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Monsters Ilsa J Bick 25200K 2023-08-31

Toes "But I thoughtI also saw ue "What?"

"Men Old At least two, ," Weller finished for hiether I think so" Withdrawing his right arm from beneath a thick blanket, To it to show Weller the crisscross of cuts and scrapes "It irl could’ve come for radually tacked to true His words gotattention Sh-she only showed herself after"

"After you cut your hands When the wind changed and she got your scent" Which irl, the boy, those other Chuckies and oddamn it

"Herher eyes J-jacked u-up" Toh he’d steeled hied You think she was fed so?"

Tom moved his head in a slow, deliberate nod "When you’re outside the ired-don’t sleep Can’t"

"Because there are pills" He knew exactly where this was going now The standard Vietnam myth was that every American soldier was some kind of crazed junkie Total bull Oh, he’d known his share of potheads, dopers, boys into junk or fat A-bombs, which were blunts mixed with heroin But it wasn’t as if theWeller’s dad, a pilot, served during World War II, when the Aropills: good old-fashioned speed, which Weller used plenty of in his day, too Ate it like candy sometimes No other way to stay awake and alert It could also screw you, big-ti yourself out of that hole

There had been other pills, too, ones that did a whole lot ether Weller knew plenty of guys who’d volunteered as guinea pigs, because, hell, he’d worked on the the odds, when the life expectancy of a ht seconds

"Or you find pills I nevertoo scared they’d round to a halt

There we go That’s what this is about "What about the Army, Tom? What did they do?" When Toot volunteers Ran experis to ht have tried that," To and needed to get this out "Because you got to stay alert Can’t let yourself sleep You live on speed and fear, or just plain fear"

"Or you’re dead"

"Or drea," Tom said "Just as bad The dreamsthey take over, like the flashbacks, until it’s like you’re in this bottle, no way out, and dreaether So the shrinksthey have lots of pills" He let out a cawing laugh, but it heezy and weak "Call it ‘dauys worst off close to the front lines, let theet some decent chow, but also feed them all kinds of pills So you take what the Army shrinks dole out, and other stuff, too"

"Blacktype"

"You go crazy"

"Worse" The ses under Tom’s haunted eyes were livid as bruises "You can’t be stopped You keep going in thisthis frenzy And that girlher eyes Blood eyes"

"What?" Weller said sharply "You over"

"No" To like water spiraling down a drain "No no nono whites Just red and black"

Oh, you crazy bastard, you really did it this time around "I’ve seen that," Weller said "In ’Nam, we called therimace His eyes drifted shut "We didn’t"

"No?" Weller waited, noting how To had settled "Torief were still there, but his ht Weller no ht be in real trouble If the Chuckies could be manipulated, if that was possible, he knew precisely as insane enough, sone to hell in a handbasket alo Plenty of time, especially if you ell supplied, a planner and an experimenter, soer for revenge long enough<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>