Madison Clark (Fear)

Madison Clark, also referred to as Maddie, is the protagonist of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead. She is a guidance counselor at Paul R. Williams High School and is mother to Nick and Alicia. Her husband died prior to the events of the series. She is in a relationship with teacher Travis Manawa.

Los Angeles, California
At one point, Madison married her former husband and had two kids, a son and a daughter. Her husband died prior to the show and she eventually met and fell in love with Travis Manawa. Madison at some point became a guidance counselor at Paul R. Williams High School. Madison was well liked by her neighbors, and her community was shocked by her husband's death.

"Pilot"
When the outbreak was in its first few hours, Madison and her family were called into the local hospital for her son, Nicholas Clark, being brought in after being hit by a car. She demands to know what had happened, as the report indicated he had merely run out into the streets in a possible suicide attempt. Since he was handcuffed, she assumed that he had been caught using drugs and had gotten hit by a car because of his ignorance. Madison's daughter, Alicia Clark, asks if she could go, and Madison asks Travis Manawa if he could stay and watch Nick. When he fails to get consent from his own son to visit him for the weekend, he agrees to stay with Nick while Madison drives Alicia to school.

During her drive to school with her daughter, they discuss Nick's well-being and how he really wasn't their problem now that he was nineteen. Alicia promises that if something does not change with him, he'll be found dead within a few months. Madison does not agree, but does not offer any other opinion. They arrive at the school and Madison is found by Principal Art Costa. Madison tells her daughter to go to class and Art tells her that he had feared that she had fallen sick too. Curious, Madison asks what he means, and he explains that almost a third of the student and faculty body was absent from school today due to a superbug running through the city.

Before she can press the matter further, Tobias, a student at the school, enters through the front doors and trips the metal detectors on his way in. Art attempts to apprehend and search him, but Madison gets to him first, claiming that it was just a couple of coins that had set off the machine. Art waves them off as Madison drags Tobias into her office. She confiscates the metal object- revealed to be a knife- and locks it in her desk. Madison asks him if he is being bullied again, as Tobias had once gone to her office for fighting his tormentors. He denies it and asks for his knife back. When she mentions how she could expel him from the school for this, he explains how there was a virus going around five states and that he had started carrying the knife for protection. Clark scoffs at him, telling him that if there were to be such a panic, the government would be able to handle it. Tobias then warns her about how people think when they believe their lives are in danger, but she merely tells him to not be so paranoid and sends him back to class.

Madison stops by Travis's class lecture on what man would do to survive. When Travis asks her what she needed, she just shrugs off the question and leaves.

She receives a notification from Travis that Nick's condition had improved and that he was not going to be in the hospital for too much longer. However, when they next meet, Travis informs her that Nick had seen one of his friends being eaten alive. She dismisses this as one of Nick's delusional episodes and that if someone were killed at his church, then it was because it was a drug den, not for cannibalism.

Travis investigates the abandoned church that night for some answers, and reports back to Madison that there was indeed a lot of blood in the church. When Nick escapes protective custody and flees the hospital that day, she and Travis go to Calvin's house, as the man was a friend of Nick's. They receive no information on Nick's whereabouts, and, worrying that Nick had reverted to his old ways, tells Travis to take her to the church.

Inside the church, she is horrified by the blood on the floors. More upsetting to her, however, was how her son had been living and that this was how she had raised him. Travis attempts to reassure her that it was not her fault how Nick had turned out, but she proclaims that she would only be able to believe that if they could find him alive.

Hours later, Travis and Madison receive a call from Nick, asking if they could come get him near the waste ditch downtown. They arrive to get him, and he begins raving about having done something terrible. Madison tells him to get in the car so they could leave, but Nick announces that he had killed Calvin. Travis asks what had happened, and Nick sobs about it being self-defense and that he had never meant to shoot him. They go to investigate the body, Travis confident that they could resolve this. Madison, upon seeing Calvin's car but no body, is reluctant to believe that this wasn't just another delusion. Travis finds the gun on the ground, and tells Madison that this was definitely real, but that Calvin might not be dead. They get back in their own car and begin to drive off with Nick in the back, but someone blocks their path out of the ditch. Madison and Travis tell Nick to stay in the car as she and Travis get out. They recognize him as Calvin, but Nick screams for them to come back, as Calvin, having reanimated, would kill them. Calvin attacks and nearly bites Madison's wrist, but is pushed off by Travis with barely a shove. Nick, having commandeered the car, drives forward and hits the zombie dead on, tossing it up over the truck. He puts the car into reverse when Calvin stands back up, and Madison offers no objections when Nick backs up and hits him again, tossing out into the ditch. Madison hugs Nick for comfort when he gets out of the car, but all three of them are horrified when Calvin turns his head and tries to get at them again.

"So Close, Yet So Far"
Madison, still in shock at seeing Calvin try to kill them after being hit by a car and crippled twice, panics for her daughter's safety and tries to reach her cell phone. Travis says they can pack up their stuff and head into the desert for a few days while the situation- whatever it is- gets resolved. Madison texts Alicia and calls her, but gets no response. Travis calls his own son, but gets no response from him. Madison assures Travis that he would be fine.

When they get back to their house and do not find Alicia inside, they head to her boyfriend's house to look for her. Sure enough, Travis and Madison find Alicia sitting beside Matt's bed as he appears deathly ill. Nick searches Matt's house for any drugs while Madison tries to get Alicia to get away from him. Travis tells her to step back while he checks on him, but Alicia refuses, saying that he's not contagious. Alicia says that Matt's parents would not be back until late at night, and that she was trying to care for him until then. Madison, concerned that they had very little time, tells Alicia to let Travis check him quickly so they could find out what was wrong with him. Alicia reluctantly goes to her mother. Travis asks for permission from Matt and finds a large avulsion on Matt's left shoulder. Matt says that "some crazy guy" attacked him the day before and had bitten on his way to meet Alicia at the beach. Since then, he had been feverish and had chosen to go home. Madison tells her daughter that they have to leave. Alicia does not want to leave him alone, but Matt assures her that he would be fine once his parents returned. Travis steps back as Alicia hugs him goodbye, and allows Madison to take her back out of the house.

Madison returns home with Travis and her children, where she is suddenly invited by her neighbor, Mrs. Cruz, over for her daughter's birthday party. She declines the offer, saying that she was having a family emergency. Travis, meanwhile, ushers her inside when he sees a neighbor hastily packing up his car.

Inside, Nick asks her why she didn't tell Mrs. Cruz about the virus. Madison did not want to cause a panic, and chose to keep the information to herself. Nick also warns her that he was going to soon be suffering from the effects of addiction withdrawal, and that he needed more drugs. Madison is unsuccessful in reaching a doctor to obtain a short-notice methadone perscription. She tells him to lie down on the couch while she makes a quick run to the school to retrieve drugs from the security cabinet. Travis is unable to reach either his ex-wife or his son, and he goes to get them. He tells Madison that if she can't wait, she can leave for the desert without him and that he would catch up. She refuses, and claims that she would wait for him.

With both Travis and Madison out of the house, Madison trusts her daughter to stay at home, pack up, and take care of Nick. When Madison gets to the school, she finds it eerily abandoned and quiet. She heads for the security office to get the drugs out of the cabinet, but the cabinet is locked. She tries to pry it open, and is able see the OxyContin inside. Suddenly, Tobias appears from behind her, startling her. He asks if he could have his knife back.

After getting the necessary drugs and giving Tobias his knife back, Tobias explains that he was there to gather food for his family. Madison asks why now, and he asks why she was here now, stealing from the off-limits cabinet. She says that the drugs were for her son, who needed to be weaned off of the stuff. Tobias then answers her question, saying that nobody would think to ravage a school for supplies first; they would go to hospitals, food banks, malls, grocery stores, and pharmacies. She compliments his thinking and volunteers to help him raid the cafeteria.

After acquiring a food cart, she helps Tobias into the cafeteria. Madison asks what his family's plan is and where he would go. Tobias says that he would have to find a quiet place somewhere out of town and begin fortifying that place. Madison scoffs at his idea, saying that the situation should be fixed within a few days. He tells her that this could be worse than merely "a situation", possibly an extinction-level event. Tobias mentions how "people forget that when civilization ends, it ends fast."

They bring their cart back out of the cafeteria when it can take no more food. Suddenly, the audio speaker buzzes and the metal detectors go off. Growls frighten them, and Tobias rushes out to the fire escape with the food. The loud speaker buzzes again when Madison shuts the door behind them. She sees the school principal wander out from behind the end of the hall, covered in blood and snarling. Tobias warns her to stay away from him, but she ignores him, trying to get Art to stop. He continues walking toward her while she tries explaining to him that he is sick. Fearing his violence, Tobias lunges between them and stabs Art, but he is unaffected. He tackles Tobias down the stairs, landing on top of the teenager. Madison, horrified, tells Tobias to hang on while she rushes down the staircase with a fire extinguisher. She bashes in Art's head several times until he stops moving, then drops the object, shocked at herself. Tobias goes back to retrieve the food as more growls approach. They get out of the building and Madison drives Tobias to his house with the food.

At his house, Tobias gets out of her car and allows her to keep some of the food. She offers to take him and his family with her, but he declines, saying that they have what they need without the safety of numbers. He bids her farewell with the warning that this would not end. Madison drives herself home.

Back at her own house, she enters and learns from Alicia that Travis had not yet returned and that Nick had seized while she was gone. He had been doing well in the time since his seizure, but would still need the drugs to be tapered off. Alicia leaves to go pack more while Madison gives Nick the stuff she had acquired from the drug cabinet. She gives him two pills and keeps the rest on lockdown. Nick tells her that Alicia had tried to leave for Matt's house, but he had stopped her. Madison thanks him and goes to the bathroom. She washes the blood off of her jacket using the sink and suddenly breaks down in tears now that she was alone. Her phone suddenly rings and she answers it. Travis, on the other end of the line, warns her that he was trapped downtown with Liza and Chris in the middle of a riot. He tells her again that she can go to the desert without him and he would find her later, but before she can reply, the network connection fails.

At night, Madison hears a scream from outside. She looks out a window and sees Mrs. Cruz being attacked by her husband. Alicia tries to look, but Madison closes the blinds, telling her not to watch. Alicia tries to go outside to help, but Madison blocks the door, saying that they could not open the door until Travis comes home. Nick is hesitant to believe that Travis was coming home, but Madison insists that they stay inside until then.

"The Dog"
Madison gives her son another pill to help deal with weaning him off of the drugs. Still waiting for Travis to return, Madison has Alicia come into the room with them and stay with them. She ignores Alicia's question about their neighbor screaming and what had happened, only saying that they will get away from the madness soon enough once Travis gets home. Madison goes and retrieves a box of a "Monopoly" set, setting it down on the table. Despite her kids' protests that it wasn't even fun and that they were too old for a board game, they still jump into a game with enthusiasm, eager for a distraction from what was happening outside. Madison takes the car piece.

Nearing the end of their "Monopoly" game, Nick grows frustrated with the waiting and says that they should just leave immediately. Alicia and Madison both ask if he is mad about losing to a girl, and he says that he is not. He claims that Travis wouldn't even be coming back at all, which disturbs Madison. He goes on to say that Travis doesn't need them anymore now that he has been reunited with his ex-wife and son. She puts the board game away. A power outage ensues, leaving them all in darkness.

Outside their house, a loud noise alerts them all. They all cower down below the windows as Madison urges them to the back door, only for Nick to stand up and open the door. A dog covered in blood walks in and Nick welcomes it. Madison and Alicia are uneasy about the blood, but Nick assures them that the blood didn't belong to the dog. It starts barking at someone outside the house, and one of their undead neighbors moves toward the house. Madison leads them out of the house and into the yard of neighboring Susan Tran's house at Nick's suggestion.

Inside the neighbor's house, Nick presents his mother a shotgun and a shell that he had found inside. She takes it and watches as the zombie wanders in through the back door of their own house. The dog barks loudly at it and gets into a small scuffle before the dog is knocked over and the zombie lands on it. It devours the dog while Alicia asks why there was someone in their house. Suddenly, much to Madison's horror, Travis's truck drives onto the driveway. She rushes back out of Tran's house with the shotgun and goes back into her own yard with Nick while Alicia goes back inside to get the extra shells.

When Travis gets inside, he is attacked by his neighbor when he tries to get him to calm down. Madison comes in with the shotgun and tells Travis to get out of the way. Travis says not to shoot, as he could calm the man down. At Daniel Salazar's order, Madison relinquishes the gun and watches in shock as he shoots the zombie in the head twice.

Alicia cries out from the backyard and Madison rushes to help her. She sees that her daughter is caught on top of the fence while another infected person- Mrs. Tran- is trying to pull her down to the other side of the fence. Christopher attempts to help Alicia, only to get hit in the face. Madison is able to get Alicia down on their side of the fence safely, but she is unable to help when Chris yells at Alicia for elbowing him when he was trying to save her life. The reason for her being stupefied is that she recognizes Susan Tran when she tries to claw at them through the fence. When Alicia asks what is wrong with their neighbor and why she was sick. Nick announces to Alicia that Susan was not sick, but dead. Madison comforts her daughter when she realizes that Matt had been bitten as well.

Once back inside, everyone is still in a panic at what to do next. Daniel says that one of his cousins would pick him and his family up in the morning and they would be out of Travis's hands. Madison extends an invitation for him to go with them, but he declines respectfully. Not wanting to deal with any more emotional trauma, Madison gets ready to leave immediately. Travis, however, decides that they cannot leave while it was dark out, saying it would be safer when the sun came up. Madison relents, but tells him if they are going to stay for the night, he would have to deal with the bodies of the dog and the neighbor.

Madison later tells Travis that she had more than enough pills to wean Nick off of the stuff. If they were going their separate ways in the morning, she says that she would give the rest to Griselda Salazar for her pain. Travis hugs her and vows not to leave her again. He then leaves her to take care of his son and go to bed. Madison stays in the kitchen and gets herself some wine. She watches the wandering zombie that had used to be her neighbor through the fence when Liza walks in. Madison explains that she had liked Susan very much and that she had been very nice to her kids. Madison asks Liza that if she were to ever end up like Susan, she would not "make Travis do it". Liza offers to maintain their friendship for the sake of their kids. Madison accepts, but does not go to bed when asked.

After Travis had buried the dog and the zombie, he finds Madison out back with a hammer in her hand. Confused, he approaches her and notices that she is watching Susan, staying just out of her reach. She expresses her fears of regretting it forever if she did not put Susan to rest now. Travis warns her that she would regret it if she killed Susan now and someone later figured out how to save these people. She is reluctant to believe that anyone could be saved from this, but allows Travis to take the hammer from her and she leaves quickly to avoid second-guessing herself. To himself, Daniel remarks that this display was a sign of weakness. He decides that he and his family would wait for the two other families to leave before they left themselves.

Madison gets into the car and Nick immediately asks for the pills. She says that they did not have that much for him to waste anymore. When he asks what had happened to his medicine, she says that she had given it to Griselda. Nick is angered that his mother had chosen to help a stranger over him, but Madison points out that Griselda was in pain more than he was and that she was trying to help the both of them. Nick sinks back in his seat sullenly when Alicia gets into the car with them. Chinooks fly overhead, making all of them wonder what was happening. Madison shrugs this off, driving away.

Before they get out of the neighborhood, Madison spots Patrick Tran coming home from a business trip and calls out to him. When he does not hear her, she pulls over quickly to go warn him. Out in the backyard of his house, Madison and Alicia find Patrick staring in horror at his wife as she wanders toward him. Madison tells him to stay away from Susan, but he does not hear her this time either. Just as he goes to embrace his wife and she about to bite him, she is shot in the head, making her collapse in death and him collapse in sorrow. Madison spots a few members of the U.S. National Guard entering the yard. Alicia is horrified by Susan being shot in front of her husband.

Upon returning to her own house when the military cleared the neighborhood, a military clerk asked for the names of all the occupants in hers and Travis's house. Travis gives the names of all of them, including the Salazar family. The soldier spots the grave Travis had dug for the neighbor and asks what that was for. Madison says that a dog had died.

As the military sets up camp in the streets and cordons off the neighborhood, Madison watches as the bodies of a few infected and zombified people are loaded onto trucks for transport. Upon seeing that Susan was one of the bodies, she asks where Patrick is, wanting to comfort him. She is told that Patrick was taken away, as he had been covered in the blood of an infected person and could be infected himself. The truck drives off, leaving Madison in the driveway of her house. Travis puts his hand on her shoulder and tells her that everything would get better from here on out. She shakes her head and walks back inside.

"Not Fade Away"
TBA

"Cobalt"
TBA

"The Good Man"
TBA

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Madison has killed:
 * Art Costa (Zombified)
 * A few zombies.

Travis Manawa
"I'm sorry, babe. (...) Because you're stupid; you didn't sign up for this. (...) I'm sorry."

- Madison to Travis.

Travis is Madison's fiancée, and it is known that they love each other very much. Travis met Madison during his time as a teacher and eventually fell in love with her. While their relationship sometimes struggles due to complications within their respective families, such as Travis's strained relationship with Chris and Madison's struggle to keep Nick off drugs, they are shown to deeply care about each other and will do anything to keep each other safe.

Nick Clark
TBA

Alicia Clark
TBA

Liza Ortiz
"Come on, you never liked me that much"

- Liza to Madison

Madison and Liza were implied to not get on much pre-apocalypse. This is probably because Liza is Travis' ex-wife. When Nick was forcibly taken by the soldiers to the medical facility, Madison blamed Liza. When Madison and the others came to rescue her, Nick and Griselda from the facility, Nick was trapped and unable to get out locked doors, away from the zombies, but Liza came and unlocked the doors, saving Nick. Madison was presumably very grateful for this.

Madison watches Liza hug Chris, getting teary. As Liza goes to the ocean front, Madison follows her, knowing something was wrong. Liza reveals her scratch to Madison's shock. Liza asks Madison to euthanize her, but she refuses and can't bring herself to do it. Madison tries to talk Liza out of killing herself, but is unsuccessful. Travis ends up putting Liza down. Maddie is very sad about her untimely death. The two had presumably made up.

Art Costa
"See ya, Artie."

- Madison to Art.

Madison and Art knew each other well before the outbreak, both working in the same school. When Madison came into school late one morning, Art expressed his concerns that she had fallen victim to the flu that had taken one third of the students in the faculties of the district. She said that she was fine and that they had found Nick. Art also expressed concern to her son and asked what had happened to him.

The following day, Art questions the staff why they are all in the same room crowded together. At Madison's request, he looks at an Internet video that Travis shares, and he closes down the school based on Travis's and Madsion's concerns.

A few days later, Madison ignored Tobias when he said that Art was dead, believing that he was only sick. She tried to help him,but he attacked her and Tobias. When Tobias was in danger of being bitten, Madison grabbed a fire extinguisher and relentlessly bashed Art's head in. She seemed shocked at what she had done, but quickly moves past the death of her friend and flees the scene.

When she washed off Art's blood from her clothes hours later, she was alone to begin sobbing.

Tobias
"Tobias, please. Don't screw yourself like this. You've worked your ass off; you're on track to go to college."

- Madison to Tobias.

Before the outbreak, Madison Clark was the guidance counselor at Tobias's school. With Tobias being bullied at his school quite frequently, he visited her several times, not always by choice. One day, he got into a fight with his tormentors and was officially suspended by Madison. When he came back to school, he tended to avoid her. When the outbreak first began, Tobias tried to smuggle a knife into school with him for protection. When the school principal attempted to search him, Madison covered for him and announced that it was a couple of coins that had set off the metal detectors. She took Tobias into her office to have a talk with him away from everyone else. Madison took his knife away and locked it in her desk. He asked for his knife back, and she immediately assumed that he was being bullied again. She asked him why it was that he felt the need to carry a knife around in a "safe" environment, and asked him if he realized that she could expel him from school just for finding a concealed weapon. He tried to explain that the unchecked virus outbreak spreading across five states was enough to worry him, but she shut him down, claiming that he was making too much of a big deal over nothing. He grimly asks for his knife back again, but she refuses. He leaves her office.

When school is closed early by the principal the next day, Madison sees him on the bus. She waves at him, but he does not acknowledge her. Madison looks disheartened at that.

When Madison heads back into the abandoned school to find the necessary drugs for Nick, she goes into the security office to break open the confiscated items cabinet. Tobias surprises her when he announces himself behind her. He asks why she is trying to get into the drug cabinet, and she admits that her son needs it. Tobias says that he came to the school to scavenge for supplies, knowing that the school would be one of the last places to get looted. He asks again if he could get his knife back, and she relents, going back to her office and handing it to him.

They decide to hunt for food in the cafeteria. Tobias explains to Madison that he believes that the outbreak could mean the end of their lives as they know it. She denounces his claims as foolish, thinking that the situation would be resolved within a few days. Tobias warns her that he knows how much people want to believe that, and how desperately they would cling to the idea when they are wrong. In the cafeteria, they find the storage room and load a cart full of food to be taken outside. When the metal detectors go off at the doors, they rush to find another exit.

Out the fire escape, the principal stumbles around a corner, bleeding. Madison asks if he is okay. Tobias, however, sees that he has reanimated and that they need to run. Madison is attacked by the zombie, but Tobias pulls him off of her, inadvertently throwing himself down a staircase with the principal on top of him. As the zombie attacks him, Madison bashes his head in with a fire extinguisher, saving Tobias. They retrieve the food and leave the building, Madison driving him home. At Tobias's house, Madison offers to take him and his family back to her house for safety, but he declines, saying that he doesn't need help now that he has enough food. He bids her goodbye, and enters his house without taking the food in her trunk.

Susan Tran
TBA

Daniel Salazar
Aside from familial relationships, Madison and Daniel seemingly have the strongest relationship out of anyone in the main group. Even though they first encounter each other in a scene Madison's living room that sees Daniel killing Peter Dawson, Madison is rather open to his ways quickly. This is contrasted by how eager Travis is to not agree with Daniel's methods. After Madison escapes the Safe Zone for a brief venture out into the Dead Zone, she openly confides in Daniel what she saw. Their relationship is further strengthened when Madison allows Daniel to torture Andrew Adams in order to get information on Nick and Griselda's whereabouts. By the end of the first season, it appears as if Madison and Daniel have developed a sense of trust between each other.

Season 1

 * "Pilot"
 * "So Close, Yet So Far"
 * "The Dog"
 * "Not Fade Away"
 * "Cobalt"
 * "The Good Man"

Trivia

 * The casting call for this character used the name Nancy Tompkins.
 * This character's official name was revealed in a press release by AMC on May 11, 2015 as Madison Bennett, though her surname was later changed.