Chapter 25

chapter twenty-five "Something's happening!" I call as the hand literally drags me away. "I gotta follow the hand." "Where??" June shouts. "To Ghazt, I think!" "WHAT?" June shouts. "WHY?" "I DON'T KNOW!" Rover darts alongside me, and I glance back, catching Quint's eye. "We'll be there when you need us," Quint says. Dirk nods. "We'll all be the Muscle." With that, I'm yanked around the corner—and flipped up onto Rover as his snout catches my legs. I feel at home on his back. "Missed you, buddy," I say. Rover growls softly as he dashes down a steep, slick ramp toward the Operating Theater floor—and the remaining guards. I hope whatever's telling my hand to visit Ghazt isn't also gonna tell the guards to turn around and punch me in my nose. We reach the floor. I count a dozen guards, all with their backs to us. They look even more vile than the ones at the prison. Jagged helmets are fused to their thin, mantis-like heads. And there is Ghazt, in the center of the room. Lying lifeless on the slab.

第二十五章“出事了！”我喊道，那只手真的把我拖走了。 “我得跟着手走。” “在哪里? ?”6月大喊。“去加斯特，我想！”“什么?”6月大喊。 “为什么?”“我不知道！”罗孚在我身边飞掠，我回头瞥了一眼，引起了昆特的注意。 昆特说：“当你需要我们的时候，我们会在你身边。” 德克点点头。“我们都将成为肌肉。” 说着，我被拉过了街角——在罗孚的鼻子抓住我的腿时，我被它颠了起来。 在他的背上我感觉很自在。 “想你了，伙计，”我说。 罗孚沿着陡峭光滑的斜坡冲向手术室的楼层——还有剩下的守卫。 我希望那个让我的手去拜访加斯特的东西不会同时也让守卫转过身来揍我的鼻子。 我们到了地板上。我数了一打守卫，都背对着我们。 他们看起来比监狱里的人更卑鄙。 锯齿状的头盔与它们纤细的、像螳螂一样的脑袋融合在一起。 还有Ghazt，在房间的中央。 毫无生气地躺在石板上。

The Cosmic Hand pulses—sending a burning shiver up my arm, into my skull. The burning fades to warmth, though, as I remember what I said I'd do once Rover and I were back together: play fetch. I take a deep breath, and step out into the light. Expecting the guards to turn at once—a big, dramatic, villain-packed greeting—I'm surprised when— None of them notice us. One is scratching his eyeball. Another sucks on a frog leg like it's a Popsicle. A few others stare at their feet. I stand there for an awkward moment, then clear my throat. "Ahem," I say, coughing into my hand. That gets them. The guards turn to face us. Not sure why, but I give them a little wave. A weird sensation comes over me suddenly, like I'm back at one of the dozen schools I attended before the apocalypse—a constant rotation of first days, teachers, and classfuls of strangers...

宇宙之手搏动着——一阵灼热的寒颤沿着我的手臂，进入我的头骨。 然而，当我记得我说过，一旦罗孚和我回到一起，我就会做什么：玩接球游戏。 我深吸一口气，走到阳光下。 期待着守卫们立刻转身——一个巨大的、戏剧性的、充满恶棍的问候——我很惊讶，他们没有一个注意到我们。 一个在抓他的眼球。 另一个像吸冰棒一样吸青蛙腿。 还有几个人盯着自己的脚。 我尴尬地站了一会儿，然后清了清嗓子。 “嗯哼，”我说，对着我的手咳嗽。 这就得到了他们。卫兵转过身来面对我们。 不知道为什么，但我向他们挥了挥手。 一种奇怪的感觉突然袭上心头，仿佛我又回到了世界末日之前我上过的十几所学校中的一所——开学第一天、老师和一群陌生人……

Hey guys, this is gonna sound weird, But I have this like cosmic hand thing. And I think it's telling me to go check on ghost. Do you mind if weapons pop from the guards arms, shoulders heads kneecaps, elbows? And yep, it's just a whole lot of weapon-popping? Looks like they mind, I say to rover, the guards spread out, forming a barricade around Go's body and the operating table. I scrubbed my hands into Rover's fur. He lifts his head. Hey buddy, Those cards look pretty cool, huh? With their shiny helme-theads with a growl, Rover stretches out, arching his spine. At first, I think he's begging for an underbelly

伙计们，这听起来可能很奇怪，但我有一只宇宙之手。 我觉得它在告诉我去看看有没有鬼魂。 你介意守卫的武器从胳膊，肩膀头膝盖，手肘上掉下来吗？ 没错，就是一大堆爆枪的场面？ 看起来他们介意，我对罗佛说，守卫散开，在戈的身体和手术台上形成一个路障。 我把手伸进罗孚的皮毛里。 他抬起头。嘿，伙计，这些卡片看起来很酷，对吧？ 随着他们闪亮的头盔头的咆哮，罗孚伸展身体，拱起他的脊柱。 一开始，我觉得他是在求我给他下肚

scratch. But no. He's coiling up, a spring, ready to unload. His head turns, tongue hanging out, waiting. Then— I've waited so long to say this again... "ROVER... FETCH, BOY!" Rover charges into the theater like he's been shot out of a cannon! He bounds toward one guard, then another, and another... It's nineteen seconds of dashing, gnashing speed. Like all of Rover's pent-up anger toward Wracksaw is

从零开始。但是没有。他卷起了弹簧，准备卸货。 他转过头，伸出舌头，等待着。 然后——我等了这么久才想再说一遍…… “路虎…取回,小子!”罗孚冲进剧院，就像被人从大炮里射出来一样！他扑向一个卫兵，然后是另一个，又一个…… 这是19秒的冲刺，咬牙切齿的速度。 就像罗孚对《断臂锯》压抑已久的愤怒一样

being unleashed in a magnificent display of giddy energy. And then—after every last helmet has been ripped off its respective guard—Rover comes trotting back to me, carrying a single slobber-covered hunk of metal. The guards totter on wobbly knees, tiny showers of sparks erupting from their heads. Rover drops the helmet at my feet with a CLANK. And then come a dozen THUNKS: the guards collapsing, one by one, like dominoes. They lie on the ground, mumbling softly. "Wow," I say, giving Rover a hard scratch behind his ear. "Guess you were eager to play fetch, too..." I quick-walk toward the operating table, eyes darting around the theater—expecting more guards to pop out at any moment. But the floor is empty except for me, Rover, and him... Ghazt. I stand over his lifeless body. His eyes are dull. The bio-vac tube still sticks out of his head, one end draped across his body.

在一场炫目的能量展示中被释放出来。 然后，在每个头盔都被撕掉之后，罗孚小跑着回到我身边，手里拿着一大块沾满口水的金属。 卫兵们摇摇晃晃地跪着，头上冒出一阵小火花。 罗孚把头盔扔到我脚边，发出一声巨响。 然后是一打“咚”的声音：卫兵们倒下了，一个接一个，就像多米诺骨牌。 他们躺在地上，轻声咕哝着。 “哇，”我说，在罗孚耳后使劲抓了一下。 “我猜你也很想玩接球游戏……” 我快步走向手术台，眼睛扫视着整个手术室，期待着随时会有更多的警卫跳出来。 但除了我、罗孚和他，地板上空无一人…… Ghazt。我站在他毫无生气的尸体旁。 他的目光呆滞。生物真空管仍然从他的头上伸出来，一头披在他的身上。

Hello God, are you in there? No response. If this was supposed to be some sort of big, grand- finale, mano-a-rato showdown... it doesn't look like it's gonna live up to the hype. It's nothing like our first showdown. The anger and rage and fury in those beady eyes after I sliced off one of his whiskers is gone...

上帝啊，你在里面吗？ 没有回应。如果这应该是某种大的，盛大的结局，单人对决… 它看起来不会像宣传的那么好。 跟我们第一次摊牌完全不一样。 我割下他的一根胡须后，他那双炯炯有神的眼睛里的愤怒、愤怒和愤怒消失了……