Inmates (The Walking Dead)

In a flashback, Beth narrates a diary entry discussing her hopes of a new life in the prison. In the present, she and Daryl are sitting around a campfire, having fled the prison. Beth insists that they must not be the only survivors of The Governor's attack, and demands Daryl help her look for the others. She then goes off on her own into the forest, with Daryl following in slow pursuit. They find some footprints, which Beth believes could be Luke or Molly's, and argues with Daryl that they're still alive. They also find human blood and signs of a walker attack, and are attacked by a walker who emerges from the trees. Eventually, the pair discover and kill several walkers feasting on human remains by some railroad tracks. Beth spots a small shoe, assuming it is young Luke and Molly amidst the remains and breaks down crying.

Lizzie and Mika are walking along in the woods, behind Tyreese. When they stop to ask a question, Tyreese turns around and is revealed to be carrying a still-alive baby Judith. As night falls, they find a clearing to rest in. Tyreese feeds Judith, while Lizzie sits on a nearby log, home to rabbits. She quietly removes her knife and kills them. The group is forced to flee after hearing walkers nearby.

The next morning the group finds a grapevine and begin picking the grapes. Mika is startled by a noise in the bush and runs off as Tyreese is changing Judith's diaper. Tyreese and Lizzie give chase, and find Mika hiding behind a tree. As the group recomposes themselves, they hear screaming in the distance. Tyreese leaves the girls, saying he has to go investigate and they need to keep an eye on a crying Judith. Lizzie covers Judith's mouth to muffle her cries. A pair of walkers nonetheless begins to close in. Mika attempts to warn her sister, but as Lizzie is quieting Judith she begins to slide her hand up over the baby's nose as well, becoming increasingly lost in the moment.

Tyreese comes upon a walker attack by a set of railroad tracks. Two men, Christopher (Cameron Deane Stewart) and another man (Michael Harding), are fighting off a group of walkers. Tyreese kills the walkers but is unable to prevent the men from being bitten. He then hears Mika's handgun fire off in the distance. As Tyreese begins to head back for the girls, the three of them, along with Carol, walk out of the bush. Tyreese welcomes her back, unaware of her exile by Rick. Before he dies, the older man (who attacks Daryl and Beth in the woods once zombified), tells Tyreese about a sanctuary up the tracks. The group follow the track, and come upon a sign promising "community for all" at a nearby place of safety.

Maggie, Bob, and Sasha are in the woods by a quarry. Maggie sharpens her knife on a rock, while Sasha bandages Bob's shoulder. Sasha tells Maggie they should camp there for the night. Maggie however sets off in search of Glenn, reluctantly followed by Bob and Sasha. Sasha is frustrated at what she sees as a waste of time; Bob, however, argues that the search gives their lives a purpose beyond mere survival. While walking, they come across the prison bus, which is shot up and filled with walkers who are prison survivors who either died in the shooting or were attacked and turned by those who did. Maggie insists on checking to see if Glenn is inside. After Bob says they'll do it together, and Sasha reluctantly agrees, Sasha opens the emergency door with the intention of allowing one walker to exit at a time. Eventually, the press of walkers trying to exit the bus proves too much, and Sasha can no longer hold the door. As the walkers attack, Bob and Sasha are forced to defend themselves. Maggie initially seems dazed, and is nearly killed by a walker before Bob intervenes. She then becomes enraged and begins to kill the walkers, repeatedly smashing a female walker's head into the bus before stabbing it. Maggie then goes onto the bus to see if Glenn is inside. After killing a walker that had been stuck inside, she sits down and begins to cry.

After awakening on a prison walkway that was destroyed by the tank, Glenn calls for Maggie. Despite his initial despair, he collects some clothes and supplies, including Bob's bottle of brandy, puts on riot gear, and then pushes his way through the walkers. After escaping the crush, he sees Tara, who has locked herself behind a fence. Glenn joins her and, after checking to see that her weapon was not fired during the attack on the prison, tells her they should go. Tara refuses, saying that she joined the prison attack and is thus responsible for its outcome. However, Glenn insists he needs her help. He grabs Bob's bottle of brandy and, using it to create a Molotov cocktail, throws it to ignite a car. While the walkers are distracted by the fire, Glenn and Tara escape the prison and reach the road near to the prison bus.

Tara describes seeing her sister Lilly being swarmed by walkers on the field outside the prison, and reveals Hershel's death to Glenn. She tells him "Brian" had told her the prison group were bad people. She'd believed him but sees now that wasn't true, and she cannot understand why Glenn would want her help. Glenn explains that he needs to find Maggie. After a small group of walkers attacks, Glenn collapses, wheezing, leaving Tara to kill a walker on her own. She looks up to see a military truck has pulled up. Tara yells at the truck for not helping, and three people climb out: Sgt. Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), and Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos). Abraham says to Tara, "You got a damn mouth on you, you know that? What else you got?"

Michael Cudlitz, Christian Serratos, and Josh McDermitt made their first appearances as Sgt. Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa and Dr. Eugene Porter, respectively

"Inmates" was co-written by co-producers Matthew Negrete and Channing Powell and directed by Tricia Brock.

This episode marks the first appearances of Sgt. Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), and Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos), notable characters from the comic book series. On Abraham's character, Cudlitz said:

When we meet Abraham, one of the things that we realize most about him is that he's very mission-oriented at this point. You're not going to learn a lot about how he emotionally feels about things necessarily. He's very reactive. He keeps his eye on the target. He's not to be f---ed with. He will kill you.^[2]

On the difference between Abraham in the comic book series to the TV series and what to expect from Eugene and Rosita, Cudlitz said:

A lot of things happen in the comic that affect how he operates and how he moves through this world and the decisions he makes. A lot of that is ripped directly from the comics, as well as the whole chunk of time where the comic left off and where we meet them now. There are some elements that they've introduced that will make Abraham's back story that much more tragic. All three of those characters are going to seem extremely familiar to those who know the comics. They're almost exact up to the point where we meet them. Where they go from here, we'll all learn that together.^[3]

The final scene of this episode was intentionally shot and produced to look like the cover of "Volume 9", "Issue #53" of the comic book series.

This episode also features the return of Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) after being absent for five consecutive episodes. She was last seen in "Indifference" when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) exiled her from the prison. Series regulars Andrew Lincoln (Rick), Chandler Riggs (Carl), and Danai Gurira (Michonne) are credited but do not appear.