Chapter 20

chapter twenty Dandy-Lions ice cream parlor is near the edge of town. There's not much nearby: a gas station, a handful of trees, and a T. J. Maxx parking lot. Rain is beating down hard, pouring sideways in sheets.

第二十章花花公子狮子冰淇淋店靠近城镇的边缘。 附近没什么东西：一个加油站，几棵树，还有一个T。 J. Maxx停车场。大雨倾盆而下，大雨滂沱。

We park Big Mama around the back, then race for the entrance. I push through the doors—and I'm instantly punched in the nose by a putrid sour milk stench. Turns out, year-old ice cream does not smell the best. Who knew? Stale waffle cones crack beneath my feet like broken glass. "Quint, this is where you and Bardle do your, like, tail research?" June asks. "It's gross and weird," Quint admits. "But there's free Oreo crumble!" The tail is in the center of the shop, atop a metal table. It's hard to believe this shriveled rat tail—with pieces of melted action-figure plastic inside—is the key to controlling and activating an army of total undead terror. Bardle stands over the tail, pondering. "Bardle," I say breathlessly. "Thrull is back." The light reflecting off the table colors his face a ghostly yellow-white. Rain whips in and the wind slams the door shut. Thunder rumbles

我们把大妈停在后面，然后跑向入口。 我推开门——我的鼻子立刻被一股腐臭的酸牛奶味打了一拳。 事实证明，一年的冰淇淋闻起来并不是最好的。 谁知道呢?不新鲜的华夫饼在我脚下像碎玻璃一样裂开。 “昆特，这就是你和巴德尔做尾巴研究的地方吗？”6月问道。 昆特承认：“这很恶心，也很奇怪。 “但是有免费的奥利奥碎！”尾巴在商店的中央，在一张金属桌子的上面。 很难相信这条干瘪的老鼠尾巴——里面装着融化的动作人俑塑料碎片——是控制和激活一支亡灵恐怖部队的关键。 巴德尔站在尾巴上，沉思着。 “巴德尔，”我上气不接下气地说。 “Thrull回来了。”桌子上反射的光把他的脸染成了鬼魅般的黄白色。 雨呼啸而来，风猛烈地把门关上。 雷声隆隆地

in the distance. Drops of water seep through the ceiling. Bardle looks like a mad scientist as he turns to us. "I know," he says. "And he wants the tail." Quint exclaims, "We have to—" destroy it. I know that That is what I have been trying to do. Quint, confused: "What?" Bardle sags. "Quint, I knew from the start that no good could come of the tail. But I hoped

在远处。水滴从天花板上渗出来。 当巴德尔转向我们时，他看起来像个疯狂的科学家。 “我知道，”他说。“他想要尾巴。” 昆特惊呼道：“我们必须——”摧毁它。 我知道这就是我一直在努力做的。 昆特困惑地问：“什么？”Bardle下垂。 “昆特，我从一开始就知道尾巴不会有什么好处。 但我希望

your research might reveal a weakness. However, it seems an impossible feat. All that I've tried has made me weak." "But we have to," I say. "Thrull will—" But I pause before I can finish. Because it's eerily quiet all of a sudden—and somehow, I know it's Thrull. He's here. His voice booms louder than thunder. "I HAVE COME FOR THE TAIL!" I look to my friends. We all have the same frozen expression on our faces: fear, questioning. What's next? What do we do? I move to the drive-thru window—and I see that he's not alone.

你的研究可能会暴露你的弱点。 然而，这似乎是一项不可能的壮举。 我所做的一切都让我变得软弱。” “但我们必须这么做，”我说。“瑟鲁会——”但我还没说完就停了下来。 因为它突然变得出奇的安静——不知怎么的，我知道这是Thrull。 他在这里。他的声音比雷声还响。 “我是来拿尾巴的！”我指望着我的朋友们。 我们脸上的表情都是一样的：恐惧，质疑。 接下来是什么?我们该怎么办？ 我走到汽车窗口，发现他不是一个人。

I slide the window shut. It knocks over an old tip jar, and coins roll out, clanging against the wet pavement. Way to go, Jack. Super smooth. It's not like a tiny plastic window is gonna keep us safe from what's out there, but still. It's something. Dirk grunts, "Feels like the Old West in here. We're holed up in this ice cream parlor like it's

我把窗户轻轻关上。它撞翻了一个旧的小费罐，硬币滚了出来，在潮湿的人行道上发出叮当声。 干得好，杰克。超级光滑。 一扇小小的塑料窗并不能保护我们免受外面的威胁，但还是。 它的东西。德克咕哝道：“这里感觉就像老西部。 我们躲在冰淇淋店里，就像

a shack on the plains—and Thrull's the black- hatted bandit outside." My eyes scan the store. "We gotta do something, or this ice cream parlor shack is gonna be our tomb." Bardle's face is blank, but his lips are moving —whispering to himself. It's like he's working something out in his head. Finally, he nods—slow and heavy. "There is one thing I can attempt. Please, step back...." Bardle places his hands on the tail. His eyes close, and the atmosphere seems to change. The air around us starts to glow. The pounding rain—like horrible vampire fingernails tap-tap-tapping the roof— intensifies. Wind whooshes and whips. I grab on to a nearby table, suddenly afraid that I'm gonna be yanked into a tornado destined for who-knowswhere. Bardle shudders and the knotted tail throbs and swells. Thousands of thick, terrible hairs stand on end.

平原上的一个小木屋——外面那个戴黑帽子的强盗就是瑟鲁尔。” 我的眼睛扫视了一下商店。“我们得做点什么，不然这冰淇淋店就会成为我们的坟墓” 巴德尔的脸毫无表情，但他的嘴唇在动——自言自语。 好像他脑子里在想什么。 最后，他缓慢而沉重地点头。 “有一件事我可以尝试。 请退一步....”巴德尔把手放在尾巴上。 他闭上眼睛，气氛似乎变了。 我们周围的空气开始发光。 猛烈的雨声就像可怕的吸血鬼指甲在屋顶上敲啊敲啊，越来越强烈。 风呼啸而过。我抓住旁边的一张桌子，突然害怕自己会被卷进一场不知去往何处的龙卷风。 巴德尔颤抖着，打结的尾巴悸动着，膨胀着。 成千上万根又粗又吓人的毛发竖立在上面。