Chapter 14

chapter fourteen Later, back at the tree house, Dirk settles into his usual gloomy state—headphones on, music blaring, eyes shut. I want to fix Dirk. I want to help him. But I don't know how. Something's wrong with him— and he's getting worse, not better. I'm thinking of striking up another convo to get more out of Dirk, when I hear giggling upstairs. It's Quint and June—they're up there, laughing about something! What could be more important than our buddy's well-being? Some hot new inside joke...? Moments later, I'm banging on June's door.

后来，回到树屋，德克又像往常一样闷闷不乐——戴着耳机，音乐震耳欲聋，闭着眼睛。 我想治好德克。我想帮助他。 但我不知道怎么做。他有点不对劲，而且他的病情非但没有好转，反而更糟了。 当我听到楼上的笑声时，我正想再跟德克谈点什么。 是昆特和琼——他们在上面，在笑什么呢！还有什么比我们朋友的幸福更重要的呢？ 一些新的热门内幕笑话…？ 过了一会儿，我敲了敲琼的门。

So help me if you're playing two-person, Spin the bottle. No friend. We made a discovery. June's idea. The radio Wifi video games. It's working Look I glance at the TV. On it is a scrolling list of names. Bertie Farn. Henry Fenklemeier. Suzie Fenklemeier. "It's names," I say, confused. "It kinda looks like a—" "A snow day!" June says. "Or a storm day! How they list all the schools that have the day off—y'know? And now—look..." Quint says, "The Statue of Liberty broadcast —it's not on the radio anymore, but it's here.

如果你玩的是双人游戏，那就转瓶子。 没有朋友。我们有了一个发现。 6月的主意。无线电Wifi视频游戏。 看，我瞥了一眼电视。 上面是一个滚动的名单。 伯蒂Farn。亨利Fenklemeier。 苏西Fenklemeier。“是名字，”我困惑地说。 “看起来有点像——”“下雪天！”6月说。 “或者暴风雨的日子！”他们是怎么列出所有放假的学校的？ ,现在看来……”昆特说：“自由女神像的广播——现在不在广播里了，但它就在这里。

It's a list of names. Repeating. Each name is a person who has checked in as 'SAFE' during the Monster Apocalypse." This is big. Bigger than big. So big that, for a moment, I also forget about Dirk. Softly, I say: "It's on the letter F." Quint nods. "It's slow. By my calculations, it'll be weeks until it comes back around to the beginning of the alphabet. To B—for Baker. And D—for Del Toro. But, Jack—it works! June's idea worked!" "We're going to record it," June says. "So there's no chance we miss any names." I turn and leave. From the hall, I hear June leaping to her feet. "Jack, don't freak out," she says. "We just want to find our families. Don't be mad!" I poke my head back in the room and grin. "I'm not mad. I'm getting popcorn! Can we make fun of people's weird names together?" June looks at me. "Yes," she says. "Yes, we can."

这是一张名单。重复。 每个名字都是一个在怪物启示录期间登记为‘SAFE’的人。” 这是大的。比大还大。 太大了，有那么一刻，我也忘记了德克。 我轻轻地说：“在字母f上。” 五胞胎点点头。“这是缓慢的。根据我的计算，它要过几个星期才能回到字母表的开头。 b代表贝克。d代表德尔·托罗。 但是，杰克，它成功了！琼的主意成功了！”“我们要把它录下来，”琼说。 “所以我们不可能漏掉任何名字。” 我转身离开。从大厅里，我听到琼跳了起来。 “杰克，别害怕，”她说。 “我们只想找到我们的家人。 别生气！”我把头探回房间，咧嘴一笑。 “我没有生气。我要去买爆米花！我们能一起取笑别人奇怪的名字吗？”琼看着我。 “是的，”她说。“是的，我们可以。”

"Good. Be right back!" As I go to the kitchen, I'm thinking: there's no name on that TV for me. And there never will be. But that's OK—I already have my names. Quint Baker. June Del Toro. Dirk Savage. Rover. Bardle. Even that loony tune Skaelka. And I have something else. It sounds a little crazy, even as I say it in my head—but I have the Slicer. And no, I'm not getting all Gollum-y. My blade is not family. It is not my precious. But it is a purpose. I'm happy now—in our makeshift tree house kitchen—putting together a big bowl of movie- watching mix. It's got all the best stuff: Goobers, Cookie Dough Bites, Sour Patch Kids. "Put extra Whoppers in!" June shouts, and I think, Obviously! As soon as I return, she's rushing over to shove her hand into the bowl.

“很好。马上回来！”当我走进厨房时，我在想：电视上没有我的名字。 永远也不会有。不过没关系，我已经有名字了。 昆特贝克。琼·德尔·托罗。 德克野蛮人。罗孚。Bardle。 即使是那首疯疯癫癫的曲子。 我还有别的东西。 这听起来有点疯狂，即使我在心里说，但我有切片机。 不，我不会像咕噜一样。 我的剑不是家人。它不是我的宝贝。 但这是一个目的。我现在很高兴，在我们临时搭建的树屋厨房里，把一大碗看电影的东西放在一起。 它有所有最好的东西：谷歌饼干，曲奇饼，酸补丁儿童。 “多放点皇堡进去！”琼喊道，我想，显然！我一回来，她就冲过来把手伸进碗里。

Ha Gurdy Fundlebean. I bet Gertie is a kick-butt lady. I once knew an Edna FondledBean. I wonder if they're related? We watch the names until our eyes glaze over. It's past midnight when Quint and June pass out in their beanbag chairs, matching streams of drool dripping from their mouths. I head out onto the tree house deck. Even out here, I can hear Dirk snoring. His sleep isn't peaceful. He kicks. Tosses. Turns so hard he nearly flips... All that happiness I felt for Quint and June?

哈，高迪，Fundlebean。我敢说格蒂一定是个很厉害的女人。 我曾经认识一个叫Edna fonledbean的人。 我想知道他们是否有关系？ 我们目不转睛地看着那些名字。 午夜过后，昆特和琼在豆袋椅上睡着了，嘴里淌着口水。 我走到树屋甲板上。 即使在这里，我都能听到德克的鼾声。 他睡得不安稳。他踢。 扔。转得太猛了，他几乎翻了…… 我为昆特和琼感到的幸福？

It's gone. Because unless all four of us are good—then none of us are good. And Dirk is far from good. I grab an armful of soda cans and line them up on the railing. And, for the first time in a long time, I use the Slicer for its intended purpose: whacking the crud out of stuff. We tried to cheer up Dirk. But instead we discovered he's worse off than we ever realized. He's not bummed, he's not moping—he is suffering.

这是一去不复返了。因为除非我们四个人都很好，否则我们都不好。 德克一点也不好。 我抓了一把汽水罐，把它们排在栏杆上。 而且，很长一段时间以来，我第一次使用切片机来实现它的预期目的：把东西从里面弄出来。 我们试图使德克高兴起来。 但我们发现他的情况比我们想象的还要糟糕。 他没有沮丧，他没有闷闷不乐——他在受苦。