The Walking Dead episode “Spend” started with a cold open focused on Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) entering into his new parish, moved by a note welcoming him to Alexandria beside a bowl of strawberries. In an unexpected move, he begins tearing sheets out of the bible one by one.

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Elsewhere, Noah (Tyler James Williams) meets with Rich and asks him to teach him how to build things, hoping that he’ll mentor him every morning. At first Rich is hesitant, but then realizes Noah is in it for the long haul. He then promises Noah that he’ll teach him what he knows. Noah then heads to go on a scavenging mission with Aiden (Daniel Bonjour), Nicholas (Michael Traynor), Glenn (Steven Yeun),Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Once they get to the warehouse, Tara is teamed up with Eugene, who warns that he’s not inclined or capable of taking out any zombies, owning that he’s something of a coward. However, he does manage to find the micro-inverters they need to sort out the electrical grid at Alexandria.

Rick (Andrew Lincoln), patrolling the neighborhood on foot, sees Jessie picking at what’s left of the owl sculpture she’d built with her kids. He offers to ask around to find out who did it. Later on, Jessie’s husband Pete comes by drunk with a beer, knowing that Rick was offering to help his wife. Underneath the guise of friendship, Rick knows there’s something threatening about him. As for Carol (Melissa McBride), she’s got a new hanger-on in Jessie and Pete’s son Sam, who she threatened after he saw her checking out the guns. In the end, she agrees to help him learn how to bake cookies if he steals the chocolate for them. From the conversation, Carol gathers not all is well at his home. “Pete’s hitting Jessie, maybe Sam too,” Carol tells Rick before suggesting he’s going to have to kill him.

Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), meanwhile, is working with a construction crew when walkers start approaching. Wielding his gun and jumping into action, he tries to help the rest of the men. When they’re about to leave Francine to die, he puts himself at risk to save her. The other guys explain that they have a system, which means they leave men behind. Francine punches one in the face. Abraham, taking control, tells them where to put lookouts and gets back to work. The man who had been leading goes to meet with Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) and Rich and encourages them to put Abraham in charge.

When the scavenger group thinks they’re in the clear and about to make off with the gadgets, Aiden comes face-to-face with a walker in full military armor, including a helmet. After he gets the walker on the ground, Glenn warns him to stop firing, but it’s too late. Aiden hits the grenade, causing an explosion that leaves Aiden looking dead. When a walker comes to attack Tara, Eugene freezes, but Glenn and Noah take care of it. Just as they’re about to leave to get Tara some medical attention, they realize Aiden is alive and throw themselves back into danger to rescue him.

As he realizes that Tara is bleeding out on the table, Eugene finds his courage and throws Tara over his shoulder to carry her to safety. Glenn and Noah are trying desperately to save Aiden, but his pal Nicholas grows nervous that he won’t be able to safe Aiden and himself, revealing that they’d left others behind before because it’s who they are. Though Glenn still tries to save him, there’s not enough time. He flees just as the walkers sink their teeth into Aiden.

The walkers then close in on Noah, Glenn and Nicholas in a turnstile. Eugene starts to draw them away from the outside with the van but Nicholas ruins Glenn’s plan in order save himself, which ends up leaving Noah dead. Glenn manages to escape just as Nicholas is trying to get Eugene to leave without him. Eugene puts up a fight long enough for Glenn to get there and punch Nicholas a couple of times. He has Eugene help him get Nicholas in the back with Tara and tells him that Noah didn’t make it.

Back at Alexandria, Father Gabriel walks over to Deanna’s home, saying ominously that, “Satan disguises himself as the agent of light. I’m afraid that false light is here, behind these walls.” Essentially, Eugene tries to tell Deanna that Rick and his group are not good people. “The day will come when they put their own lives before yours and everyone else’s,” he says. “And they will destroy everything you have here.” Deanna takes all that he’s saying in as Maggie (Lauren Cohan) listens to the betrayal from the stairs.