Chapter 8

chapter eight Two days pass. Two days of rest and recovery and then it's— LEGENDARY HERO TRAINING! DAY ONE! My alarm clock goes off—but I'm not even mad and I don't even hit snooze. Y'know, funny thing about alarm clocks— you'd think during the Monster Apocalypse, you wouldn't need 'em anymore—'cause you'd just wake up every morning like...

第八章两天过去了。 两天的休息和恢复，然后就是传奇英雄训练！第一天!我的闹钟响了，但我甚至没有生气，甚至没有按贪睡键。 你知道，闹钟有一件有趣的事——你会认为在怪物启示录期间，你不再需要它们了——因为你每天早上醒来就像……

what beasts shall I slay to day? How many pints of goo shall I spill? But nope. Still love the snooze. Except for today! Because today I TRAIN! The Slicer has powers and I must learn to wield those powers—and that is totally a Skywalkerstyle call to adventure! The smell of breakfast carries me downstairs. If my nostrils aren't lying, it's Quint's famous donut hole kebab with chocolate syrup drizzle. "Save some fancy donut sticks for me!" I shout as I toss on my hoodie and hop into the

今天我该杀什么野兽呢？ 我该洒多少杯酒呢？ 但不。我还是很喜欢小睡。 除了今天！因为今天我训练！切片机有力量，我必须学会使用这些力量——这完全是天行者风格的冒险召唤！早餐的香味把我带到楼下。 如果我的鼻孔没说谎的话，这是昆特著名的巧克力糖浆甜甜圈烤串。 “给我留一些漂亮的甜甜圈棒！”我一边喊一边穿上连帽衫，跳进了

kitchen, trying to jam my feet into my sneakers without untying the laces. I tumble into a chair and like an old-timey TV dad, I ask: So what's everyone got in store for today?

厨房里，我试着不解开鞋带就把脚塞进运动鞋里。 我扑倒在椅子上，像一个老电视爸爸一样问：今天大家都有什么准备？

I shall begin my examination of the tale. I will make Bartell proud. We haven't heard anything on the radio in months. Even with the snow gone, I got to find another way to connect with survivors, just trying to relax with tunes "Well, dudes," I say. "All of your stuff sounds rad—and I wish I could drop everything and hang. But I've got hero training ahead of me!" With that, Quint heads for Dandy-Lions ice cream shop across town—where he'll be studying the tail. June races upstairs to tinker with the radio. Dirk puts on his headphones,

我要开始研究这个故事了。 我会让巴特尔感到骄傲。 我们已经好几个月没听到广播了。 即使雪已经走了，我也要找到另一种方式与幸存者联系，只是试着放松自己，听着“好吧，伙计们，”我说。 “你所有的东西听起来都很疯狂——我真希望我能放下一切去吊死。 但我还要接受英雄训练呢！”带着这些，昆特前往城市另一端的丹迪狮子冰淇淋店，在那里他将研究尾巴。 琼跑上楼去修理收音机。 德克戴上耳机，

cranks up Metallica, and flops into our hammock. And I get my butt in gear. I take an extra donut hole kebab for the road. And one for Rover. And then two more in case I get surprise hungry. And three more in case I fall off Rover and sprain my ankle and I'm left, starving, helpless, and in desperate need of nourishment. And one more for good luck. Outside, the air is crisp. Rover's nostrils blow thick clouds of steam as he charges across Wakefield toward the zombie farm. My heart's pounding—I'm not sure if I'm excited or if I'm anxious or if excited and anxious are actually the exact same thing and just no one told me. When I get to the farm, Bardle is waiting for me. The zombies are nearby, corralled in a pen made from Christmas tree netting. I stride toward Bardle, hand on my Slicer, and stop when we're face-to-face. I'm patiently waiting like a good little hero-in-training. Bardle's face is stern. He's about to say some intense mentor stuff, I know it. Here it comes—

打开金属乐队的音乐，然后扑倒在我们的吊床上。 然后我就准备好了。 我多带了一份甜甜圈烤串在路上吃。 一个给罗孚。再来两杯，以防我突然饿了。 还有三个以防我从罗孚上摔下来扭伤脚踝剩下我，饥肠辘辘，无助无助，急需营养。 再来一杯祝你好运。 外面，空气清新。 罗孚穿过韦克菲尔德向僵尸农场冲去，他的鼻孔喷出厚厚的蒸汽云。 我的心怦怦直跳——我不确定我是兴奋还是焦虑，还是兴奋和焦虑实际上是一回事，只是没人告诉我罢了。 当我到达农场时，巴德尔正在等我。 僵尸就在附近，被关在一个用圣诞树网做成的围栏里。 我大步走向巴德尔，手放在我的切片机上，当我们面对面时停了下来。 我耐心地等着，就像个训练中的小英雄。 巴德尔的脸很严肃。我知道他要说些导师之类的话。 它来了——

"I smell donut holes," he says. "Have you been eating donut holes?" That was less intense than I expected. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Should I not have eaten? Is hero training like one of those doctor's appointments where you can't eat before?" "Did you bring me donut holes?" "Um. Sure...." I toss him a fistful of donut holes (coincidently, A Fistful of Donut Holes is the title of my favorite Western). As he gulps them down, I'm feeling antsy—let's get this show on the road, right? This is it! This is.... LEGENDARY HERO TRAINING. DAY ONE. Wherein I, Jack Sullivan, begin the path to total zombie master manipulator!

“我闻到了甜甜圈洞的味道，”他说。 “你一直在吃甜甜圈吗？”没有我想象的那么激烈。 “哦，是的，对不起。我不该吃东西吗？ 英雄训练就像医生的预约一样，之前你不能吃东西吗？”“你给我带甜甜圈了吗？”“嗯。 确定……”我扔给他一大把甜甜圈洞（巧合的是，《一大把甜甜圈洞》是我最喜欢的西部片的标题）。 当他吞下它们时，我感到不安——让我们开始表演吧，对吗？ 就是这样！这是……传奇英雄训练。 一天一个。我，杰克·苏利文，将开启成为僵尸操控大师的旅程！