Jeremiah Otto is out at the target range practicing shooting. Nick is with him, also practicing. They’re waiting for Madison and Troy’s group to return, and Nick states that they should be back already. Nick takes aim and shoots.
Jake and Alicia are in bed, and Alicia says that Madison should be back. Jake says they will be. Jake says Troy promised to keep Madison safe. Little does Jake know what happened last night when Troy made a threat on Madison’s life!
Nick is not a good shot. As he assesses his ineptitude at shooting, he and Jeremiah see Madison’s raggedy band slowly walking toward them on bloodied feet. Nick and everyone run outside the gate to greet them. They give the returnees water and help them walk back inside once they see their feet.
Jeremiah asks Troy what happened out there. Troy says they should discuss it in private. Many others disagree and want the discussion to be in the open. Mike says Indians slaughtered all of their people at the outpost. If they stay at the ranch they will all die.
Credits
Troy wants to attack Walker’s group right now. Jeremiah is skeptical and notes that they would very well walk into an ambush. Madison defends Troy, while Jeremiah states that they aren’t going to attack right now. Jake agrees, and says waiting is best.
Madison wants to know who owns the ranch – who owns the land? Otto says it was owned by his forebears. Turns out Walker is an attorney and he and Jake (also an attorney) have fought in court on this very issue, and Otto has won again and again. But there’s some question about who really owns the land, in spite of what the law says.
Madison says Walker was a threat. Otto doesn’t want to hear it.
Nick helps Madison back to their quarters. Her feet are a bloody mess. Alicia prepares a foot bath for her but her socks are welded to her feet. As gently as they can, they separate the socks from the skin on Madison’s feet. Nick tells Madison that Luciana went to Mexicali to find people she knows. She’s sorry for him.
Jake is practicing shooting. Alicia comes up to him and is sorry for the people he lost. He says he didn’t know most of them. His dad is quite upset though. Vernon is the only founding father left. Jake’s not afraid – the border has always been a violent place.
Alicia wants to know how to use an automatic rifle, so Jake explains. Alicia goes to shoot. She asks what happens when his dad is gone. Jake states that they’re all libertarians out here and libertarians don’t take orders well. Alicia says Jake will eventually take over. He tells her to breathe out when she pulls the trigger.
Madison is siting on the bed and Gretchen pokes her head in looking for Alicia. Mike freaked out and she’s glad that Madison was there. Gretchen says Vernon doesn’t think the ranch is safe. He wants to leave the ranch and he’s scared. Gretchen is scared too. Madison says the ranch is a safe(r) place. She can say this given her experiences in the outside world.
Later, Jeremiah sits in his office, and pulls out a bottle of alcohol. He looks long and hard at the bottle, but then goes outside instead. He sees a small bonfire. Nick and Madison both go out and see more small fires. The property seems surrounded by small bonfires. Maybe they’ve been set by Walker to intimidate the inhabitants at Broke Jaw Ranch?
In the morning, Jeremiah, Jake and Madison look at all the little fires. They weren’t meant to burn the people out, they were meant to scare them. Madison says Jeremiah’s people are scared.
Nick meets up with Troy in the pantry. Troy asks if Nick is now flying solo – did Luciana leave? Nick isn’t amused. Various ranchers are coming into the pantry and removing supplies as they prepare to depart. Troy doesn’t want them to leave, but they don’t listen to him.
Madison wants to talk to Jeremiah. Madison starts to talk about Vernon but that topic leads to migraines for Jeremiah. Vernon walks up, and says that a man’s family is first, and he wants to protect them, and so he wants to go now. Jeremiah says he doesn’t need his permission to leave and Vernon can go. Madison tells Vernon he shouldn’t go – it’s dangerous out there.
Madison says to give Vernon a reason to stay. Jeremiah has nothing to say.
As Vernon’s group gets ready to leave, Troy runs up to Vernon and wants him to come out of the van. Troy berates Mike in the passenger seat. Jake tells Troy to stand down. Troy starts to get out of control, and Jake tries to get him to see reason but it devolves into a fist fight that Vernon has to break up. Once the fight is resolved, Verson starts up the camper and Gretchen waves goodbye to Alicia. And then they’re outside th gate.
Madison meets Troy in the pantry. He’s tying up the guns. She approves of what he’s doing. Troy says that this ranch is his whole life and he doesn’t understand why people are leaving. The world out there is burned. Madison says that they want to see it for themselves. Troy says that Mike was his friend since he was a kid. He never quit on Troy. Madison says he didn’t quit Troy, he just stood by his family.
Troy is still uncomprehending. He doesn’t know how to react. Madison tells him to make sure that no one else leaves. She’ll help him. Then a whole group comes in to the pantry. Troy wants them all at attention. Troy doesn’t want to hear Mike’s name again. They need to set an example. They need to make the people at the ranch feel safe. They have to be leaders. “This place is all we have,” says Troy. “Right now it’s teetering and the only thing that can save it is us.” Madison watches approvingly and Troy is eating up all of the attention.
It’s now night time at the ranch and Nick goes to see Otto. He’s moving heavy furniture and Nick says he’s been drinking here all alone all night. They discuss addition and Nick states that he (Nick) is high on life. Nick tells him to slow down with the drinking. Jeremiah says his wounded hand distracts from the headaches. Nick tells him he should go to sleep. Jeremiah says that the ranch is a sacred space. They conceived the movement – his life’s work. Vernon, Jeremiah, McCarthy, and Russ Brown. Jeremiah shoots the gun into the floor. Nick holds his hand out for the gun and takes it. Jeremiah is totally drunk and rambles.
Madison is pretending to sleep when Alicia walks into their quarters quite late at night. Madison asks “bible study?” Alicia says “Jake’s”. They discuss her relationship with Jake and birth control. Madison says “I told you about the rhythm method right?” Alicia says, “Yes, I thought it was a band”. Ha! Then Alicia says that there’s birth control in the pantry.
Alicia goes on to say that Jake is important to us, and she likes him. Madison asks if it’s in that order, and that love can creep up on you.
Jeremiah walks outside of his old tiny house, now Nick’s, and starts to say — “about last night” and Nick says he was at the bunk house with Madison and Alicia. Did he miss anything? Very cool, Nick, letting Jeremiah save some face. The two of them look out at the fence and find a horse. Jeremiah tells Nick to go get Madison.
In the truck, Madison is driving (with her bad feet??) and Jeremiah is in the passenger seat. Seems like the horse escaped from Vernon’s group – which could be okay, or it could be a big problem. Nick is in the truck bed.
Jake is going to see Walker to try to talk sense into him. Alicia doesn’t want him to go, Walker is dangerous. Jake thinks Walker is reasonable, after all they know each other from their court battles. Jake’s not realizing that the rule of law is dead. Alicia asks him not to go, but he decides to go anyway.
The camper van with bullet holes into the windshield looms into view. The three of them get out of the truck and slowly approach the camper. We hear walker growls from inside the van. Then we hear gun shots. Vernon and Kathy have now been put down thanks to Jeremiah. Mike is dead next to the camper. We still hear a walker growl, and Nick turns the corner and we see a horse being eaten. It’s walker-Gretchen eating it. They kill the horse, Gretchen and another walker woman. Nick is forced to kill Gretchen because Madison couldn’t bring herself to do it.
They load the bodies into the truck bed. Madison says that Gretchen was Alicia’s age. Jeremiah thinks it was Troy who did this. Madison thinks it was Walker.
Up for consideration – a week’s worth of supplies left. Jeremiah doesn’t know what to do about Troy. Madison says they have to go back, now.
Back at the ranch, the truck and the camper drive back up. Once inside, Madison steps out and opens up the truck bed for all to see. She uncovers the bodies and apologizes. She says they’re good people. She accuses Walker of killing Vernon and his group. She praises the people at the ranch. There’s nothing out there for people. She tells them not to fracture. Together they’ll all live.
Alicia stalks into Jake’s office, looks at a map, and figures out there Jake went. She gathers supplies and prepares to leave to go after him.
In the pantry, Nick tells Madison she was impressive. He knows her speech was for Troy’s benefit. How does she tell a lie so big and sleep at night? Nick thinks it was Troy who killed those people. Nick said he wished she would have told Nick first that she was going to give such a rousing speech. “Just don’t forget what he is”, says Nick.
Troy swears to Madison he didn’t go out there to do that. There were words and then it went bad. Madison says he can run the ranch. His brother doesn’t have what Troy has. She doesn’t want to hear how Troy lost control. That can’t happen. She doesn’t care what happened or why he did it. There’s a fight coming and Troy has to save us. Can he do that? Troy says “yes ma’am.” She walks away from him.