Chapter 8

CHAPTER eight, But Leo couldn't run. The shaking was too strong. The floor rose and fell, tossing Leo into the air and dropping him. Plaster rained down from the ceiling and swirling dust filled Leo's nose, eyes, and mouth. The noise grew louder. It sounded like a hundred freight trains were rushing through the house, their whistles screaming. The shaking stopped for a few seconds, and Leo managed to stand up. He staggered a few steps toward the front door. But the shaking started up again, stronger than before. Fletch rushed past him. Leo saw him dive through the front doorway. The rumbling became stronger still. Leo fell again. Now the entire building seemed to be rising and falling, twisting and turning. Smack! Something hit him on the back, hard.

但是利奥跑不动了。 地震太猛烈了。 地板忽高忽低，把利奥抛向空中，摔了下去。 灰泥从天花板上雨点般落下，旋转的灰尘填满了利奥的鼻子、眼睛和嘴巴。 声音越来越大。听起来就像有一百列货运火车从房子里冲过，汽笛在尖叫。 震动停了几秒钟，利奥终于站了起来。 他摇摇晃晃地朝前门走了几步。 但地震又开始了，比以前更猛烈。 弗莱契从他身边冲过去。利奥看见他冲进了前门。 隆隆声更响了。 利奥又跌倒了。现在整座建筑似乎在起起落落，扭曲和旋转。 打!有东西重重地砸在他背上。

And then another — thud — hit him in the shoulder. Bricks. They were falling from the ceiling. That huge chimney was collapsing. Leo had to get out! But he couldn't even stand. He curled himself into a ball, sure he was about to be buried alive. Suddenly he felt hands gripping his arm. Someone was pulling him forward. Morris! They rushed together and leaped toward the door. They landed hard on the sidewalk. And then: Crack! Boom! Bricks poured down, hundreds of them, spilling out the door. Had they been just a few steps slower, they both would have been buried. The ground gave one last great shake. And then it stopped. The earth was still. The silence was almost as frightening as the noise had been. Leo lay on his stomach, afraid to move or even to take a breath.

接着，又一声“砰”的一声击中了他的肩膀。 砖。他们从天花板上掉下来。 那个巨大的烟囱正在坍塌。 里奥必须出去!但他连站都站不起来。 他蜷缩成一团，肯定自己要被活埋了。 突然，他感到有两只手抓住了他的胳膊。 有人把他往前拉。 莫里斯!他们一起冲过去，向门口跳去。 他们重重地落在人行道上。 然后:啪!繁荣!数以百计的砖块倾泻而下，从门里洒了出来。 如果他们再慢几步，他们俩就都被埋了。 大地最后剧烈地震动了一下。 然后就停了。大地一片寂静。 寂静几乎和刚才的声音一样可怕。 利奥趴着，不敢动弹，甚至不敢呼吸。

Now what would happen? He'd never been through an earthquake before. He felt sure the shaking would start again. Morris was right next to him. His face was streaked with dirt and sweat. He had an angry bump just below his eye. Like Leo, he seemed too stunned to speak. Leo looked in shock at the scene around them. Was this really the neighborhood he'd been walking through just minutes before? It looked like a furious giant had marched through the city, jumping over some houses and stomping on others. Bricks, stones, and glass covered the sidewalks and spilled into the street. Some of the rickety houses had collapsed. Others looked like a sneeze would send them crashing down. People stood on the sidewalks, terrified. Families huddled together. Babies broke the silence with screams. Some people were stretched across the sidewalks, not moving. Leo looked around at all the crumbled buildings. How many people were trapped? There had to be hundreds buried alive. Or dead.

现在会发生什么?他以前从未经历过地震。 他确信地震又会开始。 莫里斯就在他旁边。 他的脸上满是污垢和汗水。 他的眼睛下面有一个愤怒的肿块。 和利奥一样，他似乎也惊呆了，说不出话来。 利奥震惊地看着他们周围的景象。 这真的是他几分钟前走过的街区吗? 看起来就像一个暴怒的巨人穿过了这座城市，跳过了一些房屋，又踩踏了其他房屋。 砖头、石头和玻璃铺满了人行道，洒到了街上。 一些摇摇欲坠的房子倒塌了。 其他的看起来像是一个喷嚏就会把它们撞倒。 人们惊恐地站在人行道上。 家人挤在一起。 婴儿们用尖叫声打破了寂静。 一些人躺在人行道上一动不动。 利奥环顾四周，看到了所有倒塌的建筑物。 有多少人被困? 肯定有几百人被活埋。 或死亡。

Fletch and Wilkie were nowhere to be seen. Fear rose up in Leo. What would he do now? Where would he go? It had been hard enough for him to get by on his own before. How would he survive in this ruined city? His mind swirled with worry. He imagined himself wandering the ruined streets, scrounging for food like a rat. Not even Grandpop had faced anything like this. Morris turned to him with a thoughtful expression. "No wonder the dogs were howling," he said. "What?" Leo said. "The dogs. Did you hear them howling last night? Animals can sense earthquakes before they happen. They can feel the vibrations of the earth deep underground. I read all about it in a book." Was Morris serious? Was he really talking about a book as they sat in the middle of an earthquake? This kid was unbelievable! Leo stood up and shook the plaster from his hair. The ground started to rumble again. Leo froze, and braced himself.

弗莱彻和威尔基不见了。 利奥心中升起了恐惧。他现在会怎么做? 他会去哪里?以前，他靠自己的力量已经够难的了。 他要如何在这座已成废墟的城市里生存? 他担心得心神不宁。 他想象着自己在破败的街道上游荡，像老鼠一样四处觅食。 即使是爷爷也没有遇到过这样的事情。 莫里斯转过身来，若有所思地看着他。 “难怪狗在嚎叫，”他说。 “什么?”利奥说。“狗。 你昨晚听到它们的嚎叫了吗? 动物能在地震发生前感知到地震。 它们能感觉到地下深处地球的振动。 我是在一本书里读到的。” 莫里斯是认真的吗?当他们坐在地震中心时，他真的在谈论一本书吗? 这孩子太不可思议了!利奥站起来，抖掉头发上的灰泥。 地面又开始隆隆作响。 利奥僵住了，鼓起勇气。

A crash echoed from down the street — another building caving in. And just as suddenly, the shaking stopped again. "Aftershocks," Morris said. "The ground is going to keep moving for days." Was there anything Morris didn't know? People were shouting behind them. "Fire!" a man said. A plume of black smoke rose from one of the collapsed houses. "We have to get out of here," Morris said. "I smell gas. The quake has broken the gas lines. This whole hill is going to be burning within an hour." Leo shuddered. Nothing scared him more than fire. He thought of the fire that Grandpop had lived through in the Sierra Mountains. That was the closest Grandpop came to dying on his journey west. The story scared Leo so much that Papa had only told it a few times. "Where should we go?" Leo said.

撞击声从街道那头传来——又一栋建筑倒塌了。 突然间，震动又停止了。 “余震，”莫里斯说。 “地面还会持续移动好几天。” 莫里斯还有什么不知道的吗? 人们在他们身后大喊大叫。 “着火了!”一个男人说。一股黑烟从一栋倒塌的房子里冒了出来。 “我们必须离开这里，”莫里斯说。 “我闻到煤气味了。地震破坏了天然气管道。 不到一个小时，整座山就要烧起来了。” 利奥战栗。没有什么比火更让他害怕的了。 他想起了爷爷在塞拉山脉经历过的那场大火。 那是爷爷在西行中离死亡最近的一次。 这个故事把利奥吓坏了，所以爸爸只讲了几遍。 “我们该去哪儿?”利奥说。

"I'm not sure," Morris said. "We need to get away from here. We should head west, toward Golden Gate Park." "What about your uncle?" Leo said. A shadow seemed to pass through Morris's eyes. "He left the city days ago," the younger kid said. "Something about a poker game." "You don't know where he went?" Morris shook his head. No wonder he was always waiting for Leo to come home. He was all by himself. "Some uncle," Leo said. "That's all right," Morris said, matter-of-factly. "I have you." The swirling in Leo's mind suddenly stopped. Morris looked right into Leo's eyes, and Leo looked right back. As usual, Morris was right. He did have Leo. And Leo had Morris. Morris, the most annoying kid in the world. Morris, who had come looking for him in the dark. Morris, who had probably saved Leo's life by helping him escape from the saloon.

“我不确定，”莫里斯说。 “我们得离开这里。 我们应该向西走，去金门公园。” “那你叔叔呢?”利奥说。 莫里斯的眼睛里似乎闪过一道阴影。 “他几天前就离开了这个城市，”小儿子说。 “是关于扑克游戏的。” “你不知道他去哪儿了吗?”莫里斯摇了摇头。 难怪他总是等着利奥回家。 他孤身一人。“某个叔叔，”利奥说。 “没关系，”莫里斯实事求是地说。 “我有你。”里奥脑子里的旋涡突然停止了。 莫里斯直视着里奥的眼睛，里奥也直视着他。 像往常一样，莫里斯是对的。 他确实有里奥。利奥有莫里斯。 莫里斯，世界上最烦人的孩子。 莫里斯，他在黑暗中来找他。 莫里斯，他可能救了利奥的命，帮助他逃离了酒馆。