Madison Clark/Season 1/The Good Man

## Summary

This article contains details of the events during the episode "The Good Man" which were directly contributed to or witnessed by Madison Clark.

## Plot Details

Madison and Travis are packing supplies when Alicia and Chris get back. They tell the kids that the Guard is pulling out and Alicia and Chris tell the adults they've seen the soldiers looting.

Alicia is scared and wants to know why, she says that she thought things were getting better and Chris wants to know what they're going to about Liza, his mom, and how they're going to do it. Travis doesn't have an answer for him straight away.

In the basement of the Tran home, Andrew Adams is still tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth. Daniel is standing over him and talking when Travis and Madison enter. Daniel tells Adams that he's found the arena, it's close to the base and that "We can use it." He's holding a pistol down by his side as he talks and Adams can't stop himself looking at it. Daniel turns to them and says that he thinks Adams has told them all he can. Madison and Travis argue with him, he says that he can't be allowed to escape because he will tell the soldiers before the families can get away. They continue to argue, finding reasons why Adams should not be killed.

Madison pulls off the duct tape so that they can hear what Adams is trying to say. He tells them that even though they know where the compound is they still need him to tell them where their people are inside it. Travis makes a decision - that Adams is coming with them. Daniel walks out without a word. Madison wants Adams in the pickup with Travis and not where the kids will see. When Travis asks if there's something she's ashamed of she tells him that he'd do anything if Chris were in danger. Travis doesn't answer her, but he's deeply troubled.

Madison gets ready to go, she picks up car keys from by the mirror near the front door. She stops to look at the many marks on the wall there, recording the height of her children as they grew. Her own height and that of her husband Stephen Clark are also on the wall and she touches the pencilled marks for a moment before leaving the house.

On the drive she tells Alicia to get in the car and then looks over at a man walking his dog. Ofelia asks "What?" and Madison answers that her neighbours don't know. Ofelia is bitter. "They did nothing when they came for us" she says, and puts her bag in the car. Neither she nor Madison go to speak to the man.

Madison and the rest of the group are waiting for Daniel. He jogs into the underground car park and tells them that he's led "them" to the north gate and that the soldiers are distracted now. Ofelia is still not looking at him. Daniel sees that Adams is not there and is angry, he says to Madison "You see what doing the right thing gets you." when she sides with Travis. They make final arrangements to go and find Nick, Liza and Griselda. Alicia and Chris are to wait here in the car park for them and are told to go to "the camp ground" if there's trouble or if they don't return. Chris argues with his Dad but accepts it when Madison asks him to take care of Alicia, she then hugs Alicia and tells her quietly to take care of Chris. They all troop off, with Daniel bringing up the rear and looking very angry. Alicia and Chris are left standing by the SUV.

The families, led by Ofelia with some big bolt cutters, leave the underground car park up near the perimeter fence of The Military Hospital. Madison stares at the large group of Infected who are collecting by the fence a few hundred yards away. As Ofelia cuts a padlock from a gate Daniel remarks that "the hard part is done"; she asks him how they're going to get out if the Infected get in? Daniel replies that "That would be the harder part". Travis does remember to close the gate behind them as they go in. He's carrying the The Tran's Shotgun. Daniel has Adams' pistol and Madison a ball pein hammer.

Travis follows the directions through the building that Adams gave to him, he ticks them off out loud: a checkpoint and a sign marked Administration.

They find the holding cell area. There appears to be a couple of hundred people in there. They run along the cells asking for Nick and Griselda or for information about them. Some of the internees tell them they've seen Nick and the man in the suit, Maddy lets them out and gets more information, Daniel shouts that there's no time but the other three break the locks on as many cells as they can. Ofelia still has her bolt cutters and makes good use of them.

(offscreen) they leave the holding area looking for Nick and Strand, they arrive at a stairwell and though the window of the double doors in front of them they can see Nick.

Looking through the glass panel of the door Nick can see Travis and Madison running towards him.

On one side of the door, Madison et al are trying to open it with a hammer and a shotgun. On the other side Nick is looking through the glass panel while Strands wastes ammunition by missing headshots. The zombie horde continues to approach at its slow walk. Nick, watching his mother again attempting to move heaven and earth to save him, actually becomes calm and puts his hand against the glass. Madison touches the glass in the same way and they both appear calm for a moment. We see Liza running up behind them. She tries her pass card over and over in the card reader until it works and the doors open in time to let Nick and Strand get through. There's not time to shut them to block the dead though and they follow the group down the stairs.

They pass through a kitchen that's been abandoned 1/2 way through preparing a meal, Liza leading the way. An infected man leaps out and grabs her. She is in real trouble until Ofelia steps up and despatches the Infected man with her heavy bolt cutters. They all fight well - Madison with her hammer, Daniel with Adams' pistol and Travis with the butt of the shotgun. Liza and Ofelia, in particular, are an effective team. Madison gets taken by surprise, drops her hammer and is struggling until Nick (Nick!) picks it up and puts down her attacker. As they leave the kitchen, Strand somehow knows just where to find something to lock the doors behind them (a long mop handle) and walks calmly away from the doors as the dead approach it from the other side. "Who the hell are you?" asks Madison and Nick replies "He saved my life."

Liza leads the way into the hospital ward area. The bodies of the critical patients are on the beds, each neatly tagged and each with a wound from the captive bolt device in the centre of their foreheads. Bethany Exner is still there, having taken care of her patients in the only way left to her. She is sitting and staring at nothing. Madison scavenges drugs while Liza asks Exner for the way out. Exner eventually tells her but refuses to go with them because there's "nowhere to go to". As the families leave Bethany Exner picks up the captive bolt device again and looks at it.

As they go where Dr Exner has told them, Strand suggests to Madison that they go to his house, to his "home on the water". He says he has supplies and is prepared.

As they leave the building, they see what's left of the bodies that have been incinerated. Ofelia and Daniel in particular are devastated by the sight of the pile of ash, bones, partially burnt bodies, and the bulldozer that was used to move it all around.

Back in the underground car park Travis calls out for Chris. They see that the car is not there and get louder, causing Daniel to tell them to be quiet and not attract the dead. Travis shoves him out of the way and ignores him. Alicia and Chris appear from a door at the far end of the car park. Travis, Madison and Liza greet their children while Ofelia sits down on the floor by a pillar, drained. Daniel calls out "We must go now".

Andrew Adams appears, with a pistol and says "Salazar!". He points the weapon at Daniel and Ofelia gets up to intervene. She talks to him and tries to stop it escalating further until Andrew suddenly changes aim and shoots Ofelia instead.

Travis, overcome with rage and guilt, leaps on Adams and hits him over and over. We hear Liza say to Ofelia and Daniel - "It's ok." but Travis doesn't hear and doesn't stop. The whole group are stunned by his reaction which doesn't stop until Madison tells Travis to leave him, even Daniel does not intervene when Madison gets Travis to stop. Adams is badly beaten but still alive.

The two cars, Madison's car in front, are on an almost deserted stretch of road. Daniel, Ofelia and Liza are in the back of Travis' pickup. Chris is in the front with Travis driving. Madison is driving her car with Alicia in the passenger seat and Strand in the back. They are discussing the best route to take to the sea; they pass some (undead) pedestrian traffic but see little else. Two of the main office blocks in the city are burning. At Strand's suggestion they turn left off the main road and onto the concreted LA river, where it all started for Madison and Travis and where Nick killed Calvin. There's very little water and no traffic at all. They pass a crashed and burnt out military helicopter with a badly burnt but still active Infected man or woman struggling to get at them from the wreckage. They can't see from down in the river, but an aerial shot shows us roads completely blocked with cars and many more fires. The concreted river bed is clear and straight though. It takes them to Strands home with no problems.

Strand lets them into the property with a code, he explains that there's a generator that starts automatically when the power goes off. They all go in, Liza and Daniel helping Ofelia who, while she is walking, is obviously in a lot of pain. Strands home is beautiful and looks very expensive; you can hear the sea and the sea gulls as you walk up to the house. Strand lets them in the front door asks them to help themselves to food. The group are very wary as they enter. Daniel, Ofelia and Liza go to sit in a family area. Chris and Alicia get a drink of water and Madison and Nick are outside, looking at the sea and talking.

Madison tells Nick she's sorry, he asks "For what?" and she says it's for letting him be taken, but she shakes her head as she says it and the impression is that it's for more than that. Nick, doesn't feel she has anything to apologise for. He talks about his feeling that everyone is catching up with him - that now everyone is as lost as he has always been

Liza finds Chris in the kitchen and tells him that Ofelia will be ok, and that she loves him. As they hug Madison can see from Liza's face over Chris' shoulder that there's something badly wrong. She's tearful as she walks away and Chris looks puzzled, but not concerned. Madison is worried and follows Liza out of the house and to the cliff path, after a few moments Travis follows Madison.

Liza has worked her way down to the rocks by the sea with Madison still following. Madison runs to catch up and Liza turns back to her when she calls. Madison asks what is wrong and Liza shows her that she's been bitten or badly scratched, just over her right hip. Madison asks what they can do and Liza tells her there's nothing and shows her the gun she has tucked into waist of her scrubs. Madison tries to argue with her, and when Liza asks here to do it for her says that Liza can't ask that of her. Liza calmly points out that Madison had asked the same thing of her a few days before. And Liza echoes what Madison said when *she* asked. "Don't make Travis do it. It'll break him." Liza is very calm and persistent, even joking with her; Madison eventually takes the pistol from her, just as Travis arrives.

Travis asks what is going on, he sees the pistol and Madison tells him that Liza is bitten and infected. Travis says it's ok, that they have medications now but Liza tells him otherwise. She tells him that nothing will work, that she's seen what will happen and that she doesn't want it. She tells him that everyone turns no matter what the cause of death, and that the infection from a bite is not treatable. She convinces him eventually, and he takes the pistol from Madison.

Chris and Alicia run down to the beach when they hear the shot.

Travis goes off on his own and kneels at the water's edge, digging his fingers into the sand. Chris kneels by his mother's body as Alicia stands off a little way trying not to cry. Madison walks up behind Travis, puts her hands on his shoulders and then kneels down beside him as the waves from the incoming tide start to break over them.