Did the Army kill survivors outside of the safe zone?

Question

I just watched the 4th episode of Fear the Walking Dead and while the whole modus operandi of the Army made total sense to me, one thing bothers me: in the final scene, one can see a firefight in the building with the presumed survivor. It certainly looks like automatic gun fire. In addition to that, there is evidence of at least another survivor who had been shot. 

Of course, it would be a wonderful plot, if everything we saw so far was just a misunderstanding (e.g., the man in the street might have been shot by a third party, the Army might not have been involved in the firefight we have seen, there is a real hospital instead of some sort of death camp, etc.). However, the general tone is certainly "us against the Army," and so I am looking for concrete evidence.

First, I would argue that the Army does not know about the true nature of the infection (ABC protection worn on patrol is a strong hint). Second, the safe zone is lit by quite strong searchlights and has informative signs on the outside of the fence. It does seem like the safe zone is intentionally attracting people.

Is there any concrete on-screen evidence of some sort of evil plot?

Answer 1

Based on what we've seen so far:

Out of universe:

The shooting we heard and saw at the end of the episode was clearly intended to make us think that the people who had been taken away were being killed. I suspect that Nick isn't dead yet, because he was such an important character, and it just seems too early to kill off main characters. I don't know how else to explain the shooting, but I am reasonably certain that we'll find out before the season finale.

In universe:

Although the fate of the "deportees", for lack of a better word, is unclear, it is absolutely certain that the military has been killing uninfected civilians. When Madison went outside the fence, we saw at least one person who had been shot down while apparently uninfected and holding a semiautomatic handgun. When she returned home, she spoke with Daniel.

Daniel asked "What did you see?", to which she replied:

"Bodies. The infected. There was a man, shot like the others, like the rest, but he wasn't sick. And there were others like that."

Daniel, a survivor of the conflict in El Salvador a few decades ago, clearly understands what is happening. He relays a story about his childhood. Men from the government came to his village and took some people away. His father, who was apparently serving in a similar capacity to Travis, asked the military where they were being taken, and the officer told him "Don't worry, they always come back". A short time later, Daniel was fishing in a nearby river when he found the corpses of the people who had been taken away, either floating around or submerged in the water.

Daniel then gives Madison some insight into their current situation:

"My father told me not to have hatred in my heart. He said 'Men do not do these things because of evil. They do evil because of fear.' And at that moment, I realized that my father was a fool for thinking there's a difference. When it happens, it will happen quickly. Keep your son close."

His words proved to be remarkably prescient: That same night (if I'm not mistaken), the military came to the Clark/Manawa household and took Nick (who is indeed Madison's son) to an undisclosed location, against his will and the will of his family.

Is there an evil plot?

No, it seems to me that the problem here is the lack of any well-thought-out plans. Communications are already breaking down, and we seem to be seeing a distressing amount of improvisation. The military has presumably been ordered to take out the zombies, and probably to deal with any potential unrest, but the unit running the camp where Madison and her family live appear to be exceeding their briefs, and showing a remarkable degree of autonomy and an increasing lack of prudence, restraint, moderation, and self control.

As I see it, the issue isn't an evil plot; rather, it is an apparent lack of any kind of planning.

Speculation:

The obvious implication of the episode is that the military in charge of the safe zone is probably losing contact with high command, and rapidly devolving into a tinpot dictatorship. I am almost certain that this state of affairs will continue on its present course. As the bureaucracy breaks down, the officers in charge of each of these little camps will be left to their own devices, and although many of them will probably do their best to uphold the standards of conduct instilled by the military, many others will be less scrupulous, and will become tyrants over their absurdly small "kingdoms".

We've already seen this happen in the original series: The police who kept the hospital in Atlanta operational, to some extent, became despotic and cruel, abandoning the morals that guided them prior to the end of the world. The same thing has already begun to happen in the neighborhood where our protagonists live, and I don't see any reason to doubt that the devolution will continue, and even accelerate, as the government loses control of the situation and is steadily eaten away by the innumerable hordes of zombies.

I think the writers and producers are giving us a glimpse of things to come, and a disturbing indication of just how seriously the situation has already eroded.

I'm reminded of the famous footage of then-Lieutenant General Charles Honore entering New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He saw a truck full of soldiers driving by. The soldiers were holding their rifles up, ready for action, as though they were in Iraq rather than an American city. The General shouted "YOU ARE IN AMERICA, NOT IRAQ! I WANT TO SEE THOSE WEAPONS POINTED AT THE GODDAMN DECK [i.e., the ground]!" No one is saying that on Fear the Walking Dead. No one is reminding the soldiers that they're on friendly soil. This can only lead to a catastrophic breakdown of discipline, with horrific consequences for the civilians who are ostensibly under the protection of the military.

Answer 2

There is no onscreen evidence of wrong-doing. It's implied, but never fully realized. Yet. The most damning evidence is when the kill team was moving through town, there seemed to be plenty of dead bodies which didn't look like zombies. Makes me think they are simply creating a clear zone around their base camp. This may indicate, they already know things have gone FUBAR in the central city.

Things to note which may indicate problems:

• There is no radio chatter. As a military-trained individual, I would expect to hear some sort of radio or communications chatter. There isn't any. Ever.

• If what we suspect is going on (downtown Los Angeles now being completely overrun with the Walking Dead) this might explain why there isn't any other communication taking place. Remember when Rick went into the city, the place was swarming with zombies, so many he couldn't escape.

• To put that into comparison with Los Angeles, the city of Atlanta has about 450,000 people living in it. When the Walking Dead took place, the city became crazy impassable so much so, only someone with knowledge of the city could escape successfully.

• Los Angeles has 3.4 million people living in it. Densely populated central L.A. would be a death trap of epic proportions if the population of the dead were moving through it.

• The commander of the operation playing golf near the edge of the DMZ. He's outside of it and there is no communication information, not even a radio nearby. He doesn't seem overly concerned and what makes it more suspicious, he didn't seem interested in hearing about any other citizens who might need help. His attitude was not one of being prepared or gathering resources for the long haul. It feels predatory and not all that concerned for the people inside his cage.

• There are no helicopters over the main part of the city. If there were operations still going on there, I would expect to see regular air traffic supporting, moving, and or evacuating troops and civilians. Anytime we get to see central L.A. we don't see any kind of movement, at all.

• Now to be fair, there may be a containment protocol which says: "nothing in, nothing out" but I would still expect if they are establishing quarantine zones, there would be several opportunities to need to drop supplies in, even if they aren't taking anyone out.

• Is there really a field hospital? I'd be suspicious because they took Nick, who while he may have been a drug addict was certainly not sick or a perceivable threat. It didn't make sense to take someone like him when there were likely to be many people far sicker.

Something not kosher is happening but it may be a while before our heroes are brave enough to venture out and find it.

Answer 3

It is incredible that our first taught is that OH NOES!! Conspiracy! Military BAD!!

It might be that the miltary is doing all these bad things but it seems that everybody is forgetting that small and unwashed group of people that were shown in episode 4. To me it seemed that they were found outside of the fence and then brought in.

So it might be that the military isn't all that bad. It is a given that the commander seems "jerkish" in his demeanor but it might be just me.

But dude, what 'bout all the dead, non-infected people in the streets?

Well, this thing called the end of world started happening, people getting shot by the police and people killing other people. So being in USA and having guns in your house, a natural reaction is to barricade and wait it out. So when the military comes, people panic and don't cooperate. Military being what they are they start shooting when you do not comply the first time. A gun pointed at a soldier means shoot back or die.

But dude what about the end scene?

Well... food is getting scarce. It can be that the family in the house can't move because of injured people or whatever. So they stay put and signal the "safe zone". Somebody else that is not in the safe zone can have seen the signals and decided to go rob the place. Not everybody will be lovey-dovey towards the military and/or government. There are survivalists with knowhow, and the means to ride it out if they are prepared to do whatever it takes.

Answer 4

Yes. And the U.S. military’s engagement in civilian casualties extends far beyond Los Angeles.

In the first episode of the second season of Fear the Walking Dead, we witness the military’s bombardment of Los Angeles. Further revelations in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024 The Walking Dead spin-off) indicate that Donald Okafor, a U.S. Air Force officer, bombed Los Angeles (depicted in Fear the Walking Dead) and Atlanta (the aftermath of which is portrayed in The Walking Dead). Okafor said that they called it "clearing disease vectors". He was en route to do the same to Philadelphia. 

In The Ones Who Live, it was revealed that the Pennsylvania National Guard, having defected from the U.S. military, defended Philadelphia from both the military and the zombies. Okafor, too, defected from the military, switched sides to the Pennsylvania National Guard, and defied orders to bomb the city. Instead, he bombed 4000 Marines poised to retake Philadelphia post-bombardment.

These revelations allow us to deduce that the U.S. military was not only aware of the zombie outbreak’s grave magnitude but also that the U.S. Air Force received directives (presumably approved by the U.S. President) to obliterate entire cities.