Coda (The Walking Dead)

Rick chases down Lamson in a police car after Lamson's escape from Sasha. Lamson ignores Rick's warnings to stop, so Rick hits him with the car. A crippled Lamson pleads to be taken to the hospital, however Rick executes him on the spot with his revolver. Fearing that Lamson's death will result in violence between Rick's group and Dawn's crew, Rick and officers Shepherd and Licari, the other two cops from GMH that were captured along with Lamson, agree to concoct a story that Lamson was killed by walkers. Meanwhile at the hospital, order starts to break down when the officers fail to recapture Noah or report in, and others soon begin to lose faith in Dawn's leadership.

After fleeing the church, Gabriel reaches the school where The Hunters had set up camp. He discovers the remnants of Bob's leg. Walkers break out of the school and chase Gabriel limps back to the church, where he is cornered against the fortified front door and experiences the fear of his parishioners. Hearing Gabriel's screams for help, Carl and Michonne break down the front door, allowing Gabriel inside but they are then overwhelmed with walkers and are forced to retreat to the rectory. Once there, Gabriel holds off the walkers while Carl, Michonne and Judith escape through the hole Gabriel had made previously in the floor of his office, then follows himself; they reseal the front doors, trapping the walkers inside. Just as the walkers are about to break through the door, Abraham's group arrives in the fire truck, bringing the news that Eugene's mission was a lie. Michonne informs Maggie they know where Beth is, and they head to Atlanta.

O'Donnell confronts Dawn after overhearing her talk to Beth about how she covered up Beth's involvement in Gorman's death. He threatens to remove her as leader. The two get into a fight, resulting in O'Donnell's death when Beth pushes him down the elevator shaft. Beth later accuses Dawn of manipulating her into eliminating Gorman and O'Donnell, who were threats to Dawn's position, and again vows to escape. Dawn denies the accusation and promises to remember Beth's support. During their conversation, Carol begins to wake up.

Meanwhile, Rick meets up with another pair of officers and proposes to trade Shepherd and Licari for Beth and Carol. They agree, and Rick's group meets Dawn and her officers at the hospital. As Beth packs up, she hides a pair of scissors in her cast. The trade initially goes smoothly, but Dawn adds a condition at the last second, demanding Rick hand over Noah, her former ward, to replace Beth, her new ward. Rick and Beth are reluctant, but Noah agrees so as to prevent bloodshed. Beth goes to give him a hug, but as she does so, Dawn makes a gloating comment in reference to her earlier conversation with Beth. Angered, Beth faces Dawn and icily tells her, "I get it now." With that, Beth stabs Dawn's shoulder with the scissors. Caught off guard, Dawn reflexively fires her pistol into Beth's head, killing her instantly. Despite Dawn's own shock and pleas for mercy, an enraged Daryl immediately pulls out his own pistol and shoots her in the head, killing her. The resulting stand-off is defused by Shepherd, who tells the remaining officers to hold their fire. She insists that Dawn was the problem all along, and that it is all over now that she is dead. Edwards offers to let Rick and his group stay at the hospital, but Rick declines. Instead, he offers anyone in the hospital who wants to leave to join his group, but only Noah accepts. As they exit the hospital, they encounter the rest of the group. Maggie collapses in agony when she sees Daryl carrying Beth's body.

In a post-credits scene, Morgan continues to follow Gareth's marks on the trees, coming across the school and later the church, where he makes an offering and laughs. As he explores, he finds the map and written note Abraham had left for Rick, which has Rick's full name written on it. He is shocked to learn that he is following Rick's trail.

Scott Gimple confirmed the opening sequence — in which Rick chases down Lamson — is an homage to the comic book series in which similar events take place over the Prison-Woodbury conflict with Caesar Martinez, the loyal second-in-command to The Governor.^[2]