There is no shortage of ‘gross’ in The Walking Dead franchise, as it’s literally about a post-apocalyptic world where the dead have risen from their graves to consume human flesh. However, there is another aspect of the series that’s arguably just as gross as supernatural cannibalism, but has greatly gone under the radar. At least, until recently, as The Walking Dead creator himself, Robert Kirkman, admits, the franchise has an incredibly gross plot hole.

In The Walking Dead Deluxe #87 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, readers are given a full-color version of the original #87 issue, which was first printed in black and white. But not only that, the Deluxe issues also contain some all-new content from Robert Kirkman himself, as The Walking Dead creator answers fan questions, which offers greater insight into the series.

One fan asked the following question:

After a year or two of eating mostly bean or corn cans, aren’t the people around likely to develop very bad diseases like [scurvy] or something?

To which Robert Kirkman replied:

Robert Kirkman: Admittedly, I should probably touch on that, but we went a long time without pointing out where they were getting toilet paper or even if they were using it.

The Walking Dead’s creator Robert Kirkman is usually very support of the changes made in the TV show, but he still isn’t sold on the zombie variants.

The Walking Dead Creator Admits Rick and the Gang Might Not Even Use Toilet Paper

Kirkman only said it as an example of what other nit-picky details The Walking Dead neglected to clarify while answering this fans’ question about the characters’ diets, but what he said was still incredibly telling. Indeed, The Walking Dead doesn’t address whether Rick and the gang actually use toilet paper. It’s implied that they do, given that people still poop even during the zombie apocalypse, but it’s not immediately specified.

Is it possible that The Walking Dead characters just use whatever scraps they have at their disposal to wipe? Is there a secret stash of endless toilet paper wherever the gang holes up? Do they just not bother wiping at all (perhaps as some unconfirmed Walker repellant)? Truthfully, fans may never know, and there’s actually a perfectly sound reason why that’s the case: it doesn’t matter.

Why Robert Kirkman Doesn’t Clarify Whether The Walking Dead Characters Use Toilet Paper

The Walking Dead boasts its realism in the face of the fictional circumstances of a zombie apocalypse, but that doesn’t mean what many fans think it does. The Walking Dead is realistic in how it portrays humans’ reactions to certain scenarios and hardships. More often than not, the decisions these characters make are ones regular people would make in their shoes. Too often does the horror genre take fans out of the experience when a character does something totally unrelatable or downright idiotic, and that’s something The Walking Dead pays close attention to.

So, while the characters of The Walking Dead may not even use toilet paper in the series – a plot hole that Robert Kirkman himself pointed out almost unpromptedly – that’s a detail that just doesn’t contribute to the larger storyline. Plus, this allows fans to have their own interpretation of what Rick and the gang do when they’re done going number two, and that privilege alone negates any reason for The Walking Dead to clear up this plot hole any time soon.

The Walking Dead Deluxe #87 from Image Comics is available now.