Chapter 22

chapter twenty-two It's just past noon, and we're all in Big Mama, headed for the Circle One Mall. Alfred's empty cage rattles in the back of the truck. Our butler is back home, locked inside the garage. He's served his purpose, so we could just let him free—but I'm worried that he'll get his brains sucked out by the tree. What kind of butler-having guy would I be if I let my butler's brains get sucked? The bad kind of butler-having guy, that's what. Okay, explain the plan. It's simple, super simple.

第二十二章刚过中午，我们都在“大妈妈”里，朝第一圈购物中心走去。 艾尔弗雷德的空笼子在卡车后面嘎嘎作响。 我们的管家回家了，锁在车库里。 他已经完成了他的任务，所以我们可以把他放了——但我担心他的大脑会被树吸出来。 如果我让我的管家的大脑被吸干我还算哪门子有管家的人？ 那种有坏管家的人，就是这样。 好吧，解释一下计划。很简单，超级简单。

"I'm going to get inside Alfred's cage. You guys will leave me in it, inside the mall—at the food court. You hide a safe distance away, in the parking lot. The Wormungulous will smell me or sense me or whatever it does—and it'll come for me. The fact that I haven't showered in a week should help. You with me so far?" "Yes, we're with you," June says. "And yes, you do need to shower." "As soon as he comes, I'll radio you guys on this," I say, holding up one of our walkies. "While the Wormungulous is busy with me, you get your butts to Lowe's and load up Big Mama with weed killer." "What if the Wormungulous simply swallows the cage whole?" Quint asks. "I just have to take that risk," I say. "Take that risk?!" Quint exclaims. "That's a very large risk, friend." I shoot him a hard look. "Do any of you have a better plan?" And with that, everyone shuts up. This isn't about us.

“我要进入阿尔弗雷德的笼子。 你们会把我留在里面，在商场里，在美食广场。 你躲在安全的地方，躲在停车场。 虫虫会闻到我的气味，或者感觉到我，或者别的什么——它会来找我的。 我已经一周没洗澡了，这应该有帮助。 你能跟上我的意思吗？”“是的，我们和你在一起，”琼说。 “是的，你确实需要洗澡。” “他一来，我就用无线电通知你们，”我说，举起我们的一台对讲机。 “在虫虫忙着对付我的时候，你们赶紧去劳氏，给大妈妈装上除草剂。” “如果蛔虫把整个笼子吞下去怎么办？”五度音问道。 “我必须冒这个险，”我说。 “冒这个险？！”昆特惊呼道。 “那风险很大，朋友。” 我狠狠地瞪了他一眼。“你们有更好的计划吗？”说完，所有人都闭嘴了。 这不是我们的事。

It's about everyone else who's still alive: the humans we haven't met but have to assume are out there, the monsters at Joe's whom Thrull would feed to .e...c., the world itself. "All right, then," Dirk says. "It's a plan." June squeezes my shoulder. "We'll see you soon." And with that, my friends are gone. They pile into Big Mama and drive across the parking lot. But the Wormungulous does not show up.

它是关于所有还活着的人：我们还没见过的人类，但必须假设他们就在那里，在乔的怪物，Thrull会喂他们。世界本身。 “那好吧，”德克说。 “这是一个计划。”琼捏了捏我的肩膀。 “我们很快就会见到你。”说完，我的朋友们就走了。 他们挤进“大妈妈”，开车穿过停车场。 但是蛔虫并没有出现。

June soon buzzes in over walkie. "Everything OK in there?" "Yep. Just waiting. Know any good jokes to keep me busy?" "When do zombies go to sleep?" I groan. This'll be awful. "When?" "When they're dead tired!" "Terrible. You can never give me grief about my bad jokes again," I say. I'm picking a hangnail when June buzzes back and hums the Jeopardy! theme. I laugh. I like my friends. I hope I live to see them again... After forty-five minutes, I decide it's time to make a move. The world is at stake here—we can't just be hanging out in cages, picking at hangnails, humming classic game show theme songs. So I open the cage door. Breath held, teeth clenched, I step out into the deserted food court. I pull the Louisville Slicer from my sheath, raise it high, and slam it into the floor. I do it again, over and over. BAM! BAM!

六月很快就通过对讲机进来了。 “里面一切都还好吧？”“是的。 只是等待。知道什么好笑话让我忙吗？”“僵尸什么时候睡觉？”我呻吟。 这太糟糕了。“什么时候?”“当他们累得要死的时候！”“糟透了。 你再也不能因为我的烂笑话而让我伤心了，”我说。 我正在拔钉子，琼回来了，哼着《危险边缘！》主题。 我笑了起来。我喜欢我的朋友。 我希望我能活着再见到他们…… 45分钟后，我决定是时候采取行动了。 世界正处于危险之中——我们不能只是在笼子里闲逛，抠着倒挂的钉子，哼着经典的游戏节目主题曲。 于是我打开笼子的门。我屏住呼吸，咬紧牙关，走进空荡荡的美食广场。 我从剑鞘里抽出路易斯维尔切片机，高高举起，猛地摔在地板上。 我做了一遍又一遍。 砰!砰!

BAM! BAM! On the fifth bam, I hear something crashing, far away—at the other end of the mall. I slam the blade into the floor again. BAM! BAM! BAM! Another crash. Glass shattering. I see it... Ahead of me, the floor is bending and breaking as the Wormungulous hurtles toward me. The ground at my feet bends and twists and shatters. KA-KA-KRAKKK!!!! There's a seismic-type shift, the floor splits, and it appears... WORM BURST

砰!砰!在第五声“砰”的一声中，我听到远处有东西在撞击——在商场的另一端。 我又把刀刃猛地摔在地板上。 砰!砰!砰!另一个崩溃。 玻璃破碎。我看到了…… 在我的前面，地板在弯曲和破碎，因为虫虫向我飞奔而来。 我脚下的地面弯曲、扭曲、破碎。 KA-KA-KRAKKK ! !发生了地震式的移动，地面裂开，看起来… 蠕虫爆发

Metal gates covering nearby storefronts shatter as the monster moves toward me, emitting an ear-piercing shriek. "GO, GUYS, GO!" I shout into the walkie. "NOW!" "DRIVING!" June responds. I wheel around and race back to the cage, but the worm blasts past and cuts in front of me. The floor crumbles and bends. My stomach flips as I'm lifted up into the air! Words scream inside my head: "GET IN THE CAGE, JACK! GET IN THE CAGE, JACK! GET IN THE CAGE, JACK! GET IN THE CAGE, JACK!" The Wormungulous's back is slimy and slick and covered in small tentacles. Gripping one, I manage to gain my footing. I scramble forward, then leap! My body slams into the cage and the door clangs shut behind me. KA-SLAM! The cage lands upside down and my head bangs into the metal bottom. There's blood on my lips—it

当怪物向我移动时，覆盖附近店面的金属门破碎了，发出刺耳的尖叫声。 “加油，伙计们，加油！”我对着对讲机大喊。 “现在!”“开车!”6月回答道。 我转过身跑回笼子，但那条虫子从我面前呼啸而过，从我面前冲了过去。 地板碎了，弯曲了。 当我被举到空中时，我的胃在翻腾！话语在我的脑海里尖叫：“进笼子里去，杰克！进笼子里去，杰克！进笼子里去，杰克！进笼子里去，杰克！”蚯蚓的背部粘糊糊的，光滑的，覆盖着小触手。 抓住一只，我设法站稳了脚跟。 我奋力向前，然后一跃！我的身体砰地一声撞进笼子，门在我身后哐当关上了。 KA-SLAM !笼子倒着落在地上，我的头撞到了金属底部。 我的嘴唇上都是血