Broken Wings

~5~

As they approached, MCA glanced up from where he was standing. Big-B was continuing to fill in the hole with dirt. Phoenix flinched as he saw it, then noticed something was off.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Keke and Jake were the only ones who could stomach going back. They went to try and find what might have happened... I'm not sure where Haze is though--"

"He said he needed some time alone to think." Big-B said, continuing to fill in the missing soil. Phoe sighed, walking over to a stack of hay bales and plopping down. Star stayed where she was, watching the entrance to the map intently.

When Keke and Jake finally appeared, Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief. Haze was right behind them, but was clutching his arm to his chest.

"Haze?" Worriedly, Phoenix hopped off the hay bale, racing over to the cat. Big-B sunk his shovel into the dirt, rushing over right behind him. The cat walked over to a closer stack of hay, sitting down while the two stayed right beside him.

"I... I'm fine..." Haze said, but Phoenix refused to believe that. Carefully grabbing his paw, he turned over the cat's arm to reveal a long sword-cut down the inside.

"What happened to you?" Phoe asked, relieved that the bleeding had stopped at least. Star was now beside Big-B, clutching on to his arm.

Haze looked up from the cut. "I was trying to practice using this thing. Just in case I get attacked by something, or... someone. I just slipped up and cut myself, I'm fine now."

"Hey, guys? I don't mean to interrupt, and I know this is hard to talk about now, but..."

A high-pitched voice was heard behind them, and they all turned to see Keke. She had her arms crossed, her sword in its sheath, and was standing in front of Jake who for once seemed a little more timid.

Normally, Keke would have been trying to makes jokes, giggling and lightening the mood. This time however, she was dead serious, and they all knew what she was doing. MCA walked over to stand beside the others as she began.

"Jake and I found evidence that someone did kill Mini."

Phoenix stared at the ground as she continued.

"Because of this, it means one of us could be a murderer. No, one of us is a murderer. One of us killed Mini. We-"

"We want you to tell us where you were when Mini died." Jake interrupted, his tongue pulled to the side as he spoke.  "Also, we want to know who you suspect. Just in case. For example, I think..."

Phoe glanced up as he scanned over the crowd before his finger pointed directly at...

Him.

"Phoenix?!" Star exclaimed. "Didn't you see him after Mini's death? There's no way!"

"We can't just accuse each other like this! It'll tear us apart!" MCA continued.

"This is only to try and keep us safe so no one else dies!" Keke countered.

Haze stood from his spot on the hay pile, walking to the front of the group.

"Tell me Jake, why exactly do you think it's Phoenix."

Everyone went silent for a moment.

"He was the only person close enough to Mini to have killed him. Phoenix has also been a great actor before. I'm willing to believe he's capable of faking that."

"Faking?! Jake do you even know what you're saying?!" Star cried, and Big-B wrapped his arm around her as she broke into hysterics. "We're all turning on each other..."

Big-B glanced up for just a moment. "Star and I were together the whole time. We never split up while we were searching... Cmon Star let's go."

He helped lead her off as she continued to cry. Phoe watched her leave, knowing how she felt. He knew what she was going through, not knowing if there was anyone they could trust.

Even after that, Jake wasn't finished.

"So far, Star and Big-B were together, and Phoenix was alone. Probably murdering Mini..." He added under his breath.

"Haze and I weren't together when Mini died. We were exploring separately, I mean, it's hard not to get lost in all those boxes in the warehouse."

Jake sighed, realizing Phoenix wasn't the only one alone, and Keke spoke up instead

"Jake was exploring inside the airport bit, and I was outside in the plane. This would have been so much easier to track if it hadn't been on the the Flash Flood map. Everything was most likely washed off the killer."

"The thing is, it would have been easy for one of us to sneak off and... Yknow..." Jake stopped himself, remembering how hard it was on everyone.

"Maybe we should all get some rest. It's been a... long day." MCA suggested, pulling everyone out of their momentary greif.

"Right." Haze said, turning to the barn. "Let's go guys..."