26 THE ROAD

CHAPTER 26 THE ROAD At first, Roz thought she was looking at an undersea lava flow that had hardened into rock. Then she discovered the painted yellow lines. This wasn't old lava. It was an old road. The road made for easier walking, so Roz followed it through the undersea landscape. It curved around rugged reefs and rolled over sandy slopes. One slope climbed so high that she rose up from the ocean surface and continued on, wading through knee-deep water. Surrounding her were small islands, scattered with abandoned buildings. Those islands had been hills until the nearby lowlands flooded. The robot tried to imagine what this place was like before the floodwaters. Had there been a park where she was now walking? Athletic fields? Farms?

一开始，罗兹以为她看到的是一股已经硬化成岩石的海底熔岩流。 然后，她发现了涂成黄色的线条。 这不是古老的熔岩。这是一条老路。 这条路比较容易走，所以罗兹沿着这条路穿过海底景观。 它在崎岖的礁石周围弯曲，在沙质斜坡上翻滚。 有一个斜坡爬得很高，她从海面上爬了出来，继续在齐膝深的水里跋涉。 她的周围是小岛，散落着废弃的建筑。 在附近的低地被洪水淹没之前，那些岛屿一直是小山。 机器人试着想象这个地方在洪水之前是什么样子。 她现在散步的地方是不是有个公园？ 运动场地?农场吗?

Suddenly, Roz was remembering her time on Hilltop Farm. She thought of the Shareef family and their herd of cows. She wondered if Jad and Jaya still thought about her. Without those children, our robot never would have made it home to the island. Roz waded through the mid-ocean shallows until the road sloped downward and she descended beneath the surface, where she found more signs of civilization. Old mailboxes, crusted with barnacles. An abandoned automobile, draped with seaweed. Metal fencing, spiked with urchins. The underwater road stretched far ahead, toward a jumble of murky shapes. With each step Roz took, the shapes became clearer, and she saw that the road was leading her to a town that had been completely submerged by the ocean.

突然，罗兹想起了她在山顶农场的时光。 她想起了谢里夫一家和他们的牛群。 她不知道杰德和贾亚是否还在想着她。 没有这些孩子，我们的机器人就不可能回到这个岛上。 罗兹涉水穿过海洋中部的浅滩，直到道路向下倾斜，她下到水面以下，在那里她发现了更多文明的迹象。 长满藤壶的旧邮箱。 一辆废弃的汽车，上面覆盖着海藻。 金属栅栏上钉着海胆。 水下的路一直延伸到前面很远的地方，一直延伸到一片模糊不清的地方。 每走一步，路的轮廓就变得更加清晰，她看到这条路正把她引向一个完全被海水淹没的小镇。