Stress level: High.

The Walking Dead showrunners continue to tug at our heart strings (SPOILERS AHEAD). Not only did they presumably kill off Glenn in the season’s second episode, but creator Robert Kirkman makes it a point to remind viewers annually at Comic Con that “no one is safe.” The notion that your favorite character could be gone any episode creates an incessant, unwavering sense of tension. Though Kirkman recently admitted that killing off Carol as played by Melissa McBride, “would definitely not” happen, it seems that she is alone in that safety bubble — and Rick might meet his maker before the series ends.

The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke with TWD producer Scott Gimple who offered this about Rick’s current situation and possible fate in the series:

“He is scared — and he should be. I don’t know if he’s scared for himself,” Gimple said. “The direction those walkers are going in, that’s pretty scary because they are heading directly toward Alexandria. That’s the scary thing.”

“It’s a very big season. … We’re dropping everyone in the deep end of the pool,” Gimple said of the heart-racing start of season six that won’t feature a ton of time passing before the midseason finale. “Things can get worse — in different ways. There will be some very unique turns to this story coming up.”
With the survivors’ leader left in an impossible situation, Gimple confessed that this is a universe in which even a character like Rick Grimes can be killed off.

“Absolutely. It’s a scary thing but this is a scary show,”

While this could be a running troll by the showrunners to keep fans constantly at the edge of their seat each episode — there’s a big chance that this “no one is safe” theme is very much real.

Gimple was sure to ease the minds of comic book fans who have speculated whether or not Rick’s hand will be cut off as it was in the Walking Dead comic series:

“I’ll give you an absolute because I’ve been dealing with a lot of ambiguity in storytelling here in protecting the story: Rick’s hand is safe,” showrunner Scott M. Gimple tells The Hollywood Reporter. “You can proclaim it from the mountaintops: His hand is safe! He will be wrapping it. There will be some ointments involved.”

So at the very least we have SOME kind of certainty — especially since Rick’s hand is currently injured in the second episode leading some to infer that it’ll be amputated in a forthcoming episode. We can at least rest easy knowing Rick’s trigger finger is safe, let’s hope we can say the same about the rest of him.