Chapter 2

Chapter 2 They stared at the sign. Some of the paint had dripped down, giving the words a creepy look. Dink felt the hair on his arms stand up. "Zombie zone?" Josh said, almost in a whisper. "What does that mean?" "Beats me," Jack said. "I've never seen this sign before, and I bring hikers out here a lot." Jack moved closer to the sign. "This nail looks new," he said. "See, it hasn't had a chance to rust yet." "It looks like they used blood," Dink said. Jack touched a letter. "No, it's just red paint."

他们盯着牌子。 一些油漆滴了下来，使这些字看起来令人毛骨悚然。 丁克感到手臂上的汗毛竖了起来。 “僵尸区?”乔希说，几乎是耳语。 “这是什么意思?”“我不知道，”杰克说。 “我以前从未见过这个标志，我经常带徒步旅行者来这里。” 杰克向牌子靠近了一些。 “这钉子看起来是新的，”他说。 “看，它还没有机会生锈呢。” “看起来他们用的是血，”丁克说。 杰克摸了摸信。“不，只是红漆。”

"But who put the sign here?" asked Ruth Rose. Jack shrugged. "It could be a joke, just something to scare the tourists who hike here," he said. "I've heard rumors that strange things have been happening around the cemetery near the village." Josh gulped. "What kind of strange things?" he asked. "Well, some people swear they saw a zombie," he said. "Zombies are part of the voodoo religion. I don't know anyone who practices voodoo, but some people still believe in it. Let's keep walking." As the kids followed Jack, Dink thought about what he had told them about zombies. He felt goose bumps crawl up and down his arms. They hiked in silence for another few minutes. The dim trail widened into a sunny clearing. About twenty huts formed a half circle around the edges. Each hut had a porch, a garden, and a fire pit or homemade stove. The hut walls were made of logs, branches, and mud. The roofs had been built with sheets of tin, branches, and broad leaves.

“可是谁把牌子放在这儿的?”露丝·罗斯问。 杰克耸耸肩。“这可能是个玩笑，只是为了吓唬在这里徒步旅行的游客，”他说。 “我听说村子附近的墓地周围发生了一些奇怪的事情。” 杰克一饮而尽。“什么样的怪事?”他问。 “嗯，有些人发誓他们看到了僵尸，”他说。 “僵尸是伏都教的一部分。 我不知道有谁会做巫毒教，但有些人仍然相信它。 我们继续走吧。”孩子们跟在杰克后面，丁克想着他告诉他们的关于僵尸的事。 他感到手臂上下起了鸡皮疙瘩。 他们又默默地走了几分钟。 昏暗的小路扩大到一片阳光明媚的空地上。 大约有二十间小屋围成半圆形。 每个小屋都有一个门廊，一个花园和一个火坑或自制的炉子。 小屋的墙是用原木、树枝和泥土砌成的。 屋顶是用铁皮、树枝和阔叶搭起来的。

In the center of the clearing sat a larger building. It was at least four times as big as the others. Dink peeked inside the open door and saw a lot of seats. He figured it was some kind of meeting place for the villagers. "Huh, that's strange," Jack said. "No one's here."

空地的中央矗立着一座更大的建筑物。 它至少是其他的四倍大。 丁克向敞开的门里面偷看了一眼，看到了很多座位。 他认为这是村民们的聚会场所。 “嗯，真奇怪，”杰克说。 “这里没人。”

Dink looked around, seeing no one in the gardens or on the porches. The only sounds were the insects and birds in the trees behind the huts. "Maybe the zombie stole everyone," Josh whispered. He poked Dink in the back. "Don't get creepy" Ruth Rose said.

丁克环顾四周，花园和门廊上都没有人。 唯一的声音是茅屋后面树上的虫鸣和鸟鸣。 “也许僵尸偷走了所有人。”乔什低声说。 他戳了戳丁克的后背。 “别让人毛骨悚然，”露丝·罗斯说。

Dink tapped Jack on the arm. "There's someone," he said, pointing. A tall woman had stepped out of one of the huts and stood on the porch. Her gray hair fell almost to her waist. She wore a long dress that looked homemade. Her feet were bare. "Hello, Myrna," Jack called. "I'd like you to meet Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. They're here on vacation. Where is everyone?" The woman named Myrna nodded at the kids. She pointed toward a small trail to the left of her hut. "They're all in there, looking at the graves," she said. Jack looked where she pointed. "In the cemetery? Why?" Jack asked. Myrna shook her head. "You go see," she said. "Very bad voodoo." Then she turned and walked back into her hut. "What's going on?" Dink asked. "I don't know, but let's go find out," Jack said. Jack led the kids past Myrna's garden. They left the sunlit clearing and entered the woods on the shady path. A few minutes later, they came to a small cemetery. It was enclosed by an old iron fence.

丁克轻轻地拍了拍杰克的胳膊。 “有人。”他指着说。 一个高个子女人从一间茅屋里走出来，站在门廊上。 她的白发几乎垂到腰际。 她穿了一件看起来是自制的长裙。 她光着脚。“你好，玛娜。”杰克叫道。 “我想让你见见丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯。 他们在这里度假。大家都到哪儿去了?”那个叫玛娜的女人朝孩子们点了点头。 她指了指小屋左边的一条小路。 “他们都在那里，看着那些坟墓，”她说。 杰克看了看她指的地方。 “在墓地?”为什么?”杰克问。 玛娜摇了摇头。“你去看看，”她说。 “非常糟糕的巫术。”然后她转身走回她的小屋。 “发生什么事了?”丁克问道。 “我不知道，但我们去看看吧。”杰克说。 杰克领着孩子们走过玛娜的花园。 他们离开了那片阳光普照的空地，走在阴凉的小路上进入了树林。 几分钟后，他们来到了一个小墓地。 它被一堵旧铁栅栏包围着。

Moss from a tree branch covered part of the fence. Inside the cemetery, about thirty people were clustered in a bunch. Some of the people were shouting. A few were crying. "What're they doing?" Ruth Rose asked. "I'll find out," Jack said. He walked over to the group, with the kids following. Jack knelt on a pile of red dirt next to an old man. In front of them both were two deep holes in the ground.

一根树枝上的青苔覆盖了一部分篱笆。 在墓地里，大约有三十个人挤成一堆。 有些人在喊叫。 有几个人在哭。“他们在干什么?”露丝·罗斯问。 “我会查清楚的，”杰克说。 他走向人群，孩子们跟在后面。 杰克跪在一堆红土上，旁边是一位老人。 在他们面前有两个深洞。