The walk back to the school took longer than it should have. Fifteen new people, worn down by a day that had asked more of them than the last several weeks combined, made for a slower pace than the three of them were used to. It could have been a lot worse. Jin's group had held back plenty during the fight at the hospital, and it showed. There were bruises and scrapes and sore muscles, and the kind of tiredness that came from really trying at something for the first time in weeks. But nobody was limping badly enough to need carrying, and nobody looked like they regretted a second of it.
By the time the school gates came into view, the group had gone quiet, their feet dragging more from tiredness than from any injury.
Echo was waiting by the gate with his arms crossed. The pile of zip-tied attackers was still sprawled where he'd left it near the entrance. A few of them had woken up and gone still again the second they realized struggling wasn't going to help.
