On the penultimate episode of AMC’s 6-episode special, Fear the Walking Dead, Maddie and Travis have to make a difficult decision after unearthing the National Guard’s plan for the neighborhood.

I gotta assume, after meeting even just a few of the National Guard members, that we aren’t going to like what’s to come. Though at this point, I’ll call it a win even if a single walker shows up, as opposed to last week’s episode.

We open the episode with an unknown man verbally annihilating a man- DOUG!- about what a loser he is and yadda, yadda. Then he zones in on Nick, asking who he is. I don’t like this guy already.

Ophelia is freaking out and throwing rocks at the fence demanding to see her mom. It’s becoming pretty clear that their safe haven is actually a prison. The dude she’s been necking with comes to her rescue and walks her home.

Travis, Maddie and Chris are having a huge family spat and Chris is obviously heartbroken because his mom left, but yeah, he’s being kind of a douche. But then his little baby face looks so sad and devastated so then I feel bad for him again. Oop, never mind. What a turd.

We get a look at Liza stitching up a sick person, in the middle of a lab filled with sick people. Or basically, what is about to be a walker buffet. Someone is going to die, obviously, and then everyone in there will be dinner. Liza wants to reconnect with her son and her friends but Doctor McShady is just placating her and being evasive. So shady.

Maddie is looking for Alicia and decides it’s a good idea to wander about a dark and seemingly empty house alone. BLAAAAHHHH. Do you ever just want to throw your remote through a screen? Oh but wait! Ah haaaaa, this is how Kirkman always reels me back in! It’s not walkers making a ruckus in the basement, it’s Mr. Salazar and Ophelia! And they’ve got soldier boyfriend tied up to interrogate in an effort to recover Nick and Grizelda. Freaking brilliant. Ophelia straight played that dude.

He promises that they will get their people back, and Maddie is not having any of it. She doesn’t trust him, and nor should she. Though she’s not at all on board with the whole captive thing. But Ophelia and Daniel stick to it. Mr. Salazar is prepared to take extreme measures to make sure their people are recovered.

Travis goes to speak with the Lieutenant about their missing people and he makes it clear that he won’t be cooperating with Travis’ needs… and then Travis kind of, sort of, passive aggressively threatens the Lieutenant and the whole landscape changes. Hostility is in the air.

Daniel has put his torture pants on and prepares to go to work on Ophelia’s soldier boyfriend, despite the fact that he willingly spilled the beans. Apparently, he just really needs to cut someone.

Travis is in an Army vehicle headed to see the doctor when they spot a walker. Lt. Dick sets up a scope and a gun and tells Travis he needs to pull the trigger, a command Travis vehemently resists. After a spiel about wanting to be protected without doing any work himself, Travis sets up the shot. He spots a nametag and finds that he can’t pull the trigger, after all; so Lt. Dick does it for him.

We’re at the hospital and everyone is in a frenzy, triaging patients and checking everyone for bites. Meanwhile, Travis and company come upon a nest of walkers, buildings that had NOT in fact been fully evacuated.

We’re back in the torture chamber and Salazar is just pouring his heart out to this poor soldier dude who is tied to a chair waiting to be tortured. He’s trying to get more details from soldier guy, specifically the meaning of the code word, “Cobalt.”

Chris and Alicia are about to do some stepsister/stepbrother bonding time by breaking and entering. Thy head to an empty mansion and start to play dress up. Then there’s a kind of pervy, Clueless moment and I’m glad to move on to someone else.

We head to the “hospital” where they are checking  for fever and when they see Nick has one, they assume it’s because he’s sick, not that he’s withdrawing. Random man from the opening scene vouches for him and gives up some blinged out cufflinks to the guard to keep Nick with him. Perhaps we’ll find out why later.

Next a few soldiers bust out and push Travis back into the car. They tell him that not everyone made it and that their plan is to just GTFO at this point.

Ophelia has found her soldier boyfriend and that her dad has hurt him despite promises not to. Maddie just wants to know if he got the information they needed.

Liza is wandering around the hospital when she finds the caged people. Apparently she was not aware of this practice and is enraged when she finds Grizelda footless and muttering in her sleep, alone in a caged room.

Now Alicia and Chris are demolishing the beautiful mansion they’ve been playing house in. Looks pretty cathartic, actually.

Travis finds his way back to the neighborhood and sees Ophelia catatonic in front of the house. Travis comes in outraged by the torture, but solider boy is downstairs spilling his everloving guts out to Daniel. He’s telling him about the outbreak and we are finally about to learn what Cobalt is.

We learn that it’s the command code to initiate evac from the LA base. Not the neighborhood… just the soldiers. It also includes procedures for the “humane termination” of the civilians which is set to take place at “0900 tomorrow.”

Humane termination. That is just COLD.

Nick is going through wicked withdraw, puking in the middle of the room and we find out that the guy that saved him did so so that Nick would owe him something. He needs Nick’s help… and so he saved him! That’s an interesting plot twist.

Alicia and Chris are walking home, which means they are out after curfew. But Chris notices that the soldiers driving through town aren’t patrolling, they’re preparing. Preparing to leave…

Now Liza and Dr. McShady are with Grizelda as she takes her last breath. McShady shares the knowledge with Liza that, whether or not one is bitten or scratched, everyone turns into a walker after death, no matter what. So she’s puts a nail gun (or something) to Grizelda’s head.

Salazar has taken himself to the arena where soldier boy told him he experienced his first outbreak and finds that, yes, he was telling the truth. An arena filled with walkers, yeesh.

And that’s it. Our only real view of a walker this go around was of a distant waitress named Kimberly. So fucking lame.

There’s only one episode left until the miniseries wraps up; and I am ready for it to be over. I need Rick and Daryl and Carol in my life, not these paltry replacements!

Stick with me for the finale, Deadheads!