Gone Too Long

"Gone Too Long" is the third episode of Season 2 and the eleventh episode of the series overall.

Description
''When a new danger introduces itself at the school, the group tries to reach an old friend. At the campsite, Clyde tries to help out more.''

Flash-Back
Presumably a short while after the events of "What We Become", Blake kneels at Frank's grave. Tim approaches from behind and Blake rises as he asks if he's alright. Blake shakes his head, saying "not really, but I'll be okay." Tim then opens his mouth to say something, but Blake cuts him off, telling him that "if you're here to apologise for what you did, don't. Chloe made the decision to keep you here, but if I thought you were capable of what those guys you were with were, you wouldn't be here."

Tim squeezes his eyes shut and sits on the grass. He then tells Blake that "my mum died a few years back. Car crash. After that, I was just kinda on autopilot, y'know? Didn't know what to do with myself, so I just kinda stuck with Logan. I wasn't really alive, I was just...existing. When the world ended, I didn't realise what pieces of shit my friends were until it was too late. I'm gonna make up for it. Somehow. I promise." Blake nods and the two walk back to the school as the intro starts

Present Day
Early in the morning, Tim and Sam lay in bed together. Tim says that "last night was...something else. But why me?", to which she says that "it's not like I know what's gonna happen tomorrow. I could get bit, die, break my leg and be left for dead...Whatever happens, at least I'll have had a good time first. I don't think Simon got that." Glumly, Tim nods.

Later, Charlie sits atop the truck at the front gates. He is soon joined by Chloe and Maeve, with the former jokingly commenting that "Tim and Sam seem to be getting along," to which Maeve says "good for them." Charlie then states that "we shouldn't be getting too close to these people. At least not until we know they're alright." Chloe tells him that "Tim's a big boy. He can take care of himself. Besides, they seem like good people." Maeve then says that she's "not saying that they're bad people, but we just can't know that yet. Not until the others get back, at least."

At the campsite, Blake, Claire, Joely, and Pepper load food into the back of one of the cars. When they finish, Joely says "let's get going, then." Blake then tells her that "you, uh...need to stay." She looks confused for a moment, and he explains that "they need insurance that we're not going to run off with their food and not return. It's the same thing we did with Sam." She sighs and says that she "do[esn't] like it, but fine. Just try not to die while I'm away, okay?" he laughs and tells her he won't. He kisses her goodbye and climbs in the car with Claire and Pepper. Bryce then approaches and thanks him for "giving this a shot. I know you were hesitant at first, but hopefully this won't be the last time we trade." Blake nods, saying "likewise," then setting off.

Still on top of the truck, Charlie, Chloe, and Maeve sit on deck chairs, laughing to each other as Tim and Sam approach. Tim shouts up and asks them "what's so funny?" To which the others look at him and continue laughing. As he keeps yelling, Sam looks to the gate and notices something. She calls for the others' attention and eventually, Charlie looks up and sees two people approaching. They both hold their hands up and one of them introduces themselves as Porter and Wainwright and that they're "looking for a place to stay."

Part Two
The others climb down from the truck, with Charlie saying that "there isn't enough room for more people. We're low on food as is." They keep talking as Sam backs off a little, turning to Tim and saying that "we're in trouble. These guys, they're from a bigger group, I recognise one of them." Tim looks up at the gate just as Porter tells Charlie that "we have food! Look!" he drops his backpack. Chloe looks at him and nods. Sam yells for them to stop, but it's too late and Charlie unlocks the gate. Immediately, two more appear from behind the corner and force the gate open, pushing Charlie to the ground. The others try to resist, Chloe manages to slash open one of the attacker's throats, but Porter punches her in the face and knocks her out. Tim and Sam reach for their weapons, but Porter pulls a gun on them and warns them not to "do anything stupid."

Charlie wakes up moments later with his and the others' weapons taken and thrown into a pile further inside the school. The others are lined up next to him. Chloe, closest to him, tells him to "keep cool". A trickle of blood leads down her forehead. He nods before Porter approaches and asks where "the rest of your shit" is. When nobody answers, he pulls his gun once more and points it at Charlie. Chloe then tells him that he's "making a mistake. You should just leave before this gets worse." Porter smiles and turns his gun to point at her before telling her that "I could say the same thing about yourselves." Chloe shuts her eyes, but before he can pull the trigger, a different gunshot sounds and Porter's hand explodes. Tim suddenly gets up, shoves Porter to the side and grabs a machete from the pile. Wainwright goes to stop him, but is too late and Tim swings, hitting him in the throat. Wainwright falls to the floor, gurgling on his own blood as Porter screams. At the entrance, Blake stands with his own gun up. Pepper and Claire follow close by, weapons ready, but Blake holds his hand out and tells them to stop. He looks at Porter, telling him that "you can still walk away. You haven't killed any of us, yet." A moment of silence passes as Porter looks at Blake, a small smile on his face. He then whistles and begins slowly walking to the gate, the other two following behind, their hands raised. Blake moves aside slowly, keeping his gun up as they leave. The moment they are past the gate, he signals Claire and she closes and locks it.

At the camp, Grace talks to Joely, showing her a map of the area and showing her zones of infected that they have cleared. Joely says that "this is good. We never really bothered to mark where we cleared, we just hoped the area was empty of them." Grace tells her that "that's fair enough. We did the same at the beginning. Once we had more numbers though, we had more to protect. We needed to know, y'know? We don't have your walls." Joely nods as Clyde approaches. He tells them that he "wants to help out more" and that "if there's a run happening soon, I'm in." After a moment, Grace tells him that "you're still pretty shaken up after Simon. I can't have dead weight out there. You wouldn't just be risking your own life." Clyde then tells her that he "can do this, okay? I just...can't sit on my ass all day anymore." She sighs and looks at Joely. She shrugs at her. Eventually, Grace agrees, telling him that "we're doing a run later. Be at the front gates by noon."

Chloe sits in the common room with Claire tending to the cut on her head. Chloe asks her how things went at the campsite, to which she tells her that "it went fine. I would rather have stayed, though." Chloe tells her that she "couldn't have stopped this" before wincing in pain as Claire applies alcohol. Chloe then tells her that "I missed you." She smiles, then kisses her forehead and gets up. Chloe leans back and closes her eyes.

Watching on, Blake turns to some of the others and ask "how could we let this happen?" Charlie shakes his head and says "it was my fault, I opened the gate" to which Pepper tells them that "these people are too smart. They'd've either convinced you to open them, or broken through them themselves." Blake frowns, asking "you've met these people before?" She turns to Sam, who nods, and says that "the one you shot? We recognised him. He's part of a larger group. Bryce calls them Scavs. I just call them pieces of shit. They take people's stuff and kill them. If we weren't there, everyone here would be dead, right now. Fucking vultures." Blake then asks them "why the hell didn't you tell us about them?" and Sam says that "we didn't think they operated in this area. Maybe they didn't, not until now." Claire approaches and tells them that "well they do now, and they almost got all of our shit and killed our own people."

Blake sighs, then frowns after a moment. He whispers "shit" to himself, before looking at the others and simply saying "Trevor."

Part Three
At the camp, Joely brings some weapons to Grace and Clyde. She asks if she's "sure you don't need my help?" Grace shakes her head and tells her to "stay here. We'll check out those spots you shared. Can't have you getting killed while your boyfriend brings us our part of the deal." They leave and Bryce approaches and tells Joely that "Dexter's walking. I'd call it hobbling really, but he's adamant that it's walking." She turns back to the camp and sees Dexter limping around, crutch in one hand, cringing in pain. She says "that's good" and looks at Bryce. He says that he "wanted to ask you something. Blake mentioned that most of you were students of that school. Your parents..." she shakes her head and says that they're "all gone. As far as we know, anyway. A few of us went to our old homes...we only found death, or worse." Bryce looks away, saying "Jesus...did you? Go home, I mean." She nods and tells him. "Found my mum dead on the floor. No clue where my dad is, I just hope he isn't one of them."

Blake grabs supplies from his room, telling the others that "Trevor and Phyllis are out there, vulnerable. They can't fight if these Scavs find out they're there." Maeve then says "so you're going out there again? After we were just attacked?" to which he tells her that "I have to." Pepper pipes up, telling him that she'll come with him. When he begins to tell her no, she says that "I'm not part of your group, remember? I'm not doing this for you. If there's people in need of help, I'm helping." Blake sighs, then nods his head. Charlie staggers towards him, asking if he's sure and that "these people didn't tell us about them. We could have died!" After a moment, Blake tells him that "I need to get to Trevor. Might as well have help."

As they approach the gate, a large group of infected has gathered, drawn by the sound of the gunshot from earlier. While Sam and Tim distract them, Chloe opens the gate and tells Blake to "be careful." Charlie watches from afar as he and Pepper leave, sneaking past the dead and running off. Later, Pepper thanks him for sticking up for her and Sam earlier, saying that "it's a shitty situation, I know." Blake shakes his head and tells her that he doesn't blame him for being wary and that "we've made mistakes before, and it cost lives. He's just looking out for the others." Pepper then asks "is that why you agreed to trust Bryce? He told you his mistakes?" Blake shakes his head and tells her that "He told me he'd done things, but never said anything. But I trusted Bryce because I trusted you."

In the common room, Sam sits on her own before being approached by Charlie. He asks her why she and Pepper didn't tell them about the Scavs, saying that "we could've died, you know?" Sam looks at him and tells him that "we'd never seen them around here. We'd assumed they hadn't reached here, yet." When Charlie says nothing, she gets up and asks if "there's something you wanna say to me, say it." He looks away and saying that he has "nothing to say to you." Sam looks ready to say something, but Tim places a hand on her shoulder and leads her away.

As they walk down a street, Pepper asks Blake why didn't "this Trevor guy come with you to the school? I mean, I'm assuming this place isn't as safe." Blake shakes his head, saying that "they wanted to stay. It was their home. To be honest, I'm not even sure they'll come with us this time, but I have to try."

Part Four
Blake stops the car a few streets away from the Cottons' house, telling Pepper to "keep a look out." She nods and they climb out. The two of them make their way down the road before they hear a loud crash coming from one of the houses. Blake and Pepper ready themselves, the former pulling out his gun and the latter hiding behind a car, her weapon ready. Blake slowly approaches, hearing whispers from inside the house, and yells to "come on out!" The whispering stops and slowly, the door opens and Clyde and Grace come outside. Blake lowers his gun, sighing, and Pepper pokes her head out. She asks them "what the hell [they're] doing here?" Clyde says that they're "on a run. I...I fell up the stairs." Grace then asks what they're doing there, also, with Blake replying that they're "looking for a friend of mine. Your friends the Scavs? They're here and we need to get them to safety." Grace looks at Clyde and says that "we'll help you. Lead the way."

They soon approach the Cottons' House. Blake notices that the gate is open and looks at it worriedly. They enter the premises, Clyde closing the gate behind him. Blake begins calling for Trevor and Phyllis and announcing his presence. He steps inside and begins searching through. Eventually, however, he finds nothing. Everything is in place, but Trevor nor Phyllis can be found. When he steps outside, he tells the others that he can't find them and that "something's got to be wrong. They'd rather die than leave here." Grace, looking somewhere else, calls him over. He joins her and she points at something on the ground. Next to one of the walls is a small grave with a cross made of wood planted at the top. On it are the words 'Phyllis' carved into it. Blake goes to his knees, and touches the carved words. He squeezes his eyes shut and bows his head as the others watch on.

Flash-Forward
Blake kneels on the ground, staring at the dirt as a small puddle of blood begins to grow. His eyes are wide and unmoving as someone moves in front of him. He finally looks up and a voice says "now. Where were we?"

Deaths

 * Wainwright
 * Phyllis Cotton (Confirmed fate)
 * Multiple infected.

Trivia

 * First appearance of the Scavs.
 * First mention of Gwyn
 * First appearance of Porter.
 * First (and last) appearance of Wainwright.
 * This is the shortest episode of the season.