Fail State by John Birmingham

Author:John Birmingham [Birmingham, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gigantic Bombs Corporation
Published: 2021-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

20

The Horror Clowns McGuigan

When she tripped and went down, running in the dark forest, Tammy Kolchar had Wynona thrown over one shoulder and Bobby Jr. tucked under her arm. “No mommy, nooo,” her daughter called out and everything turned treacle slow and scary movie bad. As if it hadn’t been scary enough before, with the horror clown twins and their retarded cousins Darryl and the other Darryl chasing them with guns and crazy big knives. One second she’s running through the forest, holding onto her little ones for the love of sweet life itself, trying to keep up with Roxarne and her kiddies, who were all big enough to run for themselves. And the next second it’s like she’s taken this step and the world itself wasn’t there any more. Just a big hole for her foot to go into and then her leg and then she’s falling and falling and falling in the dark and holding tight onto Bobby Jr. and Wynona, and then starting to let go because she’s worried she’s gonna land on them and crush them dead. Just like Rudi Kanetski did playing football with his toddler two years back. And then Tammy is holding tight on to them anyway, like with mad retard strength, because she’s remembered they were running on top of a hill and there was a steep fall away into a valley and if she lets the kids go they’ll fall for sure and she’ll never see them again and…

She hit the ground and it was mercifully soft, almost squishy, excepting for a small rock or something that punched into one hip like a stone fist. Both children wailed in fear and shock, but not in pain. A mother got to recognise the different cries she heard from her children and the good Lord knew that Tammy Kolchar had heard plenty this last week or so.

Falling down drove all of the air from Tammy’s lungs and made her whole body ring like a bell, if a bell could ring with pain, and as she tumbled through the dark it was all she could do not to wonder what the fuck had she been thinking when they lit out like bandits from Dillonvale?

Turns out she didn’t know from bandits and outlaws. Not one little bit.

Things had gone sideways hard in the ‘vale, and then things had gone the same way pretty much everywhere, and it had been a matter of some perplexity and regret to Tammy—and probably doubly so to Roxarne who got dragged along with her—as to whether they had done the right thing or not. It was Roxarne who kept her sane. She always said that no matter how much trouble they seemed to be in, it couldn’t be as much trouble as she had when the Blockbuster closed down and she lost her job, and her useless fucking boyfriend stole the last forty-three bucks they had and got drunk and gift-wrapped a light pole with his Honda. The light pole

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