Spoilers appear below for those of you who aren't caught up on The Walking Dead. 

We're about one month away from the return of AMC's The Walking Dead and answers as to the fate of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his fellow survivors. Things weren't looking too good when last we left them, but that's not really a surprise on this show. But if you just can't wait another month to see how things shake out, comic book series creator Robert Kirkman has some behind-the-scenes intel that should tide you over.

In a chat with EW, Kirkman teased that the return to Alexandria wouldn't be immediate:

“Yeah, we actually don’t get back to that for seven episodes or so. It’s going to be quite a cliff-hanger.”

Don't worry, he's joking. If you'll remember where we left Rick & Co. at the end of the first half of season six, they were slowly making their way through a massive herd of Walkers having disguised themselves by covering themselves with blood and guts. The only wrinkle in that plan is Jessie's very scared young son Sam, who keeps calling out for his mom.

the-walking-dead-season-6-image
Image via AMC

Here's what Kirkman had to say about where the season six midseason premiere will actually pick up:

“We pick up right in that moment. Alexandria is overrun. Rick and the kids are all covered in guts trying to get through the crowd. Everyone is where we last saw them, and things get worse from there.”

Of course they do. But not all hope is lost, so don't abandon it just yet. We'll assume that our heroes - or most of them anyway - make it through the mess, so where do their intentions turn from there?

“It comes back to those plans of rebuilding Alexandria,” says Kirkman. “Assuming some people survive, and it’s a good bet that some do because they’ve already talked in the midseason finale that they’re not planning on leaving Alexandria. It’s a bump in the road, but there’s something special there, and they can turn this into an anchor that they can build upon. They actually have a chance at surviving long term and building a safe place, not going from safety to safety to safety the way they have for the life of the show. This isn’t the prison, and ‘Oh, we gotta move on from here and find another place.’ This is something different. And from there, there will be other things that expand their world in new and terrifying ways.”

the-walking-dead-image-season-7-norman-reedus
Image via AMC

So while Rick and the other survivors are looking to put down stakes for real in Alexandria, new threats - internal as well as external - are likely in store for the rest of this season. I wonder just who might come knocking...

AMC also released the official key art for The Walking Dead, which returns Sunday, February 14 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Here's what showrunner Scott M. Gimple had to say about it:

“This image gives a look at tiny pieces of a larger world our group is about to discover. In the new world, they'll find hope, possibility, tragedy and the terrifying cost of change.”

For more on The Walking Dead, take a look at some of our recent coverage below:

the-walking-dead-season-6-poster