Chapter 14

chapter fourteen Water. So much water. It is a town, completely flooded. And there's no way around it.... I've got a bad feeling about this. And not just because I didn't pack a swimsuit. "How are we supposed to get across?" I ask. "Ooh! I got it! I got it!!" Globlet exclaims. "What if... I inflate like a life raft and pull us all across?" "Wait, you can inflate like a life raft?!?" I ask.

第十四章水。这么多水。 这是一个完全被洪水淹没的城镇。 没有别的办法了.... 我有不好的预感。 不仅仅是因为我没带泳衣。 “我们要怎么过去？”我问。 “哦!我知道了！我知道了！！”Globlet声称。 “如果……我像救生筏一样充气，把大家都拉过去？”“等等，你可以像救生筏一样充气？！？”我问。

"Oh. Oh, right. Yeah, no. I can't. Never mind, ignore that idea." I sigh and take a step forward. I evaluate the situation like a reporter, mining the facts for any information we can use. There appears to be enough floating wreckage—cars, trucks, garbage—for us to jump from one to the next. I think, Just like crossing a stream by hopping from rock to rock. Only way more intense. Neon runs to the edge of the water, then looks back—he's eager to cross. "Okay," I say. "I've seen you leap about and launch yourself. Now you're gonna do the same—from thing to thing—all the way across." I reach into my backpack and pull out my spear that was split in two from being dragged by the Ogre. I hand a piece to Johnny Steve. "We're going to pole-vault. Like the Olympics. We can make it all the way across without ever touching water."

“哦。哦,对了。是的,没有。我不能。 没关系，忽略这个想法。” 我叹了口气，向前迈了一步。 我像记者一样评估形势，从事实中挖掘任何我们可以利用的信息。 似乎有足够多的漂浮残骸——汽车、卡车、垃圾——让我们从一个跳到另一个。 我想，就像从一块石头跳到另一块石头过河一样。 只会更激烈。霓虹跑到水边，然后回头看了看——他渴望过河。 “好吧，”我说。“我看见你跳来跳去，把自己抛了出去。 现在你要做同样的事情，从一件事到另一件事，一直到另一件事。” 我把手伸进我的背包，拿出我的矛，矛被食人魔拖着，劈成了两半。 我递给约翰尼·史蒂夫一块。 “我们要去撑杆跳高。 比如奥运会。我们可以在不接触水的情况下过河。”

For myself, I use the polearm I swiped from the Rifters. Moments later, we stare out at the watery obstacle course. Then I take a deep breath, crouch, and launch, and we're off— I land solidly atop the roof of a floating truck. Johnny Steve follows—and after a slow, tense moment—Neon jumps, too. I look around, find the peak of a slanted IHOP roof, and make the next leap. BAM. Perfect landing.

至于我自己，我用的是从裂谷人那里偷来的长柄武器。 过了一会儿，我们凝视着水面上的障碍训练场。 然后我深吸一口气，蹲下，然后起飞，我们出发了——我稳稳地降落在一辆漂浮的卡车的车顶上。 约翰尼·史蒂夫紧随其后——在缓慢而紧张的片刻之后——霓虹也跳了起来。 我环顾四周，找到一个倾斜的IHOP屋顶的顶峰，然后进行下一个跳跃。 BAM。完美的着陆。

We continue like this. No talking. We can't afford to lose focus. We've made it nearly halfway across when Neon seems to be gaining courage. We're standing on the roof of a floating ambulance when Neon gives me this look, like he wants to make sure I'm paying attention. Then, screwing up his face with determination, he swan-dives off the roof! I see the moment when Neon would catch the breeze, if he had wings, and find myself holding my breath. It's like I'm hoping maybe extra backup wings are suddenly going to spring out and take him up into the sky. But... nope.

我们继续这样。没有说话。 我们不能失去注意力。 我们已经走到一半了，霓虹似乎鼓起了勇气。 我们站在一辆漂浮的救护车的屋顶上，霓虹看了我一眼，好像他想确定我在听他说话。 然后，他下定决心，皱起脸，从屋顶上跳下来！我看到了霓虹迎风飞翔的时刻，如果他有翅膀的话，我发现自己屏住了呼吸。 就像我希望可能会有额外的备用翅膀突然跳出来，把他带到天空。 但是…不。

SMACK He SMASHES onto our next stop: a tangled mess of floating plastic. He tries to get to his feet, but instead he just lands flat on his belly. "Neon! What were you thinking?!?" This is not the kind of setback we needed. But Neon's the whole reason we're doing this at all. Suddenly, Johnny Steve is scurrying past me. "Coming, creature!" he says as he vaults off the ambulance and lands on the plastic island. I'm next, and I hit the plastic surface and slide into Neon. He tries to get up, again, but slips and now he's sliding toward the side.

他撞到了我们的下一站：一堆乱七八糟的漂浮塑料。 他试图站起来，但他只是趴在地上。 “霓虹灯!你在想什么？！？”这不是我们需要的挫折。 但霓虹是我们做这件事的全部原因。 突然，约翰尼·史蒂夫从我身边跑过。 “来了，怪物！”他边说边跳下救护车，降落在塑料岛上。 我是下一个，我撞到了塑料表面，滑进了霓虹灯。 他试图再次站起来，但滑倒了，现在他正在向一边滑去。

There's a loud THWACK as he slams his talons into the plastic. "Come on, Neon, you can do it! Put a little pumpkin to it!" Johnny Steve calls down. He looks over to me and says, "That's one of my favorite human phrases." As Neon's talons dig in deeper, I feel the floating hunk of plastic shake. Before I can respond, there is a loud— BBRRRR-ERRMM The plastic starts rising. I've been in situations like this before, and they don't go well. "June!" Globlet shrieks. "My tummy's got the flutterbies!" This plastic is not plastic, I realize. It's skin. It's a body. And it's rising, coming out of the water, higher and higher. "EVERYONE, GRAB ON TO SOMETHING!" I shout. And they do.

“砰”的一声，他的爪子撞上了塑料。 “加油，霓虹，你能做到的！”放个小南瓜上去！”约翰尼·史蒂夫向下喊道。 他看着我说：“这是我最喜欢的人类短语之一。” 当Neon的爪子往下抠的时候，我感觉到那块漂浮的塑料在晃动。 我还没来得及反应，就听到一声巨响——塑料开始上升。 我以前也遇到过这种情况，但都不太顺利。 “6月!”Globlet尖叫声。“我肚子上有蝴蝶！”我意识到，这个塑料不是塑料。 它的皮肤。它是一个身体。它在上升，浮出水面，越来越高。 “大家抓紧点东西！”我喊。 他们确实做到了。