Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen Everyone stares at me... My arms tremble. I gently set the radio down. I take a shaky step back. I'm scared of the thing. June's mouth hangs open as she realizes what's happening—then she makes a squeaking sound and races toward the radio.

第十四章每个人都盯着我看…… 我的手臂在颤抖。我轻轻地放下收音机。 我摇摇晃晃地后退了一步。我害怕那个东西。 当琼意识到发生了什么事时，她张着嘴——然后她发出吱吱的声音，向收音机跑去。

REPEAT, WE WILL TRY ONE MORE TIME TONIGHT AT 10 P.M.. That said, the last broadcast is at 10 p.m. tonight. And it's 7 p.m. right now. That's only three hours away. And we still can't hear too good. What's the deal? Quint scratches his head for a moment, then looks up—eyeing the massive rides that tower over us. "Blast..." he says. "All this metal and electricity is interfering with the signal. We must reach a higher altitude." "The Thunder Coaster's big peak is the highest spot in the park," June says. "What about that?"

重复一遍，我们今晚10点再试一次。 也就是说，最后一次广播是晚上10点。 今晚。现在是晚上7点。 只有三个小时的路程。 我们还是听不太清楚。 这是怎么回事？昆特挠了挠头，然后抬起头，打量着高耸在我们头顶上的巨大马车。 “该死……”他说。“所有这些金属和电流都干扰了信号。 我们必须飞到更高的高度。” “雷霆过山车的最高峰是公园里的最高点，”琼说。 “那又怎么样？”

"A superb suggestion!" Quint exclaims. "The Thunder Coaster! Ingenious, June." I don't speak. I'm still too stunned. Too overwhelmed. They begin racing toward the Thunder Coaster. And that's when I hear the horrific sound of skeletal wings beating the air. The sound snaps me out of my frozen weirdness feeling, and I'm reaching out, grabbing Quint, and shouting, "Guys, take cover!" I pull Quint, and June and Dirk follow. We dive inside the Fun Land Fried Dough Golden Oil Gazebo, tumbling over a counter, slamming into a mound of stale popcorn. Ants march over the kernels. An instant later, a shadow sweeps over the ground. The King Wretch. The monster soars above the park, circling twice before swooping downward and perching atop the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel creaks and bends under the King Wretch's weight. But the monster doesn't move.

“好主意！”昆特惊呼道。 “雷电过山车！”巧妙的,6月。” 我不说话。我还是太震惊了。 太不知所措。他们开始冲向过山车。 就在这时，我听到了骨骼翅膀拍打空气的可怕声音。 这声音把我从僵硬的怪异感觉中惊醒，我伸出手，抓住昆特，喊道：“伙计们，找掩护！”我拉上昆特，琼和德克跟着。 我们潜入乐园油炸金油凉亭（Fun Land Fried Dough Golden Oil Gazebo），从柜台上翻了个身，一头撞上了一堆不新鲜的爆米花。 蚂蚁在谷粒上行军。 片刻之后，一个影子掠过地面。 可怜的国王。这个怪物在公园上空盘旋了两圈，然后俯冲下来，停在摩天轮上。 在可怜的国王的重压下，摩天轮吱吱作响，弯曲着。 但是怪物不动。

Everyone knows what this means: as long as the King Wretch is there, we're trapped. We'll miss the radio broadcast. And not just any radio broadcast: the last radio broadcast. Everything my friends worked so hard for will be ruined. The thing that is most important to them—it's in danger of being lost. The silence among my friends is deafening. And the worst part? It's MY fault! I brought my buddies here! Me! I did that! And the King Wretch is here because of me. It's my head he filled with weirdo king dreams! It's my skull that he stuffed that horrible nightmare inside! It's me he wants! June breaks the silence. "It doesn't look like we're going anywhere," she says with a sigh. "So, you want to talk now, Jack? Or do you want to go back to tantrumming like a little kid?" I sink into the mound of popcorn. My heart is racing and sweat is dripping off me, mixing with the cool bite in the air. My stomach is twisted into pretzel knots. And I'm red-faced.

每个人都知道这意味着什么：只要魔王还在，我们就被困住了。 我们会错过广播的。 而且不是一般的广播，而是最后一次广播。 我的朋友们辛辛苦苦换来的一切都将毁于一旦。 对他们来说最重要的东西，正面临着失去的危险。 我的朋友们沉默得震耳欲聋。 最糟糕的是什么？是我的错！我把我的朋友带来了！我!我做到了！可怜虫王是因为我才来的。 他在我脑子里塞满了古怪国王的梦！他把可怕的噩梦塞进的是我的头骨！他要的是我！六月打破了沉默。 “看起来我们哪儿也去不了，”她叹了口气说。 “那么，你现在想谈谈吗，杰克？” 还是你想回到像小孩子一样发脾气的样子？”我陷进了爆米花堆里。 我的心跳加速，汗水从我身上滴落下来，混合着空气中的凉爽。 我的胃都扭成椒盐卷饼结了。 我脸红了。

Not with anger anymore—it actually felt good to let out a full-blown freak-out. Now I'm red with embarrassment—but I swallow that down. Finally, I let it all out... "Look. I know I've been crazy obsessed with this whole fun thing. It's, like, first you found that radio. We heard those people. And I felt you slipping away... I've been trying so hard to convince you to stay, but..." "But what?" June asks. "But it was all for nothing." Quint scoots toward me. "I get it, Jack," he says. "You're afraid that if we get in contact with other people, we might find our families. And you'll be alone." "But you'll never be left alone," June says. I swallow. I can feel my nose starting to drip and my eyes watering. My lip is even trembling, which is just the most embarrassing—'cause that's always followed by blubbering and blubber snot. "I won't?" "You won't be alone at all!" June says. "You'll have your video games and your action figures and

不再是带着愤怒——实际上，发泄出一种完全失控的情绪感觉很好。 现在我脸红了，但我还是忍住了。 最后，我发泄出来了…… “看。我知道我一直痴迷于这种有趣的事情。 好像是你第一次找到那台收音机。 我们听到了那些人的声音。我感觉到你在悄悄溜走…… 我一直在努力说服你留下，可是……” “但是什么?”6月问道。“但这一切都是徒劳的。” 昆特向我跑来。“我明白了，杰克，”他说。 “你害怕如果我们和其他人取得联系，我们可能会找到我们的家人。 你会孤身一人。”“但你永远不会独自一人，”琼说。 我吞下。我能感觉到我开始流鼻涕，我的眼睛在流泪。 我的嘴唇甚至在颤抖，这是最尴尬的——因为随之而来的总是哭泣和流鼻涕。 “我不会?”“你不会孤单的！”6月说。 “你会有你的电子游戏和你的玩偶，还有

your chewed bubble gum collection and your lucky boxers and—" "Wha—?" "GOTCHA!" June giggles, then she pounces forward and throws her arms around me. Quint leans over and Dirk comes in, enveloping us all. A long, tight hug—and then we all sink back into our popcorn pit... No matter what, we're always going to be an awesome team of awesome friends. Whatever comes next, the four of us will handle it together. You guys are such woes and I love you.

你收集的嚼过的泡泡糖和你的幸运四角裤还有——”“什么——？”“明白了!”琼咯咯地笑着，然后她扑上前，用双臂抱住了我。 昆特探过身来，德克走了进来，包围了我们所有人。 一个又长又紧的拥抱——然后我们都回到了爆米花坑里…… 无论如何，我们永远是一支由好朋友组成的好团队。 不管接下来发生什么，我们四个人都会一起应对。 你们太可悲了，我爱你们。