Kei dropped his cleaning cloth when the ward cart stopped outside the staging tent. Caleb stepped down with the medic beside him and caught the cloth before it blew under a supply crate.
"Your lens is over there," he said, handing it back.
Kei held it against his chest. "I left you six messages."
"I've got the phone now."
Taichi came around the crate with his scatter-gun lowered. Dried mud covered the right shin plate, and he kept that leg clear of the cart's wheel.
"Forty-eight hours of looking," he said. "You could at least come back carrying lunch."
Suzu reached them before Caleb could answer. She gripped his sleeve, checked the closed skin above it, then took his hand.
"You were supposed to call if the heat started again."
"I called before it stopped."
Her left brace clicked as she moved closer. Caleb held her hand while she inspected his knuckles. The relief in her face made him wish he could account for more than the clothes he was wearing.
"I'm here," he said.
