Chapter 18

chapter eighteen Neon is himself again—mostly. He's not shrieking, not throwing himself into things. But he also knows that I'm angry—and he now seems almost scared of me. And, yeah, I am annoyed—but Neon has enough to be scared of without me adding to the list! I think about Jack, and how—when things get bad—he has this amazing (and amazingly annoying!) ability to be his most gung-ho. Jack might not be here—but I decide to follow his lead anyway. I go super enthusiastic! I sing. I skip. I practically dance down the train tracks, belting out some happy pop song that I haven't heard since, y'know, before. Okay, so, the Rifters are still following us? Not ideal! Handing Neon over to a crew of

第十八章氖又恢复了他自己。 他没有尖叫，也没有跳进什么东西里。 但他也知道我很生气——他现在似乎有点害怕我。 是的，我很生气——但是即使没有我，Neon也已经足够让我害怕了！我想到了杰克，当事情变得糟糕的时候，他有一种惊人的（也令人非常讨厌的）能力，可以成为他最积极的一面。 杰克可能不在这里，但我还是决定听从他的指挥。 我超级热情！我唱歌。 我跳过。我几乎是在火车轨道上跳舞，大声唱着一些我很久没听过的快乐的流行歌曲。 好吧，裂谷人还在跟踪我们吗？ 不理想!把霓虹交给一群

evil, .e...c.-worshiping servants? Don't love it! But it's gonna be okay! Because I'm gonna make sure it's okay! And, most importantly, we do have a destination. And a PLAN. And having a plan, even in a lousy situation, can make you feel OKAY. Like back at the middle school. After I saw my parents, on the bus, and I couldn't reach them— I knew I was gonna be alone for a long time. Those were the bad days. My worst days. I yanked the flagpole off my homeroom wall and used it like a spear. I got really good at popping lockers off their hinges: just a quick stab, a twist of the wrist, and I was in. That's how I survived....

恶,即c。崇拜的仆人? 不要爱它！但会没事的！因为我会确保你没事的！最重要的是，我们有目的地。 还有一个计划。有一个计划，即使在糟糕的情况下，也能让你感觉良好。 就像在中学的时候一样。 当我在公交车上看到我的父母，而我又联系不上他们之后——我知道我要一个人呆很长一段时间。 那是糟糕的日子。我最糟糕的日子。 我把旗杆从教室的墙上扯下来，像拿长矛一样拿着。 我很擅长把储物柜从铰链上拆下来：只要轻轻一戳，手腕一扭，我就进去了。 我就是这样活下来的....

But soon, I was out of lockers. I had eaten my way through the entire sixth-grade wing of the school. Every locker, every backpack, every desk. And again, I was hungry. Of course, I knew where to get food: the cafeteria. But there were zombies in the cafeteria. I spent two full days lying around,

但很快，我的储物柜就用完了。 我吃完了学校六年级的全部课程。 每个储物柜，每个背包，每张桌子。 我又饿了。当然，我知道去哪里找吃的：自助餐厅。 但是餐厅里有僵尸。 我躺了整整两天，

scared, until finally I was so ravenous that I came up with a plan. And that sparked something in me. It forced me to use my brain. I was thinking, planning, training. I was excited. Finally, I stormed that cafeteria like freaking Captain Marvel—if Captain Marvel engaged in combat while lunch meat hung from her lips— After that, I was over the hump—past the hardest part....

害怕，直到最后我太饿了，我想出了一个计划。 这激发了我的灵感。 它迫使我动脑筋。 我在思考，计划，训练。 我很兴奋。最后，我像惊奇队长一样冲进了自助餐厅——如果惊奇队长在战斗中嘴里挂着午餐肉的话——在那之后，我越过了难关——越过了最难的部分....

And that's how I feel now. I know what to do with Neon, and I know how to get home. "I know everything!" I shout, hopping up onto the train track, walking it like a balance beam. Neon trots behind me, his tail swishing back and forth. I don't know if he knows that we're fulfilling his dream of going back to the other Wretches, or if he's just happy because I'm happy, or— "Ahem," Johnny Steve says, interrupting my train of thought. "I must point out that, technically, you do not know everything! I am not even human, yet I know more about them than you do!" He chuckles, shaking his head. "Humans are quite silly...." I shoot him a look—then shrug. "Y'know what, I'm not even gonna argue. I refuse to let your human-splaining ways annoy me." "Aha!" Johnny Steve says. He elbows Neon gently in the side. "She admits it, at last!"

这就是我现在的感受。 我知道该怎么对付Neon，也知道怎么回家。 “我什么都知道！”我喊着，跳上铁轨，像平衡木一样走着。 霓虹在我身后小跑，它的尾巴前后摇摆。 我不知道他是否知道我们正在实现他回到其他可怜人那里的梦想，或者他只是因为我高兴而高兴，或者——“嗯哼，”约翰尼·史蒂夫打断了我的思路。 “我必须指出，从技术上讲，你并非无所不知！我甚至不是人类，但我比你更了解他们！”他笑了，摇了摇头。 “人类很愚蠢....” 我看了他一眼——然后耸耸肩。 “你知道吗，我甚至不想争辩。 我不想让你那种人情味的说教惹恼我。” “啊哈!”约翰尼·史蒂夫说。他轻轻地用胳膊肘顶着霓虹。 “她终于承认了！”

"Okay, fine. IT'S ON! You think you know humans? Let's see if you know humans. I'm giving you a human quiz. "Johnny Steve, how many teeth do most humans have?" "Four," he says confidently. "Well, four during the daytime. Seventy-seven in the evening." "Why do humans have belly buttons?" "For powering down at night! Now give me a difficult one." "What is one thing that all humans can agree on?" "Ha! Nice try. All humans agree on everything." "What's the most popular human food?" "Pez. Cherry-flavored Pez."

“好,很好。它在!你以为你了解人类？ 让我们看看你是否了解人类。 我要给你一个人类测试。 “约翰尼·史蒂夫，大多数人有多少颗牙齿？”“四个，”他自信地说。 “嗯，白天四次。 晚上七十七分。” “为什么人类有肚脐？”“在晚上关掉电源！”现在给我一个难的。” “有一件事是所有人都能达成一致的？”“哈!不错的尝试。 所有人在任何事情上都意见一致。” “人类最流行的食物是什么？”“派司。 樱桃味派司。”