'The Waking Dead' season 9 pictures: Horse ride to Washington, D.C.

New pictures from “The Walking Dead” season 9 have been released online. The heroes will be heading to Washington, D.C. this time around, and they will be forced to use horses instead of cars. Meanwhile, Carol (Melissa McBride) will be in love with Ezekiel (Khary Payton).

Stills from the next season posted on Collider show the heroes travelling on horses. The plot will take them to Washington, D.C, a city that Eugene (Josh McDermit) has been keen on getting to for a very long time. One of the stills appears to show Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the others inside one of the buildings of the US capital.

There are also a few character posters that have been released online. The most interesting one is of Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). The priest nearly lost his eyesight, and life, in the previous season, but now he is back with a dangerous new look.

Rick will be leaving the show in one of the episodes in the first half of season 9. The pictures tease Maggie (Lauren Cohan) taking on a bigger role. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is also expected to take on more responsibilities as the story moves forward.

Meanwhile, the fans will also see the love story of Carol and Ezekiel. The two characters have fallen for each other during the time jump in the next season. A picture of the two characters holding each other has been posted on EntertainmentWeekly. Although the couple can be seen sharing a tender moment together it remains to be seen what turmoil they will have to face in their relationship this year.

“The Walking Dead” season 9 is set to air on Oct. 7. Apart from the big exits of some of the cast members, the show has also got a new showrunner. Angela Kang has been promoted to be the executive producer.