ICC- Kilrick Salvage Chapter 2- On the Road to NYC

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"Send them for the maggots. Fuckin' dead weights anyway." Edden muttered. "Or you can let me have them... been so long since I had some..."

Edden felt a slap against the back of her head, and her first instinct was to draw her gun and blast the fool who...

"Enough." Rama had grabbed the beretta and placed his thumb behind between the hammer and a finger between the trigger.
 
I saw the move and heard the words but felt it was better to ignore it.

"You two should save your lover's quarrel for later."

The smoke had filled the sky, blotting out the sun. In the semi-dark that had befell the junkyard, the maggots had grown brave.

We had pulled into a wide courtyard. In one corner a building had become a bonfire, flames licking the sky turning into plumes of billowing puffs of blackened air.

Below the burning sky, Jasmin and Deed had gone back to back, typical Grunt training, and tagging anything they could see with their guns. Jake was trying to protect Aaron who was making his way to the truck, a young woman and a child trying to help him along.

Gally was about to blast away with the .50.

"Watch your fire!" I warned.

The square was surrounded by a wall of crushed automobiles, bullets would deflect off the twisted metal and return to the square, like supersonic billiards on a pool table.

The woman got Aaron to the bed of the truck and Rama and Prudence reached down helped Aaron up. Then they grabbed for the boy with him and then the girl.

"Jake, did you find a radiator?" I yelled out.

Jake, was popping off rounds selectively, "Aye. Got one loose too."

"Well get the fucking thing." This entire trip had been about parts. I wasn't about to leave without it.
 
*Enroute to Maggotville Junkyard*

"You said it Kilrick" remarked Eric.

Being smarter and older, the girl instantly quieted down but the punk kid decided he was something special.

"How about you shut the fuck you dumb chink. It was your fucking people that blew this country to kingdom come".

Eric walked up to the kid and delivered a powerful slap across his face.

"Listen up you little fuckshit. That girl is right. Your dip fuck parents were too busy thinking with their dicks instead of using some fucking logic and got what was coming to them. I mean I could understand if it was over food, weapons or water but over a fucking female, how fucking dumb can you be?"

"Second, don't you ever call me a fucking chink again or I WILL put a bullet in your skull, child or not. Unruly children only turn into unruly adults. Do you know how your kind sound to me right now? They are no different than common raiders that take from good decent hardworking folks who only wanted to survive this nuclear holocaust".

Lastly you remember this well, I am as American as an American can get. My ancestors long ago left the mother land due to their pure hatred for communism. Do you honestly think that I would sympathize with the same type of fucks that gave my ancestors just a pound of beef for ONE WHOLE MONTH and left them in constant poverty.

After the vicious retort, the kid calmed down and Eric thought he was actually using his brain to think for once.

"Alright guys, if you don't mind I am going to do some more learning from this first aid book."
 
Rama walked to Kilrick and whispered, "If the kid starts again, I'll throw his hide back to the maggots..." Rama walked off, no mercy or compassion in his eyes.

Edden was rubbing the back of her head, but ate whatever words that may have been ready to slide off her sharp tongue.
 
Some people. Talk about priorities.

"Enough about the fucking kid. I want that damn radiator." I said.

Leadership was about taking the initiative and being decisive.

"Edden cover. Gally, use a rifle. Leave the damn kid alone. Eric, help out Aaron and find out about his leg. Wolf and Rohan, into the courtyard and give Jasmin and Deeds some relief. Rama, with me. Jake, the damn radiator."

I got out of the truck hoping the others would come and made my way to Deeds and Jasmin, who were still fighting back to back. The numbers of Maggots had eased up.

I didn't have far to run. Reik had gotten us as close to Jasmin and Deeds as the big rig could get. The rest of the way was littered with junk, sharp pieces of metal and derrelick cars.

"What's your situation?" I asked Jasmin.

"We burnt out a nest, that's why the fuckers are going nuts and the dark from that smoke isn't helping." Yelled Jasmin over the gunfire.

Deeds was reloading. "I'm running out of ammo. Better be quick." Jasmin nodded, she was low too.

I nodded. "A couple of minutes." Then to Rohan and Wolf. "Take positions here. You are half way between us and the radiator, hold the line. Deeds and Jasmin are almost out of ammo for their primaries. Give them cover when they break for the truck, but wait for Rama, Jake and I to get back."

Wolf was firing off rounds but Rohan nodded.

I looked to Jake, who said, "This way."

I followed, Rama behind.

By the garage Jake slowed down. Fired a couple of rounds from the hip into the garage. "In here." He yelled.

"Rama, cover." I yelled. The radiator was cast iron and heavy. It would take two people to move it.
 
Stryfe followed closely behind Kilrick, offering some supressive fire. Small exchange to the skulking figures in the shadows. "We've stirred the hornets nest." Stryfe muttered as he pegged another filthy ragged maggot, dropping it dead and wounding one of its comrades.

"Clear... Lets move this thing," Rama crouched near the radiator, waiting for Kilrick and company.
 
I got down, and looked at Stryfe. I had not even so much as spoken to the guy, didn't know anything about him. Nevertheless, I trusted him. He had the look.
"Oi killrick, give us blokes some paving to walk with!" Jake said. Killrick knew what that meant, and lit a flair.
Jake just hoped this stryfe bloke was strong enough.
"Heave ho?" Jake offered.
With a grunt from both of them, they lifted the radiator up. Jake went in front, carrying it behind his back as stryfe had it from the back. Jake had done this hundreds of times, and knew what he was doing, which is why he went in front. There was no time for a slip up.
They started walking towards the truck, as fast as they could.
That was, untill a maggot decided to go rambo, and jumped on the top of the radiator. Then jake turned around, and hit the thing with his head. It did not like that at all.
Everything went black. The thing was on Jakes head, while he yelled "GET THE FUCKING THING OFF!"
Thank god killrick had been there, and did not hesitate as he took a swipe at the thing. Fresh air! However, this was no time to stall, and they started walking faster to the truck. Killrick finished the thing off.
They finally reached the truck, which was good.
The whole venture had taken about 5 minutes. But that was 5 minutes too long, and now it was time to get the hell out of dodge.
Jake threw Reik out politely from the drivers seat, as Jake had had more practise operating big vehicles. He was tempted to just go and leave hollow brain and bitch, but they boarded. Jake looked back. Everyone was there. Jake stepped on the accelerator, and they drove.
Running down maggots was fun.
That was, untill the fucking kid grabbed you by the eyes.
 
Rama's hand was like steel around the child's neck and he threw the boy against the seat. The child hit it with the force of a rag doll being sent against the floor. He appeared dazed and giddy. Another hand placed firmly around the child's windpipe, before he could even utter one prfanity or curse at Stryfe.

"Kilrick... can I?" Rama meant to throw the boy off to the maggots.
 
Reik pushed the kid away from Jake, and I grabbed the kid by the collar and pushed him to the new woman. The kid had guts, but I didn't have much time.

"I am assuming he's yours. Restrain him or I am kicking him off the truck."

"Ramming Speed!" Yelled Jake.

Gally was blasting away with the .50 tearing the hell out of the obstacle that the Maggots had dragged to block our exit.

A jarring crunch and the truck slowed as the obstruction was pushed and knocked away by the grate infront of the truck.

Then we were free.

"Where to?" Yelled Jake.

"Ollies but first the overlook. Let's look at the damage."

I turned back to those inside. It was getting cramped but I could see the girl who had nearly shot us with her shotgun was still in the corner. The two kids were hugging the new woman who was sitting opposite of the younger woman, glaring at her.

Aaron's leg was stretched out and both Eric and Wolf were looking it over. They saw me and Wolf spoke.

"A bad fall but it's just pulled a bit. If he stays off it tonight and takes it easy tomorrow he should be alright."

Aaron smiled. "Damn floor was rotten and right over a nest of those little fuckers. Good thing she was there or I wouldn't have made it." He nodded to the woman with the two children.

Jasmin was reloading her weapons from the stock we kept in the truck. "Yeah, she was there before I was. Her flare kept them down and she watched our back as we made it out. We owe her."

Deeds seemed umimpressed. "We found the boy in the garage with the car. Figure he was there for shelter, a safer place from the maggots. Maybe she was trying to kill them before they went after her. Not sure."

I looked over at the new woman. "Name is Kilrick. I did business with your men last night. I appreciate what you did for Aaron and I'm sorry to tell ya that your men are dead."

She nodded. She knew about hte dead men. This woman was good looking, not as pretty as the other with the shotgun but the fact that she had gone out to help Aaron gave her more credit in my book, least more than the one that had nearly killed me.

"I seen him fall down and knew the maggots were down there. Was planning to burn 'em out. Don't mind Billy none. First time he been on a self-propelled vehicle." She said. Billy turned away from me. He and the other boy looked a bit like her. "He'll mind his manners or get a whippin." She said."My name's Clara, and I'm their mother and I appreciate your helpin us."

I nodded. "You know her?" I said, pointing at the other one.

"The one's dead is Debra. This ones call her grandma count of her age but she's really an aunt. But she's kin and I appreciate it if you helped bury her. The other was in Angie and she's a whore and a satan. Best you kill her before she causes you more trouble."

"That's a lie." Said Angie.

"No lie. My man should never have picked you up. But just the same I saw you goin for Debra's beau. You put them against each other."

"They made me their fuck slave." Angie protested.

"And you enjoyed it." Replied Clara.

Jake pulled up to the overlook from where we could see the fires burning in Maggotville and in the Junkyard. Gally, Jake and Rama got out and began to inspect the vehicle while the others moved about to take position. Plumes of black smoke climbed high into the sky as the sun began to descend, red and bloody.

As I got out of the truck, Clara grabbed my arm. "What about the girls."

I shook my head. "They're both dead. One went underground and they got her before we knew it. The other we found dead in a shop."

Was that a smile I saw on Angie's face.

Clara was still holding my arm."You left them?"

"Yeah." I said, not feeling proud of it.

Jake broke the conversation, calling out from the front. "Minor damage to the front end, but not much. I thought I saw a plow front at Ollies. I am sure we could sell it to him with a little powder and that would help next time we got to ram."

"Good idea Jake." I said. I turned back to Clara. "I think one of your girls might have been murdered by that one and I aim to see justice. But right now I don't want any trouble from you or your children. We got a long way to go and it's not exactly safe."

She nodded.

We got back on the truck and headed back to Ollies. Although the women watched each other the way predatory cats might in a dark alley, neither spoke. That was good enough.

I was shortly before nightfall when we pulled into Ollies. He wasn't happy to see the Tinkers without their men, but didn't say anything. He would later.

As we pulled in I said. "Gally, Jake and Rama, lets get to the repairs. Eric, Wolf help Aaron get confortable. Then join me, Deeds and Jasmin as we bury the dead woman."
 
As we started on the repairs, I stepped away, I had something to do first.

I saw the kid, that fucking kid. I was angry, more angry than I had ever been. Not only could he of killed me, but he could of killed killrick and all the others, and that just was not done.
The kid was hanging around with his mom, maybe getting told of, I did not know, nor did I care.
I went straight up to him, picked him up by the back of the head, to the top of my 6 foot 7 frame, and I started straight into his eyes. He tried to squirm away, but I applied pressure to his head. I could crush the little fucker, just have it over and done with. But I did not want to do that.

"Listen here you little cunt, and listen closely. You could of killed me and killrick and everyone else on the truck. Now I do not know about the others, but for me, that is just not done. You can go kill yourself, that's fine, but if you EVER FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL KILL YOU, PERMISSION OR NOT, RIGHT INFRONT OF YOUR MOTHER, DO YOU HEAR ME?" It would of been hard for him not to hear me, as I was screaming right in his face. There was spit all over his ugly mut.
Shakingly, he said "Yes... I... I hear you." He was on the verge of tears. I thought I had gotten it into him, so I let him back down. Boy, was that a mistake.

Swift as a tribal scout, the kid delivered a small kick. It wouldn't of mattered much, if it had of hit anywhere but where it did. That happened to be my groin.
"Damn" I wheezed as I fell on my knees. I had never felt so much pain. I could barely breathe. Luckily, it passed over in just under a minute. My rage was boiling.

I had seen the kid scamper off, hell, it had been the only thing I had seen. I chased. Not that it was much of a chase, the kid was barely 5 ft, and his spindly little legs could not carry him nearly as fast as mine, I knew it, and he knew it. So he had gone into hiding. Pity he couldn't hide very well. I found him in a box, in just under a minute. I was taking no chances, and grabbed his legs with my left hand. His legs were as small as twigs, and I dragged him all the way back. I dragged him right infront of his mom, about 20 meters away from where they were fixing the truck. I kneeled, pinned him between my legs, and brought out my desert eagle .50, and placed it at the back of his head and then looked up at his mom and said:

"Do you want me to shoot him in the back of the head or his forehead?"
Killrick heard, and came up to where the little scene was, as did everyone else.

OOC: Killrick, your choice, does jake kill him or not?
 
I laughed, although thesituation was hardly funny.

"Serves you right Jake. Picking on a child like that, a big guy like you. You've given him a scare, fine. But his family have lost enough people for one day don't you think."

Jake looked uncertain.

I went to him and took the pistol away but gave him a look that said, "Enough of this waste of time. Control yourself and fix the rig."

To the boy, "Be gone."

To Clara," Best you take of the boy so he doesn't get hurt. Alright, lets get to work fixing the truck or setting camp."
 
"No way am I keeping them women here." Said Ollie.

"That got no where else to go." I said.

"Ask me if I care. This place is peaceful like with the women I got, I don't want to hellcats raisin' problems with my girls." Said Ollie.

Ollie, his wife and his girls. In Ollies, refuge was paid for. Food and shelter, supplies, were all paid for. And if you wanted, even the girls could be bought.

"I can't take them with me." I said. I was trying to keep Ollie quiet but it was hard to keep Ollie from mouthing off. I was sure both Angie and Clara could hear him, even if they were ignoring it. "We'll need shovels to bury their kin."

"You'll have to pay for 'em. Ain't for free." Said Ollie.

"Damn Ollie. What about charity? We're just borrowing." I said.

Ollie spat in the dirt. So much for charity.

So I put some credits down on the table and took two of the shovels. THey had tied up the woman in some all burlap bags and we carried her out. It was getting dark and we needed to hurry up.

Clara was holding her two little boys. In a day she had lost almost all her kin folks but she seemed to hold up. Angie had disappeared somewhere.

We quickly dug a hole into the ground. It wasn't as deep as we'd like, but the ground was soft and free of roots. Even so it was dark when we put the body in the ground. Wolf and Eric had joined us and they had lit fires around. Even so we could hear the howls of the Dire, and they weren't too far away.

I didn't know what to say so I tried to say a few words. Clara said a few more, and then we shoveled the dirt onto the body and quickly returned to the sanctuary of the trading post before dusk had turned to dark.

Ollie was waiting. "You'd going to have to pay me if you want them to stay. Otherwise out you go."

"I can pay you tomorrow if we can get back to our carts." Said Clara.

"And pull them with what?" Asked Ollie.

It was true. The Tinkers had used Brahmin to bring in their carts and had unhitched their oxen back in Maggotville. By now those Oxen had been consumed, either by Maggots or by Dire.

"We've always done good business with you before." Demanded Clara.

"Your men have. You, I don't know. You best go off and find yourself some other man's bitch." Said Ollie. "Someone who'll pay for ya."

I didn't want to pay. You pay and you own. My eyes looked about. I could see Dr. Edwards working with the men by the Rig. He seemed happy that we had gotten back. Maddy Stowe was watching me, measuring me. I could barely see her face in the firelight, but I knew she was watching what I would do. The two boys were playing a game with two of Ollies younger girls, girls too young to pimp.

I took out more credits and put them on the table. "For their rent. Tonight. And not another fucking word Ollie." I said and turned away.

This is what happens when you pick up stragglers. You end up paying for it.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Clara caught up to me. 'What about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow we go back to Maggotville for the turbine and then we're off to Gluttontown. Where you go is up to you."

"I can shoot and I can cook." She said.

I didn't like it. Not a woman nor her kids. "I can also help with the mechancials. I'm ok with tech stuff and I could help with the Turbine. But you got to take my boys too. And you got to let me grab our stuff from the wagon."

"No deal. I'm only grabbing the turbine and that's all I need."

"You can't carry the turbine with that Rig, you'll need our wagon to haul it." She said.

"I don't need your baggage and your wagon is mine for the taking. That's the rule of salvage. It's abandoned and I claim it, it's mine."

"That's not fair." Protested Clara.

"No, it's not but that's the way it is. If you want a better deal, Ollie can send you outside."

Outside we could hear the pawing and growling of the Dire. My guess was that they were digging up the body we had just put in the ground.

"We won't make it if we got to walk out of here." Said Clara.

"Not my problem.' I said. "And you probably won't make it where I'm going."

"Gluttontown. Could you take me that far. The Boys and I?"

Another voice spoke. "Yes, we can take you." It was Jasmin.

I was about to say something, but then Aaron spoke. "I owe you my life."

And than Stowe spoke. "You can ride with us."

Fuck.

I shook my head. Technically it was my job and I made the call and this would only complicate things. But not to take her would have caused division. And besides, we would be taking her cart.

"Alright, here's the deal. We use your carts. You keep whatever we don't take with us. You can sell that when we get you someplace safer. After Gluttontown there's a little free village where you can probably replace your Brahmin. Then you're on your own."

"What about Angie. She killed that little girl." Asked Clara.

Angie had disappeared and the men were scattered. I suspected that she had slit that girl's throat and left her for the maggots, perhaps to afford her an escape or buy her time. I also had no doubt that the Tinkers had taken her in, used her as a slave, and that she had wanted to escape. It wasn't unthinkable that she might have manipulated the men to pull fire on each other. So she was resourceful and clever, but could she be trusted.

Clara wanted justice. But what is justice in the wasteland but another word for revenge.

"Angie will get what's coming to her."
 
Stryfe wiped the grease and oil from his hand and walked up to the rest of the company, and took stock from Edden the change of plans.

"What's the boss planning?" Ram asked, not even looking Edden in the eye. She was sitting on some shambled crates, loading her shotgun and checking the sights.

"We're takin' ol' mother hubber and her brat with us..." She hissed, her hatred for the child not hidden. "I'd say we should have eaten the kid or left his bratty ass for maggot fodder."

Rama just sighed and replied, "True, but it wasn't our call... and it would not have been right."

She gave a small giggle. "Sometimes I can never figure you ot Stryfe. From Ranger to merc, back to noble ranger. You really are full of surprises.

But just in case you missed out while you and Jake were fixing the war wagon, the lil' whore ran off. Seems she knifed the girl back there. And if you ain't hearing, the wolves are helping themselves to the dead."

The gratting sound of paws working in the earth followed by low growls and grunts. Rama knew the sound all too well. Even New York, you couldn't trust dogs. He had seen children mauled and torn apart by the starved canines. Mans best friend indeed.

"Well, he's the boss." Rama replied.
 
After burying the woman I went for a walk.

The whole mess in Maggotville was still in my head: The dead bodies, the sodding critters, like demons in the dark, Edden nearly being bleedin’ eaten alive… and my first failure since I came back to the work.

It wasn’t the first time it had happened, in the field lots of soldiers died of wounds too great to be treated, and I wasn’t some bloody scrub that couldn’t handle the pressure.
But still, it made me question my abilities, and that has been my fear since I joined…


I needed a drink. I avoid the desire in the field since the risks were to high for me too screw up, but now I could relax for a while and sort everything out. Clear my head.

I took a long sip from the flask… took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling in my throat, then I rolled a ciggie and light it up, looking around.

Back near the truck Edden and Rama were talking to each other… What was the deal with those two? I remembered when she said they were “special friends” or something like that… oh bugger-it!

I continued looking around when I saw the bint that came with us. The one that the kid said was responsible for the death of his grandmother.
She was looking around, almost hidden from the others, and had a strange look on her face.
She was a good looking girl, very good looking, but the way she looked… it seemed to be spying on everybody, almost.

Should I confront her? She hadn’t noticed me yet. I could go over there and ask her what the bloody hell she was doing spying on everybody…

I made my decision when I noticed something on her hand… it was the crowbar I picked up in that house back in Maggotville! That was enough for me.

I started to walk towards her when I heard the howling outside and looked outhere into the dark… it seemed as the animals got to the body we just buried…
When I turned my head back to the girl she was gone.

“FUCK!”
 
"You don't want to take them do you?" Said Maddy Stowe, this was about the woman and kids.

"It's not a job in which I want to bring a woman and two kids." I said plainly.

"He would have kicked them out." She said. He was Ollie, the owner of this trading post.

"Yes. Probably. It's his business and establishment." I said.

"They won't make it out there." She said.

"No." The Dire were out there.

"You're something else Kilrick." She said and walked away, leaving me wondering what she meant.

I had a nagging feeling about all of this. I didn't want the woman or the kids. They weren't my responsibility and I didn't want more. I had enough with the job and the crew.

More was just distraction. Distraction gets you killed.

I went back into camp and saw Rama speaking with Edden, Jake speaking with Gally and Reik. Nearby Clara was talking to Aaron.

The boys were actually being watched over by Jasmin. I hadn't thought of her as a mother type.

I called them altogether. "Tomorrow we have to go back to Maggotville for the last time. We've killed a lot of 'em but I figure we just stirred up a nest of pissed off ants."

"We're all going?" Asked the Techhead, Edwards.

"Yep we go and keep going. Jake, the repairs."
I asked.

Jake nodded. "Repairs done and we got the plow for near nothin. Ollie was glad to get it moved. I can have it set on the front."

The plow was a big cast iron wedge that mad the front of the rig look like a battering ram.

"Do it." I said. "Now the plan is that we go in, break down the turbine and store in a cart. The carts are going to be those owned by the Tinkers. This will make the rig a little less crowded."

"We're going to have to take a cart." Asked Rama.

"You're going to borrow a cart." Said Clara.

"Yes, we'll borrow the cart and take the Tinkers with us."

"The other one too?" Asked Wolf.

I should have anticipated that question. "What do you want to do?"
 
"How about we just shoot the lot of them, solve all our problems, take their carts and dump whatever we don't want?" Jake's pride had taken a pounding, and he was out for bloody revenge.
 
I was watching Jake. I had wounded the man's pride a bit and needed to make peace.

"Jake, you did good work today, mate. Without that fast thinking we couldn't have gotten that radiator, and without your repairs the damn truck would be crap. That plow will do us a ton of good."

"So if you want to feed the child to the wolves, well, I understand it. Still a good partnering with the woman might do you well. She's done turbines before and make a good partner for ya."

I gave Jake another smile and wink, sending a message. "take care of this one and you'll get more of an assistant but someone to share your blanket." Then I gave a shrug, meaning, "And we could always get rid of her later."
 
"Sounds simple enough." Rama began, his voice oddly more human then before, not filled with the thin disdain it often carried. "So we keep the maggots off, right? As you said, we could have stirred up a hornets nest. I hope we have enough bullets for the hornets."

Edden took a drag of American spirit and raised her hands, "Whats the time table basically. How long in and out."
 
I said, "Ammo we have plenty of."

Jake nodded. "Yes, but it will take us most of the day to pull it down."

Clara agreed. "You're right. We thought about it. I had pulled one down and put another up two years ago. We were thinking about bringing it down, but the men felt it were too much work."

"You know how to bring one down?" I asked.

"Well, it's been awhile, but those turbines are all pretty much the same construct. Only a few makers before the big one."

"And the maggots?" Asked Rama.

"The turbine is pretty far from the town. But there will be a conduit between the power the generator and the main lines in town." Said Clara.

"Big enough for a maggot." Asked Reik.

"Yep." Said Clara.

"So we have three problems. We need to bring down the turbine and disconnect the generator, and store it all for transportation and we have only the time between sunrise and sunset to do it. After that, the maggots will own the town." I said.

"I can help. My boys can climb up the turbine and help disconnect. They climb like monkeys." Said Clara.

I looked over at Jake for his thoughts. He nodded, probably thinking about the taller parts of the turbine, the parts where it would be difficult to get to.

"Ok, I want you and Jake to work on it. Gally, you are with them. Probably you will need at least one or two others to help." I said.

Then I turned to the group "Now the other problems. We can expect to draw maggots down that conduit, so we need to block it up. IF we can blow it, great, if not, we need to keep it blocked. They will be coming from only one direction, but they are really fast in the dark. Thirdly, we can expect a few to try to approach us from above. Especially if the day is dark. They don't like daylight, but that doesn't mean they might not try something. So we need to cover both below and above."

The others were listening and silently agreed.

"So how do you want to split this up?" I asked.
 
Sigh… again with the bloody maggots, oh well…

“I can blow de conduit up! But I need fire power for back up, a rifle or two to cover my back.” – I said, looking around for volunteers.
 
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