Chapter 13

chapter thirteen When I first hear the sound, I assume it's just a ringing in my ears—a result of Quint teaching Globlet how to play slapjack, a game she has some trouble understanding... But the buzzing sound builds toward cacophonous as we drive, and I realize it's something much worse than Globlet face slaps. "Strayfurs," I snarl.

当我第一次听到声音的时候，我以为那只是我耳朵里的铃声——这是昆特教环球球怎么玩啪啪乐的结果，这是一种她不太懂的游戏…… 但当我们开车时，嗡嗡声变得越来越刺耳，我意识到这比Globlet打脸更糟糕。 “流浪动物，”我咆哮道。

The road curves, and suddenly we're bearing down on hundreds of stopped vehicles. A monster traffic jam. I jerk the bone-shift back. Seabiscuit clamps down, halting so quick that Globlet is flung from her seat. She smashes into the window with a SCHPLOOT, clings to it for a moment like a sticky hand, and then plops onto the dashboard. "Globlet, take the wheel," I say as she stands, eyes spinning like a cartoon character's. "No problem!" she says, hopping over. Oh, don't actually take it. I meant just hold the wheel for a second. Well, then you should have said that I yank the wheel from her and jam it back into place.

路拐了弯，突然间，我们撞上了数百辆停在路边的车辆。 严重的交通堵塞。我猛地把骨头拔了回来。 “海洋饼干”停下来了，停得太快，Globlet从座位上被甩了出来。 她用SCHPLOOT砸向车窗，像粘手一样紧紧抓住车窗，然后扑通一声落在仪表板上。 “Globlet，来开车，”我说，她站在那里，眼睛像卡通人物一样旋转着。 “没问题！”她说着跳了过来。 哦，不要真的拿。 我是说，你就拿着方向盘一会儿。 那你应该说我把轮子从她身上拽下来然后塞回原位。

I stand up in my seat, poking my head through the open roof. Looking out, I see trucks like giant, mutated caterpillars. Caravans of hollowed-out carapaces. None of them moving. Then I see why... "Debra-Bulb..." I say. Quint squints. "Incredibly horrific," he notes. I nod, biting my lip as I watch Debra-Bulb and their gang of strayfurs search every vehicle that passes through their blockade. Debra-Bulb barks out orders. It's faint, but I hear something about the boy and the hand.

我从座位上站起来，从敞开的屋顶探出头来。 往外看，我看到卡车就像巨大的变异毛毛虫。 由掏空的外壳组成的大篷车。 他们都不动。然后我明白了为什么… “Debra-Bulb……”我说。五胞胎斜眼。 “令人难以置信的可怕，”他指出。 我点了点头，咬着嘴唇，看着黛布拉-鲍尔和他们那帮走失的人搜查每一辆经过他们封锁线的车。 黛布拉-鲍尔大声发出命令。 声音很微弱，但我听到了男孩和那只手的声音。

"How did they know we'd be going this way?" I wonder nervously. I'm trying not to let myself get hijacked by frustration or fear. Globlet timidly plucks gum from her leg. "Whoops. That may have been a Globlet Goof. Should I not have painted hidden city or bust on our rear bumper G Blis? The strayfurs are buzzing low, examining each vehicle. Some draw a closer look from Debra-Bulb. And when I watch Debra-Bulb tear another car in half and begin interrogating the occupants, my mind is made up.

“他们怎么知道我们要走这条路？”我紧张地想。 我试着不让自己被挫折和恐惧所挟持。 Globlet胆怯地从她腿上拔下口香糖。 “哎呦。那可能是Globlet的失误。 难道我不应该在我们的后保险杠上画上隐藏的城市或半身像吗？ 流浪狗嗡嗡作响，检查着每辆车。 有些人更近距离地观察了黛布拉-鲍尔。 当我看着黛布拉-鲍尔把另一辆车撕成两半并开始审问车内人员时，我就下定了决心。

"We need to get off this road," I say, turning the wheel. "We'll wait until dark. Hopefully we can sneak past then."— Moments later, I'm steering Seabiscuit through a field of furry grass as high as a basketball hoop. I'm hoping it's tall enough to keep us tucked away if Debra-Bulb does a flyby. Seabiscuit is happy to give her fingers a rest, finding a small mound and plopping down atop it. She must fall asleep right away, because soon the taxi is gently bobbing and swaying. Globlet is next to drift into dreamland. She removes a mouth guard from her belly—something I really want to question—and curls up. Soon, spit bubbles are dripping from her mouth. I want to stay alert, because who knows what brain splittingly bizarre new threat might pop up next. But I feel a nap coming on—the type you can't beat. In the back seat, Quint's tinkering with the conjurer's cannon, and the sound is oddly soothing. I'm drifting off to sleep when I hear Quint whisper, "Jack, guess what? We're having a sleepover in another dimension."

“我们得离开这条路，”我一边说，一边转动方向盘。 “我们等到天黑。希望我们能溜过去。——片刻之后，我驾驶着“海洋饼干”穿过一片和篮球圈一样高的毛茸茸的草地。 我希望它足够高，能在黛布拉-鲍尔飞过时把我们藏起来。 海饼干很高兴让她的手指休息一下，找到一个小土堆，扑通一声坐在上面。 她必须马上入睡，因为出租车很快就在轻轻上下摇摆。 地球仪是下一个漂进梦乡。 她从肚子上取下护齿器——这是我很想问的——然后卷了起来。 很快，唾液泡沫从她的嘴里滴下来。 我要保持警惕，因为谁知道接下来会出现什么让大脑分裂的新威胁。 但我觉得我要打个盹了——你打不过的那种。 在后座上，昆特正在摆弄着魔术师的大炮，声音出奇地舒缓。 我正迷迷糊糊地睡着，这时我听到昆特低声说：“杰克，你猜怎么着？ 我们要在另一个维度过夜。”

I blink my eyes open, smiling. "You're right. Dude, life got pretty weird, huh?" "Indeed, friend." At the end of the world, in a monster-zombie apocalypse, you end up catching zzz's in a lot of weird spots. Junkyards, classrooms, shopping malls. It's like an endless string of strange sleepovers. My favorite, though, was the first night after Quint and I reunited. Forty-three days after the Monster Apocalypse began. We made Mr. Goodbar s'mores, then stayed up until two a.m. playing Mario Kart and talking and laughing about anything and everything.

我眨着眼睛，微笑着。 “你是对的。伙计，生活变得很奇怪，是吧？”“事实上,朋友。” 在世界末日，在一个怪物僵尸的启示录中，你最终会在很多奇怪的地方打瞌睡。 垃圾场，教室，购物中心。 就像没完没了的奇怪过夜派对。 不过，我最喜欢的是我和昆特重聚后的第一个晚上。 怪物启示录开始后的43天。 我们做了Mr. Goodbar’s mores，然后一直熬到凌晨两点。 玩马里奥赛车，谈笑风生。