The Walking Dead Spoils Another Cave Cliffhanger Survivor

At least one more fan-favorite character will make it out of the cave cliffhanger when The Walking Dead returns with its midseason premiere, "Squeeze." Last we saw our heroes, a scout team comprised of Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Magna (Nadia Hilker) and sisters Kelly (Angel Theory) and Connie (Lauren Ridloff) utilized intelligence gathered from Whisperer insider Gamma (Thora Birch) to locate the walker horde Alpha (Samantha Morton) is using to keep the allied communities in check. But a trap sprung by Alpha left the scout team trapped below ground and swarmed by thousands of walkers, seemingly with no way out.

Marketing materials for the back half of the season previously confirmed at least four of these seven survivors make it out of the cave, and a first look photo from Season 10B ups that number to five: Jerry can be seen fighting alongside King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) during the coming battle of Hilltop, where the farming colony currently overseen by Ezekiel and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) comes under attack by Whisperers.

That leaves just Connie and Magna as the only members of the scout team who are at risk of dying in that cave.

"We found out [the Whisperers] were spying. We found out that there are these border conflicts. But it felt like by the half-season, we wanted to show that all of the factors are now crashing together," showrunner Angela Kang previously told The Hollywood Reporter of the cliffhanger leading into the winter break. "Some of our people have been looking for this herd, which they consider the Whisperers' nuclear weapon. For Alpha, things are coming to a head on her side, too. What better way than to put our people face to face with the herd in what feels like an impossible situation? That's when our people have to get clever and figure out what to do next."

The first episode back is inspired by a horror movie and kicks off what has been described as a surprise-filled back half of the season.

"We haven't finished the season yet, so there's lots more amazing things to come," Morton recently told Red Carpet News TV. "I was just constantly shocked reading the scripts thinking, 'Really?! Oh my gosh.' Just when you think it can't get any more scarier, or any more 'what?!' — it does."

TWD Season 10 returns with new episodes Feb. 23 on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.