'The Walking Dead' Season 9B Will Be A "Direct Pickup"

New details of The Walking Dead Season Nine's back half are beginning to emerge thanks to showrunner Angela Kang.

Kang, who took on the role as showrunner beginning with the current season, has already made a significant mark on The Walking Dead. Not only did she deliver five high-quality episodes to start the season to make great work of Andrew Lincoln's final episodes as Rick Grimes but she also crafted three interesting and compelling episodes in his absence. When the show returns for the back half of its ninth season, Kang will be burdened with continuing the series and introducing a highly anticipated group of villains who made their presence known the Mid-Season Nine finale.

"It's gonna be a direct pickup," Kang told EW. "We're gonna find out what happens to that group that was in the cemetery as they try to make their harrowing journey back home to bury Jesus."

The first photo from the new episodes shows Jesus is very much dead and riding on a horse lifelessly as the survivors of the first true Whisperer encounter bring him home. As for the Whisperers, their story is only just beginning.

"We'll get to know more about this group," Kang said of the Whisperers, "and their brutal survival of the fittest philosophy and how that really plays out in horrifying ways." If the future of the series is anything like the Michael Satrazemis-directed foggy graveyard scene which claimed Tom Payne's tenure on the series, fans are in for some spooky and creepy content moving forward.

The show picking up where it left off in the previous episode is a bit surprising, considering the number of time jumps The Walking Dead has featured recently. However, the narrative will closely follow the Whisperer story arc as the communities and remaining survivors prepare for what will be their most challenging battle yet.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com's After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.