Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 SUNDAY, MAY 18 8:32 A.M. The blast seemed to shatter the sky. A huge black cloud shot up over the tree line. Jess's legs turned to jelly. "That's just a steam explosion, right?" Sam asked weakly.

第十二章5月18日星期日上午8点32分 爆炸似乎把天空都震碎了。 一片巨大的乌云在林木线上升起。 杰西的腿变成了果冻。 “那只是蒸汽爆炸，对吧?”萨姆虚弱地问。

But they all knew it wasn't. This angry black cloud looked nothing like the wispy gray plumes they'd seen from Cedar. It boiled wildly and spread out all around until it had painted the entire sky a furious black. There was a loud whoosh that shook the ground. A blast of searing hot wind knocked them off their feet. The air seemed to turn to fire. Jess had never felt such heat. It was hotter than the diner kitchen on a broiling August day. Hotter than Mom's oven when she baked bread. The pyroclastic surge, Jess realized, the fiery hurricane wind packed with poisonous gas and ash. It was the killer wind that had destroyed Saint- Pierre. The heat blasted over them, and Jess felt as though she was being cooked from the inside out. Every breath was like inhaling fire.

但他们都知道不是这样的。 这团愤怒的黑云看起来一点也不像他们在雪松树上看到的缕缕灰色羽状物。 它疯狂地沸腾，向四周扩散，直到把整个天空涂成一片狂暴的黑色。 嗖的一声巨响震动了地面。 一阵灼热的风把他们吹得站不住脚。 空气似乎变成了火。 杰西从来没有感到过这么热。 这比八月炎热的日子里餐厅的厨房还要热。 比妈妈烤面包的烤箱还热。 杰西意识到，火山碎屑涌动，是充满有毒气体和灰烬的炽热飓风。 摧毁圣皮埃尔的是那致命的风。 热浪在他们身上肆虐，杰西觉得自己好像从里到外被烤熟了。 每一次呼吸都像吸入了火。

She looked around with desperation, knowing that they wouldn't last more than a few seconds if they stood here. Just a few yards away was a huge hole, one of the grave-like pits caused by the earthquake. It was wide, and at least ten feet deep. Almost without thinking, Jess grabbed hold of the twins, gripping their arms with all her might. "There!" she cried, yanking them toward the huge pit. It was their only hope. They all jumped in. Jess came down hard on her shoulder. She bit her tongue and tasted blood.

她绝望地环顾四周，知道如果他们站在这里，他们坚持不了几秒钟。 就在几码远的地方有一个巨大的洞，是地震造成的像坟墓一样的坑之一。 它很宽，至少有十英尺深。 杰茜几乎不假思索地抓住了双胞胎，用尽全力抓住他们的手臂。 “那里!”她喊道，把他们拉向那个大坑。 这是他们唯一的希望。他们都跳了进去。 杰西狠狠地拍了一下她的肩膀。 她咬着舌头，尝到了血的味道。

But she barely noticed. There was only heat. Terrible, blistering heat. "Get into the dirt!" Jess screamed. They all dug frantically into the sides of the hole, trying to tunnel in. Jess tore at the earth until her fingers were bleeding, until she'd created enough space for her head and shoulders. She jammed herself in, and

但她几乎没有注意到。只有热。 可怕的酷热。 “滚到土里去!”杰斯尖叫。 他们都疯狂地往洞的两边挖，想挖个隧道进去。 杰茜拼命地撕扯着泥土，直到她的手指流血，直到她为她的头和肩膀腾出足够的空间。 她把自己塞进去，然后

then pulled her legs to her chest so she was a little ball pushed into the dirt. The air grew hotter, until she was sure the entire world had burst into flames. The volcano thundered and roared. Dirt and mud and bits of rock rained down. There were terrible moaning shrieks of trees falling above. Jess thought of her greatgrandfather Clive. No wonder he'd hated that sound. Jess kept herself pushed into the dirt. But it was very hard to breathe. Finally the air started to cool down. Jess uncurled her body and stood in the hole. But she had barely taken a breath when a tree came crashing down over the hole. Bam! A branch smacked her in the head. And then there was no more heat, no more pain. Just darkness.

然后把她的腿拉到胸前，这样她就像一个被推到泥土里的小球。 空气越来越热，直到她确信整个世界都燃起了火焰。 火山轰鸣着。 尘土、泥浆和岩石碎片如雨点般落了下来。 上面传来树木倒下的可怕的呻吟声。 杰茜想起了她的曾祖父克莱夫。 难怪他讨厌那种声音。 杰西一直把自己推到泥土里。 但是呼吸非常困难。 最后，空气开始冷却下来。 杰茜舒展身体，站在洞里。 但她还没来得及呼吸，就有一棵树倒在了洞上。 砰!一根树枝打在她的头上。 然后就没有热了，没有痛了。 只是黑暗。