The Scavengers (TV Series)

"We take. We don't bother."

- Jadis to Rick on her people

The Scavengers, commonly referred to as the Garbage People, 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 first half 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 always staying out of harm's way, never bothering to do anything that seems like a waste of time and quietly taking what they want when they can or desire to do so. Thus, unlike their comic book namesake, they don't raid or plunder nearby people and do a good job of staying completely out-of-sight. 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. The Scavengers have an unusual way of communicating by speaking in broken English.

Deal with Alexandria
At some point, after the outbreak, they had found a houseboat on a lake full of zombies. However, in their eyes, crossing the lake alone to even find out what was on the boat was too dangerous and not worth the trouble. They had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself to discern whether or not the houseboat had supplies, so they wait 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.

Extermination by the Saviors
Negan orders Simon to visit the Scavengers to demand an apology and to kill one person as an example despite Simon's wishes to simply wipe them out. At the Scavengers' home, Simon demands an apology for Jadis' betrayal and intent to kill them alongside Rick. Jadis claims that the Scavengers had been delivering Rick to the Saviors before being fired upon, but Simon immediately calls her bluff and says that Negan is willing to forget any punishment should they revert back to the original terms of their deal, as well as handing them all of their guns, the latter Brion and Tamiel disagreed with, but Jadis agrees to this and allows Simon's men to take them. Simon's interest is drawn as the base has a helipad and solar panels, but Jadis states that its just a dump. In an attempt to get an apology, Simon murders Brion and Tamiel, leading an enraged Jadis to attack him. In retaliation, Simon has his men slaughter the Scavengers.

Following the destruction of Alexandria, Rick decides to enlist the help of the Scavengers who will now be targets as the Saviors saw the Scavengers with Rick at the Sanctuary. Arriving at the Junkyard, Rick and Michonne find dozens of zombified Scavengers and Jadis as the only living survivor. Jadis explains what happened and the original purpose of the Scavengers. Rick and Michonne escape the Junkyard, but leave Jadis behind as Rick feels that she is of no more use to them.

Once Rick and Michonne are gone, Jadis lures the zombified Scavengers up a hill to a metal grinder which she activates. One by one, the zombified Scavengers walk into the machine and are completely pulped, leaving Jadis the only survivor.

After the massacre, Simon lies to Negan that he only delivered a message to the Scavengers and killed one person. However, Negan eventually learns the truth from Rick and is angered as he hadn't wanted the Scavengers wiped out.

Members

 * Anne (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
 * Brion (Alive and Zombified)
 * Tamiel (Alive and Zombified)
 * At least 150 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"
 * "The Lost and the Plunderers"
 * "Still Gotta Mean Something" (Flashback)

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", Anne confirms there were are at least 120 Scavengers. She tells this to Rick when he gives her 62 guns, and she says they need nearly double.
 * With the extermination of the remaining Scavengers in "The Lost and the Plunderers", Jadis is the only remaining Scavenger.