Synopsis for 4×06: More of Naomi’s past is revealed, how Strand and the Clarks survived the dam is alluded to, and a shocking reunion is immediately ruined.
It’s revealed that Al is still driving the van towards the Vultures, with Strand, Luciana, and Alicia inside. John insists that Morgan holds onto his guns, given what he’d already done with them, and they set off to catch up with the other group.
A flashback to ‘Before’ happens again, with Naomi patching up Alicia’s arm. They’re running out of food at the stadium and things are starting to look dire. Strand again plays off his food-finding heroism, which angers Cole once more — but he doesn’t reveal the truth for fear of what Strand might do to him.
Unsettled, Strand goes to ask Madison about why she chose to save him. This reveals some of what happened to them between the dam explosion and settling at the stadium. At some point, Strand was injured so badly he couldn’t walk, they found Nick, they found Luciana, they waited for Strand to get better because she knows who he is.
Before they can dig too deeply into that, Naomi is stopped from leaving the stadium. She was planning to go out for seeds and supplies, with a map in hand, but she didn’t want anyone else to get hurt on the journey. Madison and Strand choose to go with her and they leave Alicia behind to get the stadium under control.
They don’t make it all the way to their destination, so they’re forced to camp out overnight at an abandoned hotel. Strand asks Naomi about where they’re going and why she knows there will be supplies there. She reveals to them that it’s where she came from originally, an abandoned FEMA shelter, but she doesn’t like to think about it so she doesn’t want to answer any questions. Naomi does admit that she was running from them, but was going to leave the map. This angers Strand and he demands the car keys from her before they go to sleep.
When Madison wakes up, Naomi has hotwired a car and left. Luckily, she still headed towards the FEMA building and isn’t surprised to find it full of the infected. With them distracted at the front door, she moves around them into the building and unlocks a trunk full of supplies — including guns, a notebook full of survival notes, and car keys.
Unfortunately, her grief causes her to alert the infected to her presence and Naomi has to climb some scaffolding to get away from the group. Madison and Strand briefly argue over going after Naomi, with Strand admitting to Madison about the truck full of supplies he stashed. He’s convinced that people don’t change because he didn’t.
But once they find Naomi, who gives them the truck keys and tells them to leave her behind, Strand has a change of heart. He gives her an escape route while Madison causes a distraction and all three of them manage to escape. Once they’re safe, Naomi tearfully tells them that she was trying to make up for what she’d done. She couldn’t kill any of the infected because she knew them.
Naomi reveals more about her past than she has ever before. Her husband died soon after everything started happening, but she swore the same thing wouldn’t happen to her daughter Rose. The FEMA shelter had food, water, and a woman named Ellen teaching them survival “JIC” or just-in-case classes.
Despite all of the preparation Naomi put in place, Rose got sick. Naomi hid her away in a pantry and went looking for medicine to treat pneumonia. It took her three days to find amoxicillin, but when Naomi returned, Rose had already passed. She passed on the first night and then everyone else was turned. Naomi feels guilty because the fall of the FEMA building was all her fault. Strand, of all people, tells her that people can change.
Back at the stadium, Alicia, Nick, and Luciana ask Mel and the Vultures to move out of the way as Madison, Strand, and Naomi drive in with new supplies to keep them going. Angry, Mel tells his people to pack it up. He leaves with a warning to Madison: the really bad stuff, you never see coming.
The supplies are enough to jumpstart their rebuild and everyone feels hopeful. Strand apologizes to Cole by admitting that he might have shown himself too soon. He wants to talk to Madison, but she’s preoccupied with checking the horizon. Later, she has Alicia secretly pack a truck full of supplies “just in case.”
Returning to the ‘Now,’ John Dorie and Morgan drive up to where the other group is awaiting the Vultures. They’re pissed to find that John and Morgan warned them off, but it’s short-lived because some of the Vultures still show up anyway. Mel thanks John and Morgan for the heads up and apologizes about Nick, to which Alicia doesn’t feel bad about Ennis.
Someone wasn’t warned about the pitstop over the radio and another car pulls up to the scene. Naomi gets out of the vehicle, shocking everyone but the Vultures. The mere sight of her pisses off Alicia, who shoots at her — and misses, shooting John Dorie instead.
English