The Scavengers (TV Series)

"We take. We don't bother."

- Jadis to Rick on her people

The Scavengers are a large group that first appears in the episode "Rock in the Road" in AMC's The Walking Dead. They live in a Junkyard and are led by a woman named Jadis. They serve as the secondary antagonists of the second half of Season 7 and the whole of Season 8.

Pre-Apocalypse
Nothing is known about the life of the group members before the zombie apocalypse. It is possible that some members knew each other before the outbreak.

Post-Apocalypse
Sometime after the outbreak, Jadis and her people found shelter in a nearby Junkyard not far away from the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Since then they adopted a policy of taking what they want and not caring. They do this by raiding nearby locals or plundering other groups or people. It is unknown if they knew of Negan and the Saviors before encountering Rick's Group, though Jadis laughs when Rick asks for help in fighting the Saviors, suggesting that she knew of the Saviors in advance.

Deal with Alexandria
At some point, after the outbreak, they found a houseboat on a lake full of zombies. They had been waiting for someone to get the supplies on it. After Rick and Aaron took them, Tamiel followed them back to Alexandria. There she forced Gabriel to get all the food supplies of the community and then took him with her.

On their way to find Gabriel, Rick and a few other members of his group ran into the Junkyard group, who took them into the Junkyard. There Rick struck a deal with the group after fighting a walker with spikes, with him agreeing to provide the Scavengers with weapons and supplies in exchange for their help fighting the Saviors. After the deal was made Rick and his group left the Junkyard.

Later Rick returned with the guns as promised, but it was only half the amount the Scavengers needed. Rick and Jadis then renegotiated and agreed that Rick would keep 20 of the guns to help his search for more and also once again reaffirmed their alliance.

At some point after this however, Jadis and her people secretly made a deal with Negan and the Saviors and informed Negan of Rick's plan to initiate a war against him. In exchange for helping the Saviors incapacitate and fight back against Rick and his people, Negan agreed to give Jadis 12 survivors for undisclosed reasons. This deal was perceived as being better than the one offered by Rick, and Jadis agreed.

Betrayal of Alexandria
When the Saviors come after Alexandria, the Scavengers join with them in a defense at first before its revealed that they made a deal with the Saviors that leads to them betraying Rick. With the Scavengers betrayal, Negan and the Saviors easily overpower the Alexandrians until Sasha Williams emerges from a coffin as a walker. A brief gun battle ensues, but the Saviors win and Jadis wounds Rick, ignoring his pleas to make another deal. Negan dominates Jadis in a negotiation and belittles her group as "filthy garbage people," clearly demonstrating that the Saviors view them as subordinate. As Negan prepares to kill Carl, the Kingdom and the Hilltop residents attack, leading to a battle in which the Scavengers bear by far the brunt of the casualties, losing around 20 people in the fight, and the Saviors losing at least 4 peoples. Jadis eventually orders a retreat, during which a red umbrella is used to jam the Alexandria gate, preventing the Alexandrians and Kingdommers from following Negan, who also retreats with his people.

The War between the Militia and the Saviors
Following the rebellion at Alexandria and the deaths of many Scavengers, it is unknown if they are still allies to Negan and the Saviors. In spite of their betrayal, Rick still appears to want the Scavengers as allies and he personally goes to the Junkyard to confront them and try to sway them back to his side.

Rick attempts to show Jadis pictures of the Militia's victories against the Saviors and offers them a chance to join his side again or else they will all be destroyed. Jadis however refuses again and has Rick stripped naked and imprisoned in a storage container.

The Scavengers attempt to kill Rick by feeding him alive to another armored Walker however he is able to overpower his guards and eventually Jadis herself. After Rick threatens to return at a later time and exterminate the Scavengers for their refusal to help him fight, Jadis finally agrees to aid Rick once again and Rick promises the Scavengers will get a fourth of the Saviors' supplies and Jadis demands that she be able to sculpt Rick naked.

Jadis and her group accompany Rick to the Sanctuary however Rick discovers his lookouts dead and the area free of Walkers, implying the Saviors have escaped their entrapment at the Sanctuary. The Saviors open fire on Rick, Jadis, and the Scavengers. For the second time, Jadis and her people betray Rick and the militia by fleeing the scene and leaving Rick to die. Fortunately, Rick is rescued by Carol and Jerry.

Members

 * Jadis (Leader)
 * Tamiel (Lieutenant)
 * Brion (Lieutenant)
 * Farron 
 * Winslow 
 * Numerous unnamed members

Killed Victims

 * At least 2 members of the Militia
 * Numerous counts of zombies and possibly unnamed people

Deaths

 * Winslow (Alive, Confirmed Fate)
 * Farron
 * At least 21 unnamed Scavengers

Season 7

 * "Hearts Still Beating"
 * "Rock in the Road"
 * "New Best Friends"
 * "Say Yes"
 * "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"

Season 8

 * "The Big Scary U"
 * "The King, the Widow, and Rick"
 * "Time for After"
 * "How It's Gotta Be"
 * "Honor"
 * "The Lost and the Plunderers"

Trivia

 * Talking Dead's "Inside the Dead" segment revealed that this group name is the Scavengers.
 * During "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life", Maggie calls the junkyard people "those Scavengers", which is the first time their group is named on screen.
 * Pollyanna McIntosh said that another name for "the Scavengers" is "the Heapsters".
 * Despite their name, the Scavengers share no similarities to the comic group of the same name, though like the comic group they served as antagonists for a time towards Rick and his people.
 * In "Say Yes", Jadis confirms there are at least 120 Scavengers. She tells this to Rick when he gives her 62 guns, and she says they need nearly double. This statement seems to be somewhat accurate, since there seems to be about 129 Scavengers in total, making them the third largest group ever encountered, after the Saviors and Woodbury. With the death of about 20 Scavengers during the skirmish at Alexandria, there are now less than 100 scavengers.
 * Following the aftermath of the skirmish at Alexandria, 67 Scavengers are present during "The King, the Widow, and Rick" which leaves 57 missing, 37 counting the 20 Scavengers killed on-screen. It is unknown if not everyone was present or if more Scavengers were killed off-screen than expected.