Chapter 9

chapter nine Without streetlamps or cities to light the sky, it's impossibly dark. Trees, unattended and overgrown, loom over us like shadowy figures. But as we ride, the clouds shift, the moon shines bright, and the sky seems extra huge. The stars look so big they could blind you. Rover quietly carries us down a winding road. Houses have begun to crumble as the Vine-Thingies choke them. Up ahead, zombies shuffle across the road, following the sound.

没有路灯，没有城市照亮天空，这是不可能的黑暗。 树木，无人看管，杂草丛生，像影子一样向我们逼近。 但当我们骑行时，云层移动，月亮明亮，天空显得格外广阔。 星星看起来太大了，会让你看不清。 罗孚悄悄地载着我们走在一条蜿蜒的路上。 房屋已经开始倒塌，因为藤蔓的东西把它们噎住了。 前方，僵尸们沿着声音拖着脚步穿过马路。

"It's like the Pied Piper of Hamelin," Quint whispers. "He was a dude who played a flute that lured rats to their death. The rats just followed the sound. They couldn't help it." "That happened?" I say. "When? Like, back in the nineties?" "No, Jack. It's a myth from the sixteenth century." "Oh." As we near Main Street, the crowd of shuffling zombies grows thicker. Oddly, they take no interest in our fleshy bodies. They are focused on only one thing: The Shrieking. I feel Quint's fingers tighten around my jacket. "Um, Jack. Could we find a more—uh—secure place to figure out what's going on?" "Good call," I say. "Higher ground. We can see how big this zombie parade really is." I tug on Rover's reins, steering him down a cramped alley. Ahead of us looms the Old South Graveyard. "Jack—really?" Quint groans. "Things aren't creepy enough with the zombies and the whistling?

“这就像哈默林的魔笛手，”昆特低声说。 “他是一个吹笛子引诱老鼠死亡的家伙。 老鼠只是跟着声音走。 他们没办法。”“发生了什么?”我说。 “什么时候?比如，回到90年代？”“不,杰克。 这是一个16世纪的神话。” “哦。”当我们接近主街时，拖着脚步的僵尸人群越来越密集。 奇怪的是，他们对我们的肉体毫无兴趣。 他们只关注一件事：尖叫。 我感到昆特的手指在紧抓我的夹克。 “嗯,杰克。我们能不能找个更安全的地方搞清楚到底发生了什么？”“好主意，”我说。 “更高的地方。我们可以看到这个僵尸游行到底有多大。” 我拉着罗孚的缰绳，把它引向一条狭窄的小巷。 我们前面隐约可见老南墓地。 “杰克?”五胞胎呻吟。 “僵尸和哨声还不够恐怖吗？

You're taking us into the town graveyard?" "There," I say, pointing to a giant tomb atop the hill at the center of the cemetery. "We'll be able to see most of Wakefield from there." With barely a running start, Rover bounds over the cracked stone wall and we land inside the cemetery. Rover makes his way up the sloping hill. Then he springs forward, and we land atop the tomb. And from there, we see it all. Zombies as far as the eye can see... "It is definitely a pied-piper sort of thing," Quint says. "There must be thousands."

你要带我们去镇上的墓地？”“在那儿，”我指着墓地中央山顶上的一座巨大的坟墓说。 “从那里我们可以看到韦克菲尔德的大部分地区。” 火星车勉强启动了一下，越过了有裂缝的石墙，我们降落在墓地里。 罗孚爬上了山坡。 然后他向前一跳，我们降落在坟墓顶上。 从那里，我们看到了一切。 放眼望去都是僵尸…… 昆特说：“这绝对是一种投机行为。” “肯定有几千人。”

I raise my camera to snap a photo but suddenly feel Quint's fingers digging into my neck. I spin around. Quint looks like he's about to cry. Or vomit. Or both. At the same time. Which is just a really weird, awful image. "What is it?" I ask, but then I feel it, too. A quaking at my feet. A rumbling from inside the tomb. I look down. The stone beneath us is beginning to crack. "Quint," I say softly, my skin beginning to crawl with fear. "Let's go home. Now. Both of us." But it's too late—

我举起相机准备拍照，但突然觉得昆特的手指在戳我的脖子。 我旋转。昆特看起来要哭了。 或呕吐。或两者兼而有之。同时。 这是一个非常奇怪，可怕的画面。 “什么事？”我问，但我也感觉到了。 我的脚在颤抖。墓穴里传来隆隆的声音。 我向下看。我们脚下的石头开始裂开了。 “昆特，”我轻声说，我的皮肤开始因恐惧而起鸡皮疙瘩。 “我们回家吧。现在。我们两个。” 但是已经太迟了

BOOM！ I'm flung through the air like a rag doll. Quint smacks into a headstone. Rover hits the grass, flips, and tumbles down the hill. "Quint, duck!" I shout as chunks of stone and concrete rain down. The rubble pounds the grass like a meteor shower. It's like the tomb was detonated from the inside out. Like something suddenly ripped through it... Woozy, gripping the damp dirt, I get to my knees. And what I see—it makes my blood run ice cold...

繁荣!我像布娃娃一样被抛到空中。 昆特撞上了一块墓碑。 罗孚撞到草地上，翻了个身，滚下了山。 “五胞胎,鸭!”大块的石头和混凝土如雨点般落下，我大喊。 碎石像流星雨一样撞击着草地。 就像坟墓被从里到外引爆了一样。 好像有什么东西突然撕裂了它…… 我迷迷糊糊地抓住潮湿的泥土，跪了下来。 而我所看到的，让我热血沸腾……

THE HAIRY EYEBALL MONSTER. Reddonk size, Single, Solitary, super-scary eyeball could really use a haircut. The long fur on the monster's back straightens and stands up on end. The hair is no longer just hair —it's a million silvery, spiny quills. I quickly snap a photo. The flash explodes like white phosphorus in the darkness. The eyeball's iris splits open with a nauseating SHLUCK sound and the beast emits an earsplitting roar. The open iris

毛茸茸的眼球怪物。 红唐克大小，单，单，超级吓人的眼球真该剪了。 怪物背上的长毛直了起来，直立起来。 头发不再只是头发——它是无数银色的、带刺的羽毛。 我迅速拍了一张照片。闪电像白磷一样在黑暗中爆炸。 眼球的虹膜裂开，发出令人作呕的SHLUCK声，野兽发出震耳欲聋的咆哮。 张开的虹膜