Grounded

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

I am not prepared for the chaos that greets us as we enter Crater City. The streets are congested with parked cars. Drivers hang their heads out their windows, staring at the darkened lampposts and cursing.

"Early morning traffic. It's not the first blackout," Korwin explains. "They're usually short. People are hoping the grid comes back on because nobody wants to spend their own units to get where they're going."

"How do we get around them?"

"We don't. We go through on foot." He stops the car in the middle of the road and exits. I follow, weaving between the people on the street. I can see the mirrored walls and steel frame of CGEF ahead of us. I break into a jog, slamming shoulders with a man who's moving in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Watch it," the man yells. He moves to push me but then sees my green uniform and backs off. I'm still dressed like a government employee.

"Sorry," I call over my shoulder. I veer onto the lawn, following Korwin, who's gaining in speed. "How much time do we have?" I ask him.

Without slowing he glances at his wrist, then at the lightening horizon. "Ten minutes at the most. They'll want to televise the execution. Maybe they'll wait, since the power is out."

At a full-out run, I cross the lawn, leaping over bushes in pursuit of Korwin. A crowd has gathered in front of CGEF. I can't see Maxwell, but I'm guessing he's at the center of the crowd. We slow and shoulder our way through the mass of people. I press myself against Korwin's back, hoping his taller, broader body will make the better plow. Eventually, we can't advance any more. Korwin frowns and touches the nearest shoulder. A tiny zap of blue makes the man jump. The sea of people parts, one shocked individual at a time, and then we reach the action. I see what we came to see.

Maxwell Stuart kneels on the pavement in the circle of light thrown by a battery-operated camera. His hands are cuffed behind his back and a gun presses into his temple. The blond woman from television, Alexandra Brighten, stands holding a microphone between Dr. Konrad and Senator Pierce. A half circle of green-uniformed officers guards their flank.

Several things happen at once. Senator Pierce raises his head and catches my eye. There's a moment of recognition beneath his bushy gray brows and then his hand falls in a sweeping motion. The officer pulls the trigger, and Maxwell Stuart's body jerks.

He collapses to the concrete, twitches, then stills. Blood pools beneath his head.

Korwin shouts, "No!" Screams break out in the crowd as he rushes to his father's side, an ominous blue glow radiating from him. The heat alone sends people running.

Oh Korwin! My heart aches. Whatever I felt against Maxwell Stuart flows away like so much blood. How could they do this to him—to us? Anger makes my head throb. The gathering blue swirls, and like a fever, a new truth spreads through me. I believe it as surely as I believe in heaven above and my own being. Pierce and Konrad have to pay for this. I will not go quietly. And I sure as hell won't let them take Korwin.

"He's dead," Korwin whispers to me over the body of his father. "Dead!" The word pounds out of him, the air crackling around us as our collective anger makes us grow brighter. People scatter, shrieking, trampling each other to get away from us. Everyone except Konrad, Pierce, and the small entourage of security officers led by Officer Reynolds.

"It's the penalty for your treason," Senator Pierce yells. He looks down his nose at me and runs a finger along the inside of his collar.

One of the officers turns a scrambler on Korwin. I don't give him a chance to pull the trigger. Instinctively, I throw my power. In my anger, the bolt of electricity that flies from my hand is far more than a pulse. It slices through the officer's side, creating a black-fringed hole that pours blood. He crumples to the pavement, gripping the wound and screaming. The faintest shadow of guilt ripples through my soul but it passes quickly, chased away by fury over the scene in front of me.

Dr. Konrad raises a scrambler and points it at me. "Let's all relax and get inside where we can talk."

I step in front of Korwin, blocking his crouched form with my body. My anger crackles around me in a blaze of light that makes Konrad blink and shield his eyes with his hand as if he's staring into the sun.

"Don't forget, Lydia, you have a father as well. A fleet of officers are already on their way to the fire station. Oh yes, we've known about rebel activity there for months. Our mole didn't know about your little trick with the blackout, but he was quick to inform us of the two who were left behind."

I glare at Dr. Konrad with his silver scrambler and hunch low like an animal protecting her mate. Konrad pulls the trigger. Panic spurs my power into action and, as before, it defends me. I don't even think about it. Heat radiates from my skin, melting the prongs before they can make contact. The weapon drops from his shaking hand and his eyes widen. He turns to run.

I can't stop it. Lightning flies from my hand, and his body hits the pavement, twitching and writhing. I pant from the heat.

Korwin's eyebrows raise. "It was an accident!" I say, but his expression isn't accusing, it's celebratory.

Senator Pierce backs behind the green uniforms. The officers scatter, even Officer Reynolds, weapons clanking on the concrete. Exposed, Pierce bolts for the door to CGEF, but it won't open because the power's still out. Korwin fries him from feet to knees. He slides down the glass, screaming.

What have we done? What am I doing? The power—I desperately try to reel it back in but I can't. It feeds off Korwin's energy and the panic that surrounds us. I can't fight it. Not anymore. I am possessed.

"Lydia, your father," Korwin says calmly. He is next to me, his eyes completely filled with blue. We are so hot the rain evaporates before it reaches our heads. The steam curls around him, like an archangel, an angel of death, something fierce and holy.

The way to the fire station is congested with parked vehicles. We could weave through them or go around them. "It will be faster if we go through them," I say. My voice sounds hollow and tinny, like my throat is lined with silver. Is this real? Or some kind of nightmare?

Korwin's hand skims down my shoulder and his fingers twine into mine. We turn toward the congested grid, toward the people who gawk or run or scream.

"Move out of the way," I whisper flatly.

Korwin chuckles.

I raise my hand and let out the ribbon. Without holding back or tying it off, I let the power flow forward. Cars erupt from the street, exploding into the sides of the buildings as if thrown by an angry toddler. Metal crumples and bends. The resulting fires light our path and the smell of burning, laced with chemicals, fills my nose.

We stride toward the fire station but it's hard to remember what we're going to do there. It's hard to remember anything besides the buzz of power and the chorus of screams. My mind fades in and out, but my body keeps going, animated by this thing inside me. Some part of me insists I have to hold on. I have to fight for the part of me that's still me. Is this what it's like for Korwin too?

    I have to find a way to regain control.