Robert Kirkman Says The Walking Dead World Will Expand In New And Terrifying Ways

Fear not, Walking Dead fans. The series won't take a few episodes to get back to where its midseason six cliffhanger left off.

"We pick up right in that moment," Robert Kirkman, writer and creator of The Walking Dead tells EW. "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.

The new key art suggest things might get better, especially considering how consistent it is with The Walking Dead comic books and our knowledge of what takes place on the pages.

"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."

Looks like we're headed for the Hilltop.

The Walking Dead returns February 14 at 9 PM ET on AMC.