Chapter 1

THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH and the DOOMSDAY RACE MAX BRALLIER DOUGLAS HOLGATE

地球上最后的孩子和末日赛跑马克斯·布里耶·道格拉斯·霍尔盖特

chapter one JACK, we gotta go now. I'm pumping gas into my BoomKart. June's telling me there's no time. And I know there's no time. I know that the Mallusk—an enormous centipede monster carrying the Millennium Super Mall on its back —is barreling toward us. Man, I wish I could go back to three minutes ago...

第一章杰克，我们得走了。 我在给我的BoomKart加油。 琼告诉我没时间了。 我知道没有时间了。 我知道mallusk——一种巨大的蜈蚣怪物，背上驮着千禧超级购物中心——正在向我们飞奔而来。 伙计，我真希望我能回到三分钟前……

Three minutes ago, things were good! Me and my friends, Quint, June, and Dirk, were good! We were mid–road trip and celebrating a hard-won victory at Aqua City water park. We had defeated the monster Blargus, survived Thrull's skeleton army, and escaped with Drooler. Drooler, the odd-looking little creature who secretes the strange liquid Ultra-Slime. And that strange liquid is, maybe, the key to defeating Thrull once and for all. Yep, three minutes ago was a Kodak moment... But then came the rumbling, like a thunderstorm giving birth to an earthquake. The world started shaking. My insides started quivering. Because we saw it... "The Mallusk," June gasped. "It's back."

三分钟前，一切都很好！我和我的朋友们，昆特、琼和德克，都很好！我们在水上城市水上公园庆祝来之不易的胜利。 我们打败了怪物布拉格斯，从瑟鲁的骷髅大军中逃了出来，并和德鲁勒一起逃脱了。 流口水，一个长相奇怪的小生物，分泌一种奇怪的液体超粘液。 而这种奇怪的液体，也许是彻底打败Thrull的关键。 是的，三分钟前是柯达时刻… 但接着传来隆隆的声音，就像雷雨引发了地震。 世界开始震动。 我的内心开始颤抖。 因为我们看到了……“Mallusk号。”June喘着气说。 “这是回来了。”

"Which means we gotta get back to driving," Dirk said. "And FAST." So right now, my friends are in their BoomKarts, engines running. But I'm still pumping gas. Actually, wait, no, I only look like I'm pumping gas. I'm actually just standing at the pump, in a half trance, staring at my hand. Not my normal hand. The Cosmic Hand. The Cosmic Hand is the sucker-covered monster- tentacle glove that is forever wrapped around my wrist and hand. Without it, I can't wield my baseball blade,

德克说：“这意味着我们必须重新开始开车。” “快速”。所以现在，我的朋友们开着他们的赛车，引擎开着。 但我还在加油。 其实，等等，不，我看起来就像在加油。 我只是站在水泵旁，恍惚地盯着我的手。 不是我正常的手。宇宙之手。 宇宙之手是一个覆盖着吸盘的怪物触手手套，它永远缠绕在我的手腕和手上。 没有它，我就挥舞不了我的棒球刀，

the Louisville Slicer. And it's the Louisville Slicer that contains the power to command and control zombies. I'm staring at the Cosmic Hand now—because I'm realizing it has changed. It looks more, I dunno, substantial. And it feels different. And I think I know what caused this change... Back at Aqua City, I did something huge. I controlled a zombie without the Louisville Slicer. For the first time ever, I controlled a zombie with my mind... What was I thinking? Where did the idea to even attempt to control zombies with my mind come from? The Louisville Slicer contains the power to control zombies, yes, but it works in a very specific way. I say the stuff I want the zombies to do, and then I swing the bat and the zombies do the stuff.

路易斯维尔切片机。路易斯维尔切片机拥有指挥和控制僵尸的能力。 我现在正盯着宇宙之手——因为我意识到它已经变了。 我不知道，它看起来更结实。 感觉很不一样。我想我知道是什么导致了这种变化…… 回到水城，我做了件大事。 我不用路易斯维尔切片机就能控制僵尸。 有生以来第一次，我用意念控制了一只僵尸…… 我在想什么呢？试图用我的思想控制僵尸的想法是从哪里来的？ 路易斯维尔切片机包含控制僵尸的能力，是的，但它的工作方式非常特殊。 我说我想让僵尸做的事，然后我挥动球棒让僵尸去做。

But it is NOT a "shut my eyes and think real hard with my mind and then talk to zombies with my mind" telepathy-type mind thing! That it even occurred to me to try using my mind is just... weird! It'd be like sitting on the couch playing Mario, pounding the controller, and then thinking, "Hey, y'know what? Forget the controller! I'll just control Mario WITH MY MIND." But that's what I did. And it worked. I controlled a zombie with my mind. And I have to tell my friends. "Guys! I didn't tell you! Back at the water park, I used, like, BRAIN POWERS to—" "DUDE!" Dirk shouts. "DO YOU SEE THAT MALLUSK?? WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" "But this is—" SCREECH! June peels out, leaving burnt rubber in her wake. She cuts the wheel, stomping the pedal, speeding toward me. "GET IN YOUR KART! AND DRIVE!" June barks. "OK, fine, geez," I mutter. "Message received. Only had to say it once." "NOW, JACK!" June orders—and this time I listen. The pump clangs to the ground as I jump behind the wheel of my BoomKart.

但这不是一个“闭上眼睛，用我的头脑认真思考，然后用我的头脑和僵尸说话”的心灵感应类型的事情！我竟然想到要用我的大脑来思考…… 奇怪!这就像坐在沙发上玩《马里奥》，敲打着控制器，然后想：“嘿，你知道吗？ 忘掉控制器吧！我要用意念控制马里奥。” 但我就是这么做的。这招奏效了。 我用意念控制了一个僵尸。 我得告诉我的朋友们。 “男人!我没告诉你！在水上乐园的时候，我用了大脑的力量——”“老兄！”德克喊道。 “你看见那只mallusk了吗？” 我们得走了！”但这是——“尖叫！”琼离开了，留下了烧焦的橡胶。 她放下方向盘，踩着踏板，向我疾驰而来。 “上你的卡丁车！”,开!”6月吠叫。 “好吧，好吧，天哪，”我咕哝着。 ”消息收到。只要说一次就行了。” “现在,杰克!”六月的命令——这次我听了。 当我跳上我的BoomKart的方向盘时，水泵哐当一声落在地上。