Chapter 7

chapter seven The howl grows louder—a piercing cry that penetrates the walls of the mall. A monster cries out, "Up there! Outside!" Another monster yells, but I can't make out the words. The howl is too loud now, too close. It builds and builds until— BOOM! A shock wave explodes through the mall, ripping down the long corridors. The Mallusk rocks and reels, like a pirate ship suddenly struck by enemy artillery. I whirl around—and see Evie, Ghazt, and Smud fleeing. "Kids, it's been nice catching up! But we gotta go!" Evie calls as they race to the rear of the Food Court.

第七章嚎叫越来越响，一声刺耳的叫声穿透了林荫道的墙壁。 一个怪物喊道：“在上面！外面!”另一个怪物在叫，但我听不清他在说什么。 嚎叫现在太响了，太近了。 它不断地建造，直到——轰！一股冲击波在商场里炸开，把长长的走廊都炸塌了。 马鲁斯克号摇摇晃晃，就像一艘突然被敌人炮火击中的海盗船。 我转过身来，看见伊薇、加斯特和斯慕德在逃跑。 “孩子们，叙旧的感觉真好！”但我们得走了！”当他们跑到美食广场的后面时，伊维喊道。

GET me to safety. I am more important than all of you remember. If things go south, we eat Smud first. Some 'Grand Protector," June mutters. At the far wall, Evie yanks a lever, then— KLANG! Steel security gates drop from the ceiling! They spark and sizzle—electrified, like everything else up here. The gates have divided the Food Court into two—and we're on the side without Drooler. Evie throws us a final glance—then the lights flicker and everything on their side of the gate is hidden in darkness.

把我带到安全的地方。我比你们记得的更重要。 如果出了问题，我们先吃了斯慕德。 某个“大护法”，琼咕哝道。 在远处的墙上，伊薇猛拉杠杆，然后——砰！钢制安全门从天花板上掉下来了！它们像这里的其他东西一样，发出火花，发出嘶嘶声。 大门把美食广场分成了两部分——我们在没有流口水的那一边。 伊薇最后看了我们一眼——然后灯光闪烁，大门那边的一切都隐藏在黑暗中。

"Guess we'll have to consider that fight 'to be continued," June says. Behind us, the door to the escalator swings open. Another shrieking howl from outside—followed by another BOOM. The floor ripples beneath us. "Rippling floors are probably a cue to leave," I say. "Indeed," Quint agrees. "Drooler! I'll get you of there! Somehow!" Dirk calls. "Promise!" Drooler squeaks, still oblivious. We race up the escalator, then out onto one of the third level's wide halls. We're immediately swept up in a tangled wave of fleeing bodies—the monsters are one terrified, surging mass. I manage to grab the arm of a hunched, needle- backed monster. "What's happening?!" I ask. "I do not know!" the monster shrieks. "The Mallusk has never been attacked! That is why—" SHRREEEEEEEE! Another high-pitched, wind-torn howl slices through the mall. It pierces my ear drums. Monsters cover their ears, earholes, ear-balls, and any other ear-like body parts. The howl grows louder, louder, louder, until— SKKKRUCH!

“我想我们不得不考虑继续这场斗争，”琼说。 在我们身后，自动扶梯的门打开了。 外面又是一声尖叫——接着又是一声巨响。 地板在我们脚下起伏。 “荡漾的地板可能是要离开的暗示，”我说。 “的确，”昆特表示赞同。“流着口水!我会把你救出来的！不知怎么的!”德克的电话。 “承诺!”流口水的人吱吱叫着，仍然浑然不觉。 我们跑上自动扶梯，然后来到三楼的一个宽敞大厅。 我们立刻被卷入了一波纠结的逃离的尸体中——怪物是一个惊恐的，汹涌的群体。 我设法抓住了一个驼背的、背上有针的怪物的胳膊。 “发生什么事情了? !”我问。 “我不知道！”怪物尖叫道。 “Mallusk号从来没有被攻击过！”这就是为什么——“嘘！”另一声尖厉的、被风撕裂的嗥叫划破了整个商场。 它刺穿了我的耳膜。怪物会遮住自己的耳朵、耳孔、耳球和其他类似耳朵的身体部位。 嚎叫越来越大，越来越大，越来越大，直到——SKKKRUCH！

"Watch out!" June barks, and the Mallusk reels as a giant, monstrous blade bursts through the wall! slice. I hate uninvited guests. Dazzling bright daylight pours in as the monstrous blade opens up the mall like it's performing brutal battlefield surgery. The blade smashes apart stores, shatters glass elevators, splits open ceilings. Monsters are slithering, scrambling, and springing for cover. Some slam doors to bathrooms and stores, locking themselves in. Others dive into kiosks like they're foxholes.

“小心!”六月吠叫着，一只巨大的、可怕的剑刺穿了墙，马鲁斯克踉跄着！片。 我讨厌不速之客。耀眼的日光倾泻而下，巨大的刀片打开了商场，就像在进行残酷的战场手术一样。 刀刃能把仓库砸开，砸碎玻璃电梯，劈开天花板。 怪物们在滑行、挣扎、跳跃寻找掩体。 一些人关上浴室和商店的门，把自己锁在里面。 另一些人则像躲散兵坑一样钻进报亭。

"Guys," I say. "I think we gotta go to the roof." "Hate to say it," June says, "but I agree." "Yep," Dirk says, glancing around. "These monsters here—they're not gonna fight." "To the escalator!" Quint says, leading the way. "Quickly!" Shouldn't this be Evi and Ghazys job? The so-called protectors are off protecting themselves Both sides of the escalator are flooded with monsters heading down, hoping to find safety on the lower levels. We're like fish trying to swim upstream—toward the danger, rather than away from it. "Up the middle!" June says, as she dodges a monster's swinging tail, then leaps onto the escalator's metal divider. We reach the mall's top level. We push through a maintenance door, speed up a cold cement stairwell, then finally burst outside. And I instantly regret my "go to the roof" suggestion.

“伙计们，”我说。“我想我们得去屋顶。” “我不想这么说，”琼说，“但我同意。” “是的，”德克环顾四周说。 “这些怪物——他们不会打架的。” “上扶梯！”昆特带路说。 “快!”这不应该是伊薇和加兹的工作吗？ 那些所谓的保护者们已经开始保护自己了，扶梯两边都挤满了往下爬的怪物，他们希望能在较低的楼层找到安全的地方。 我们就像一条试图逆流而上的鱼——朝着危险的方向游去，而不是远离它。 “在中间！”琼一边说，一边躲开一只怪物摇摆的尾巴，然后跳到自动扶梯的金属隔板上。 我们到了商场的顶层。 我们推开一扇维修门，加速进入冰冷的水泥楼梯间，最后冲出门外。 我立刻后悔了我的“去屋顶”的建议。

Monstrous howls fill the dusk sky like air-raid sirens, and I swallow a meatball-sized lump in my throat. The horrible noise pierces the air every time they dive. And as one zooms overhead, I see why: the monsters' wide, leathery wings have thin tears in them. The air rushing through the tears creates the spine- chilling howl. "They're dive-bombing the mall!" Quint yells. "Using their ax-tails to cut it apart." "Won't be long until the mall's just a whole bunch of rubble," Dirk says. One passes directly overhead, and I get a clear view of the monstrous species known as—

可怕的嚎叫充斥着黄昏的天空，就像空袭警报器一样，我咽下了一个肉丸大小的肿块。 每次他们潜水时，可怕的噪音就会穿透空气。 当一个人从头顶急速飞过时，我明白了原因：这些怪物宽大的、坚韧的翅膀上有薄薄的泪痕。 空气穿过眼泪，发出令人毛骨悚然的嚎叫。 “他们在轰炸商场！”昆特喊道。 “用它们的尾巴把它切开。” “用不了多久，购物中心就会变成一堆瓦砾，”德克说。 一架飞机直接从头顶飞过，我清楚地看到了被称为-的怪物