A Safe Place

"A Safe Place" is the fourth episode of Season 1 and the fourth episode of the show overall.

Plot
When a supply run to a supermarket goes wrong, Blake must race back to the school before lives are lost.

Part One
Cain sharpens a knife, glaring at it as those around him move around. Blake explains to the others that "the faster we stockpile food, the better" and reveals that they will be going on a supply run to the nearest supermarket. Charlie, Chloe, and Claire offer to go, but Blake states that they need people to watch over the school—and moreover—Maeve. Quietly, Joely asks Blake if he "really want[s] Cain with [him]", but he reassures her, saying that he's not afraid of him. Unbeknownst to them, Cain overheard them.

After the title sequence, Blake, Frank, Joely, and Cain are creeping down a street and reach the outer doors of the supermarket. They hide behind a car as Joely goes ahead to peek through the windows. When Frank asks what the chances are that anyone left anything behind, Blake says that he hopes so. Joely gives them the all-clear and they approach the supermarket quietly. As Blake goes to open the door, Cain knocks loudly on it. Blake starts berating him for this, but moments later a couple infected appears at the window. Cain then smugly asks him if Blake is "gonna keep being an asshole, or what?".

Back at the school's common room, Claire catches Maeve trying to take a knife from one of the tables. She tells Maeve that knives are "dangerous. They aren't toys". Maeve tells her that she wants to learn to defend herself but is told that she doesn't need to. Chloe then appears in the doorway and mentions that it "couldn't hurt. You never know what might happen". Claire eventually agrees and the two of them take Maeve to one of the fences of the school's field to teach her. Chloe begins showing Maeve how to stab the dead in the head when Charlie comes running towards them, waving his hands in the air, but not saying anything. When he reaches them, he says: "We have a problem" They race back to the main gates of the school, where three survivors are stood waiting.

Part Two
In the supermarket, Blake spots a mangled infected that is unable to get up. He quickly puts it down, pulling a face. A little farther ahead, Cain tells him that he didn't need to kill it, but Blake says that "it doesn't seem right to leave them rotting here like meat". Cain remarks that "they're dead. They don't care". When Blake says that he does, Cain scoffs and tries to walk away, but Blake stops him and tries to ask him why he hates him. Cain appears to be about to answer when a loud crash can be heard and they go to investigate.

At the school, Chloe demands to know what the three survivors at the gates want. One of them introduces themselves as Logan and the others as his "friends". He tells them that they are looking for shelter and wonder if they have any space for them. Charlie tells them that they cannot make a decision like that without their "leader". Their discussion soon turns into an argument and Claire soon notices that some of the others have begun to reach for their weapons. It's too late, however, and one of the bandits produces a crowbar and breaks open the gate, Logan sighs and says that he had "hoped it wouldn't have turned out like this". They try to fight back but are soon overpowered, Maeve runs away. Claire tries to run after her, but Logan grabs her and knocks her out.

Blake and Cain arrive at the front entrance of the supermarket only to find Frank and Joely tied up and two more bandits surrounding them. Frank has a deep cut on his head and is unconscious while Joely writhes around. One of the bandits, Tony, mentions that they saw two more with them and sends the other to go look for Blake and Cain.

Part Three
Doing their best to hide from the bandit looking for them, Cain argues with Blake over what to do. Blake just wants to grab Frank and Joely and run, but Cain points out that they would "just lead them back to the school" and suggests killing them. Blake is horrified at the idea and the two argue. Cain tells him that this is one of the reasons he doesn't like him, that he's "not capable of doing what needs to be done". At that moment, the other bandit finds them. He goes to yell something but Cain immediately covers his mouth and begins choking him. After a moment, Blake tries to pull Cain off the man, but Cain elbows him, giving the bandit a moment to yell. Which is heard by both Tony and a group of infected outside.

Claire wakes up tied up and gagged next to Chloe and Charlie in the courtyard outside. Logan watches over them as the other two gather up the food they have been storing in the common room. Claire tries to talk to Logan, but he mockingly tells her he can't hear her and smacks her. In the common room, one of the bandits enters a bedroom and is stabbed in the shoulder by Maeve. His screams distract Logan enough so that Claire can follow her sister. Chloe tries to follow, but Charlie stops her and turns around to show her a knife in his back pocket. She manages to take it just as Logan and the other bandits come back. Logan looks furious and demands that the others find Claire and Maeve.

Cain finishes choking the bandit to death and tells Blake that they need to move before Tony finds them. Blake initially goes to reprimand him for murdering the bandit but he tells him that they "don't have the time to go over any moral dilemmas". They find the now conscious Frank and still writhing Joely on their own, but before anyone can untie them, Tony grabs Cain and holds him hostage.

Part Four
Infected bang on the windows as Tony backs up towards the exit, Cain in his arms. Tony warns Blake not to try anything, stating that he and the other bandit were only there to "keep you away while we raid your place". This infuriates Blake just as Cain wrenches himself free and pushes Tony against the window. Blake grabs the nearest thing he can find, a wooden plank, and uses it to smash the window. Tony falls backwards into the mess of infected and is torn apart. Blake looks at Cain, who tells him that "that is what needed to be done". They then free Frank and Joely. Blake then tells them that they need to hurry back to the school.

Chloe slowly tries to cut her binding while Logan paces in front of them. He notices Charlie staring at him and begins taunting him, asking him if he thinks he's a "tough guy". Meanwhile, Claire catches up to Maeve and they hide in a classroom. When one of the bandits enters the room, they hide behind a teacher's desk. The bandit taunts them, saying that he will "find [them] eventually". Just as he is about to find them, Claire springs out and manages to stab him in the neck as Maeve watches on. In the courtyard, Chloe has almost cut through her bindings as Logan taunts Charlie. When he gets too close, Charlie headbutts Logan and Chloe breaks out, stabbing him in the shoulder. Logan throws her off, knocking her into a wall. He kicks Charlie in the chest and starts strangling Chloe. She tries to pull his hands away but he is too strong. Charlie, dazed and wheezing, tries to get up but cannot. Noticing the knife still stuck in Logan's shoulder, she manages to wrench it free—causing him to yell in pain and release his hands—and sticks it in his eye, killing him.

Blake, Cain, Joely, and Frank run through the still-open gates and find Chloe and Charlie with Logan's dead body—they have taken off their gags. As Frank unties Charlie, Chloe tells them that Claire and Maeve are still missing and there are two more bandits in the school. But just then, Claire and Maeve return to the courtyard. Claire has blood on her shirt and on her hands and she tells them that she "got one". The last of the bandits then returns and is quickly grabbed and tied up by Frank. Blake says that they will "deal with him in the morning".

In a montage later that night, Claire is seen washing her hands of the blood with Chloe's help. Her eyes are glazed over a little and when she looks at Chloe, she breaks down crying. Frank drags Logan's body down to the field and leaves it on top of the bodies of the other dead bandits. He looks at the gate and notices a large group of infected pressing against it. Blake is joined by Cain near the gates, who blames Blake for everything that happened, saying that "if you hadn't sent our best fighters on some stupid fucking mission, we wouldn't have had any of this mess". Blake, however, finally snaps at Cain, telling him that he is doing his best and that "whether you like it or not, for some reason, I'm calling the shots". He walks away, leaving Cain alone at the gates.

Trivia

 * First (and last) appearance of Logan (alive)
 * First (and last) appearance of Tony (alive)
 * First appearance of Tim
 * This episode marks the first time in the show that a human kills another human.