Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 Josh snapped his head to the side, avoiding the full-on hit. But as the branch sailed by him, a paper-sized strip of burning tree bark dropped onto his arm. Pain exploded through his body like an electric shock as the bark burned through his skin.

乔希猛地把头扭向一边，避免迎面一击。 但当树枝从他身边掠过时，一条纸大小的燃烧树皮落在了他的手臂上。 当树皮灼烧他的皮肤时，疼痛像电击一样在他的身体里爆发。

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Josh screamed, falling to the ground. It felt as if the bark had glued itself to his flesh. Before he could think twice, he reached up and peeled it off his skin. He threw the bark on the forest floor. It crackled and hissed like a rabid rat. And now his fingers were burned, too. Josh sat there, dazed and shaking. The pain was like none he'd ever felt, as if the flesh of his arm had been roasted, ripped from the bone. His fingers throbbed as if he'd pricked himself with a thousand needles. He wanted to curl up into a ball, let the pain crash over him. To disappear inside it. But now Holly was next to him. She stomped on the hissing bark so it wouldn't ignite the brush on the ground. She reached down and grabbed Josh's hand, not realizing he'd been burned. He pulled it away, crying out in pain. "My hand is burned," Josh said. "And my arm." "We can't stop," Holly said. "Come on."

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh !”乔希尖叫着，倒在地上。 感觉好像树皮粘在了他的肉上。 他还没来得及多想，就伸手把它从皮肤上剥了下来。 他把树皮扔在森林的地板上。 它噼啪作响，嘶嘶作响，像一只患了狂犬病的老鼠。 现在他的手指也被烧伤了。 乔希坐在那里，头昏眼花，浑身发抖。 这种疼痛是他从未有过的，就像手臂上的肉被烤过，从骨头上撕了下来。 他的手指隐隐作痛，仿佛被一千根针扎了一下。 他想蜷缩成一团，让疼痛吞噬他。 在里面消失。但现在霍莉在他旁边。 她踩着嘶嘶作响的树皮，以免引燃地上的灌木丛。 她伸手抓住乔希的手，没有意识到他被烧伤了。 他把它拉开，痛得大叫起来。 “我的手烧伤了，”乔希说。 “还有我的胳膊。”“我们不能停下来，”霍莉说。 “来吧。”

Josh wanted to move. But the pain was making him feel sick and dizzy. He was sure he couldn't stand up, let alone run. But Holly gently took his other hand and managed to pull him to his feet. She stood there for a few seconds, very close. "I know it hurts," she said. "But you can do it." She sounded almost like Dad. Somehow Josh forced his body forward. And soon he was running again. He followed close to Holly, his eyes stinging from the smoke and ash. They zigzagged around the burning branches and puddles of flame on the ground. The sky was filled with birds flying away from the fire. And other animals were on the run, too. A rabbit hopped in front of them. Chipmunks and squirrels skittered at their feet. "The river's not far!" Holly shouted, coughing from the smoke. "It's just over the hill. We're almost there!"

乔希想搬家。但疼痛使他感到恶心和头晕。 他确信自己连站都站不起来，更别说跑了。 但霍莉轻轻地拉着他的另一只手，成功地把他拉了起来。 她在那里站了几秒钟，离得很近。 “我知道这很痛，”她说。 “但你可以做到。”她的声音听起来几乎像爸爸。 不知怎么的，乔希强迫他的身体向前。 很快他又跑起来了。 他紧跟在霍莉身边，他的眼睛被烟和灰烬刺痛了。 他们绕着燃烧的树枝和地上的火坑曲折前进。 天空中满是飞离火场的鸟儿。 其他动物也在逃亡。 一只兔子跳到他们前面。 花栗鼠和松鼠在他们脚下蹦蹦跳跳。 “河离这儿不远！”霍莉喊道，被烟呛得咳嗽起来。 “就在山那边。我们快到了！”

The temperature was rising—the air was searing hot, the ground a stovetop that burned Josh's feet through his sneakers and socks. He could practically feel his blood boiling inside his veins. How much heat could the human body stand? He had no idea. But he could tell he wasn't going to last much longer. His skin was roasting. Each breath of the smoky air seared his throat and lungs. And it would only be a few minutes before the wall of flames caught them. They kept up their desperate climb. "We made it!" Holly said as they reached the top of the hill. But then she gasped. "No!" Right in front of them, blocking the river, was a line of blazing bushes—a fence of fire. Josh turned his head. The flames seemed to stretch out for hundreds of feet in both directions. They were trapped.

气温在上升——空气炙热，地面就像火炉一样，乔什的脚被他的运动鞋和袜子烫伤了。 他几乎能感觉到他的血液在血管里沸腾。 人体能承受多少热量？ 他不知道。但他知道他撑不了多久了。 他的皮肤在发热。每吸一口烟，他的喉咙和肺部都感到焦灼。 再过几分钟，火焰墙就把他们吞没了。 他们不顾一切地往上爬。 “我们成功了！”当他们到达山顶时，霍莉说。 但随后她倒吸了一口气。“不!”在他们的正前方，有一排燃烧着的灌木丛挡住了河流，这是一道火墙。 乔希转过头。火焰似乎向两个方向延伸了几百英尺。 他们被困住了。

Josh thought of the fire shelters Lucas had described. If only they had one of those! But they had nothing to protect them. Suddenly a deer came barreling from behind them. It launched itself over the bushes and hit the water. Splash! Holly stared at the deer, then turned to Josh. "The zip line! We're close to the zip line!" "Zip line?" he said, wondering if the smoke was messing with her head. "It could take us over those bushes. We can let go over the river and swim across. Like the deer!" She whipped her head around, eyes narrowed and searching. "There it is!" She pointed to the zip line. It was a crazy idea. And their only idea. In a flash they were on the move again. But now all Josh could think of was what could go wrong. The path to the tree could be blocked.

乔希想起了卢卡斯描述过的消防掩体。 要是他们也有一个就好了！但他们没有任何保护。 突然，一只鹿从他们身后疾驰而来。 它飞过灌木丛，落入水中。 飞溅!霍莉盯着那只鹿，然后转向乔希。 “滑索！”我们离滑索很近了！”“滑索？”他说，不知道她是不是被烟熏昏了头。 “它可以带我们越过那些灌木丛。 我们可以过河游过去。 像鹿一样！”她扭过头来，眯起眼睛搜寻着。 “在那儿！”她指着滑索。 这是一个疯狂的想法。这是他们唯一的想法。 转眼间，他们又开始行动了。 但现在乔希满脑子想的都是可能出问题的地方。 通往树的路可能被堵住了。

Even if they got there, the zip-line tree could be burned. The wire could have melted in the heat. And how would he be able to hold on with his burned hand? He tried to push those fears from his mind as Holly led them farther over the hill. They had to keep changing direction, to zigzag around the flaming trees and branches in their path. "There," Holly said finally, pointing to a big tree. He couldn't imagine how she'd managed to find it. But there it was. Josh saw the zip-line wire stretching across the river. There were some embers clinging to the tree's branches. But somehow it was not on fire. Josh almost cried with relief. "Follow me," Holly said, hoisting herself up onto the lowest branch. Josh scrambled right behind her, gutting through the pain of his burns. He noticed that this tree wasn't an evergreen like most of the others. It didn't have spindly

即使他们到了那里，那棵滑索树也可能被烧毁。 电线可能在高温下融化了。 他的手烧伤了，怎么还能坚持住呢？ 当霍莉带着他们越过小山时，他试图把这些恐惧从他的脑海中赶出去。 他们不得不不停地改变方向，在路上燃烧的树木和树枝间迂回前进。 “在那儿，”霍莉指着一棵大树说。 他无法想象她是怎么找到它的。 但它就在那里。乔希看到滑索延伸到河对岸。 有一些余烬粘在树枝上。 但不知怎么的，它并没有着火。 乔希如释重负，几乎哭了出来。 “跟我来，”霍莉说着，爬上了最低的一根树枝。 乔希紧跟在她身后，忍受着烧伤的疼痛。 他注意到这棵树不像其他的树那样是常青树。 它没有细长的