Chapter 10

Chapter Ten Falling. Then a painful SNAP feeling around my ankles —like how I imagine a crocodile might chomp. Then a weightless, stomach-flipping swinging. So that happened. You just had to go for the slicer. Shi Booby trapped us. A classic door-in the-floor.

第十章坠落然后我的脚踝周围一阵疼痛的咔嗒声，就像我想象鳄鱼可能会咬人一样。 然后是一次失重、令人反胃的摇摆。 就这样发生了。你只需要用切片机。 Shi Booby给我们下了圈套。一个经典的地板门。

"Why?" June asks. "And where are we?" I twist my body to look up. I see the hole that we just fell through, now about eight feet above us. Not much light shines down. But I can see the four long ropes that currently hold us. And what looks like a gigantic pirate wheel or something, mounted on the ceiling. This room is strangely deep. Not like a regular basement. "Old smugglers' home," Dirk says. "We're near the docks. They had tunnels that led all over town." "My flashlight!" Quint says. Of course he has his flashlight with him. Because who leaves their house without a flashlight? It better not be another zombie ball we see.... He fishes into his pocket, pulls out the lamp, and flicks it on. A beam of light slices straight up through the darkness. "It's a gear," Dirk says. "It controls the ropes." My nose tickles. A smell is wafting up from below. I know that smell. I don't want to look—but I have to. I reach out, grab Quint's flashlight, and he directs the light down. "Zombies..." June says softly.

“为什么?”6月问道。“我们在哪儿？”我扭动身体向上看。 我看到了我们刚刚掉进的那个洞，现在离我们大约八英尺高。 照下来的光不多。 但我能看到目前拴住我们的四根长绳子。 看起来像一个巨大的海盗轮什么的，安装在天花板上。 这个房间出奇地深。 不像普通的地下室。 “老走私者的家，”德克说。 “我们在码头附近。他们有通达全城的地道。” “我的手电筒!”五度音说。 他当然带着手电筒。 因为谁会不带手电筒出门呢？ 最好不是我们看到的另一个僵尸球.... 他把手伸进口袋，拿出灯，轻轻打开。 一束光直直地穿过黑暗。 “这是一个齿轮，”德克说。“它控制着绳子。” 我的鼻子发痒。一股气味从下面飘上来。 我知道那种味道。我不想看——但我必须看。 我伸出手，拿起昆特的手电筒，他把光线照了下来。 “僵尸……”琼轻声说。

If Evie Snark were a regular villain who wanted to do us in, she'd just, y'know—DO US IN. But she seems to be taking her moves straight from the Indiana Jones or James Bond playbook. No question: She's impressive. We're dealing with some sort of queen geek... Suddenly, a rumbling. "I've got a bad feeling about this," I murmur. GRRRMMMM... "It's the gear above us!" June says. "It's turning!"

如果艾薇·斯纳克是一个普通的反派，她想要杀了我们，她只会，你知道，杀了我们。 但她的动作似乎直接来自印第安纳琼斯或詹姆斯邦德的剧本。 毫无疑问，她令人印象深刻。 我们面对的是某种极客女王… 突然，一阵隆隆声。“我有一种不好的预感，”我低声说。 GRRRMMMM……“是我们上面的齿轮！”6月说。 “这是把!”

Quint gasps. "And as it's turning, we're being lowered!" There's a short moment where no one says a word—and then all of us are talking over one another. The general idea is: OH NO THIS IS BAD WE HAVE TO STOP THIS NOW. Quint's flashlight flashes across the zombie faces below. Oh, great—illuminated terror, just what we need. They began snarling, snapping, and —worst of all—reaching upward, with sick, shriveled hands. "There are five zombies down there!" Quint exclaims. "There are going to be nine zombies down there if we don't stop this!" June says. I paw at the rope. Useless. I reach for the wall. Too far. "HOW DO WE STOP IT?" "Newton's cradle!" Quint exclaims. "Individually, we can't reach the walls—but by transmitting our force through one another, we might—" "Yeah, yeah, sure!" I say, cutting off Quint. "Whatever it is, let's try it!"

五胞胎喘息声。“它一转弯，我们就往下沉！”有那么一小会儿，谁也没说一句话，然后我们大家都在互相交谈。 一般的想法是：哦，不，这很糟糕，我们现在必须停止这一切。 昆特的手电筒在下面的僵尸脸上闪烁。 哦，被照亮的恐怖，正是我们需要的。 他们开始咆哮，撕咬，最糟糕的是，他们用病态的、干瘪的手向上伸出手来。 “下面有五个僵尸！”昆特惊呼道。 “如果我们不阻止的话，下面会有九个僵尸！”6月说。 我抓绳子。无用的。 我伸手去摸墙。太远了。 “我们如何阻止它？”“牛顿的摇篮!”昆特惊呼道。 “我们单枪匹马是够不到墙的——但是通过互相传递力量，我们可以——”“是啊，是啊，当然可以！”我说，打断了昆特。 “不管是什么，我们试试吧！”

Quint pushes off my shoulder and swings back into me. I slam into June and she plows into Dirk. Then it's back the other way—the force carries through us, and Dirk swings out and out— "GOT THE WALL!" Dirk exclaims. He grips the wall. His feet kick. But then— CRASH! He loses his grip and comes flying back. We all bounce around—then sag. "That did not work...." I mutter. Lower and lower we go. The long, gnarled arms of the zombies reach and reach. Closer and closer... It feels like all is lost. "Jack," Quint says, sounding suspicious. "What is inside your instant-inflate donut raft? It's supposed to be empty! For inflating!" I sigh. "Well, if these are gonna be my last words to you, bud, I guess I should probably tell you the truth. I ignored your inflatable donut raft advice. I filled mine with food. It's a food tube." Quint glares. "I don't need a human airbag around my butt, OK?" I say. "It's not helpful! But food is helpful.

昆特推开我的肩膀，又朝我挥来挥去。 我撞到琼，她撞到德克。 然后它又从另一个方向回来了——力量穿过我们，德克挥出又挥出——“碰到墙了！”德克声称。 他抓住墙。他的脚踢。 但是——砰！他失去了控制，飞了回来。 我们都蹦蹦跳跳，然后沉沦。 “那没有用....”我喃喃自语。 我们越走越低。僵尸长而粗糙的手臂伸啊伸啊。 越来越近……感觉一切都完了。 “杰克，”昆特说，听起来很可疑。 “你的即时充气甜甜圈筏里有什么？” 它应该是空的！膨胀了!”我叹了口气。 “好吧，如果这是我对你说的最后一句话，伙计，我想我应该告诉你真相。 我忽略了你的充气甜甜圈筏建议。 我的肚子里装满了食物。这是一个食物管。” 五胞胎怒视。“我屁股上不需要人肉安全气囊，好吗？”我说。 “这没用！”但是食物是有帮助的。

Who knows what sort of awful winter showdown trap we could end up in! We need food to survive if we end up trapped inside some freezing building for days, surrounded by zombies!" I'm watching the zombies get closer and closer —but Quint still wants to talk about airbags! "What sort of food is it?" Quint asks. "Um. Gum..." I say. June erupts. "GUM?! Gum's not even food! If you're stuck somewhere for days and need to survive, the WORST FOOD to bring is gum." "I was craving Big League Chew!" I defend myself. "Also, when you're starving to death, gum is the best food because it lasts longer." "Gum's not food!" Dirk roars. "Gum is food! It goes in the mouth, it's food! And the chewing tricks your mind into thinking you're eating! It's science!" "THAT'S NOT SCIENCE!" Quint roars. "GUM IS—" "Just what we need!" June suddenly exclaims. We all cock our heads toward her. The zombie howls echo. There's not much time.

谁知道我们会陷入什么样可怕的冬季摊牌陷阱呢！如果我们被困在冰冷的建筑里好几天，周围都是僵尸，我们需要食物来生存！”我看着僵尸越来越近，但昆特还是想谈谈安全气囊！“这是什么食物？”五度音问道。 “嗯。口香糖……”我说。6月爆发。 “口香糖? !口香糖连食物都算不上！如果你被困在某个地方好几天，需要生存，那么最不应该带的食物就是口香糖。” “我渴望大联盟咀嚼！”我为自己辩护。 “而且，当你快要饿死的时候，口香糖是最好的食物，因为它能保存更久。” “口香糖不是食物！”德克怒吼。 “口香糖是食物！”它被放进嘴里，它是食物！咀嚼会让你的大脑误以为你在吃东西！这是科学!”“那不是科学！”昆特怒吼。 “口香糖是——”“正是我们需要的！”琼突然惊叫起来。 我们都朝她歪着头。 僵尸的嚎叫回响着。时间不多了。