Chapter 17

The story detailing a ‘rampage’ of West Coast murders dominated the front page of the San Francisco Examiner. All hell had broken loose. Literally¹.
William and Michael watched it unfold on TV that night. They were impressed with themselves, though they had expected the news story to break soon. They were counting on it in fact. That was the plan.
They were the special ones. The chosen team to get the job done.
Now they were on their mission. On the road again.  They were chowing down at a diner in Woodland Hills, north of LA, off Highway 5. People in the restaurant noticed the two of them.  How could they not? Both were over six feet two, blond ponytails, strapping², well-muscled bodies, dressed completely in black. William and Michael were the archetypes of modem³ boyhood: wild animal meets entitled prince.
The news was playing out on W. The murders were the lead story of course, and the sensationalized coverage⁴ lasted for several minutes.  Frightened people in Los Angeles, LasVegas, San Francisco and San Diego were interviewed on camera and had the most incredibly insipid⁵ things to say.
Michael frowned and looked over at his brother. “They got it all wrong. Mostly wrong anyway. What idiots, what fucking drones.’ William took a bite of his dreary⁶ sandwich, then he stared up at the TV again. ‘Newspapers and TV always get it wrong, little brother.
They’re part of the larger problem, of what has to be fixed⁷. Like those two lawyers in Mill Valley. You finished here?’ Michael wolfed down the remainder of his extra-rare cheeseburger in a voracious⁸ bite. ‘I am, and I’m also hungry. I need to feed.’ His beautiful blue eyes were glazed⁹.
William smiled and kissed his brother on the cheek.’C’mon then. I have a good plan for tonight.’
Michael held back. ‘Shouldn’t we be a little careful? The police are out looking for us, right? We’re a big deal now.’ William continued to smile. He loved his brother’s naivete. It amused him. ‘We are an incredibly big deal. We’re the next big thing.  C’mon, little brother. We both need to feed. We deserve it. And besides, the police don’t know who we are, always remember this, the police are incompetent¹⁰ fools.’
William drove their white van back down the road they had traveled on through Woodland Hills, before they stopped at the diner. He was sorry they hadn’t brought the cat, but this trip was too long. He pulled into an obnoxiously¹¹ lit shopping mall and studied the signs: Wal-Mart, Denn/s, Staples¹², Circuit City, Wells Fargo Bank.  He despised every one of them as well as the people who shopped there.
‘We’re not looking for prey¹⁴ here?’ Michael asked. His bright blue eyes darted¹⁵ around the mall and he looked concerned.  William shook his head. The blond ponytail wagged.’No, of course not. These people aren’t worthy¹⁶ of us, Michael. Well, maybe that blonde girl in the tight blue jeans over there is marginally worthy.’ Michael cocked his head sideways, then licked his lips. ‘She’ll do.
For an appetizer¹⁷.’
William hopped¹³ out of the van and walked to the far end of the parking lot. He was strutting¹⁸ a little, smiling, his head held high.  Michael followed. The brothers crossed through the back yard of the Wells Fargo Bank. Then the full parking lot of the Denn/s restaurant that William thought smelled of bacon grease and fat people.  Michael began to smile when he saw what his brother was up to.
They had done this kind of thing before.
A somber¹⁹ black-and-white sign loomed²⁰ straight ahead of them. It was backlit. Sorel Funeral Home.

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 strapping   

adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• He's a strapping lad—already bigger than his father. 他是一个魁梧的小伙子——已经比他父亲高了。
• He was a tall strapping boy. 他是一个高大健壮的小伙子。

3 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 insipid   

adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的

参考例句：

• The food was rather insipid and needed gingering up.这食物缺少味道，需要加点作料。
• She said she was a good cook,but the food she cooked is insipid.她说她是个好厨师，但她做的食物却是无味道的。

6 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

9 glazed   

adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

11 obnoxiously   

adv. 可憎地 讨厌地

参考例句：

12 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

13 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

14 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

15 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

17 appetizer   

n.小吃，开胃品

参考例句：

• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetizer.我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。
• I would like a cucumber salad for an appetizer.我要一份黄瓜沙拉作开胃菜。

18 strutting   

加固，支撑物

参考例句：

• He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle. 他也是非常自大，在城堡里大摇大摆地走。
• The pompous lecturer is strutting and forth across the stage. 这个演讲者在台上趾高气扬地来回走着。

19 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

20 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》