Chapter 13

chapter thirteen The mall's huge main entrance opens, and my buddies and I are among the first to exit. The sun is blindingly bright, ricocheting off yellow desert earth. We disembark down the Mallusk's huge, single gangplank. Since shopping malls don't typically have, y'know, gangplanks—this is a wide, cobbled-together thing built from splintered mall flooring, rusted metal pried off cars, and other scavenged items. Thankfully, there are railings—red ropes taken from the movie theater—and I grip them tight. When we finally step onto the hot desert ground, I'm surprised by how solid it feels. I had gotten used to the Mallusk's constant movement. I take in the scene. An interstate road, running parallel to the Mallusk, stretches both directions into the distance. Along the road are overturned cars, a few flipped RVs, and a rest stop. Ahead of us are more abandoned vehicles, some small buildings, and— "WHOA!" I exclaim. "Huge monster! Dead ahead!" "Relax," Dirk says. "Huge stucco monster."

商场巨大的正门打开了，我和我的伙伴们是第一批离开的。 太阳耀眼耀眼，在黄色的沙漠大地上反弹。 我们沿着马洛斯克号巨大的独木桥下了船。 因为购物中心通常没有，你知道的，跳板——这是一个由破碎的商场地板、从汽车上撬下来的生锈金属和其他捡来的东西拼凑而成的宽阔的东西。 谢天谢地，这里有栏杆——从电影院拿来的红绳子——我紧紧地抓着它们。 当我们最终踏上炎热的沙漠地面时，我惊讶于它的坚固感。 我已经习惯了Mallusk号不停的移动。 我看到了这个场景。一条与马鲁斯克河平行的州际公路向两个方向延伸。 路边有翻倒的汽车，几辆翻倒的房车，还有一个休息站。 我们前面是更多的废弃车辆，一些小建筑，还有——哇！我惊叫。 “巨大的怪物!死吧!”“放轻松，”德克说。 “巨大的灰泥怪物。”

"Another of those big giant dinosaurs," Quint says. "Like the one Alfred, Lefty, and Glurm posed in during the road trip." "I don't know who decided to scatter big fake dinosaurs all across the country," I say, relaxing. "But I like the way they think." Suddenly, two little monsters appear in the mouth of the dinosaur, waving happily. These two little monsters must have been very eagerly awaiting the arrival of someone to trade with, because they move with incredible quickness. A folding table is hurled from the dinosaur's mouth, followed by a big suitcase. Then a long rope, made from what looks like monster hair, is unfurled, and the two monsters descend.

“另一种巨大的恐龙，”昆特说。 “就像阿尔弗雷德、阿左和格伦在公路旅行时拍的那张。” “我不知道是谁决定在全国各地散布大型假恐龙，”我放松地说。 “但我喜欢他们的思维方式。” 突然，两只小怪物出现在恐龙的嘴里，开心地挥舞着。 这两个小怪物一定非常急切地等待着交易对象的到来，因为它们的行动速度快得令人难以置信。 从恐龙嘴里扔出一张折叠桌，接着是一个大手提箱。 然后，一根看起来像怪物毛发的长绳展开，两个怪物就下来了。

"A pair of post-apocalyptic Rapunzels," June says. "Rad." In a flash, the table is unfolded, the suitcase is unpacked, and items are on display. "Gaze upon our wares!" one monster shouts. "All prices negotiable!" the other quickly adds. "It's a little monster yard sale," Dirk says. "Cute." We're jostled aside as dozens of monsters hurry off the gangplank, rushing toward the table. Johnny Steve is among them, using his walking sword to navigate the rocky ground. But as we get close, I realize that a monster yard sale —which sounds like the most amazing thing ever—is actually kinda dull. I take a quick peek at the objects for sale: an old microwave, some dinged-up silverware, and piles of musty old books. I'm less interested in this lousy little roadside sale— and more interested in why the Mallusk stopped. Why now? Why here? I can't imagine it stopped because it wanted to buy a busted toaster. "Let's find out what the Mallusk is up to," I say, and the four of us hike toward the front end of the great creature. Walking its length, I notice the many scars and scrapes and wounds that mark her rough skin. Far ahead, I see a wide river running perpendicular to the Mallusk's path. A bridge, dotted with abandoned

“一对后世界末日的长发公主，”琼说。 “好。”刹那间，桌子被打开，箱子被打开，物品被展示出来。 “看看我们的货物！”一个怪物喊道。 “所有价格都可以商量！”另一个很快补充道。 德克说：“这是一场大型的庭院甩卖。” “可爱”。我们被挤到一边，几十个怪物从跳板上冲下来，冲向桌子。 约翰尼·史蒂夫就是其中之一，他用他的行走剑在岩石地面上穿行。 但当我们接近的时候，我意识到，一个可怕的庭院拍卖——听起来像最神奇的事情——实际上有点无聊。 我匆匆瞥了一眼待售的物品：一台旧微波炉，一些破旧的银器，还有一堆发霉的旧书。 我对这个糟糕的路边小卖部不太感兴趣，我更感兴趣的是为什么Mallusk停了下来。 为什么是现在?为什么在这里?我无法想象它会因为想买个坏掉的烤面包机而停下来。 “让我们看看这只马鹿在干什么，”我说，然后我们四个人向这只大动物的前端走去。 走了一段路，我注意到她粗糙的皮肤上有许多疤痕、擦伤和伤口。 远处，我看到一条宽阔的河流垂直于马鲁斯克号的路线。 一座桥，点缀着废弃

cars, crosses the river. As we near the front, the Mallusk lets out a sudden, earth-trembling WAIL! And then— SMASH! The bridge is instantly demolished as the Mallusk slams her head downward, through the bridge, plunging her face-parts into the river water below. Ice-cold water splashes us as the Mallusk pushes her head deeper into the water. Guess we know why she stopped thirst. I'm not so certain she doesn't appear to be drinking. She's just sort of soaking. Maybe she has a headache

汽车，过河。当我们接近前线时，马鹿号突然发出一声惊天动地的哀号！然后——砰！马洛斯克的头往下撞，撞穿了桥，她的脸掉进了下面的河水中，桥立刻被摧毁了。 当Mallusk把她的头推到更深的水里时，冰冷的水溅到我们身上。 看来我们知道她为什么不渴了。 我不确定她是不是在喝酒。 她浑身湿透了。 也许她头痛了

For a split second, I think I hear the shriek of a Howler. But the sound is weak, muted—and I realize it must be something else. More traders, maybe? About to come over the rubble in the distance? I glance back at the little garage sale. The two monsters are hastily packing up. They leave quicker than they arrived—in a flash, the table is folded up, the suitcase is in hand, and they're speedily hoisting themselves back up into the mouth of the dinosaur. That can't be good, I think. What do they know that we don't? Then I hear the sound again—something like a huge creature scuttling. The noise comes from just beyond the rest stop. A fluttery feeling fills my stomach. "Guys, I think we might want to get back on board the—" BOOM! A pocket of nearby earth erupts, instantly filling the air with clouds of dirt and dust. It's so thick that, for a moment, I can't see more than a few feet in front of me. Screams erupt behind us—but I can't see that far. "That was a bomb!" June shouts, staggering back. We all huddle together, spinning, searching. "Don't see any flying monsters dropping bombs," Dirk says, looking to the sky. "So where'd it come

有那么一瞬间，我好像听到了吼叫的尖叫声。 但声音很弱，很闷——我意识到一定是别的什么东西。 也许会有更多的交易员？即将越过远处的碎石？ 我回头看了一眼车库小拍卖。 这两个怪物正在匆忙地收拾东西。 他们离开的速度比他们来的要快——一眨眼，桌子被折叠起来，手提箱拿在手里，他们迅速地把自己抬回恐龙的嘴里。 我想这不可能是好事。 他们知道什么我们不知道的？ 然后我又听到了声音——像是一个巨大的生物在游动。 噪音就从休息站那边传来。 一种浮躁的感觉充满了我的胃。 “伙计们，我想我们可能要回到船上——”砰！附近的一小块土地爆发了，空气中立刻充满了灰尘和尘土。 它太厚了，有一会儿，我看不到前面几英尺以外的地方。 我们身后响起了尖叫声——但我看不清那么远。 “那是一颗炸弹！”琼喊道，摇摇晃晃地后退。 我们都挤在一起，旋转着，寻找着。 “没有看到任何会飞的怪物扔炸弹，”德克望着天空说。 “那么它是从哪里来的呢？

from?" Then I see it. A monstrosity climbing up and over the rest stop. The building cracks and sags under the monster's weight. I realize I've seen this monster before—or one like it. A cousin or something. The Shovel Scorpion: we encountered it weeks earlier, during our road trip stop at the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Stuff... But this monster, here, now—this is like a leveled-up version. Like the same general species, but boss status.

从?”然后我看到了。一个怪物爬上休息站，爬过休息站。 这座建筑在怪物的重压下裂开并下沉。 我意识到我以前见过这个怪物——或者类似的怪物。 一个堂兄之类的。铲蝎：几周前，我们在世界上最大的世界上最小的东西的收藏处的公路旅行中遇到了它…… 但这个怪物，这里，现在，这就像一个升级版。 就像一般的物种一样，只是老板的身份。