Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 All at once, the world shattered. The rest of the roof flew off of the garage, blew up into thousands of pieces, and was sucked up into the sky. A storm of wood and metal and leaves churned all around them. A lawn mower dropped out of the sky. They were in the middle of the tornado now, caught in the evil, swirling darkness. Dex's ears popped over and over from the pressure. His eyes felt as if they would burst from his skull. He watched in horror as the tornado's chain-saw winds pulverized the garage. The cars parked

世界突然崩塌了。 剩下的屋顶从车库飞了出来，炸成成千上万的碎片，被吸进了天空。 一阵由木头、金属和树叶组成的风暴在他们周围翻滚。 一台割草机从天而降。 他们现在正处在龙卷风的中心，被邪恶的、旋转的黑暗所包围。 德克斯的耳朵在压力下弹来弹去。 他的眼睛好像要从脑壳里炸出来似的。 他惊恐地看着龙卷风的链锯风把车库刮得粉碎。 停着的汽车

in front bounced across the lot. A horrible stench filled the air — a mix of rotting earth and gas. It burned Dex's nose and throat and made it hard to take a breath. But the worst part was the noise. The tornado's whirring roar rose up, mixing with the thud, crash, smash of debris pummeling their car. They had to get away from here! Dex remembered all of the tornado drills at school, rules that had been hammered into him since kindergarten. Stay inside! Get away from windows! Rush to a basement and or an inside room! Cover your head! Dex knew how dangerous it was to be in a car, even an SUV built for storm chasing. A tornado could yank a freight train off its tracks and suck it into the sky. Even a tank was no match for a strong tornado.

在前面弹跳着穿过停车场。 空气中充满了可怕的恶臭——腐烂的泥土和气体混合在一起。 它烧伤了德克斯的鼻子和喉咙，使他难以呼吸。 但最糟糕的是噪音。 龙卷风呼啸而来，夹杂着砸在他们汽车上的砰砰声、撞击声和碎片的粉碎声。 他们必须离开这里!德克斯想起了学校里所有的龙卷风训练，以及从幼儿园起就被灌输给他的规则。 呆在室内!远离窗户!赶紧去地下室或里面的房间!盖住你的头!德克斯知道在车里有多危险，即使是为了追逐风暴而制造的SUV。 一场龙卷风可以把一列货运列车拽离轨道，把它卷向天空。 即使是坦克也无法抵挡强烈的龙卷风。

But where else could they go? Even if there was an underground bomb shelter right in the parking lot, they couldn't get to it. Stepping outside now would be crazy. They might as well run through a spray of machine-gun fire and grenades. And then, Smash! The window next to Dex shattered, shooting glass across his face. Whoosh! The tornado wind blasted into the car, hot air packed with dirt and rocks and wood and glass. It swirled around Dex, biting into his flesh. Dirt shot into his eyes and up his nose. The wind kept getting stronger, until it seemed that there was an enormous animal in the car with them, an invisible beast with strangling tentacles. It wrapped itself around Dex and pulled him out of his seat, toward the window. His seat belt strained, pressing against his neck like a noose, cutting into

但他们还能去哪里呢? 即使停车场里有个地下防空洞，他们也进不去。 现在走出去太疯狂了。 他们还不如在机关枪和手榴弹的扫射中奔跑。 然后，砰!德克斯旁边的窗户碎了，玻璃溅到他脸上。 嗖!龙卷风吹进了车里，热气中充满了泥土、岩石、木头和玻璃。 它绕着德克斯打转，咬进他的肉里。 泥土流进他的眼睛，流进他的鼻子。 风越来越大，最后他们觉得车里好像有一只巨大的动物，一只看不见的野兽，长着令人窒息的触手。 它裹住了德克斯，把他从座位上拉了出来，朝窗户走去。 他的安全带绷紧了，像套索一样压在他的脖子上

his skin. And then it snapped, and Dex went flying toward the open window. Dr. Gage gripped Dex's arm so hard that Dex was afraid it would be torn off. He pulled Dex back, refusing to let him fall into the tornado's hungry jaws. With a mighty jerk, Dr. Gage managed to break the grip of the wind and throw Dex to the floor. "Stay down!" Dr. Gage shouted. Dex wedged himself under the dashboard, curling into a tight ball. Roooarrrr! The tornado bellowed like a beast whose bloody kill had been snatched away. And now it wanted revenge. With a furious gust, the wind grabbed the car and flipped it onto its side.

他的皮肤。啪的一声，德克斯飞向开着的窗户。 盖奇医生紧紧地抓住德克斯的胳膊，德克斯害怕胳膊会被扯掉。 他把德克斯拉了回来，不让他落入龙卷风饥饿的嘴里。 盖奇医生猛地一跳，设法挣脱了风的控制，把德克斯摔在地上。 “呆下来!”盖奇医生喊道。 德克斯挤到仪表板下面，蜷成一团。 Roooarrrr !龙卷风咆哮着，就像一头被人抢走了鲜血的野兽。 现在它想复仇。 一阵狂风把汽车刮了起来，把它掀翻了。

Dex tumbled from his hiding place and smacked against Dr. Gage. The car flipped again so now they were upside down, and again and again. Each flip threw Dex across the car, slamming his head against the ceiling, bashing his body against the doors, tossing him so he couldn't tell if he was up or down.

德克斯从他的藏身之处跌了出来，打在医生身上。 计。汽车又翻了个底朝天，于是他们又翻了个底朝天，一次又一次。 每翻一次，德克斯就会被甩到车的另一边，头撞到车顶，身体撞到车门，他被甩得分不清自己是在上还是在下。

The tornado seemed to be toying with the car, like a killer cat playing a game with a dying mouse. But now the game was over, and the real terror would begin. The tornado sucked the car off the ground. The metal screeched and groaned. One of the back doors flew off. This is it, Dex thought. The car was going to get sucked into the sky. He and Dr. Gage would be crushed, or blown thousands of feet into the clouds. He called out for Mom, for Dad, for Jeremy, but the tornado swallowed his cries. Dex squeezed his eyes shut and prayed. There was an explosion, a blinding light, and then nothing.

龙卷风似乎在玩弄汽车，就像一只杀人猫和一只垂死的老鼠在玩游戏。 但现在游戏结束了，真正的恐怖即将开始。 龙卷风把汽车刮离地面。 金属发出刺耳的声音，发出呻吟声。 一扇后门被炸飞了。 就是这样，德克斯想。汽车就要被吸到空中去了。 他和盖奇博士会被压碎，或者被吹到几千英尺高的云中。 他大声喊着妈妈、爸爸和杰里米，但龙卷风吞没了他的哭声。 德克斯紧紧闭上眼睛，开始祈祷。 先是一声爆炸，一道刺眼的光，然后什么也没有。