unBroken - Chapter 2

By Jeff P, ACFan, & Lindon Weztser

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This story is not for the weak. It is for those who need to be stronger than they believe they can be.

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"Get up!" Joe yelled as Jimmy tried to get to his feet. Looking out into the hall, he glared at the two younger boys as Ethan tried to get his little brother to move and he seemed to get angrier. "Unless you both want to be next you'll get your asses in your room! NOW!"

Jimmy had barely gotten on his hands and knees when his father turned and violently kicked him in the gut, which quickly sent Jimmy to the ground. Poor Kasey couldn't move, or at least it felt like that for him. He watched his older brother cough and gasp for air, as Ethan tried pushing him into their room.

"Come on, Jenny!" Joe encouraged as he took his belt off to use as a whip. "Get the fuck up, boy!" Joe hollered again, as he slammed the door to the bathroom finally snapping Kasey out of his frozen state.

"Com'on Kace." Ethan suggested as he struggled to pick up his brother barely lifting his feet off the ground

"But... but," Kasey stuttered, looking back at Ethan, as he started to get him to walk to their room.

"Wanna start shoving Jenny?" Ethan and Kasey heard Joe shouting as they heard two loud snaps of the belt.

In the bathroom, Jimmy knew what he was about to go through as he tried to get to his feet. "Think you're man enough to fight me now?" He continued as he lifted Jimmy the rest of the way off the bathroom floor by the collar of his shirt.

"Na... no," Jimmy struggled to say.

"What was that?" Joe asked as he shook his son, which caused his shirt to rip down the back to the bottom. Jimmy fell back to the floor as his shirt remained in his father's hand, exposing his naked skin. The two belt marks that Joe had just left were now easily visible, as they were garish red and purple splotches, roughly the size of a foot. Joe had even managed to break the skin, as blood slowly began to ooze on the edges of the marks.

Joe crumbled up the shirt and threw it in his son's face, watching in disgust as his son flinched and winced in pain, "you know something.... you're pathetic, Jenny. Not a single ounce of muscle on you, and you thought you were man enough. I mean look at those toothpick arms." Joe chuckled at his own drunken comments, continuing: "You like washing little boys or something, huh Jenny? You like touching little boy dick, don't yah? Phh... probably turned you on, didn't it?"

"But.."

"Did I say you could fucking talk, faggot? I don't think I did," Joe quickly responded as he delivered another whip with the belt. This time, Jimmy let out a deafening cry when the belt made contact with his bare skin, as he no longer had the thin cloth of his shirt to dull the razor sharp sting of the leather.

"Yeah cry... cry you little bitch," Joe chuckled with a smirk as he stared at the gruesome mark on his sons back. Satisfied with his work, he finally started to put the belt through the loops of his pants. "Come on, Puss. suck it up."

Jimmy didn't move as he was scared any action could set his father off and start another beating.

"And you thought you're man enough to fight me... really?" Joe snickered as he was fixated on degrading Jimmy. He picked up his son with the elastic band on his shorts and underwear... "can't even take a belt without crying like a little girl," He continued his verbal assault as he opened the bathroom door, and threw Jimmy toward the stairwell.

"But, you scared Kacey." Jimmy finally managed to say, only antagonizing his father. Jimmy immediately regretted it, as he saw fire in Joe's eyes. Knowing another punch was coming, Jimmy tried to prepare his aching body, but his father buried his fist in his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

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Once Ethan and Kasey were out of sight and into their room, Ethan quickly shut the door while simultaneously turning the lock. Feeling a small sense of security, Ethan rested his forehead on the door. However, he wasn't sure if a simple lock would stop the rage of his drunken father... but it would slow him down, or so he hoped. The brief moment of relief quickly dissipated after hearing a loud crash and slightly muffled yelling through the closed door that made Ethan physically cringe and wince. The boy only could imagine what his older brother was going through, but knew he had a bigger task on hand.

Slowly turning, Ethan's eyes fell upon a naked Kasey, who looked wild eyed and in shock. The only sound coming from his brother were light sniffles and the sound of Kasey wiping his face from tears.

"M...ma...make it stop! I...I want Jimmy..." Kasey whimpered under his breath.

"Wh-What... What did you say?" Ethan struggled to speak. 

"I want Jimmy here so he ain't hurt." Kasey said between sobs. 

"Shhh," Ethan said as he quickly ran over to his brother and wrapped him in a hug."We gotta be quiet, Kace. I.... I want Jimmy too but-but he ain't gonna be hurt. Jimmy is tough, remember?"

"Promise?" Kasey whimpered. 

"Umm," Ethan gulped, as he heard his father screaming. "Ye-Yeah... I hope." 

Kasey felt the tension in Ethan's reply, and latched on to him for dear life, wordlessly sobbing. 

"You gotta be quiet. We don't want Daddy coming here. It's-it's gonna be alright, Kace," spoke Ethan as he made every effort to sound encouraging, but his shaky voice only added more fear. 

Kasey buried his face in Ethan's chest, his sobs tapering off into silent tears as he held on for dear life to his older brother.

"Kace-Kace," Ethan began panicking as he tightly held Kasey's body. "Jimmy is gonna be alright... Umm where's your towel? We don't want Jimmy coming back and-and you being wet."

"I dunno," Kasey whispered, trying to keep quiet like Ethan had told him to.

"Oh, I think it's in the bathroom. Great," Ethan replied as he wiped his brother's face free of tears. "Use... Use," Ethan looked around the room. "We can use my shirt to dry your hair. It already got wet anyway" he suggested as he quickly peeled off his shirt. "Can you dry yourself yet? 

"I don't wanna, can you do it?"

"Really? Ugh fine," Ethan answered as they heard another loud crash, followed by a deafening cry from Jimmy. Both boys cringed as if they were the ones being hit, and Kasey tightly clenched onto Ethan's bare chest. "KACE! You're soaking wet!"

"What was that," Kasey cried.

"It was... don't worry about it, Kace"

"But-"

"It's okay... let go of me, I gotta dry your hair."

"No."

"Its gonna be alright, he ain't getting us."

"But you didn't promise."

"I am now... just-just let me dry your hair and you can do the rest, right?"

"Can you?"

"Kace," Ethan was about to say no but heard his father yelling again. "Yeah... get your head under my shirt... now." Surprisingly, Kasey quickly cooperated as Ethan dried his head to distract his brother from the noise outside their door. "Almost done with your hair," Ethan said as his brother seemingly zoned out, Ethan quickly working to remove as much water as possible.

"You almost done?"

"I gotta do your body. We need another shirt or something."

Somehow, Kasey managed to stay attached to Ethan while he tried to find something else to finish drying him off. 

"What's this?" Ethan said as he looked on the ground for something. "Eww gross, thats Jimmy's undies."

"Are they moving?" Kasey asked with a weak giggle. 

"I hope not," Ethan chuckled happy to see his brother trying to be funny. "Umm... do you need to be dried off totally, or could you like just put clothes on, Kace?" 

"I dunno, what you want me to do?" Kasey replied. 

"Kace its your body... ugh just-just come here, use my jammie pants to dry all the important stuff, okay? You already got those wet too. I'll put on new ones," Ethan suggested

"Okay," Kasey replied, his insecurity still running at full tilt.

"You gotta let go of me, Kace. I can't take them off with you on me."

"I guess," Kasey replied as he let go, staying close enough that he could grab on again if needed. 

In one quick motions, the PJ bottoms fell to the ground, leaving Ethan in his boxer briefs. "Here... dry what you want, okay? I know Jimmy does this but I'm not drying your wiener or nothin', you can do that. I'll grab your undies."

"Okay," Kasey replied as he took the bottoms from his brother. He began to half-heartedly dry the rest of his body as he alternately watched Ethan to make sure he wasn't leaving and glanced at the door to make sure it was still closed. 

"Batman or Superman ones, Kace?"

"Batman," Kasey replied softly.

"Okay," Ethan said as he grabbed the pair of briefs that he used to wear. Their parents didn't believe in buying anything new for the boys, especially clothing and these were the best example. Stretched out waistband, threadbare and they had two decently sized holes by the stitching mark around the crotch. In reality, Kasey probably would have been better wearing nothing at all. "Catch."

Still watching Ethan, Kasey grabbed the underwear that were tossed to him and quickly put them on. "Now what?" he asked, his voice more like a boy half his age. 

"You want a shirt or like pa-?" Ethan was interrupted by a thunderous noise which was followed by another and another.

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"So now what, tough guy?" Joe laughed as his son gasped for air, "and I don't remember saying you could talk, Jenny! Now get down stairs." He demanded and grabbed Jimmy's shorts again. With one motion he swung his son toward the stairwell and released his grip when he heard Jimmy's shorts begin to tear. Joe laughed hysterically as he watched Jimmy tumble down the steps and crash down to the first floor. "Oops... Heh, I bet that hurt! Didn't it Jenny?"

Lying in a heap on the floor Jimmy struggled to get to his feet with no luck. The coppery taste of blood in his mouth let him know that he was injured, again. All he was able to do was let out a groan as he finally began to regain his breath.

"You're fine, get up." Joe sneered, sitting down on the bottom steps. "You really should be more careful you know, Jenny." Joe chuckled.

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"What was that?" Kasey accidentally shouted as a look a terror washed into his expression."

"Shut up, Kace," Ethan tried to whisper.

With the sounds of their father laughing so hard in the distance, Kasey cried and began to panic, frantically looking for a hiding spot.

"Kace-" Ethan tried to say but his brother bolted to his bed where he scampered underneath the frame. While trying to grab him, Ethan accidentally kicked a lego set, which crashed into a few pieces.

"He's coming in here now!" Kace loudly whispered as he began to hyperventilate.

"No he's not," Ethan tried to reassure him as he held his toes and tried to ignore the pain from the legos, "I heard him go down the stairs."

"You sure?"

"I am," Ethan said as he continued to hold his foot, trying to dull the sting from the jagged plastic pieces. "Man, that really hurt."

"Sorry," Kasey whispered as tears fell freely down his face.

"Shh," Ethan commanded as he slowly limped by the door and knelt beside the bed.

"Ethan," Kasey called as he simply wanted his brother to hold onto.

"It's gonna be okay."

"But-"

"Shh," Ethan softly spoke as the hallway became silent. With neither of them knowing what was about to happen next, both boys held their breath.

"Ethan," Kasey called again as he grabbed for any part of his brother's body.

"Wait," Ethan said as he heard his father's voice, clearly from down stairs. "Okay, come here," Ethan demanded as he reached under the bed and latched onto his brothers wrist. He quickly pulled him out, and sat his brother on his lap as he cradled him with a hug. "Its-Its gonna be alright."

"Is," Kasey sniffled. "Is Jimmy, okay?"

"Umm... yeah," Ethan quickly responded in a soft tone, but wanted to distract his brother. "What the heck did I kick?"

"I dunno," Kasey replied as he still tightly held his brother.

"Look, it's the lego ship we built, I forgot about that."

"It's broke."

"We can fix it!" Ethan commented as he quickly plotted his distraction for his little brother. Just as Jimmy had done for him in the past. He began to plot the way he would lead Kasey away from their current reality.

"Can we?" Kasey said as the two almost naked boys started looking at the scattered pieces.

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Stepping over his son, Joe walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He took a bottle out, opened it and took half of its contents down in a few large gulps. Then he watched as his oldest son finally began to sit up. "Jesus." He laughed as he walked back over to the boy. "Get up." He said with a laugh. "Come on, get up." He repeated as he grabbed a hand full of the boy's hair and pulled until the boy stumbled to his feet. "Let go!" Jimmy cried without thinking, once again lighting his father's fuse.

In the time it took for the man to take one deep breath, the anger once again surfaced and Joe gave the unsteady boy a harsh shove with the hand that he was pulling him upright with. Jimmy stumbled and bounced off of the door frame leading into the living room; knocking over an end table and smashing the lamp that was on it. "I've had just about enough of you..." Joe started to say as he picked up the shattered lamp and threw it at the boy. Once hearing his yelp, he rushed Jimmy and slapped him, open handed across the face before picking a shard of the glass from the lamp and bringing it to Jimmy's throat. "This is what it's gonna fucking take, isn't it!?!"

"N-n-no!: Jimmy cried. "Dad no, please..." He got out as he felt the point of the glass under his chin. Then a knock on the door brought the room to complete silence in an instant. The knock was urgent and repeated. Joe stood up and let Jimmy fall back to the floor. Dropping the glass shard, he looked around the room and found one of the younger boys sweatshirts. He grabbed it and threw it at Jimmy before heading for the door. "Put it on and get your ass up stairs." Joe growled between his teeth as he brushed off his shirt and went back out through the kitchen to open the door.

"What do you want Dan?" Joe asked through the barely open door to their next door neighbor.

"I heard yelling. I thought I'd come and see if everything was alright." He said as he craned his neck to look past Joe into the house. "Is it?"

"Is it what? What the fuck do you want?" Joe snarled as Dan's intrusion began to annoy him.

"Is everything alright?" Dan repeated, spotting Jimmy trying to quietly get up the stairs. "Hi James!" He shouted past the man, causing Jimmy to freeze mid-step. "I was just wondering..."

"Get your ass up those stairs NOW! I'm not telling you again!" Joe shouted, cutting Dan off mid sentence but never breaking eye contact with Dan. "Everything is fine here." Joe continued to say as Dan watched Jimmy rush to get up the stairs.

"Oh, okay then." Dan slowly got out refocusing on Joe. "I just heard yelling so I thought..."

"That it was your fucking business?" Joe spat. "Is that what you thought? That, what? I needed your help in correcting my son's bad behavior?" He said opening the door wider and clenching his fist. "You need to start minding your own fucking business before we have a problem here."

Dan took a step back and stiffened his back. "It wasn't my intention to intrude. I was just concerned."

Joe laughed and leaned against the door frame. "You've seen me and you've seen my son. So you can see there is nothing to be concerned about. Now before I give you something to be concerned about I suggest you go home." He said with a slight slur but obviously very angry, "And the next time you hear me disciplining my son and you get concerned, you remember that I may yell at him but I won't waste my time just yelling at a grown man that can't mind his own fucking business. Got it?"

"Yeah." Dan replied, trying to calm the situation. "No problem. I didn't mean to insinuate..." He was in the middle of saying as the door slammed in his face.

Slowly stepping off the porch, Dan carefully looked the house over before resigning to accept that other than the obvious fact that the man had been drinking, he didn't see anything that would warrant forcing his involvement; so he sighed and turned to head back to his own house.

Watching through the window, Joe leered as the man took his time leaving. Just as he was about to step outside to encourage him to get off the property, Dan finally went back into his own yard. "Nosey prick." Joe mumbled as he turned and decided to head back to the fridge for another beer. Hearing his father in the kitchen let Jimmy know that his father wasn't coming up after him so he made his way to the bathroom and quietly closed himself inside to clean up and calm down. He knew that given enough time the man would drink enough to not want to be bothered and then it would be safe to go back into the room with the younger boys. He looked In the mirror and began to sob as he did his best to clean himself up so he wouldn't frighten his younger brothers. He knew he had to be strong. As long as the man focused on him, he wasn't hurting them, and that's all that mattered.

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"Umm," Ethan said as he looked at the scattered pieces. "We-umm we better fix it if-if we wanna escape with the gold, Kace." He continued as he squinted one eye and began talking like a pirate, "We better be movin' quick though matey, the other pirates be coming... We be runnin' out of time before they come to steal our treasure."

"Other pirates?" Kacey muttered as his imagination started to take over, just as Ethan had hoped. "They ain't gettin' our loot!" he said as the room seemed to sway and the carpet became a well swabbed deck.

"We gotta fix our ship! Put yer back into it mate!" Ethan gestured as he picked up a hat and placed it on his brothers head.

"Get me a hammer," Kasey ordered as he tilted his pirate hat.

"Okay! But we gotta be quiet... we don't want umm... the pirates knowing we are working."

"Yeah! I be on lookout," Ethan replied as he climbed onto the bed which was magically now the crows nest. He gazed into the distance, as the walls sunk below the ocean crest. The sun was setting on a windy day at sea, which made the ocean rock the new formed ship and the mist from the waves that were just as real as they were.

"I need more planks to fix this hole," Kasey said as he started putting things back together.

"There be pirates boardin' our ship, behind you matey," Ethan pointed with a pirates drawl. "But move ever so slowly! I... I think I see someone creepin up on ye."

Suddenly, the boys heard another a door close from the hallway, cutting it's way into their pirate world which worried Kasey, "what was that?"

"Argh... the pirates be shooting their cannons, Kace... but not at us... not yet! We gotta, get 'er ship shape and quickly at that!" Ethan quickly responded and brought Kasey's attention back to their fantasy. "Go in the cabin and get some extra planks on the double."

Slipping under the 'deck', Kasey began searching for 'planks', trying to find the Lego pieces that had been knocked loose.

"Arrrgh! Where's me lantern!" Kacey's voice whispered from under the bed.

"Shhh... I think they spotted us." Ethan softly said. Little Kasey didn't move a muscle as he tried to be quiet. "Argh... they're coming Kace! HURRY up and fix our ship!"

"I'm hurryin'," Kacey said as he found the missing planks and began putting them back in place.

"I'll do it!" Ethan instructed as he slid down the railing of the steps leading to the main deck. "Argh... go take the wheel!"

"Hoist the sails!" Kacey ordered as he followed the orders. "Hard right rudder ya lazy dogs!"

"Woah easy!! You almost lost your captain overboard... straight ahead! I got her fixed, she's seaworthy!"

"We need more sails!" Kacey commented. "We gotta go faster!"

"Hit the deck! Cannons!"

Kacey quickly fell flat to the deck, his eyes scrunched shut.

Ethan whistled as the cannons flew by, "It missed! Argh get the sail up!"

"Aye, Captain!" Kacey replied as he untangled the sails.

"Hoist'em high and hold'em tight."

"Aye, Captain," Kasey replied as he made the sails as big as he could.

"Argh... I'll steer! It's getting dark," Ethan stated as he quickly tiptoed to the switch and killed the lights. The deck still illuminated by the overhead moonlight. "We be able to lose dem stinkin' pirates under night fall."

"I like ye plan!" Kasey replied as he made sure the sails got the best wind.

"We be picking up speed, hold tight!"

"Aye Aye Capitan!"

"CANNON!"

"Captain! Look out for that wave!"

"Argh!! Hold steady," Ethan commanded as he whistled again. "Brace!"

"Bracing!" Kacey replied as he backed up to the nearest bulkhead.

"Cannon missed!!" Ethan replied, but the deck rocked as the wave pounded the ships hull.. "arghh but ye ship may be damaged from the wave. Aye... hold steady and watch for cannons. We got to find more planks."

"Aye" Kasey replied as he secured the sail to the mast. "ARGH... we are out of planks!" "Another cannon!" Casey called "Hit de deck!" Ethan responded as he lightly tackled his brother down.

This time, Kasey attempted to whistle, but he didn't have much luck. "Must have missed us," Ethan continued. "We may be in the clear... argh, them cannons can't reach us no more. We be too fast."

"I'm all wet now! Cover me with that thar tarp so I can get dry!" Kasey stated.

"Aye mate, but we gotta keep the sails up tonight. Did ye secure the sails?"

"Aye, I did, Captain," Kasey replied softly.

"Argh.. alrighty." Ethan answered as he slipped his arm underneath Kasey and brought it around to secure his brother. He slowly began to rock with Kasey in his arms. "The seas be rough... but we will sail through the night!"

"Where we sailing to?"

"Argh... anywhere you want"

"Aye, captain."

"Where to?"

"Someplace safe!"

"We are safe, no pirates are catching us."

"Aye," Kasey yawned and shut his eyes.

"Aye," Ethan responded as he continue to rock his brother. "When we wake up, we will bury our booty!"

"Our booty?" Kasey lightly giggled.

"Argh... our loot!"

"Ay-aye captain."

"Aye," Ethan said as he watched as his little brother drifted off to sleep. With Kasey down for the count, Ethan stopped his swaying movements and immediately shifted his thoughts to his brother, Jimmy. It had been 30 or so minutes since he has heard anything from outside of the room, but Jimmy wasn't here yet. Ethan wanted to check on his brother, but he didn't have the courage to move out of the bed, let alone the room. Instead, he cuddled with Kasey, as he counted down the seconds until Jimmy came back.

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Jimmy splashed cold water on his face repeatedly trying to get the puffiness to come down. His side hurt and his eye looked like it was going to become a shiner. 'Great!' he thought as knew that meant he needed some excuse when he went back to school. Finally satisfied that he looked as good as he was going to, he quietly opened the bathroom door and peeked into the hallway. 'Coast is clear...' he sighed, turning off the bathroom light and tiptoeing to his bedroom door, killing the hall light on his way. Knowing Ethan would lock the door, Jimmy took his key out of his pocket and very quietly unlocked the door. Once he opened the door, he squinted in the darkness as he saw that the bunkbeds were all torn apart, blankets and sheets were tied to the bed and the dresser handles. Knowing what he'd find, he sighed and after closing and re-locking the door, made a path through the legos that were all over the floor to find two lumps in his bed. "You two clowns awake?" he whispered.

"Jimmy?" Ethan answered as he opened his eyes. "Argh... I mean umm I thought you were dad."

"No, just me." Jimmy replied as he started to kick off his sneakers. "You guys made a real mess, did Kace go to sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Ethan stated as he slowly untangled his body from his brother's. "we started playin' pirates."

"Good," Jimmy got out before wincing as he tried to get his brothers sweatshirt over his head. "I think Dad is passed out in the living room again so, it should stay quiet." Finally working his shirt off, he sat on the edge of the bed and winced some more as he tried to peel his socks off. "He was real mad tonight."

"Yeah," Ethan spoke as he watched his brother struggle. Noticing the welts and marks that now covered Jimmy's skinny frame. Ethan couldn't help but worry as he sat up to look closer at Jimmy's wounds in the little bit of light that filtered in through the window. "Are-are you umm okay? Does it hurt?" He questioned as he lightly touched one of the marks.

"Only when you poke at it dork!" Jimmy hissed through his teeth. Giving it a few seconds for the pain to pass, he turned and ruffled his brother's hair, "I'll be okay. I just hope Dad goes back to work soon."

"Me too," Ethan began as he latched onto his brother for a hug.

"Ouch! Ethan! That hurts."

Ethan quickly released his brother. "Ohh sorry, just happy you're okay. Is-is mom coming home? Dad ain't so bad when she's here."

"I hope so. They were really fighting today." Jimmy sighed and then worked his jeans off onto the floor. "Scoot over a little."

"I can go sleep in my bed." Ethan whispered as he began to lift the cover.

"No, scoot over dufus." Jimmy said as he put on a serious look. "I need a body pillow and ur it."

"Okay."

"Besides, Kasey kicks in his sleep," he added. "I don't need any more bruises." Jimmy giggled, wincing a little as he did.

"I don't wanna be taking those kicks either," Ethan giggled

"Too bad, gotta pay the rent squirt." Finally settling in and finding a somewhat comfortable position, Jimmy reached his arm across Ethan's side and rested his hand on Kasey's chest protectively, causing the little guy to hug his brother's hand tightly, mumbling something incoherent as he did. "I love you guys." Jimmy whispered.

"Love you," Ethan softly answered. "Did-did you lock the door?"

"Mmhmm." Jimmy replied. "Hall light is off so he won't come back up here tonight."

"Oh... okay," Ethan sighed and took a deep breath.

"Pirates?" Jimmy softly laughed.

"Oh shut it, Jimmy." Ethan said and gave him a light nudge. "It got him in underwear and to sleep! It-it kinda took our mind off what dad was doin' too."

"Glad you got all the crazy in the family then." Jimmy laughed and smiled to himself. "Yur a good big brother."

"Yeah... umm so are you!"

"Yeah right. Just go to sleep bone head." Jimmy grinned when Ethan looked back and smiled. The brothers knew each other too well and he he was reminded of that fact with every word exchanged. Burying his face in the back of his brother's neck, Jimmy closed his eyes knowing for one more night, the two little guys were safe. With each passing day, that fact became more and more of a worry.

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