"Look, we all get pushed to our limits. But that shows us who we are. When we're stretched our farthest. When our family members are endangered, how far will we go? This guy has limits too, limits I'm sure he's gone to, to protect himself- or someone he loved. You can't make false assumptions of this guy on his limits you don't even know about. He seems like a pretty good guy. Just give him a chance." How far will we go to protect the ones we love? That's the name of the game when it comes to limits. You can do a hell of a lot to a person, but when you bring their loved ones into it, you learn a lot more. They'll bite a man's throat out. They'll shoot a kid in the forest. They'll search up and down Georgia, just to see them again. Because that's the thing with love, it has no limits.

I wake sometime later, the sounds of Carl encouraging his little sister. It takes a second for my ears to focus on the words he's saying. And then I open my eyes to see Judy. Literally inches from my face.

"Come on Judy, give her a kiss, right on the nose." I feel a tap on my nose from Carl's finger.

All I get is drool. But Judith grins, so I can't help it, I smile too. I give her a small kiss on the nose.

"That's how you give a kiss, silly girl," I tickle her stomach again and she laughs.

"Would you mind holding her for a minute," Carl drops his voice, "I really need to go take a-"

I lift my hand stopping him, "Yeah, I get it. Just go. I don't mind." I take Judith from him as he stands and walks out of the church. Judith gurgles contently as I bounce her up and down on my lap. Her tiny hands cling onto my fingers, and that permanent grin plastered across my face.

Someone slides into the space next to me, I turn my head. Maggie. They must have gotten back from their search.

"Hi," I say simply, directing my attention back on Judith.

"Hey," she replies just as evenly.

"If you're here to talk to me about Carl, 'bout everyone else has already beat you to it." I joke

She shakes her head, "No, no. I just wanted to see Judith. She makes me think of Beth. Back at the prison, she was always caring for this sweetheart. And now..."

She's gone. Like Daryl said. I'm sure he told Maggie about their time together. How she's not dead... just gone.

"I'm really sorry, Maggie." I stop bouncing Judith. The baby leans against my chest, still cooing.

Maggie draws in a sharp breath, "I'm fine. I really am. I mean, there's still hope I guess."

I nod, "I mean you found Glenn, and us. Carl and Rick found each other, and then they found Judith. I found Carol- and I thought for sure she was dead. I think we'll find her. Miracles still happen, Maggie, you just got to believe."

Maggie smiles and nods, running a hand over Judy's head, "Thanks."

I smile back, not the kind of smile Judith brings me, just a friendly one, "No problem."

Some time goes by, not a lot, just enough for me to feel like talking again, "So what did y'all find?"

"Not much," Maggie shrugs, "Found some silencers, a half full box of .22 rounds. It's something though."

"Sam." Carl says from behind me. I snap my head around to see him. His eyes are wide and afraid. His mouth drawn thin, "I need to show you something. Now."

I frown, my eyes narrowing, "What is it?"

"Just come on. Maggie, you should see this too."

We follow Carl outside. We left Judith inside with Tyreese, in her makeshift crib. We go down the stairs and around to the back of the church.

He stops in front of some shrubs a little to the right of a window.

"Carl, what are we doing here?" I look at him, still a little confused.

"Hey!" Rick calls, I turn to see him before I get a good look at what Carl's talking about.

Good, they're back too. A breathe a sigh of relief, not realizing I'd been holding my breath in the first place, "Tyreese said you were out back. Come on in. We found food. A lot of it."

Food. My stomach grumbles at the mention of it.

"What is it?" Rick looks at his son.

"Those scratches," Carl points at the window again, "They're deep. Like knives or something. Someone was trying to get in. I found something else." he walks over about 15 feet to the left, "I don't know what happened, but whatever it is, we can handle it. Doesn't mean Gabriel is a bad guy for sure, but it means something."

Oh.

I see it now.

YOU'LL BURN FOR THIS

The knife carvings read. I look at Rick, and then at Maggie. She's looking to Rick too. Then at Carl. He's looking at me, waiting to see how I react.

I feel like an 'I told you so' would be uncalled for. Besides, nothing is for certain yet.

Voices fill the chapel. These voices do not cry for help or scream of pain. They are comfortable to my ears, with the occasional laugh and general air of glee. Rick sits, back against the barrier. A bowl of stew at his side, Judith in his lap and she shoves food from his bowl, that's really supposed to be for her. Everyone is in good spirits tonight. And it's not just because someone found a couple bottles of Communion wine.

Everyone's together again. It's like the prison almost. Almost. And here I am again. Alone. Well, for now I am. Carl went to go get us food and ended up talking to Michonne. I don't mind. He's not mine. I don't own him.

I'm sitting in a pew a couple rows from the front, on the far right. I close my eyes for a moment and try to enjoy the cheerful noise.

"Hello." A new voice breaks through. It's closer than the cheer. I snap open my eyes. I'm not alone anymore. And it's not Carl either.

"Good evening, father." I greet Gabriel as politely as I can manage. The skin on the back of my neck prickles upon remembering what I read engraved into the wood.

"You seem to be a troubled child, I've noticed." he comments.

"A lot of people are these days," I shrug

He sits in the next pew up and turns to face me.

"Why might you be troubled dear child?" he inquires. I'm not sure what I should disclose to this man. We still don't really know who he is.

"You may have saved yourself from killing in this world, sir, but not all of us have." That seems to explanatory enough.

The priest frowns, "Why would you ever truly need to kill someone?"

That's when the flashbacks start. I blink them away and find a way to answer calmly, "I was being attacked. There was no other way."

"There's always another way," the priest reassures me.

My hands begin to tremble against my legs. I curl my hands into fists to stop the trembling, "It had to be done." my face is stiff and straight, reflecting no emotion.

Where is Carl with that food?

"And what about those... oh what do you call them?" Gabriel asks.

I stop myself from rolling my eyes, "They're walkers. They're dead. Gone. There isn't a soul left to be saved. That isn't killing. That's putting them out of their misery. That's nothing."

Gabriel has that look of horror splayed upon his face again.

Am I bad?

"You can come back from this, child. The Lord can help guide you. It's not too late." Gabriel promises.

My gut twists.

"What about you father?" I ask, my fear lashing out, "How have you saved yourself from such criminal sin for so long?"

"I never said I kept myself from sin. I said I hadn't killed any people or.. walkers." he says evenly.

"But how?" my eyes widen, "How have you lived for this long like this. It's just... it's impossible."

"The Lord works in mysterious ways, child. In ways we may not always understand, nor are we meant to." he shrugs.

I don't say anything. His faith is unbelievably strong. It's quite remarkable really.

"That child," Gabriel speaks again, "The baby. She's not yours is she? You look too young to be a mother, yet you care for her so much."

I shake my head, "She's Carl's baby sister. Their mother... well she's not here anymore. I just like to care for her. In a world so dark and dreary, it's like she's a candle. A little flame of hope. And I'll do everything I can to make sure that candle keeps burning."

"Hey,"

I turn my head.

Oh thank God it's Carl.

"You brought food," I smile at him. But I smile because he's here and maybe I can be spared of this awful feeling in my gut.

Gabriel looks at Carl and he stands, "I don't quite remember your name?" he looks to me quizzically

"That's because I never told you," I tell him evenly.

No. You must be good, "It's Sam."

"Ah yes. Well, Sam. I'll leave you and Carl now. But just remember, it's never too late." he walks away and rejoins the crowd towards the pulpit.

I take my plate from Carl, portions of peas, corn, and vegetable soup are all spooned onto my plate. We even have forks, "Isn't this a treat." I smile at him, waving the fork around a little.

He smiles back, "It is nice." he lowers his voice and the smile falls, "What was Gabriel talking about, it not being too late? Did he mention those scratches?"

"No," I shake my head.

"Carl... am I bad?"

"No!" Carl shakes his head, "You're not bad. Why would you ever think that?"

I draw my lips together and look down. Carl takes my hand, "Sam. Is it something Gabriel said?"

I shake my head, "No. It's what I said. I- we kill people. A lot of people. That's not ok!"

"Of course it's not. But it has to be done. Sam, we've been over this." Carl tilts my chin up so I have to look at him, "We're survivors, Sam. Remember? We just do what we gotta. That doesn't mean we're bad."

"Ok." Is all I say. And I start eating, avoiding any more conversation.

Maybe you shouldn't hate Bob so much. That's kind of a bad thing. And you want to be good.

But he's just so... Bob like.

Sam stop! He isn't going to be around forever, and right now he's at least doing his part.

You have to let go of the past. It's not his fault. It's not his fault.

But it is.

But you're wrong. It's bad that Dad died, but you have to let go. Move on. This is your family now. Dad would want this. He wouldn't want you to have some pointless vendetta against some poor guy. He'd want the you that loves and cares for Judith, even though she's not blood.That's what Dad would want.

This is the best meal I've had since the pudding house. My stomach aches by the time I'm done I've eaten so much.

"You better?" Carl's hand rubs up and down my back.

"I don't recall being worse before." I tease.

He rolls his eyes, "Come on, you. Get up." he stands and pulls me with him.

I drop my voice, "Carl what are we doing?"

He tugs on my arm, "Lighten up a little will ya? And put on your jacket, we're going outside." I grab my jacket from the pew and we sneak out the front door just as Abraham begins to talk. The air is definitely brisk, I'm glad we aren't stuck out here again. But the sky is clear and the stars are out.

"Why are we out here?" I cross my arms, trying to keep warm. My breathe makes little steam clouds. His eyes have a mischievous glint to them in the dim light, the moon is nearly new, but light glows from the inside of the church, making it not completely black out here. But the not-black can attract walkers. We should've covered the windows.

"We haven't really been alone since we found my dad, and I like stargazing. Is that a problem?" he pokes my stomach.

"I can't say that's really stopped you." I give him a quick peck on the lips, "Though I can't say I find a problem with it." I look up at the stars, there are too many trees to see much farther than straight up, but it's ok.

I sit down, leaves crunch under my butt and boots. I yank on Carl's arm to sit down next to me, "Come on sheriff, you're the one that wanted to stargaze."

He glares for a moment, and I just give him a dumb grin. He leans in and kisses me. I pull away and shake my head, "Ah ah ah. Stars." I tilt his chin up to the sky, laughing a little. That's when the church doors open, I slam my hand over Carl's mouth and shrink against the wall of the church as best I can.

Carol? What?

At first I think she noticed we were gone, and came to bring us back inside. But then I realize she has other things on her mind. She takes off into the woods. Not even noticing us.

"What the hell?" Carl pulls my hand away from his mouth.

"Inside. Now." I stand up, not even waiting for him.

I can't let her get away, I can't let her leave again.

Carl follows me inside the church, "Sam."

I turn quickly, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Go see your sister, I'll be right there."

He gives me an unsure look. "Go." I insist. Once he leaves I make my way straight to Daryl. I pull him away from everyone else. His brow knits with questions.

"It's Carol," I tell him, "she ran off and I don't know why."

Daryl starts to walk away, "Daryl. Stop." he turns and looks at me, "I'm coming with you."

"Like hell ya are." he shifts his crossbow onto his shoulder, "Kid, this ain't no game."

My toes push onto the floor, "I know it ain't. That's why I'm coming. She means just as much as me as she does to you Daryl. Plus you promised. I come next time. This is next time. Now we don't have much time, we can't let her get away!" I start out firm, but I end frantic. She can't leave me, not again.

Daryl scowls, clearly not liking the options, "Then c'mon. Ain't no time for goodbyes. We'll be back before they notice we're gone. You best keep yo mouth shut kid. I ain't wanna hear a peep from ya." I follow him out the door without even looking back.

I follow Daryl through the woods, watching him track. The sound of a motor running breaks the silence. Then I hear shuffling and then a thump. Ahead I see a road. We break through the tree line and Daryl stops. I poke my head out past Daryl. And there she is. Behind her is a car, and on the ground is a walker she must have just killed.

"What're ya doin'?" Daryl asks

Carol looks distressed, trying to find the right answer, "I don't know." she looks at me and her lips tighten.

I ain't wanna hear a peep from ya.

So I say nothing. I just watch, observe. There isn't any harm in that, right?

"C'mon," Daryl nods at her to come on back to the church. The sound of a car's engine screams through the air, and Daryl and Carol run over and hide behind the car. I scamper over, staying behind him mostly.

It gets closer and then passes us at the nearby intersection. Daryl sprints out after the car. His crossbow clatters to the concrete and he stares for a few seconds at the car as it shrinks into the distance. He runs back, grabbing his bow and around the car. He slams the butt of his crossbow into the taillights, smashing them. Pieces of colored glass clink on the ground. I stand there frozen, trying to understand what's going on, Carol sort of follows him around. She's frantic too.

"Wh-what are you doing? What are you doing?!" she asks

"They got Beth!" is all Daryl has to say, the last taillight destroyed.

"C'mon! C'mon get in!" he throws open the driver's door. Carol takes the passenger seat, and I stir from my state and climb in the back. The car takes off just as I slam the door shut.

How far will we go to protect the ones we love?

I guess I'm about to find out.