Chapter 27

chapter twenty-seven We lead the zombies to the farm, depositing them there—even though Warg is nowhere in sight. It's only when we get to the crumbled remains of Dandy-Lions ice cream parlor that we find her carrying Bardle in her arms. The other monsters are back at Joe's, celebrating our victory. They do not mourn Bardle. Only Warg does. She is different from the other monsters. She doesn't quite fit in. And man, it's a weird reminder that being different and not fitting in —that's good sometimes. "What will you do with Bardle?" I ask. "We have our own customs," Warg says. "You need not know any more than that."

第二十七章我们把僵尸带到农场，把他们安置在那里——尽管狼王根本不在我们的视线里。 直到我们来到丹迪狮子冰淇淋店的废墟时，我们才发现她怀里抱着巴德尔。 其他怪物在乔家庆祝我们的胜利。 他们不哀悼巴德尔。只有王知道。 她和其他怪物不一样。 她不太合群。伙计，这是一个奇怪的提醒，与众不同和不适应-有时是好的。 “你打算拿巴德尔怎么办？”我问。 “我们有自己的习俗，”Warg说。 “你只需要知道这些就行了。”

The next few days are a weird, hazy blur of nothing. I read comics that I've already read a thousand times—just looking for the comfort of familiarity. Quint immediately gets back to work— probably drawing up a blueprint of his cool new weapon. June curls up on the couch, watching her parents' names scroll down the cracked TV on a loop, for hours and hours a day. And Dirk. Dirk is quiet. It's almost three days after our big battle when Quint comes flying out of his lab. He's carrying the football helmet. "Dirk!" he says. "Put this on! No delaying!" Dirk's flopped out on a beanbag in the corner. "Whaddya want me to find this time?" Quint shakes his head and says softly, "I want you to find the peace and quiet you deserve, friend." "That's so corny, bro," Dirk says. But he smiles, sits up, and cracks his neck. Quint

接下来的几天是一种奇怪的、朦胧的虚无。 我看那些已经看过一千遍的漫画——只是为了寻找熟悉的舒适感。 昆特立即回到工作中——可能是在为他那酷酷的新武器绘制蓝图。 琼蜷缩在沙发上，看着她父母的名字在破裂的电视上循环滚动，一天好几个小时。 和德克。德克很安静。在我们的大战结束三天后，昆特从他的实验室飞了出来。 他拿着足球头盔。 “德克！”他说。“穿上这个！”不拖延!”德克倒在角落的豆袋上了。 “这次你要我找什么？”昆特摇了摇头，轻声说：“我希望你能找到你应得的安宁，朋友。” “这太老套了，兄弟，”德克说。 但他笑了笑，坐了起来，扭了扭脖子。 五胞胎

reaches up to place the helmet on Dirk's head. "I made some modifications," Quint says. "The helmet now blocks intrusive zombie thoughts. I've added custom settings, too, so this knob here, on the side, allows the zombie thoughts back in, if you like." For a split second, it looks like Dirk might cry. "You mean...?" "Yep." Quint nods, all proud. "Zombiecancelling helmet."— I feel better already.

伸手把头盔戴在德克的头上。 “我做了一些修改，”昆特说。 头盔现在可以阻止僵尸的侵入性思想。 我还添加了自定义设置，所以这边的这个旋钮可以让僵尸的想法回到里面，如果你愿意的话。” 有那么一瞬间，德克似乎要哭了。 “你的意思是……?”“是的。”昆特点了点头，满脸自豪。 “Zombiecancelling头盔。”-我已经感觉好多了。

It's a whole week later, and I'm itching to play video games—but June's still watching the names on the screen. I'll be honest, she totally monopolizes the TV—but I guess these are special circumstances. But it's the siren call of the video game that causes me to grab a spare console and head out to the football field early one morning. I fire up the system—no Battle Royale today, just some retro, single-player side-scroller stuff. Rover curls up on the grass, and I lean back against him—sinking into his warm, soft belly fur. I grab the controller and realize this new Squishy Mitten of Power is going to take some getting used to on the video game front. And it also needs a name that isn't the Squishy Mitten of Power. I play for hours. Happy to have knocked Thrull back—big-time. I play for so long that I actually drift off midgame— soothed by the sounds of 16-bit tunes. But then Quint's shaking me awake. He's with Warg and Dirk. I rub my eyes, confused.

整整一个星期过去了，我很想玩电子游戏——但琼还在看着屏幕上的名字。 老实说，她完全垄断了电视——但我想这是特殊情况。 但正是电子游戏的诱惑，让我抓起一个备用的游戏机，一大早就去了足球场。 我打开了系统——今天没有大逃杀，只有一些复古的单人横向卷轴游戏。 罗孚蜷缩在草地上，我向后靠在它身上，陷进它温暖柔软的腹部皮毛里。 我抓起控制器，意识到这只新的绒毛手套在电子游戏方面需要一些时间来适应。 而且它也需要一个不像“柔软连指手套”的名字。 我一玩就是几个小时。很高兴能把Thrull打回来。 我玩的时间太长了，以至于我在游戏中打瞌睡——被16位的音乐抚慰着。 但昆特把我摇醒了。 他和王和德克在一起。我揉了揉眼睛，迷惑不解。

They have Evie's book: Interdimensional Terrors: A History of the Cabal of the Cosmic. "Uh, hey, guys," I say, wiping drool from my chin. "What's up?" Quint taps the book. "After all my research on the tail, I needed to know how Bardle was able to give you the ability to absorb the tail's energy. I kept thinking there had to be a scientific reason. So, I consulted the book." "And what did you find?" I ask. "Nothing good," Quint says. "Jack, when you pulled the power from the tail—did the tail appear to retain any of that power?" "No. It was all bone. There was none of that inky, oily stuff left." "Are you certain?" Warg asks. "I think so! I mean, it was kind of a high- stress situation—I wasn't exactly taking notes. Why?"

他们有伊薇的书：《次元恐怖：宇宙阴谋史》。 “嘿，伙计们，”我说，擦去下巴上的口水。 “怎么了?”昆特轻敲书。 “在我对尾巴做了这么多研究之后，我需要知道巴德尔是如何让你吸收尾巴的能量的。 我一直在想这其中一定有科学的原因。 所以，我查阅了这本书。” “你发现了什么？”我问。 “没什么好东西，”昆特说。 “杰克，当你从尾巴上取下能量的时候——尾巴似乎还保留着一些能量吗？”“没有。 全是骨头。那些又黑又油的东西都没有了。” “你确定吗？”Warg问道。 “我想是的！”我的意思是，那是一种压力很大的情况——我没有记笔记。 为什么?”