Grounded

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dinner looks like beef stew but tastes like paste. My appetite has returned and I'm hungry enough that even if it were paste, I would eat it. While Korwin and I shovel it in, Maxwell presses his fingers into a painting of a woman in a large hat on the wall. The canvas melts away, replaced by a moving picture. Television.

He taps a box that says news. Music plays and then the camera focuses in on a blond woman sitting behind a desk. Good evening. I'm Alexandra Brighten and this is Channel 12 News, the official news station of the Green Republic. In top news tonight, terrorism at CGEF.

The picture changes to Korwin and me escaping from CGEF's atrium. I drop my fork and swallow what's in my mouth. I'm on television? How did they record this? The video is from the outside of the building at the moment Korwin shattered the glass. People run from us screaming as we exit CGEF.

A man in a wide-lapelled blazer turns his concerned face toward the camera. The destruction is senseless. The public will end up paying for the damages if we can't find these monsters.

The scene replays in the background as another bystander speaks to the camera, an elderly woman in a mauve jumpsuit. It was a horrific brush with crime. We are all lucky to be alive. The two scampers were crazed. I thought they might kill us all.

"That's not how it happened. I don't even remember her being there," I say, looking toward Korwin for support. "They were torturing us. We had to escape." I turn to Maxwell but he's fixated on the screen.

Then the video skips to when Korwin blasted the officers and jumped over the side of the bridge with me in his arms. They replay the jump again and again, each time ending with the focus on the officers writhing on the concrete.

Clearly, these killers are armed and dangerous, Alexandra says.

I gasp. Killers? I am not a killer. I flash on Helen seizing beneath my touch and am flooded with guilt. No, I didn't kill her, but I did hurt her, as unintentional as it was. Please, Lord, forgive me. I bow my head but keep my eyes on the screen.Korwin must sense my inner turmoil because he reaches over and squeezes my hand. His touch sends electric ribbons up my arm and makes my breath hitch. I move my hand away so I can concentrate.

The clip finishes with a close-up of our faces. Under my picture, the name Lydia Lane blinks in bright yellow letters. Korwin's name is also there, although no last name is included. Citizens should report any sightings of these two immediately. CGEF is offering a one thousand-unit reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of these two terrorists. Authorities want to remind everyone that these fugitives are deadly. Do not try to apprehend them yourselves.

Our faces leave the screen, replaced by a video of a panda bear. In other news—

Maxwell taps the screen, and it returns to the canvas painting of a woman in a large hat.

"We had to. We had no choice," I whisper, shaking my head. "Terrorists!" My voice rises. "That's not how it happened at all." I look from Korwin to his father, desperate for an explanation. I can't make sense of this.

"The truth doesn't matter," Maxwell says. "You are now Crater City's most wanted. And they know who you are."

"But they arrested me for no reason and tortured Korwin. We were escaping. We didn't mean to hurt anyone. Terrorists? Who are we terrorizing, and for what? We're the ones who were terrorized!" My head pounds along with my heart. This isn't right. I expected they'd be after us for escaping, but terrorism?