The second part is below the break, if you have not read the first part you can find the index, it will be updated as new episodes are implemented. I'll soon have a header and some other stuff so that you are not just reading through huge swathes of text. For those of you that are reading this for a second time (all three of you). there is reason to re-read! I have changed stuff.
1: Present
Dan stepped out onto the flat concrete roof of the block of flats they lived in, the heavy soles of his steal toe boots thudding on the concrete. The weather was sort of pleasant, the sky was cloudy, but nevertheless there was hardly any breeze, and it wasn't as cold as it had been when they’d gone out this morning. This was classic English weather; never quite shit enough to necessitate water proofs but never good enough to walk around in a T-Shirt.
He could still hear Philip trashing a room downstairs, and screaming at the top of his voice. That was Philip’s release; destroy anything he could lay his hands on. All Dan wanted was a smoke, then a beer.
Dan just kept reassuring himself that all he needed was to sit down and unwind. The purveyors of the sedative were right in front of him.
Craig and Isaac were sitting on the perimeter wall at the far end of the building’s flat roof, next to the Green house. Both were casually smoking the last crop they’d grown.
Dan unslung his baseball bat, studded full of nails, it clanged off the floor and bounced against his knee causing him to stumble slightly. It was with that sound that drew Craig and Isaac’s attention.
He made his way through the hundreds of buckets placed to catch rain water, wondering if he would catch a glimpse of Michael. Michael was a strange little, broken man who resided entirely on the roof and loved his birds.
Hundreds of pigeons flocked around the old man's hut that was about 10 feet from the Greenhouse; they pecked idly at bits on the floor and cooed gently. Apart from that, there was no sign of movement from the ramshackle abode.
Choosing his steps carefully Dan hopped up and took a perch next to Isaac. The baseball bat (attached to a loop of string) pirouetted and dispersed blood against the wall. He slid the noose down his arm and discarded the weapon onto the floor. Again, it bounced a few times before settling next to a garish yellow container that still had the mop straining attachment connected to its rim.
Isaac handed Dan the ready packed bong, a vague smile on his face:
“So, did you… just get back?” The blond asked casually.
Dan nodded, taking the glass bowl in one hand while he searched his pocket for a lighter, the reinforced gauntlets on his hands making it difficult to reach inside.
Craig saw the fumbling and tossed him a box of matches.
“Maybe, you should take them off?” He nodded at Dan.
The duo watched Dan as he took his first hit; his thumb’s release of the air hole was punctuated by something smashing downstairs.
“That’s been going on, for a while, what’s up?” Craig asked lazily.
Dan was still holding the smoke in, he managed to look at Craig and indicate as much. They stayed silent as he slowly exhaled, coughing a little as he did so. The new stuff was good.
As Dan gathered his wits to answer, Phil’s unmistakable voice rose through the stairwell and into the open air:
“Cunts, cunts, fucking cunts!”
“Denny got bit.” Dan answered; he could feel his muscles start to relax. A general sense of calm started to fall over him. This new stuff was really good.
“Shit,” Craig said slowly. Letting the idea sink in. “That's… really shitty.”
“Tell me about it.” Dan agreed. He passed the bong to the tall, dark haired stoner.
“What's Philip going to do about it?” Isaac asked.
No one said anything; Craig lit the contents of the gauze, inhaled deeply, and then turned to his friend:
“What can he do?” He asked letting the smoke float out of his nostrils.
Isaac shrugged.
“Is Denny... You know, still alive?” This from Isaac, the boy took the bong from his companion.
Dan caught a light breeze coming off the sea; he sniffed and caught the distinct smell of salt. Then he remembered he had been asked a question.
“Sorry what was that?”
“Is Denny, like, you know.” It was most probable that Isaac had been smoking all day, and he was having difficulty grasping the words. “Still, alive?”
“Yeah and freaking out a lot.” Dan no longer felt connected to the event even though he had been there. “Kept saying that he might be alright, that he might not turn because he's immune to the airbourne, I don’t know.”
Craig started huffing and grunting after a lungful went in wrong.
“No one believes it though, not even Denny.” Dan took the bong from Craig. Who was still trying to stop coughing. “You can see it in his eyes. He already knows he's dead.”
“That's harsh, really harsh.” Isaac paused: “Harsh... How is Jocelyn?”
Dan found himself reacting to the question as if it had been communicated over the phone, he was divorced from the situation and merely relaying information like Isaac and Craig were concerned relatives in a faraway place.
“Not great, Philip wouldn't let her go near Denny until he had got the wound cleaned. You know Philip, cautious.”
“Until he's pissed.” Craig chuckled, having recovered from his little fit.
The violence downstairs stopped.
“He had half a bottle of Jim Beam as soon as he came in.” Dan realised that he had been holding the bong for some time, and that he actually didn't want or need anymore.
Dan hesitated for a second, and then handed the bong back to Craig. He felt himself gazing off into the distance not really listening to what Craig and Isaac were saying, if they were saying anything at all. He could hear the sea, the moans and some music that seemed to be wafting out of the window below.
It was obvious it belonged to Oli as it was some kind of metal/hip hop combination, Dan couldn’t make out what it was but the bass line stuck out.
“Your bat needs cleaning.” Isaac pointed at Dan's weapon on the floor.
He looked down at the customised piece of wood. The thick end was smeared with drying blood, the nails still had clumps of hair and brain matter clinging to them.
“Yeah, I'll get that sorted in a minute.” Dan slipped off the wall ungracefully and crouched down to retrieve the piece of wood. His reinforced shin guards dug into his knees which made him wince slightly. He could already feel the telltale ache in his arms and shoulders that warned him he'd be in a lot of pain in a couple of days.
Dan started to make his way through the buckets.
“You going back downstairs?” Isaac asked after him.
“Yeah,” Dan said. “We found some untouched beer, it's out of date but probably drinkable.”
“Cool, can we have the bong back?”
Dan looked dumbly at his left hand which held it and then laughed nervously. Craig skipped over to him, displaying more energy than he had for weeks, and took it from him.
“Yeah, cool.” Dan said absently.
When he got to the landing on the top floor he almost bumped into Joshua. The man nodded and smiled, the action just a quick jerk of the head, and hurried into the flat that Dan presumed Philip would be in.
He was curious about what would be said but first he wanted a beer. That involved going into the loading room (Isaac's old room) where he knew Phil B., Duck and Jay would be unpacking the stuff from the raid.
They exchanged nods with Dan as he grabbed a couple of beers and then headed into the flat opposite. He recognised the music coming from Oli's room as some old Cypress Hill track. The only reason it was familiar was because Nufonia had played it to him a lot. Dan shook his head, shit, how things had changed.
He guessed correctly that he would find Joshua and Philip in the spare room. Philip had had moments where he had lost his temper before and this is where he came to deal with it.
The room was empty apart from a small bed that had belonged to Isaac's sister, Sam, and a chair. Along the wall were remnants of previous bouts of rage Philip had, dents with dried mold growing in it as well as quite a few colourful stains, could have been blood just as easily old whiskey. There were several fresh blotches on the wall to join the damage, Dan could see that whatever had been left of the Jim Beam was now doused across the once white wall paper.
Joshua was sitting in the solitary chair staring at Philip's scrunched up form. As far as Dan could tell, Philip had tucked himself into a fetal position on the floor
He could also make out another form, lying almost hidden behind Philip's frame with their arms wrapped around him. This, he figured was Caryn, Philip's partner.
Joshua glanced up at Dan and gave him an earnest look and shook his head. Dan took that to mean he should keep his mouth shut or leave.
Philip liked to act cool and controlled when he was sober. However, once the boy had had a few drinks, the guy was a mess.
Philip's shoulders started to shudder, only pausing as the boy took a breath, then jittered, spasmed, as he exhaled. Dan saw that Caryn's knuckles went white as she clasped the sobbing figure tighter.
Joshua leaned out of the chair and placed one calm hand on his friend's shoulder.
“Dude, I'll grab you a bottle of vodka and we'll go and chill for a while. Just don't stay like this.” Joshua offered.
Dan found himself bored with the situation. This was something that he had seen over and over again from Philip, as if he didn't make himself the center of attention enough. Dan decided that he might as well return to his own room.
As he was turning to leave, Caryn sat up slightly, brushing Philip's side. She caught Dan's eye, she seemed surprised to see him there, and then gave him smile which he reciprocated. It was an awkward moment, yet he wasn't exactly sure why. Then, at that moment he wasn't really sure of very much, the one inhalation from the bong had screwed with his mind.
He crossed the landing to his own flat and went straight to his room, stripping down to his underwear; he turned on his portable CD player. Philip smashed things for a release; Dan got wasted and listened to music. He checked himself, he didn’t as much as listen to music as just listen to one song on repeat. The CD chugged and then came to life, it had seen enough uses that Dan suspected that he should put it on a tape just in case he wore it out.
He lay down on the bed, making sure that his head was propped up so he could still drink his beer.
Dan knew the lyrics off by heart and mouthed them in time.
“...never hurt nobody...”
There was a gentle knock on his door.
“Who is it?”
“Jo, can I come in?”
“Sure, it's not locked.”
“...steal your money...”
The door opened and the blond girl slid through her thick dreadlocks haloing her face.
She moved to the foot of the bed, cocked an eyebrow and waited for an invitation. This made Dan grin, he patted the fabric next to him.
She climbed onto the bed and lay next to him draping one arm over his chest.
“Rich has just gone to sleep.” She said, her breath tickling his neck.
“How long was he up for this time?” Dan unscrewed the cap on his beer and took a swig. It was off, the eggy after taste told him so, but it didn’t matter. It was a million times better than anything he had attempted to brew.
She rubbed her leg against his and gave him a squeeze.
“Three or four days.” The woman purred. “He's been working pretty hard.”
“The mighty Orfax.” Dan smiled wanly.
Jo moved her hand up his chest and clasped the bottle.
The boy thought about resisting her demand, but then let her take the beer.
Adjusting her position, she took a gulp, Dan felt her relax more. She groaned with pleasure.
“Good isn't it?” He smiled again.
“Oh yes, how many do we have?”
“About five cases.”
“Better keep Philip away from those.”
“He only really drinks spirits.” Dan pointed out. “And we have plenty of those.”
“Well in that case it was a good trip.” Jo said then quickly added. “Well, almost.”
Dan went cold as he remembered.
“Denny got fucked.” He murmured.
Jo handed him the beer back and snuggled closer, her lips brushing against his jaw before resting on his nose as a kiss.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“I guess I must be.” He said, kissing her properly.
Dan could feel her breath against his cheek, and her eyes on the one eye of his she could see.
He reached over and turned his CD player off, the song wasn’t helping and instead he was feeling restless.
“Still sucks.” She said finally.
“Yeah, it does.”
Jo took the bottle from Dan and put it on the bedside table. Then she, very deliberately, clambered off the bed and closed the curtains.
Only a sliver of light illuminated her undressing.
Dan fell asleep in Jo's arms afterwards and didn’t wake until it was pitch black outside. When he regained consciousness, she was still fast asleep. He thought about waking her and then decided against it. Dan slid out of bed.
After his eyes had become accustomed to the lack of light, he found his clothes that had been discarded on the floor. He made his way into the hall of the apartment and from there he could tell by the glow from under the front door that the power had been turned on in the house. He strained his ears and heard the faint chugging of the generator coming from the first floor. Putting on his T-Shirt, Dan walked out his front door and into stairwell of the building, trudging bare foot on the matted by still dependable carpet.
Littered down the stairway were old low power road lamps that made it easier to navigate the way but that weren’t too bright to hurt his eyes. He started to walk down into the depths of the building, towards the noise of the generator and the second floor where he knew everyone would be
He could already hear talking and laughing by the time he reached the landing to what was the building’s communal area. He opened the door to the entertainment room and the more extreme light made him squint. It took a while to adjust, both to the light and the noises.
A year ago the apartment had belonged to a well-to-do couple, into their feng-shui and Buddhism, they would have been horrified by what Philip had done with a sledge hammer after the group had taken over the block of flats.
Any non-lode supporting walls had been demolished and any useless furniture or ornaments had been thrown out - much to Dan, Jo and Isaac's pleasure.
The idea had been to create an area for of the original twenty-odd survivors to unwind: there was an X-box rigged to a widescreen television, a sound system, enough equipment to start a band (Jay occasionally jammed with Isaac but that was about it), a whole library of DVDs looted from the local HMV, countless board games, a sound system with more CDs (also looted from HMV) than people knew what to do with, paints supplies and easels, a typewriter, not to mention some serious gear that was setup to look for any broadcast that there might be.
“Hey!” Dan recognised Phil B's voice and looked in the direction of the call.
Phil B. was sitting with most of the pack around the other television, not used for the Xbox but the DVD player. He and a group of the others were watching a video; despite there being hundreds, it was doubtful it wasn't one they hadn't watched a thousand times before.
Dan returned the greeting with a casual smile.
“How are you?”
The boy shrugged, his eyes scrunching up as he smiled.
“A little wasted.”
“A little?”
“Uh... maybe a lot. You know me.”
They laughed.
He quickly scanned the room and noticed the obvious absentees. Denny and Jocelyn, Jo, Orfax, and Michael.
He was surprised to see Melissa 'Duck' on one of the couches. Melissa had become a virtual recluse in the last 5 months, only coming out to complete the few jobs that she was required to do as part of Philip’s regime and then beating a hasty retreat to her room. Dan couldn't blame her, she'd come here with friends and they were now all gone.
Dan walked over to have a look at what film they were watching; it was something with an oriental guy with two rings through scars on either side of his lips. It now made sense why Duck was down here, she had a thing for Japanese stuff, and would never pass down the opportunity to watch something from those shores.
He headed for the 'kitchen': a barely working gas cooker and a pantry that was centred in the coolest place they could find in the house.
Opening the door on the gloomy cave under some stairs, a sorry excuse for a pantry really, the dread locked boy was pleased to find some of the out of date beers ‘chilled’ already. He immediately cracked one open with the bottle opener he kept in his pocket and then he walked over to the nearest couch.
Craig, who he sat next to, greeted him with a toothy grin that suggested that the stoner had been smoking pretty much since they last met.
Dan stayed silent and tried to focus on the film. The man with the rings on either side of his mouth was chewing someone's fist.
His attention strayed, there had been enough violence in his day, and Dan found himself gazing at Philip and Joshua. They were playing some game called Halo 2, the same game they had been playing since Joshua had arrived three months ago.
There was an empty bottle of Southern Comfort between the two of them and a half empty bottle of Jim Beam on Philip's right.
Dan nudged Craig and asked where Denny was, not taking his eye off the couple in front of the computer game screen.
“Gone.” Craig said.
“Sorry, man.” Craig added, almost completely as an afterthought.
“What do you mean gone?” Dan found himself getting anxious, was Dennny dead?
This caused obvious distress to Craig, as much as it could. The boy replied to ask Philip.
“Hey Philip.” Dan called out.
The tall man was only eight or nine feet from him but did not seem to acknowledge that he had been called.
Dan called again.
There was movement from underneath the mousy brown locks. Then Dan saw the game pause and both players put down their control pads.
Joshua got up and went in the direction of the bathroom. Philip turned laboriously, swiveling his arse on the floor in a forced and clumsy manner that made it obvious that he was very drunk.
“What's up?” Philip's dark brown eyes were staring out from underneath his creased brow.
“Where's Denny?” Dan asked, trying to make the question sound as innocent as possible.
The boy shrugged ruffling his chequered shirt. Then his shoulders sagged as he gave a sigh, looking at the ground as if summoning strength from it.
“Denny went,” Philip slurred. “He's gone, has been gone for like two hours.”
“But-
“Look,” Philip interrupted. “It was his choice, okay?” Philip looked up and caught Dan straight in the eyes. “We would have told you but you were otherwise engaged, if you know what I mean?”
“I just would have liked to have said goodbye.” Dan was aware that any talking that had gone on in the room had now stopped.
“You were otherwise engaged.” The volume Philip's voice raised a notch then, shaking his head, “Besides it was your, I mean, it was his choice. He chose to go.”
“He didn't really say goodbye to anyone, if it's any conciliation.” Joshua said walking back into the room and sitting down next to his control pad.
“It's just that he was a friend.” Dan said a little dejectedly.
“Well, he was my fucking friend too.” Phillip retorted. “How the fuck do you fucking think I fucking feel?”
Joshua tapped Philip on the knee.
“What?” Philip asked irritably, still eye balling Dan.
“The game?” Joshua's brow creased.
“What?” Philip asked again, this time breaking his stare with Dan and looking like he had lost his bearings.
“Dude.” Joshua said slowly and firmly. “The game.”
“Oh yeah.” Philip said, turning back to play again.
Dan felt a brief pulse of anger, which quickly subsided as Caryn lent over from one of the couches further towards the huge flat screen.
“Hey, he was my friend too, and he didn't say goodbye either.”
“Yeah, I didn't know he was gone until someone said.” Craig piped in.
“You don't know anything though.” Maria jibed at Craig. “Someone could drop a bomb on the house and you'd be last to know.”
This made those listening laugh, even Craig.
“Oh come on,” Craig giggled. “I'd know if a bomb went off.”
“Yeah,” Isaac managed; Dan couldn't see him but could tell that the speaker was also caned. “We'd be on the roof so we would be the first to see it coming.”
The matter of Denny departure was swept away in chatter and the bloodletting on the television and violence of the computer game. Dan wanted say more but knew that it was the way of the household. In the beginning they had dwelt on the loss of each of their friends, now it was less painful to just mourn as little as possible. If Dan carried on the subject it would be frowned on.
When the film finished Oli, the one nearest to the DVD player, crawled off his perch and put on another. Dan heard Duck snort in derision, this made Oli immediately scramble for different film.
Orfax had told Jo, and through her, Dan knew that Oli had bet that he could bed Melissa.
A challenge he had risen to, but thus far failed at miserably. All the same his perseverance had been much admired by those who knew and this sign of her out amongst the rest of the household would be seen as a small victory.
Dan had just finished his second beer when Jo walked into the room. She was greeted by all, even Philip, though neither he nor his companion looked away from their game.
She walked in and plopped herself next to Dan.
“You let me sleep through some of power time.” She playfully scolded him.
“Sorry,” Dan felt himself grin slyly and it felt genuine. “I just thought you might be a little tired.”
“Oh, did you now?” She flashed him a knowing look.
“Do you want a beer?” He asked, getting up to go to the pantry.
“That would be lovely.”
Before the film got too far in Jay and Maria said goodnight, and went to bed. The two were painfully in love and expecting a child, they were about 7 or 8 years older than the others with only Michael as their senior. As Dan watched Jay dote over Maria he felt a twinge, it was sweet to see this awkward gangly man fuss over his pregnant partner. At the same time it made Dan slightly uncomfortable what with what was outside, waiting for them.
The group started watching an anime film. Phil B. pointed out that Claire Danes did the voice for the main character.
Dan didn't have a clue who Claire Danes was.
Isaac came to life at this point.
“I really wanted to see that film with her and that chick... Kate Beckin-whats-her-name.”
“Don't bother.” Phil B. said. “It's shit.”
“Yeah, I still wouldn't mind seeing it.” Isaac mumbled, trailing off.
“We could probably find it in one of the big music stores.” Phil B. said helpfully.
As if an alarm clock had gone off Craig Beechers came to life:
“Find what?”
“Brokedown Palace.” Isaac barely mumbled.
“Why... what's it about? It isn't another fucking...” Craig drifted off. Dan could see he was struggling, gazing through slitted eyes he came up with the rest of the sentence. “Fucking zombie film, is it?
“No, it's about two girls who get accused of drug smuggling.” His brother, Phil B., replied.
“Oh right,” Craig smiled. “Who's in it?”
“Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale.”
“Oh right.” Craig smiled at no one in particular. “Sounds pretty cool, do we have that? Why don't we put that on?”
“Oh for Christ sake.” Alison, Phil B's girlfriend, sniggered. “Craig have you not been listening?”
“Not really.” Craig kept smiling.
“We don't have the film, okay?” Alison enunciated every syllable.
“Oh right.” Craig said, still smiling, but with the conviction of someone who no longer understood the conversation and who no longer cared.
Once the animated film finished, of which all seemed familiar, but Dan couldn't remember a thing, the house mates began to exit.
Alison volunteered to take Michael his food. This was something that no one really relished doing so when she volunteered there was this unspoken relief that she had. Phil B got up with her and followed her out.
Soon after, having taken the 'flurry' of motion as a signal, Craig and Isaac disappeared to their separate rooms.
A while later Philip stretched and yawned, he drunkenly checked his watch and decided it was time to shut the generator down.
He and Caryn went down, her supporting him somewhat. A few minutes later the lights dimmed and went out, the occupants of the entertainment room pulled out their flashlights; except for Dan who had forgotten his and Joshua who never carried one.
Joshua said goodnight, slipping away swiftly into the stairwell with only a few casual beams from the others lights bouncing off of him. Dan was always amazed with the agility he moved with so little visibility, plus as Philip was prone to saying Joshua 'was a tubby bitch' so the grace he often showed seemed out of character.
Joshua had once confided in Dan that he had a phobia of flashlights, and that he couldn't stand walking around with that kind of light, because it created too many corners for things to hide in, corners that Joshua should be using himself.
Jo and Dan said goodnight to Oli and Duck soon after, as the two of them were walking out of the room Dan could hear Oli continuing his attempts to entice Duck back to his room. Dan doubted he would succeed.
The two of them sat in the dark, with only the flash lights as sources of sight. A few minutes later Dan heard the laboured steps of the drunken Philip accompanied by the lighter steps of Caryn come back up and continue up.
Jo kept shining hers in Dan’s eyes temporarily blinding him. She was teasing him, playing with him as she liked to do. Dan knew better than to react as that would only encourage her further. When he didn’t react to the light, apart from a smile, she started to tentatively poke him in the thigh with her toes. Finally he reacted by swatting her feet her way that made her giggle and try to do it again. This time Dan grabbed her feet and shoved them out of the way playfully and climbed on top of her, his flashlight discarded with hers creating dancing patterns on the ceiling as she wriggled. She half-heartedly fought him off, laughing the whole time. He managed to pin her arms and looked at her, half lit from the arc of the light from the glaring bulb.
“Don’t you have to go to bed?” He asked.
“Probably. Want to come with?”
“What about Orfax?”
“Oh pish, always trying to ruin a mood.” He could see her half frown. “Rich will still be asleep, and not in the mood.”
Dan hesitated, but then smiled, Jo took this as acquiescence.
“I just need to get something from my apartment. “ Jo pushed Dan off of her and got to her feet.
Dan retrieved his torch and followed her.
“What are you getting?” Dan asked as they traipsed down to the first floor.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Jo teased as she opened the door to the apartment she shared with Rich and Jocelyn. Dan caught himself; Jo had also shared it with Denny up until that evening.
Jo was giggling and chatting as she went through the door so she didn't notice her female flat mate standing in the dark.
Dan did, and stopped as his flashlight passed across her slouched form. Jocelyn was leaning against the door frame of the entrance to her bedroom.
Jo turned, still talking, then gave a little squeal when she became aware that they weren't alone.
It took both of them a while to recover.
“Hey, Jocee.” Dan said quietly. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, you know, fine.” Her voice seemed to be coming from somewhere else, like she could throw her voice. Dan thought that she might be stoned. Then he remembered that they had raided a broken down pharmacy and Denny had found a large quantity of Valium.
They stood there silently then Jocelyn spoke again:
“Look,” this time Jocelyn spoke a little clearer. “I'm sorry Dan, but I need to...”
She frowned and then turned to Jo.
“Could you, could you spend some time with me?”
Dan saw Jo turn to him, he couldn't see her face but he guessed she was giving him a questioning look. He shrugged, hoping she read the gesture as a sign of 'totally up to you'.
Jo leaned over to him and whispered:
“I am really sorry about this, maybe next time?”
“Sure.” Dan replied.
Jo walked over to her friend and gave her a hug and led her to the bed room.
Dan let himself out quietly, catching the two women's whispers but no distinct words. Dan walked back to his room slowly, trying to forget the memories of the day; he made a quick detour to the entertainment room's pantry and grabbed two of the bottles of beer. They were nice hefty liters and he was sure they would do the trick and then he made his way back to his room.
He climbed into his bed, not bothering to take off anything other than his shoes. He scrabbled around on his bedside table and found the spliff he had been about to smoke that morning when Philip had told him they were going out on a raid.
He turned on his CD player and lit the joint. He watched the glow at the end of his hand grow as he took a drag. The track started up the same song, the only song that Dan really cared for.
Jo must have pulled the curtains open before she came down because Dan could now look out his window and at the stars, which seemed to get more numerous by the day. His friend George had explained that as the pollution dissipated, and as there was no longer any ambient light to interfere, the view would become even better. The guy had been right.
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