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A voice, exasperated to the point of despair, rang out across the hastily constructed camp; "Oh for fu..SPENCE! Spence, wake up you lazy fucking prick!"

The words emanated from a face poking out of one of the tents in the outermost ring of the camp. It was directed at a figure slumped 5 yards beyond the perimeter that the ring of tents formed. The face emerged to become first a head and then a man. The man stood to his full 5'8", a T-shirt and jogging pants covering his slight yet muscular frame. He had close-cropped brown hair and a face which could charitably be described as old before its time, although currently the best description would be "Furious". He stalked toward the slumped figure, continuing his angry diatribe as he went.

"What the FUCK do you think you're doing!?! I left you on watch 3 hours ago! 3 FUCKING HOURS!! Can you not be trusted to keep your stupid fucking eyes open for that time?" By this point, Spence was beginning to stir. His head half turned to view the source of it's current woe. His weasily eyes snuck a glance to its left and right as it did, thus betraying a survival instinct that was present in all people these days. He was rewarded with a hard slap to the side of the head from the angry figure. Spence flew back extravagantly at this, no longer slumped but sprawling on the ground, sleep crusted eyes now bright with shock and anger of his own.

"Piss off John! I wasn't fucking sleeping you ignorant shit! I was just…I was just thinking about stuff is all! And don't you ever hit me again, right? Do that again and I'll…" John stood over Spence and reached down to grab him by the lapels. He pulled the prone figure toward his still fuming visage. "YOU'LL DO WHAT YOU COWARDLY LITTLE SHIT?!? I'm not a kid like Steve so you can't bully me around! Just get up and get your kit together. We'll be moving out in 20 minutes and we're going to need everyone in good shape, even you. That's why you got a slap and not a punch. Next time I find you asleep on watch I guarantee I'll give you such a fucking beating! Got it?"

Spence glared back at John, resentment and fear now dancing about his features. He never got to respond to John's delicately put enquiry though. Others had now been roused by the previous minutes shouting. People were emerging from all of the 30 tents that made up the camp. In particular, a tall blonde man approached from one of the innermost tents. He looked tired but that was nothing special; even after their rest every one of the group of men and women who made up this merry band looked tired and haunted. There were few reasons to be cheerful these days. The figure stopped when he got to the happy couple and spoke in a weary voice. "John, what the hell is all the shouting about? You'll attract zombies if you keep doing that. Whats the problem?" John released his grip on Spence who fell back to the ground, an "Oomph" noise signalling his landing. "It's no problem Andrew. Spence was asleep on watch. I was just letting him know that I was rather unhappy with him. It's not a problem Andrew. Is it?" A casual observer would have thought that John was challenging Andrew to contradict that assertion that there was indeed no problem. A casual observer would not have known the history of these 2 men.

Andrew looked down at Spence and offered his hand to pull him. Spence gave it a cursory glance, sneered at its possessor, then rolled to the side and picked himself up. He rounded on Andrew and John. His voice was an obvious effort at righteous anger though in truth it was closer to that of a whining teenager. "I'm not standing for that Andrew! He had no right to talk to me like that, or hit me. And I was not sleeping!" With that, Spence turned and stormed back to his tent. Andrew and John watched the larger man walk away. Only when he reached his tent did the two look at each other and allow themselves a conspiratorial smile. "I'm sorry Andrew, I lost my temper and I shouldn't have. It's just that…well, I can't stand him. He acts like the tough guy to everyone, especially the younger lads, and he treats the women like they're worse than the bloody zombies. I just don't trust him. Remember Ollie?" Andrew nodded that he did indeed remember the unfortunate Ollie. "Well that's who he puts me in mind of. Full of piss and wind and fuck all use in a fight." The two men talked a few seconds more and then walked toward the camp to help strike it.

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