Season 5 of "The Walking Dead" can't come soon enough. Fans are dying for the inside scoop on upcoming episodes, but some of the show's actors don't even know what's in store.

Although Scott M. Gimple, the AMC show's showrunner, is pretty secretive about season 5, he does promise that it will be "something very different" from the last half of season 4.

"Things are just going to have a much different tone and a much different practical reality moving forward," he told Comic Book Resources. "The season has a number of shifts of location, and even of the tone, but the tone for most of the season is very, very, very intense. [It's] going to be very different from the last half-season ... It was always planned out in my head that there would be these big shifts, and we're about to have one of those big shifts."

Until those shifts are detailed, the show's stars are left wondering if they will survive next season. Perhaps "The Walking Dead" comic creator and show writer and producer Robert Kirkman will save his favorite character.

"Daryl Dixon is my favorite element of the television show, and when we saw Norman Reedus, all of the producers kind of got together, and we were like, 'We love this guy. We've got to get him in the show somehow,' and so suddenly Merle had a brother named Daryl," Kirkman explains on an episode of Sundance TV's "The Writer's Room" that airs Friday.

This hasn't made Reedus feel safe, however.

"He's always very nervous about that every time he sees me: 'So, how am I doing in season 5? Am I doing ok?'" Kirkman shared.

Kids don't get preference either. Chandler Riggs plays Carl Grimes on "The Walking Dead" and is dying for some plot details as well.

"I haven't gotten the scripts for the next season yet," the 14-year-old told SpoilerTV. "I really don't know so we'll see. I want to know what happens, too."

Meanwhile, the teenage star is still reveling in fan response from the season 4 finale.

"They've loved it," Riggs said. "They thought it was awesome, and I'm glad because we put a lot of hard work into it."

Season 5 of "The Walking Dead" begins in October.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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