Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 9:50 A.M. Dad told Lucas that he'd driven to Manhattan from Randall's Island as soon as the first plane hit. "I was going to head right to the scene," Dad said. "But I got the message that you were at the firehouse. So I went there first. Chief said you'd be waiting for me." "I'm sorry," Lucas said. "I just couldn't stay… I…" Dad held up his hand. There was no time to talk. And Lucas got the idea that nothing that had happened before this

第十章上午9:50爸爸告诉卢卡斯，第一架飞机一撞，他就从兰德尔岛开车去了曼哈顿。 “我正打算直接去现场，”爸爸说。 “但我得到消息说你在消防站。 所以我先去了那里。酋长说你会等我的。” “对不起，”卢卡斯说。“我不能留下来……我……”爸爸举起手。 没有时间说话。 卢卡斯觉得在这之前什么都没发生过

morning mattered anymore — not now, maybe not ever again. "We need to find the guys," Dad said. "I need to get my gear from the truck. And then I'm going to find someone to take you back to the firehouse." Lucas didn't want to go back there. But he didn't argue. "They're not going to be able to put the fires out," Dad said. "This is a rescue operation now. We just want to get all of the people out of there." Dad's walkie-talkie crackled. Muffled voices mixed with static came through. Dad kept switching channels, trying to hear. He swore under his breath. "Nobody can talk to anyone," he said. "These radios have never worked. And now people are totally shut off. Nobody can get through to the men in the towers." They passed a pickup truck. The back was completely smashed, and a jet engine, still smoking, sat on the ground just behind it. The driver's door was open — someone had been in the car when it was hit and had gotten away. "Lucky," Dad said as he pulled Lucas along, past the truck. One mile per hour slower and the

早晨不再重要了——现在不重要了，也许以后也不会了。 “我们得找到他们，”爸爸说。 “我需要从卡车上拿我的装备。 然后我会找个人带你回消防站。” 卢卡斯不想再回去了。 但他没有争辩。“他们不可能把火扑灭，”爸爸说。 “这是一场救援行动。 我们只是想让所有人都离开那里。” 爸爸的对讲机噼啪作响。 低沉的说话声夹杂着静电声传了进来。 爸爸不停地换台，想听。 他低声咒骂。 “没人能和任何人说话，”他说。 “这些收音机从来没有工作过。 现在人们完全被隔绝了。 没人能和塔楼里的人联系上。” 他们经过一辆小货车。 飞机的后部完全被撞碎了，一个喷气发动机还在冒烟，就在它后面的地上。 司机的车门是开着的——车被撞的时候有人在车里，然后逃走了。 “很幸运，”爸爸拉着卢卡斯走过卡车时说。 每小时慢一英里，然后

entire cab would have been crushed. There were people sitting on the sidewalks being treated by paramedics. Some were in bad shape. Lucas tried to keep his eyes straight ahead. A woman staggered up to Dad. Her gray hair was soaked with sweat. Her face was bright red

整个驾驶室都会被压碎。 有人坐在人行道上接受医护人员的治疗。 有些情况很糟糕。卢卡斯努力保持眼睛直视前方。 一个女人摇摇晃晃地走向爸爸。 她的白发被汗水浸湿了。 她的脸涨得通红

with streaks of black under her eyes. She was breathing very hard, her hand on her chest. "Can you help me?" she gasped. "My heart. I came down the stairs…. My friends… I don't know where they are…. There was so much smoke…." Lucas knew Dad didn't want to stop — he wanted to find his crew. "Okay," Dad said in a low and gentle voice. "Don't worry. We're going to get you what you need." He turned to Lucas, pointing to an ambulance a few yards away. "Tell one of the paramedics we need help here." Lucas ran over and told one of the paramedics, then hurried back to sit with Dad and the woman. Dad kept talking to her while they waited. He introduced himself and asked for her name, and about her family. The woman was gripping Dad's arm so tightly that her fingernails were digging into his skin. Dad didn't budge. He kept talking to her, trying to calm this person he'd never met and would probably never see again. Finally the paramedics came. A minute later they had the woman on a stretcher and into the

她的眼睛下面有黑色的条纹。 她呼吸很困难，手放在胸前。 “你能帮帮我吗?”她喘着气说。 “我的心。我走下楼梯.... 我的朋友…我不知道他们在哪里.... 烟雾太大了....” 卢卡斯知道爸爸不想停下来——他想找到他的船员。 “好吧，”爸爸用低沉而温柔的声音说。 “别担心。我们会给你想要的。” 他转向卢卡斯，指着几码外的一辆救护车。 “告诉医护人员，我们需要帮助。” 卢卡斯跑过去告诉了一位护理人员，然后匆匆赶回去和爸爸和那个女人坐在一起。 他们等着的时候，爸爸一直跟她说话。 他做了自我介绍，询问她的名字和家庭情况。 那个女人紧紧地抓着爸爸的胳膊，指甲都扎进了他的皮肤里。 爸爸不为所动。他不停地和她说话，试图让这个他从未见过，也可能再也见不到的人平静下来。 最后，医护人员来了。 一分钟后，他们把那个女人抬上担架，抬进了医院

ambulance. Dad and Lucas continued their search for Ladder 177. But suddenly there was a deep roaring noise. The ground trembled. Dad stopped short. He looked around. His eyes flew up. He grabbed Lucas by the arm and shouted. "Run!" Lucas had no idea what was happening. But suddenly there was the loudest noise he'd ever heard. Louder than a hundred freight trains. Louder than all those sirens. "What is it?" Lucas cried, his voice cracking with terror. Dad pulled Lucas along, shouting, "Run! Run!" to the people all around. Dad kept looking over his shoulder, pulling Lucas harder, urging him to move faster. They came to a convenience store and Dad pushed the door open. He threw Lucas inside and then called to people just behind them. "In here!" he called. "Hurry! Hurry!"

救护车。爸爸和卢卡斯继续寻找天梯177。 但是突然传来一阵低沉的咆哮声。 大地颤抖起来。爸爸突然停了下来。 他环顾四周。他的眼睛一下子瞪大了。 他抓住卢卡斯的胳膊，大声喊道。 “快跑!”卢卡斯不知道发生了什么。 突然，他听到了有生以来最响亮的声音。 比一百列货运火车还响。 比所有的警笛声都响。 “什么事?”卢卡斯叫道，他的声音因恐惧而嘶哑。 爸爸拉着卢卡斯，喊道:“快跑!跑!”向周围的人喊。 爸爸不停地回头看，使劲拉卢卡斯，催促他动作快点。 他们来到一家便利店，爸爸推开了门。 他把卢卡斯扔了进去，然后对他们后面的人喊了一声。 “在这里!”他喊道。“快点!快点!”

Just a few people followed. Then Dad slammed the door shut. "Everyone get down! Cover your heads!" Lucas dove to the ground and then — Whoosh! There was the sound of shattering glass and a powerful blast of hot wind. Minutes passed. Lucas squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears. His mouth and nose filled with gritty dust. It was hard to breathe. If he hadn't known better, he would have been sure that he was in the middle of a tornado — a boiling hot tornado. And suddenly the noise and wind stopped. There was silence. Lucas opened his eyes, but he couldn't see anything. All around was pure darkness. For a long moment he was pretty sure the world had ended. And that he was the only person left on Earth.

只有几个人跟着。 然后爸爸砰地关上了门。 “大家都趴下!”把你们的头遮起来!”卢卡斯扑到地上，然后——嗖!这时传来了玻璃破碎的声音和一阵猛烈的热风。 分钟过去了。卢卡斯紧紧地闭上眼睛，捂住耳朵。 他的嘴巴和鼻子里满是沙砾。 呼吸都很困难。要不是他更了解情况，他肯定自己正处在一场龙卷风之中——一场滚烫的龙卷风。 突然，噪音和风都停止了。 一阵沉默。卢卡斯睁开眼睛，但什么也看不见。 四周一片漆黑。 在很长一段时间里，他确信世界末日已经来临。 他是地球上唯一剩下的人。