Sophie

The church door was huge. It towered over her, much like the one had done at home, the one her real mother and father use to go to. Sophie hadn't liked that church, or the priest. Like many adults in her life, the priest acted like he knew her father was a bad man, but he didn't do anything about him. Sophie thought this was worse than regular adults ignoring it, the priest was supposed to be a good man. This town's priest seemed different though. No, he wasn't a priest. Maggie had said that he was a preacher. She didn't understand what the difference was, but he was nicer than the other priest. For starters, he was a lot younger than the man in the church she use to go to, and he didn't let people call him father, but Gabriel. He smiled a lot more, and when people spoke to him, he really listened, rather than pretended to and then run away as fast as he could. The thing that really made her want to talk to him though, was that when Rick and Glenn had found out what Ben and Billys dad had done, he was the only person in the town that had looked angry, rather than shocked. She wasn't sure why it made her trust him, but she wanted to talk to him.

She opened the church door and gasped. The inside of the church looked beautiful. Candles were everywhere, lighting up dark corners and spreading a warm glow. There was a small statue of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, but unlike the cold, angry statues in her old church, the pair looked loving and happy.

"Can I help you child?" Gabriel's voice echoed through the chapel. This was another reason that Sophie felt drawn to him: whenever he spoke, he sounded like he was singing. She clasped her hands behind her back and thought for a moment. Gabriel came to her side and stood next to her.

"It's a lovely statue isn't it? Lucky it was already here when I came to the town. So much less depressing than the crucifix." Sophie felt a bit shocked. She wasn't sure if men from the church were supposed to say bad things about the church.

"The crucifix is important," she managed.

"I agree. But it's also a symbol of death to most people. In these times, it's hard to think about the rebirth of Christ as a positive thing, not with all the monsters walking the land. I prefer to present the birth of Christ for now. Although it's not reaching everyone." Sophie felt a knot of guilt in her stomach. She hadn't been to church here more than once, with Maggie.

"Maggie wants to come to church more, but Glenn says that God abandoned us a long time ago…" she started, but Gabriel cut her off.

"Gracious child, I didn't mean you! I understand that times have been hard for you and your family." Gabriel paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "Never mind." He turned his head, and noticed a few candles that had flickered out. "How can I help you anyway Sophie? It is Sophie isn't it?"

"Yeah." Sophie picked up a candle and carefully started to light the candles with Gabriel. "I wanted to ask you something. I can't ask anyone else."

Gabriel nodded. Sophie glanced out at him out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you want to know WHY I can't tell anyone else? Or why I'm telling you." Gabriel sat on one of the wooden pews, clasping his hands.

"Well, I think I can guess. You want to tell me, because I'm a stranger and it's sometimes easier to tell someone who doesn't know you than someone who does. And I think you feel you can't tell anyone else because you think what you did…was really bad. And you hope that I can tell you it wasn't. Because I'm a preacher."

Sophie slid into the pew next to him.

"Did God tell you that?" Gabriel laughed.

"You're not the first person to come to me with a confession. And I'll tell you what I told all of them. The laws of God and man were not made with the dead walking in mind. And things that we know were wrong before are not always going to be wrong now. The laws are greyer now than they ever were. You need to look into your heart and decide if what you did warrants forgiveness. And if you feel it does, I will do my best for you."

Sophie shuffled closer to him and looked around before speaking. "I killed someone." She shrank back, waiting for his reaction. Gabriel didn't even blink.

"A dead person, or a living person?"

"A living person." The words felt like they were being dragged out of her by force. She'd always been told confession was meant to make you feel better, but she was more scared about what she had done now, then ever. Gabriel was very quiet and still, and for a moment, the only sound in the church was the wind outside of the church. When he didn't say anything she started to talk. But not about shooting Merle. She talked about Georgie. About how the first time she had met her, had been the first time she had saved her life. About how she had taught her how to be safe and resourceful in this new world, how she had adopted her after her mother's death and let her call her mum. About how she had loved her, needed her, helped her and how she missed her. As she spoke, she realised that she hadn't been able to say this to anyone. That no one seemed to want to talk about the people who had died, and that she really wanted to talk about them.

As she got to the part about Georgies death, she started to trail off, unsure of what to say. Gabriel hadn't said a word. She looked down at her hands and tried to think.

"This person you killed, did they hurt Georgie?" Sophie nodded.

"Not just Georgie. They were beating up T-Dog, and they were going to kill him next."

"I see." Gabriel leant back and seemed deep in thought for a moment. They passed the next few moments in silence, Gabriel seemingly struggling internally with something. Finally he turned to her and spoke.

"You know what you did was a sin?"

"I know…I know killing people is wrong." Sophie's insides twisted. She had though he would understand. "But Merle killed other people first and he was going to kill T-Dog. And…" another thought struck her. "…and he was RACIST. He called T-Dog the N word all the time." Gabriels expression didn't change he just studied her carefully.

"How do you feel about what you did?" Sophie considered her response carefully. She didn't see the point in lying to him, not when he knew so much already.

"Well…I do feel bad that I killed someone. It wasn't as easy as killing the dead ones. I have bad dreams about it sometimes and I feel sick when I think about it. I don't like looking at guns or my bow and arrow anymore." Gabriel nodded.

"But I don't feel bad that I killed him. Adele and Rick and the others have killed bad people too, but they're not bad people themselves. They do it because they want us to be safe. I killed Merle because I wanted to be safe. And because he killed Georgie and I hated him for it. So…I feel bad, but I don't. Does that make sense?"

"You…killed Merle?" The blood ran cold in Sophies veins. Both she and Gabriel twisted around in their seats to see Maggie stood in the door of the church. She was staring at Sophie with fear and something else, another emotion that Sophie didn't recognise, on her face. Gabriel stood, his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm her.

"Yes, she did. But I've listened to her story and it wasn't in cold blood. The facts are that this Merle sounds like he was an evil man and Sophie was…" But he didn't get any further. With one last appalled look at Sophie, Maggie whirled around and strode out of the church. Gabriel looked at Sophie and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sophie barely felt it. She was numb.

"I'll go speak to her. She'll understand if I explain."

And then, just like her mother, Georgie and Maggie, he left, leaving Sophie alone.

"Mama!"

Sophie jerked awake. Her whole body ached; clearly sleeping on the cold hard wooden pews of the church had been a hideously bad idea. However, a blanket had been placed around her, and even though her sides were battered, and bruised, she was comfortably warm. She blinked and looked around her. The church was dim, but faint streaks of light shone through the stained windows, making patterns on the floor. Even in the dim light, the church looked beautiful.

"So you're awake." She turned to see Gabriel approach with a bowl of something that looked hot and smelt delicious. She realised that she was starving. "I'm afraid it was made with water, but it should set you up for the day." She started to gulp it down as quickly as she could without burning her mouth and throat. When she had finished, she spoke her mind as plainly as she could.

"Does Maggie still want me to live with her?" She tried as hard as she could to keep the fear out of her voice. If Georgie had been alive, she would have understood, but Maggie…

"Of course. She was just shocked." Gabriel paused, as if he was searching for words. "You have to understand. Maggie is still trying to…hold on to what has gone. The idea of a child killing someone else in cold blood-no matter how rightfully…" Sophie felt a little thrill inside. Even Gabriel understood what she had done. "She is…shocked. But she does still want you. So does Glenn." Sophie nodded. She placed the bowl on the floor and neatly folded the blanket.

"Thank you Gabriel. Thank you for listening to me. No one else really does." Gabriel took the blanket and smiled.

"Not at all. Have you anything else you want to know?" Sophie hesitated.

"Do you think Georgie is in heaven?" Gabriel started. Sophie's heart sank. She turned on her heels and ran out of the door before she could hear the answer.