16 Choice Point

Chapter 16 CHOICE POINT Something had come over Pep McDonald. Four weeks earlier, she had been a pretty normal California girl, concerned with her homework, babysitting, and soccer. But in the last two days alone, she had beaten up a defenseless woman and killed a snake with her bare hands. She had gained a tremendous amount of confidence, and ruthlessness. It was like she was a different person. Her brother, on the other hand, seemed to have lost some of the swagger he'd displayed at the start of the trip. Coke was no longer calling himself "Ace Fist" and bragging about his karate skills. He had become hesitant, tentative, sometimes hanging back and letting his sister take charge of the situation. The pressure of being chased and hunted

第十六章选择点佩普·麦克唐纳有些心事。 四个星期前，她还是一个非常普通的加州女孩，关心她的家庭作业，照顾孩子和足球。 但仅在过去两天里，她就殴打了一名手无寸铁的妇女，赤手空拳杀死了一条蛇。 她获得了极大的自信和冷酷。 她好像变了一个人。 另一方面，她的哥哥似乎失去了一些他在旅行开始时表现出来的狂妄自大。 可口可乐不再称自己为“王牌拳手”，也不再吹嘘自己的空手道技术。 他变得犹豫不决，犹豫不决，有时退缩，让他的妹妹来处理这件事。 被追捕的压力

down like animals over thousands of miles was starting to wear on both of the twins. Knowing that Dr. Warsaw was building an atomic weapon and might set it off at any time had frayed their nerves. They were less than 800 miles from San Francisco now. Questions were running through the backs of their minds. Will we get home alive? What's going to happen if we do? Will we be able to live a normal life? Will we be hunted —and haunted—by Dr. Warsaw forever? The uncertainty was eating at them. "I don't know what happened," Pep said on the way back to the hotel. "I think I just snapped." Coke flipped on the TV to help them both calm down. SpongeBob was on again. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Their parents were back. "Oh, I wish you kids had come to the vortex with us!" gushed Mrs. McDonald. "I felt the energy. The hair on my arms was standing on end!"

像动物一样，从几千英里之外下来，这对双胞胎开始感到疲惫。 知道华沙博士正在制造一种原子武器，而且随时可能引爆，他们的神经都绷紧了。 现在他们离旧金山不到800英里了。 一些问题在他们的脑海里闪过。 我们能活着回家吗？如果我们这么做会发生什么？ 我们能过上正常的生活吗？ 我们会不会被Dr。 华沙到永远吗?这种不确定性折磨着他们。 “我不知道发生了什么，”佩普在回酒店的路上说。 “我想我刚刚崩溃了。”可口可乐打开电视，让他们俩都冷静下来。 海绵宝宝又来了。几分钟后，有人敲门。 他们的父母回来了。“哦，我希望你们这些孩子和我们一起去漩涡！”麦克唐纳太太滔滔不绝地说。 “我感受到了能量。我胳膊上的毛都竖起来了！”

"Personally, I didn't feel a thing," said Dr. McDonald. "I say it's all a hoax." "You're still sitting here watching TV?" asked Mrs. McDonald. "You kids haven't moved an inch since we left." "Actually, we went out for a walk," Coke said. "We consulted with a psychic healer, and then Pep beat her up." "Ha! You kids are a riot," said his father. "I guess that healer wasn't really psychic, because if she was, she would have known that Pep was going to beat her up, right?" They went to eat at a little Italian restaurant down the street. After dinner, Dr. McDonald called a family meeting. He had read an article in a magazine that said children enjoy and appreciate family vacations better when they're involved in the decision-making process. Up until this point, the parents had pretty much decided where they were going, and the kids had had no say in the matter. "We are here," Dr. McDonald said, after

“就我个人而言，我没有任何感觉。” 麦当劳。“我说这都是骗局。” “你还坐在这儿看电视？”麦克唐纳太太问。 “我们走后，你们这些孩子一动也没动。” “实际上，我们出去散步了，”科克说。 “我们咨询了心理治疗师，然后佩普就把她打了一顿。” “哈!你们这些孩子真顽皮，”他父亲说。 “我猜那个治疗师并不是真正的通灵者，因为如果她是，她就会知道佩普会揍她，对吧？”他们去街边的一家意大利小餐馆吃饭。 晚饭后，麦克唐纳医生召集了一个家庭会议。 他在一本杂志上读到一篇文章，说当孩子们参与决策过程时，他们会更享受和欣赏家庭度假。 在此之前，父母基本上已经决定了他们要去哪里，孩子们在这件事上没有发言权。 “我们来了，”麦克唐纳医生说

spreading his road map across the table and pointing to Sedona, Arizona. "We have two choices tomorrow. We can drive south down to Phoenix or north up to the Grand Canyon." "What's in Phoenix?" Pep asked. "Oh, there's lots of cool stuff," Mrs. McDonald said as she pulled out her Arizona guidebook. "Let me see. There's the Musical Instrument Museum, and the Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting. Oh, and there's also the Phoenix Police Museum. They have a room honoring police dogs that have died in the line of duty. And you get to sit inside a real police car." "That sounds pretty cool," Coke said. "Wait, listen to this!" said Mrs. McDonald after flipping the page. "There's a Cockroach Hall of Fame!" "You gotta be kidding me," Coke said. "It's true," his mother continued. "An exterminator has a place called the Pest Shop. In the back, he made a museum with dead

在桌子上摊开他的路线图，指着亚利桑那州的塞多纳。 “明天我们有两个选择。 我们可以往南开到凤凰城，或者往北开到大峡谷。” “凤凰城有什么？”Pep问道。 “哦，有很多很酷的东西，”麦克唐纳太太一边说一边拿出她的亚利桑那州旅游指南。 “让我看看。这里有乐器博物馆，还有火焰大厅，消防博物馆。 哦，还有凤凰城警察博物馆。 他们有一个房间用来纪念因公殉职的警犬。 你还能坐在一辆真正的警车里。” “这听起来很酷，”可口可乐说。 “等等，听听这个！”麦克唐纳太太翻了一页后说。 “有蟑螂名人堂！”“你在开玩笑吧，”科克说。 “这是真的，”他母亲继续说。 “灭虫者有一个叫‘害虫商店’的地方。 在后面，他用死人做了一个博物馆

cockroaches dressed as celebrities!" "That's ridiculous, Bridge," said Dr. McDonald. "Oh, come on!" Mrs. McDonald told him. "It will be fun! It says they have David Letteroach, Marilyn Monroach, Liberoachi, and roach versions of Elvis, Britney Spears, and lots of other famous people. Oh, we must go!" Dr. McDonald closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead silently. He had already endured museums devoted to yo-yos, hot dog buns, mustard, bowling, washing machines, and Spam on this trip. He tried to think of a diplomatic way to get out of driving 117 miles to see costumed cockroaches. "I think the children would get more out of a trip to the Grand Canyon," he said gently. "The Grand Canyon is just a big hole in the ground," Mrs. McDonald replied. "What's the big deal about that?" "It's one of the seven natural wonders of the world!" her husband said, raising his voice

蟑螂打扮成名人！”“这太荒谬了，布里奇。” 麦当劳。“哦，别这样！”麦克唐纳太太告诉他。 “会很有趣的！”上面说他们有大卫·莱特罗奇、玛丽莲·蒙罗奇、利伯罗奇，还有猫王、布兰妮·斯皮尔斯和许多其他名人的蟑螂版。 啊，我们得走了！”麦克唐纳医生闭上眼睛，默默地揉着额头。 在这次旅行中，他已经参观了溜溜球、热狗面包、芥末、保龄球、洗衣机和午餐肉博物馆。 他试图想出一个外交的方法来避免开车117英里去看穿戏服的蟑螂。 “我想孩子们会从大峡谷之旅中得到更多，”他温和地说。 “大峡谷只不过是地上的一个大洞，”麦克唐纳太太回答。 “这有什么大不了的？”“这是世界七大自然奇观之一！”她丈夫提高了嗓门说

somewhat. "I'm just kidding, Ben," Mrs. McDonald said. "The Grand Canyon and Phoenix are both about two hours from here. How about we let the kids decide which direction we go?" "Fair enough." While their parents went to pay the check for dinner, Coke and Pep stayed at the table and talked things over. "Do you care where we go?" Pep asked. "No." "Me neither," Pep said. "The important thing is, where are Dr. Warsaw and his pals likely to go? If we go to Phoenix and they go to the Grand Canyon, we avoid them, at least for a while. If we go to Phoenix and they go to Phoenix, we're in trouble. We've got to outguess them." "Of course, they could track us and follow us anywhere," Coke pointed out. "Dr. Warsaw could be watching us right now." The twins debated the issue a little while

有点。“我只是在开玩笑，本，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “大峡谷和凤凰城离这里都有两个小时的路程。 不如让孩子们来决定我们走哪条路吧？”“很好。” 当他们的父母去付晚餐的账单时，可口可乐和佩普留在餐桌旁，讨论着事情。 “你在乎我们去哪儿吗？”Pep问道。 “没有。”“我也是，”佩普说。 “重要的是，奥巴马博士在哪里？ 华沙和他的同伙会去吗？ 如果我们去凤凰城，他们去大峡谷，我们就会避开他们，至少一段时间。 如果我们去凤凰城，他们也去凤凰城，我们就有麻烦了。 我们必须猜透他们。” “当然，他们可以跟踪我们，跟着我们去任何地方，”科克指出。 “华沙医生现在可能正在看着我们。” 双胞胎对这个问题争论了一会儿