The Walking Dead: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, and Melissa McBride on new EW cover

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If there’s one thing we learned last season on The Walking Dead, it’s that when Carol Peletier offers you cookies, you take them… because you may not like the other option she has in mind. In fact, the only thing better than Carol’s cookies is when an EW Walking Dead cover story comes with them.

Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus grace the newest cover of Entertainment Weekly as we infiltrate Alexandria to get all the inside scoop on season 6 of The Walking Dead—a season that looks to feature drama on both sides of the wall. With tensions rising after Rick’s killing of Pete, a battle for control of the town could be brewing. Reedus says to expect “a lot of internal conflict. A lot of characters that you didn’t see having beef are starting to have beef—there’s a lot of mistrust.” Ultimately, it comes down to what Lincoln says is, “them and us. When I read the first script, I called [showrunner Scott M. Gimple] up and went, ‘You know, I say them and they, and us and we a lot.” He said, ‘That’s your journey, from them to us.’”

It’s a journey that will complicated by the presence of both Wolves and walkers, and will also jump around in terms of time, starting with the Oct. 11 season premiere. “We do play with time a little bit,” says executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed the premiere. “And not in a traditional sense. We open right in the middle of this heightened action sequence, and we then jump around in that time frame to allow the audience to put together in their own minds what it is that we actually just saw.”

Season 6 will feature other glimpses into the past as well. Lennie James confirms that we will indeed get answers as to what changed Morgan from the loony tunes character we saw in season 3 to the stick-wielding semi-pacifist we encountered outside Alexandria (“He has gone through a transformation that viewers will find out about,”) and we will also see some backstory to events that happened in Alexandria before Rick and Co. arrived. However, showrunner Scott M. Gimple cautions it will not involve the origins of the community (like last year with Terminus). “It’s earlier in Alexandria,” says Gimple of the flashbacks, “but not the beginning of Alexandria. It’s more character-based rather than the background of the place. There are some stories filled in regards to the comic that we haven’t even gotten to yet—sort of prequeling some comic stories that are coming up, which I’m very excited about.”

For more intel on what to expect in season 6—including scoop on the Wolves and newer, even more disgusting zombies—check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, which hits stands in Friday.

Image zoom DAN WINTERS for EW