A Matter of Time

Poster used for the second episode.

"**A Matter of Time**" is the fifth episode of the first season of *The Walking Dead*. It is the fifth episode of the series overall.

## Plot

Rick and Shane begin to train the survivors how to shoot. Jim becomes unhinged in camp as tensions rise.

## Synopsis

Shane is sitting on top of the RV, staring off into the night sky holding his shotgun as he hears some rustling. He looks concerned, and is surprised by Rick, who apologizes for scaring him, stating he was trying to get up without waking anyone. Shane calms down, and asks him to throw a rock or something, especially after the recent events. Rick says that’s what he came to talk about, and tells him they should consider moving camp. Shane denies this, saying they’re better off where they are, just in case the government comes back.

Rick begins to argue with him, asking when he thinks the government may step in? The two go back and forth on what might be riskier, and Rick reminds him that Donna nearly died yesterday. Shane tells him they’re not moving, and if there is any chance to be rescued, being close to the city is the best move. Rick relents, but tells him they need to begin training the other survivors, and with all the guns they have now should be easily able to. Shane agrees, and spots Rick's torn jacket. Rick mentions he needs to ask Donna about sewing it for him, and begins to ask about Ed before Dale comes out, and tells them to quiet down.

A few weeks later, a vulture can be seen on the road, pecking at a dead roamer, before gunshots startle it, causing it to fly off. Rick is seen watching over several survivors practicing shooting at cans lined up along a dilapidated fence. He praises Donna’s progress over the last few weeks, with Donna replying she’s not nearly as good as Andrea. Rick notes he may be able to say the same, and continues down the line, watching as Glenn, Lori, and Jim all take shots.

Rick walks up to Shane, and asks about Andrea’s progress. The two praise her, and she downplays it by saying it’s simple as pointing and shooting, before nailing all of her targets. Rick playfully says tell that to my wife, before looking down at the line, including Miranda, Orlando, and Jacqui also shooting. At the end of the line, Daryl watches T-Dog shoot, who next to Jacqui, while also looking over and trying to give her some pointers while lightly flirting. Daryl scoffs and continues to smoke.

Rick walks up towards Carol, Dale and Amy, who are watching the children, and asks if Carl is ready. Carl excitedly tells Sophia he’s going to shoot some cans, running off as Rick thanks the adults for watching him. Lori gives an annoyed look at Rick, before switching off with Amy.

Rick watches as Carl shoots, and praises him. Carl asks if this means he’ll carry a gun now, and Rick confirms he will. Shane suddenly speaks up, telling everyone to start packing up, but telling them how he is proud of everyone’s progress, and they should be capable of defending themselves now. He admits he was a bit worried three weeks ago, but feels confident in them now. Rick also speaks up, telling them he’ll allow Carl to have his own gun, but asks for help watching him, and to alert him if he doesn’t keep it holstered.

Lori brushes past Rick, and Rick asks her to stop. Lori expresses her anger, saying he’s only 7, and that she's upset over the lack of say in the choice. Rick tries to tell her she’s overreacting, and he has it handled, but she ignores it, once again brushing it off. A defeated Rick hangs back, as Dale catches up, who wishes the practice spot wasn’t so far away from camp. Rick reminds him of the sound, and Dale realizes he has a point.

The group arrives back, and is greeted by Allen, who asks if they’re experts yet. Rick replies a couple of us, and tells him he could’ve come out too. Allen cites the walk and wanting to watch the camp as a reason why he doesn’t, which Rick understands. He asks about Ed, and is told he’s been hiding in his tent all day like usual. Away from them, Donna spots Amy and Andrea going into Dale’s RV, playfully talking to him, and says it’s unchristian. Lori chimes in, saying so is being judgmental, causing Donna to storm off while Carol laughs. Shane walks up to Rick, and tells him to not get too comfortable, and that they need to chop some firewood for the fire tonight.

The two, and Dale, begin to walk towards a chopped down tree while Rick brings up Donna’s judgment of him sleeping with the sisters in the RV, saying it’s all, and the only thing Lori has talked about to him since they got back. Dale remarks she hasn’t shown any gratitude towards him, and isn’t sure how Allen deals with her, while Shane adds he feels bad for the twins. Rick tells Dale they’d be screwed without him, and deserves to have two cute girls in his RV. Dale promises he isn’t doing anything with them, and since losing his wife, they help him from being lonely. Rick reassures him he doesn’t have to explain himself and to ignore Donna.

As Rick is cutting more wood, Shane asks to take another turn. Dale stops him, and says they should just head back to camp, and that they have enough. Rick asks if he’s sure, and that it might get cold tonight. Shane lashes out, telling him to give it a rest and that they don’t need to move the camp. Rick and Dale watch as he takes a large amount of wood, and walks back toward the camp, with Dale saying he has problems.

Back at camp, T-Dog walks up to Jacqui, who is reading a book, and begins to flirt with her, which Jacqui doesn’t show much interest in, but playfully pushes T-Dog further. Meanwhile, Morales is working on the campfire, while Anna and his children play around him. Eliza trips, and scrapes her knee, and Anna helps her up, the former showing appreciation and hugging Anna.

Andrea and Amy are in the RV, talking to each other. Amy brings up Dale, and playfully teases Andrea suggesting that she has a crush. Andrea laughs it off, and Amy makes another joke, the two laughing before falling silent. Amy wonders if their father is alive, as she believes Florida wasn’t hit that bad by the apocalypse. Andrea tells her not to worry about it. Amy spots Shane walking back, and suggests that maybe she should talk to him more, and that he’s cute. Andrea replies she is still confused on their dynamic with Lori, and that it might be too messy. The two walk out of the RV to greet Dale and Rick, when T-Dog from behind gathers the group’s attention, pointing out Jim off to the side, digging a grave.

Shane, along with Rick, Morales, T-Dog, and Dale approach Jim, who still won't explain why he's digging. The rest of the group gathers as Lori tells Jim he's scaring Sophia and Carl, and Shane orders Jim to take a break. Shane even offers to help him later, but Jim asks if he’ll beat him too if he doesn’t. Amy speaks up, telling him that it was different as Shane gets closer, and he swings his shovel at Shane, who tackles him. Subdued, Jim cries over the death of his entire family, revealing the only reason why he survived was because the roamers were too busy eating his family.

Shane ties Jim to a tree and is offering him water, which Jim accepts. Shane tells Jim he's going to keep him tied to the tree until he no longer thinks Jim's a danger to himself or others. Jim apologizes for scaring the children, as Shane walks away from him. Shane goes to Dale, Rick, T-Dog, and Morales, and the five discuss him, with T-Dog wondering if it’s maybe him planning to kill some of them. Morales defends him, saying he’s always been off, but doesn’t feel like a threat. Dale says lets just ask, and walks up to him, asking why he was digging holes, but Jim cannot remember. He dreamt something is going to happen, and it has forced him to dig holes. Jim warns Lori who is standing by Shane not to let Carl out of her sight.

Daryl walks up to the group, and says he’s going hunting. Shane asks why, and that they are going to start eating as soon as the sun goes down. Daryl tells him that they don’t have enough food to feed everyone, and might as well get a few more meals so they won’t need to go hunting tomorrow either. Rick asks to tag along, much to Lori’s dismay, who isn’t shy showing her feelings. She walks away from them, and Shane and Rick exchange looks, before Rick and Daryl head off.

T-Dog heads back to Jacqui, and asks her about sitting together at the fire tonight. Jacqui laughs at his ability to go right back to this, and tells him maybe with a smirk. T-Dog smiles back, as Morales calls him over. The two discuss the campfire modifications while Carl looks at Jim. Shane stops him from wandering close, and sits him down. In an attempt to distract him, he shows him how to tie a knot while Lori comes up. She asks if Shane can come with him, and asks Carol to watch over Carl for her.

In the woods, Rick and Daryl walk around in silence, when Daryl asks why did he want to come out with him? Rick says to hunt, and Daryl tells him he knows that's bullshit, and asks if there is trouble in paradise. Rick sighs, and asks if he thinks they should move the camp. Daryl tells him he doesn’t want to leave without Merle coming back, but assumes he’s dead anyway. Rick admits Shane has been touchy about it for weeks, and says it’s only a matter of time until something bad happens. Daryl agrees, and notes how it’s weird they haven’t seen one animal, saying its as if they’ve all been scared off.

At camp, Shane follows after Lori and he asks what she wants. Lori sighs, and apologizes for the harsh words she said a few weeks ago, and that she doesn’t want the two of them to not talk or just be normal. Before Shane can speak up, she cuts him off and tells him nothing is changing about that, but she misses the Shane she knew before. He nods and asks if this is about the Rick stuff, and she denies it. She then brings up the fact that she thinks they should move camp too, and knows he’s been blocking it. Shane angrily asks if Rick put her up to this, but she informs him it was all her. He admits he’s been thinking about it, but that this place has been very safe so far. Lori quiets him, and gives him a quick hug, much to his surprise, which he awkwardly gives back. Shane tells her they’re about to start the campfire, and they should head back.

At the fire, people begin to settle down, notably Shane next to Lori and T-Dog next to Jacqui. Carl walks up to Jim, and frees him, telling him he should be able to eat with them. Jim thanks him, and notices him looking toward the woods. Jim tells him not to worry, and that he knows his father is strong, and he’ll return okay. Lori is shocked to see Carl walking back with him, but Morales helps ease the tension by welcoming him back. Orlando tells Morales he did a great job with the campfire, while T-Dog jokes with Jacqui, the two sharing a laugh. Carol grabs Anna to bring her to the campfire, and looks back towards a loan tent. She goes to ask Ed if he wants to join them, and from the dark, he denies them, telling her to fuck off. He grabs Anna’s hand, asking if she’d stay, but Carol forces her away, and tells him never mind.

The group sit down, and begin to walk as they begin to eat. Allen tells Dale his camping supplies, including what is cooking the meat, is super helpful. Morales asks Dale why he still winds his wristwatch every day. Jacqui agrees that it's pointless, ever since the world ended. Dale tells a story that it is important to keep track of time. Orlando tells him he’s a crazy old man, as the group laugh. Rick and Daryl return, with nothing from their hunt. Rick eyes Lori and Shane, the two close together, before sitting between the two.

The group eats in silence for a moment, before Rick admits he doesn’t really know much about the group yet before the apocalypse. He asks Dale if he just traveled, which Dale goes into the backstory of him being a salesman, and how he and his wife traveled in the RV after he retired. He tells them how his wife died in Florida, and found Andrea and Amy broken down trying to get into Atlanta. The two sisters detail their backstory as well.

Glenn speaks up next, noting how he was delivering pizza in Macon, and nearly had to go back to his parents. He notes he was with another small group, but decided to leave for Atlanta, and was saved by T-Dog. Allen details his debt as well, being a shoes salesman, with Donna noting Dale, the sisters, Glenn, and T-Dog had already formed the camp by time they arrived. Jim quietly adds he was just a mechanic. T-Dog tells them he was working for a church, and drove elderly people to a safe haven, before finding Glenn. He notes he worries if he just brought people to their doom.

Morales speaks next, telling them how he’s from Birmingham, but were out here for vacation when everything went down. Miranda notes they finally got a chance to take one, and of course everything goes down. Jacqui tells them she worked for the zoning department, and was taking care of her mother with her brothers, but goes silent. Orlando speaks up, filling the silence, telling them he just worked at a gas station in Kennesaw, and was on shift when it went down. Daryl tells them he was just living with Merle, and “not doing much in life”, but keeps it at that.

Rick notes how they had more food then he thought, and asks Allen if he can get more. Rick goes into his backstory, and the shooting that put him into a coma. Shane admits how he was visiting Rick at the hospital when everything happened, and that he barricaded him in his room, and planned to get him but was stranded. He mentions how they met Carol on the highway, and they found this camp just after Allen got there. Rick asks Carol about her, and she tells about her husband, and how he could talk people into anything, including marriage. She hints he killed himself, and that’s when she met Ed. She felt safe with him, and Ed knew her husband, but quickly realized it was more or less the same story. She tells them Ed isn’t evil, he watched his parents get eaten, and after that was when he really changed.

The group went silent, and Amy stood up, announcing she needs to pee. Donna gives her a dirty look, and she asks if anyone needs anything, before noticing a roamer coming from the side of the RV. As she is distracted, another roamer grabs her from behind, and sinks into her neck. Rick and Shane react immediately, drawing their weapons as Andrea screams in shock. Rick kills the roamer Amy spotted as Shane shoots the one still tearing into Amy's flesh. Andrea and Rick rush towards Amy, and a panicking Andrea asks what she can do. Rick begins to help, but realizes Amy dies as he speaks, and sadly informs Andrea.

Ed hears something against his tent, and opens it up, preparing to yell at Carol, but sees a Roamer instead, which tackles him and begins to scream. Shane alerts Rick to more dead, and Rick orders Lori to get the kids into a car and have them stay. The group begins to scatter as more dead invade the camp, Rick and Shane shooting several as a few others begin to help. Another Roamer nearly attacks Andrea in the chaos, but Jim whacks it in the head with the shovel he used earlier, and kills it. Dale works his way towards her, and tells her they need to leave as she refuses to leave Amy.

Lori leads Carol, Miranda, Donna and the children away from the RV as Allen, with Ben in his arms, and Morales provide cover fire, but accidentally rushes into a roamer. She fumbles her gun, and falls to the ground trying to get it in fear, but is saved by Carl, who shoots it. Nearby, Carol cowers in fear as a roamer closes in on her and Sophia, but it drops as Glenn is seen killing it, who rushes towards her to help her up. Orlando is struggling as two roamers close in on him, fighting one back as one grabs him from behind. Morales hits one with a baseball bat, allowing Orlando to kill the other. T-Dog leads Jacqui away from the scene, and is holding his own easily but is surprised from behind, a single bolt passing by him and saving him. Daryl reloads his crossbow, and takes out another, before whacking a close by roamer with the stock of his crossbow.

Shane tells Dale to get Andrea into the RV as he tries to group everyone together. Rick rushes to Lori and checks on them, providing more cover for them as he, Shane, Allen, T-Dog, and Daryl take on the majority of the dead, the rest grouping together as the herd thins. Jim is seen missing a shot, striking a roamer in the shoulder as it tackles him, and knocks him to the ground. In the struggle, he angrily pushes it off, and begins to bash it's face in with his pistol, screaming how it killed his family as the gunshots quiet around him. Shane walks up to him as he continues, and tells him to stop, and that it's over.

As the group recovers from what just happened, Dale crouches down to Andrea, telling her he's so sorry. Andrea cradles Amy's head in her hands, and slowly puts a gun to her head, pulling the trigger as blood covers her face, telling Dale she couldn't let her come back like that. Lori hugs Rick, apologizing for being so mad at him, and that she's sorry. Jim notes he remembers why he dug the holes now, before Jacqui gasps, and realizes he's been bitten. Jim looks down at his left arm, bleeding heavily from a bite wound, and he states it's nothing but a scratch.

## Credits

* Rick Grimes
* Shane Walsh
* Lori Grimes
* Carl Grimes
* Glenn
* Dale
* Amy
* Andrea
* Carol
* Ed Peletier
* Sophia
* Anna
* Orlando
* Jim
* Allen
* Donna
* Ben (No Lines)
* Billy (No Lines)
* T-Dog
* Morales
* Miranda Morales
* Eliza Morales
* Louis Morales
* Jacqui
* Daryl Dixon
* Reggie

## Mentioned

* Amy and Andrea's father
* Jim's Family
* Erma
* Glenn's Parents
* Jacqui's Family
* Merle Dixon
* Carol's Husband
* Ed's Parents

## Deaths

* Jim's Family (Confirmed fate)
* Erma (Confirmed fate)
* Ed's Parents (Confirmed fate)
* Carol's Husband (Confirmed fate)
* Amy
* Ed Peletier
* Reggie (Zombified)

## Trivia

* Last appearance of Amy.
* Last appearance of Ed Peletier (Alive).
* The first episode to feature a death of a member of the The Survivors.
	+ It is also the first episode to show a member of the group to be bitten.
* Reggie is the first character to appear again after not being present for more than one episode, though zombified.