The Walking Dead season 9 episode 9: Watch the opening scene of the midseason premiere

The AMC drama last aired in November

The Walking Dead finally returns from its midseason break next weekend, and AMC has released the first few minutes for fans to watch through their fingers in horror.

Events pick up immediately where the ninth season’s eighth outing left off – with a key character murdered at the hands of the Whisperers, the new foes our heroes will face in forthcoming episodes.

Jesus (Tom Payne) was left stunned after discovering that a walker he was about to kill was, in fact, a human wearing a stitched-up zombie mask.

“You are where you don’t belong,” his murderer whispered, as Jesus – real name Paul Rovia – slumped to the floor.

A recent trailer, shown from the Whisperers’s viewpoint, teased their arrival as they watched characters – including Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) – from afar.

The clip ends with the clan rallied by their leader Alpha, who’ll be introduced in the next few episodes. She’ll be played by Samantha Morton.