Back at the pier, the crowd stood silently around the wreckage of Freddy's Free Fall. Old women touched their throats. Mothers pulled their children away. Several burly men in tank tops slid to the front, as if this were something they should handle, but once they got there, they, too, only looked on, helpless. The sun baked down, sharpening the shadows, causing them to shield their eyes as if they were saluting.
在“红宝石码头”上，人们默默无声地围在“弗雷迪自由落体”残骸的四周。年老的妇人们用手捂住喉咙。母亲们把她们的孩子拉开。几个穿背心的强壮男人挤到前面，好像这是他们能应付的事情，但是，等到了前面，他们也只能束手无策地观望。烈日炎炎，光线刺得人看不清阴影下的东西，他们用手遮住眼睛，好像在行举手礼。
How bad is it? Sirens sounded. Men in uniforms arrived. Yellow tape was stretched around the area. The arcade booths pulled down their grates. The rides were closed indefinitely. Word spread across the beach of the bad thing that had happened, and by sunset, Ruby Pier was empty.
到底多糟糕？警报器的声音传来。穿制服的人们来了，拉起了黄色的带子。游戏室的窗栅拉了下来。游乐设施无限期关闭。坏消息在海滩上不胫而走，日落的时候，“红宝石码头”已经一片空寂。
How bad is it? people whispered. From the back of the crowd, Dominguez burst through, his face red, his maintenance shirt drenched in sweat. He saw the carnage.
到底多糟糕？人们窃窃私语。多米尼克从人群的后面挤了过来，他满脸通红，工作服浸透了汗水。他看到了这副惨状。
"Ahh no, no, Eddie," he moaned, grabbing his head. Security workers arrived. They pushed people back. But then, they, too, fell into impotent postures, hands on their hips, waiting for the ambulances. It was as if all of them -- the mothers, the fathers, the kids with their giant gulp soda cups -- were too stunned to look and too stunned to leave. Death was at their feet, as a carnival tune played over the park speakers.
“啊，不，不，爱迪，”他抓着脑袋呜咽道。保安人员来了。他们将人群推后，然后，他们也只好无能为力地站在那里，两手叉腰，等着救护车来。所有人——母亲们，父亲们，捧着大罐饮料的孩子们——似乎都震惊得不忍再看下去，也不忍离开。死亡就在他们脚边，游乐场的扩音器里还在播放着狂欢节的曲子。