Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 10 MINUTES LATER Jess opened her eyes, but she couldn't see. She brushed the dirt from her eyes and blinked, but there was still only darkness. Was it night? Had she gone blind?

第十三章十分钟后杰西睁开眼睛，但她看不见。 她拂去眼睛上的污垢，眨了眨眼睛，但仍然只有黑暗。 是晚上吗?她失明了吗?

Jess sat up, gasping at the searing pain that raked across her back. She'd been badly burned, she could tell. It took a moment for her mind to clear. And slowly she grasped the full horror of what was happening. St. Helens was erupting. The smoke had turned the day black. The pyroclastic surge had exploded over them. Somehow they were still alive in this hole in the ground. "Sam?" she choked. "Eddie?" A voice rasped from somewhere close. "I'm here," Sam said softly. "Eddie's hurt." Jess inched over, groping in the darkness until her fingers brushed their faces. She felt tears. Jess fought back her own tears and took a deep breath. She tried to stand, but the fallen tree imprisoned them in the hole. It would be impossible to try to

杰茜坐了起来，后背一阵灼痛，她喘着粗气。 她看得出来，她被严重烧伤了。 过了一会儿她的头脑才清醒过来。 慢慢地，她明白了所发生的一切的可怕。 圣海伦火山正在喷发。烟把天熏黑了。 火山碎屑涌流在他们头上爆炸了。 不知怎么的，他们还活在这个地洞里。 “萨姆?”她哽咽着。“埃迪?”一个声音从近处传来。 “我在这里，”萨姆轻声说。 “埃迪的伤害。”杰西慢慢走过去，在黑暗中摸索着，直到她的手指拂过他们的脸。 她流下了眼泪。杰西强忍住泪水，深吸了一口气。 她想站起来，但倒下的树把他们困在了洞里。 尝试去做是不可能的

climb out in the dark. They'd have to wait here until the sky lightened. But when would that be? The mountain roared. Every few minutes, there was a new explosion that rattled Jess's bones. Jess couldn't control her fear. She finally started to cry, but luckily the mountain drowned out the sound. Jess felt something falling on her head, warm flakes. Ash, she realized. It began as a few sprinkles, falling lightly like hot snow. And then, suddenly, they were in an ash blizzard. The warm flakes swirled up Jess's nose and into her mouth. She covered her face, but it did no good. The flakes completely filled the air. The ash tasted disgusting, like dirt mixed with chalk. It clogged up her nose and blocked off her throat. She coughed hard and blew her nose and spit out mouthfuls. But it was coming down too quickly. She couldn't clear her nose and mouth fast enough.

在黑暗中爬出来。他们得在这里等天亮了。 但那是什么时候呢?山在咆哮。 每隔几分钟，就会有一次新的爆炸，震得杰茜的骨头发抖。 杰西无法控制自己的恐惧。 她终于哭了起来，但幸运的是，大山淹没了她的声音。 杰茜感到有什么东西落在她头上，温暖的雪花。 阿什，她意识到。刚开始只是几颗小雨滴，像滚烫的雪一样轻落下来。 然后，突然间，他们陷入了一场火山灰暴风雪。 温暖的雪花从杰茜的鼻子里流进嘴里。 她捂着脸，但没有用。 雪花完全充满了空气。 灰尝起来很恶心，就像泥土和粉笔混合在一起。 它堵住了她的鼻子和喉咙。 她咳嗽得很厉害，还擤鼻涕，吐了一大口。 但它降得太快了。 她不能很快地清理她的鼻子和嘴巴。

The boys hacked and gagged, too. They would all suffocate if this kept up. Then Jess had an idea. "Pull your shirt over your face!" she cried. Jess reached below her red sweatshirt for her Tshirt. She pulled it up over her face. It worked! The shirt became a mask that filtered out the ash. She could breathe again. They sat in the pit with their faces covered for a long time, waiting for the blizzard to stop. The mountain growled and boomed. Jess huddled close to the boys. She realized that there could be only one thing worse than being in the middle of this horror. Being here alone, without the twins.

男孩们也攻击并堵住了嘴。 如果这样下去，他们都会窒息而死。 然后杰西有了一个主意。“把你的衬衫遮住脸!”她喊道。 杰西伸手从她的红色运动衫下面拿她的t恤。 她把它拉起来遮住脸。 它工作!衬衫变成了过滤灰尘的面具。 她又可以呼吸了。他们蒙着脸在坑里坐了很长时间，等待暴风雪停止。 大山咆哮着，轰隆作响。 杰西紧靠着男孩们。 她意识到，只有一件事比身处这种恐怖之中更糟糕。 一个人在这里，没有双胞胎。