Waking up in an empty hospital after weeks in a coma, County Sheriff Rick Grimes finds himself alone. The world he knows is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic. He sets out on a search to find what has happened to his family.

The events of the previous volume, "No Way Out," have affected everyone in the community, and not everyone has survived to pick up the pieces. Rick and the survivors must now try to pick themselves up and carry in the wake of disaster ... and by doing so, they find hope.

The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, the survivors are forced to finally start living. Following the events...

For survivors of the zombie apocalypse, hopes are not lifting. As others try to keep their mind on practicalities, former policeman Rick Grimes seems increasingly on edge, despite the fact that life in the community is as near to normal as the group can ever hope it to be. As his behavior grows more and more conspicuously eccentric, other group members worry that he is putting them all in mortal danger.

"How many hours are in a day when you don't spend half of them watching television? When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted? How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted? The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to...

While Rick takes the group to the Kingdom, Negan takes the opportunity to start a war.

"How many hours are in a day when you don't spend half of them watching television? When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted? How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted? The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to...

Police officer Rick Grimes is shot on the job and wakes up a month later to find that the world that he knows is gone. Zombies have taken over and are killing and eating those who are still alive. He sets out toward Atlanta in the hope that his family is still alive and endures many horrors along the way.

In this volume of the NYT bestselling survival horror, Rick and his band of survivors work to build a larger network of thriving communities, and soon discover that Negan's "Saviors" prove to be a larger threat than they could have fathomed. Crossing Negan will lead to serious, dire consequences for the group; it seems that for the first time since the Governor's reign of terror that Rick may have Something to Fear.

Trapped in a town surrounded by madmen, Rick must find a way out or die trying. Meanwhile, back at the prison, the rest of the survivors come to grips with the fact Rick may be dead, and a major turning point in the series is reached.