanced, and every time he tried to slow down or drift toward an edge, one of them just happened to step into the exact space he might have used.
No weapons were raised, no one spat at him, but the air carried that guarded, prickly tension of people deciding whether you were a guest or a problem.
The base itself looked sturdier than the ruins outside, but only by comparison. It was a cluster of buildings welded together by desperation and patchwork repairs, boards nailed across gaps, ropes tied around fractured beams, crude barricades made from furniture and sheet metal. He's been here before, even helped them fix some of it, yet for some reason, it looked worse than when he left it a day ago.
