New frenemies Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) have become “family” following their shared near-death experience in Fear The Walking Dead 411, Debnam-Carey says.

Alicia found herself holed up in an abandoned house with the 11-year-old former Vulture mole who shot and killed her brother, Nick (Frank Dillane), and caused the death of mother Madison (Kim Dickens), who sacrificed herself after Charlie’s freeloader cohorts unleashed a horde of walkers on the stadium that acted as the Clark family’s secured home for more than a year.

“I think what was so special about this episode is that I’ve been waiting for Alicia to have some sort of relief for a long time,” Debnam-Carey told TheWrap. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to see her be able to come to terms with [the death of her family].”

Despite Charlie being “symbolic of killing her entire family, very literally,” Alicia resisted the urge to execute the girl and opted instead to live up to her late mother’s example.

“What was so nice, I think, is that she becomes more her mother’s daughter,” Debnam-Carey said. “She really does go ‘okay, I’ve got the generosity, and some sort of moral compass still guiding me saying that we’re not enemies, and we’re not friends, but we’re kind of now just… family.’”

“I liked that,” she added. “She didn’t have to have all the answers, but she could kind of find herself again.”

Later, after the pair have escaped a quickly flooding basement courtesy of a flying walker dislodged from a tree branch, Alicia takes Charlie to “the beach” before coming across a turned-over bus that was last seen giving shelter to the now-missing John (Garret Dillahunt) and June (Jenna Elfman).

“There’s an acceptance of, ‘this is the new world’” for Alicia, Debnam-Carey said.

Alicia and Charlie then set off alone, and will spend more time together as the fractured group continues to navigate the hurricane and its ensuing fallout in pairs.

“We can definitely expect more Alicia and Charlie dynamics,” Debnam-Carey said, adding future episodes will tie up “loose ends” and audiences can expect to see “more fun pairings” as the back half of Season Four continues to unfold.

Sunday brings a Morgan-centric episode as Lennie James’ weathered survivor finds himself hundreds of miles away from Texas and in the company of three new survivors (Mo Collins, Daryl Mitchell, Aaron Stanford).

Fear The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.