• Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for “The Walking Dead” season 10, episode 13, “What We Become.”
• After more than six years of thinking Rick may be dead, Michonne found clues hinting that her partner has been alive all this time.
• Michonne found Rick’s cowboy boots and a phone with images of herself and Judith etched into it. It also had a message carved in Japanese you may have missed.
• Showrunner Angela Kang confirmed to Insider it translates to “believe a little bit longer.”
• Michonne finds maps that mention a New Jersey shipyard and Virginia.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

On Sunday’s “The Walking Dead,” Michonne (Danai Gurira) received the first major clues in years that her life partner, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), is still alive.

While on Bloodsworth Island in Maryland with Virgil (Kevin Carroll), Michonne stumbled upon Rick’s iconic cowboy boots he was last seen wearing when he disappeared on season nine, episode five.

But why his boots? What reason would Rick have to take off and leave his shoes behind?

“The boots are an iconic part of Rick’s costume, would have been on his person at the time of the bridge explosion, and would be immediately recognisable to Michonne, so that’s how we came to have this first clue,” showrunner Angela Kang told Insider via email.

That wasn’t the only clue Michonne came across.

The cell phone

Later on the episode, Michonne comes across an old iPhone on a ship. A drawing of Judith and Michonne is etched into the phone with Rick’s name in the upper right-hand corner.

Michonne is overcome with emotion when she sees this clear sign that Rick survived the bridge explosion years ago. Someone didn’t just steal his boots and carry onward.

“The phone is obviously a hint at some larger story that took place,” said Kang about the second clue Michonne finds for Rick’s whereabouts.

The story behind the phone may or may not be something we see play out in one of the forthcoming untitled Rick Grimes’ movies that were originally announced back in November 2o18.

What you may have overlooked were the etchings underneath Rick’s name. The characters are Japanese. Insider reached out to AMC to confirm the translation of the characters.

“[Chief creative officer of ‘TWD’ Universe’] Scott Gimple confirmed that that was the intended translation: ‘believe a little bit longer.'” said Kang via email.

That message, presumably from Rick to Michonne, makes Michonne’s discovery on Sunday’s episode even more heartwrenching. It also gives the distinct feeling that he knew Michonne may find it at some point.

So where is Rick?

While searching through papers on the desk next to the phone, Michonne stops on a page filled with locations. Two of them are easy to make out: Hopewell, Virginia, and a New Jersey shipyard. By the episode’s end, Michonne tells Judith she’s heading north to search for her father.

The Virginia location may just be a clever Easter egg. It’s a location where the third “TWD” series, “World Beyond,” was filmed. At first, we thought Michonne may be heading here, but this location is over a two-hour drive south of Alexandria, Virginia. Michonne made it clear she’s travelling north.

As for New Jersey, there are two big shipyards there.

The largest shipyard in the United States is Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in central Jersey near Newark Liberty International Airport. Another prominent shipyard is in Camden, New Jersey right across the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania border.

That news may set off some bells. The Rick Grimes’ movie teaser showed a city silhouette which some believed resembled the Philly skyline. Is Rick in Jersey or Philly? Until we learn more about the Rick Grimes’ movies, we’ll have to wait to find out.

You can follow along with our “Walking Dead” coverage here.

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