Chapter 4

chapter four I remember how I felt the instant before I defeated the big, bad, odorous, evil Blarg: terrified but confident. Frightened but alive. That's how I feel now. Brave.

我还记得在我打败那个又大又坏、又臭又恶的布莱格之前那一刻的感受：恐惧但又自信。 吓坏了，但还活着。这就是我现在的感受。 勇敢。

Stupidly brave. This is my moment. The moment of Jack Sullivan, Post-Apocalyptic Action Hero. The Wormungulous will be upon us in seconds. Its massive form is barreling forward, turning everything in its path to dust. And I can't let my friends fall into the category of "dust." That's my biggest fear. That's what keeps me up at night (well, that and thoughts of Selena Gomez—I hope she's safe somewhere!). I step toward the beast like some sort of samurai ninja Jedi. "Jack, what are you doing?" June screams. "June, Dirk, Quint. Get back," I say. "Behind me." "I'll try to open the gate into Sears," Dirk says. "If you can slow it down, maybe we won't all die today." I nod. If Dirk gets that gate open, they can get to safety. But if not—they'll be squished, squashed, splattered. Done-zo.

愚蠢的勇敢。这是我的时刻。 杰克·沙利文的时刻，后世界末日的动作英雄。 虫虫号马上就来了。 它巨大的形体正在飞速前进，把它经过的一切都变成了尘埃。 我不能让我的朋友落入“尘埃”的范畴。 这是我最大的恐惧。这就是让我夜不能寐的原因（嗯，还有赛琳娜·戈麦斯的想法——我希望她在某个安全的地方！） 我像绝地武士一样走向野兽。 “杰克，你在干什么？”6月的尖叫声。 “琼，德克，昆特。回去。”我说。 “在我身后。”“我会试着打开西尔斯的大门，”德克说。 “如果你能让它慢下来，也许我们今天就不会全都死。” 我点头。如果德克打开大门，他们就能安全到达。 但如果没有，它们就会被压扁，被压扁，被溅出来。 淘汰。

"Jack..." June pleads. "GO!" I shout. This feeling of samurai ninja Jedi heroism is totally beating out my feelings of butt- clenching fear, and I raise the dramatics up a notch. Go if you want to live! If you value your life, you must run! Jack who APE you right now? June knows my goofiness. She knows I pretty much stumble and bumble my way through every monster encounter.

“杰克……”6月恳求道。“走吧!”我喊。 这种武士、忍者、绝地英雄主义的感觉完全打败了我捏紧屁股的恐惧，我把戏剧提升了一个档次。 想活命就走吧！如果你珍惜你的生命，你必须跑！杰克，你现在是谁？ 琼知道我的愚蠢。她知道我每次遇到怪物都会跌跌撞撞。

I blush. "Sorry. Carried away. Just, please? Ah, please, go?" KRAKA-SMASH! The Wormungulous rips through the cell phone case kiosk. The walls quake. Glass falls and shatters from the railings above. At last, June sprints toward Sears. I stand tall. Blade at my side, like a cool, calm warrior. I can't take this ferocious, fanged beast head-on. But if I can do some nifty light-saber type moves, I might be able to buy my buds enough time to— Jagged cracks spread through the floor like ice splintering on the surface of a pond. The Wormungulous's mouth opens, revealing a fat tongue darting around in the darkness of its gullet. I take a deep breath. And then, when the monstrous worm is nearly upon me, so close I can smell the rotten meat on its teeth, so close I can see my reflection in its hundred tiny eyes, I leap to the side. My fingers clench the blade, and I hold it with two hands, arms extended,

我脸红。“对不起。带走。 只是,好吗?啊，请你走吧？”KRAKA-SMASH !虫虫在手机壳亭里翻来覆去。 墙壁在震动。玻璃从上面的栏杆上掉下来摔碎了。 终于，六月向西尔斯飞奔而去。 我站得很高。刀在我身边，像个冷静的战士。 我没法正面对付这只长着獠牙的凶猛野兽。 但如果我能做一些灵巧的光剑式动作，我也许能给我的花蕾争取到足够的时间——地板上锯齿状的裂缝就像池塘表面的冰裂开一样。 蛔虫张开嘴，露出一条肥大的舌头，在黑暗的食道里飞快地游动。 我深吸了一口气。然后，当这条巨大的虫子接近我的时候，近到我能闻到它牙齿上腐烂的肉，近到我能从它那一百只小眼睛里看到我的倒影，我跳到了一边。 我的手指握紧刀刃，双手握着它，伸开双臂，

parallel to the ground, gripping it as tight as I can as the worm blasts past me and the blade cuts into its flesh— The monster shrieks in pain and its thick tail whips into me, and— POW! I slam into the side of PacSun. I sag against the gate, then crash to the rubble-covered floor. Looking up, I see Dirk struggling to lift the heavy metal gate to Sears. Quint and June frantically help. But it won't budge.

与地面平行，尽我所能紧紧抓住它，虫子从我身边呼啸而过，刀刃刺进了它的肉里——怪物痛苦地尖叫着，它的粗尾巴抽打着我，然后——砰！我撞到了PacSun的侧面。 我伏在大门上，然后摔在满是碎石的地板上。 抬头一看，我看到德克正奋力抬起通往西尔斯百货公司的那扇沉重的金属门。 昆特和琼疯狂地帮忙。 但它不会动摇。

And it's too late. The Wormungulous is upon them. The monster's mouth has closed and its wormy head is lowered, plowing through the floor. But then I see it. The man-monster. He's rushing toward my friends. Quint spins around, horrified. The man- monster knocks him aside, grabs the gate, and lifts. That's the last thing I see. The worm's tail lashes me across the face, I'm flung to the floor, and everything goes black. chapter five I slowly blink my eyes open. I'm seeing stars and spots and even four-leaf clovers—it's like a whole Lucky Charms thing.

太迟了。虫怪在他们身上。 怪物的嘴闭上了，它那长满虫子的头低着，在地板上犁着。 但后来我看到了。man-monster。 他向我的朋友们冲去了。 昆特惊恐地转过身来。 怪物把他撞到一边，抓住门，上了电梯。 那是我最后看到的东西。 虫子的尾巴抽打着我的脸，我被扔到地板上，一切都变黑了。 我慢慢地眨着眼睛睁开。 我看到星星和斑点，甚至是四叶草——就像幸运符一样。