Let’s get this straight: Now all it takes to be a zombie is death itself? You can become one by dying in a car crash, keeling over from a heart attack or choking on a hot dog?
“Exactly!” says Kirkman, who isn’t taking this nearly as badly as we are. “Some sort of event took place – we may never know what it was – that led to the virus being transferred, and it is now lying in wait within everybody. Even though all our characters are doomed, the point of The Walking Deadis that they still have each other. They have their everyday lives to live, and that’s what they’ll be concerned with as we move forward.”
Rick has known this secret since the Season 1 finale. Why did he keep it to himself?
“Until Shane and Randall suddenly popped up as zombies, Rick had no confirmation it was true,” explains Kirkman. But Andrew Lincoln, who plays the steely cop, sees it differently. “Rick was pushed to reveal what he knew out of shame,” says the actor. “After manslaughtering Shane, he can’t even look at his wife, Lori [Sarah Wayne Callies]. He can’t look at anyone. He’s cornered and his only way out is to throw in the information he’s withheld.” Where does this leave Rick and Lori? She’s furious with him for killing Shane! “They’ve overcome a lot, including Lori’s infidelity, but this is a profound rift, a huge wedge,” Lincoln says. “I don’t know how they will ever get past this.”
Andrea was pretty much abandoned by her peeps during the zombie attack. Can she get over that? Or is she Miss Pissed?
Laurie Holden, who plays Andrea, sees it two ways. “When I watched the finale, I was like, ‘That was so not cool to do to my character!’ But I think Andrea knows it was a matter of survival and believes they’ll organize a search party and find her,” she says. “Little does she know they had a whole conversation about it and Rick vetoed it, so they won’t be going after her.” Andrea is now the only one in the group who doesn’t know about the virus. But here’s what’ll really tick her off. “She’s also the only one who doesn’t know Rick has killed [her lover] Shane,” Holden says. “When she finds out, it will not go down well for Rick.” Or will it? In one of the most recent comic books, Rick and Andrea are kissing!
