The death of Beth (Emily Kinney) was foreseen and expected. But while rumors and spoilers hinted it already big time, early revelations did nothing to prepare the fans for the intense emotions that came with actually witnessing it come to pass. With all the love and relationship Kinney's character had with Rick's group (especially Maggie and Daryl) and the fans, the sight of her being shot to death by Dawn was not something anyone wanted to see. Now, fans of the AMC hit zombie apocalypse series "The Walking Dead" are compelled to move on with a hole in their hearts and two months of clamoring. 

Fans and media sites alike have been throwing in their ideas and expectations on what will happen next after the tragedy and, by and large, on what will take place on the latter part of the show's fifth season. For one, Wet Paint reported that a total of 24 characters will complete the ensemble in the next episodes. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Andrew Lincoln revealed this as one of the crew's newest achievements. 

"We also introduce a lot of new characters in this back eight, and [exec producer] Scott [Gimple] and the writers have done a tremendous job of servicing maybe 24 principal characters. It's been an astonishing feat from their end as well," said the actor who plays Rick, the strong leader of the crew who has been fighting for their lives throughout the show. 

In line with that, Game N Guide revealed that one of those characters will be a "prominent gay character" from the comics from which the series was adapted. Citing Talking Dead, the site shared that a character named Aaron will put in an appearance in the next episodes. As the group continues on with their journey to find another asylum and survive whatever odds and circumstances they come across, Aaron (who appeared in Issue #67 of the comic) will be the one to lead them to Washington D.C., in a place known as the Alexandria Safe-Zone. 

In the recent promo released, the group is met by loads of walkers (one of them is close to helping himself with Rick's arm) as they are on their way to a new destination. Celeb Dirty Laundry bets that Alexandria Safe-Zone is the very place they are headed.

Fans will have to endure a prolonged wait to discover what lies ahead of their favorite characters though. After the winter interval, "The Walking Dead" will return in February 2015.