Episode 3: Means To An End- The Sanctuary of St. Francis

A/N- Looks like we want Clementine to try and talk to Wayne and Helga to help with the rescue mission. Let's see if she's successful. Let's get started. Big chapter for ya! :)

The crackling of the small fire was all they heard as they remained silent and the smell of cooked squirrel filled their noses. Clementine had something to add...

[Convince Them To Stay]

[Tell Them To Go]

"Wait!" Clem stepped forth to address specifically Wayne. If she could convince him to help then Helga would have no one to leave with, she'd have to stay as well. "You can't just leave!"

"And why not kid?" Wayne retorted as he crossed his arms at her. "You're all talking about marching to your deaths. That's not what Helga and I are about. It'd be a lot easier to just move on from this..."

"Looking out for yourselves, huh?" Michael chided, shaking his head at him. "Yeah, I guess that would be easy for the both of ya."

"Michael, you're not helping." Clem spat at him to which he zipped his lip. He guessed she really didn't want these two to go, made sense. The three of them would have a much better chance with their efforts. "Listen to me, okay? Both of you."

Helga didn't have anything to say at her words, but Wayne confirmed his attention and gave her another chance. "I'm listening."

[Sympathize]

[Make an Offer]

[Threaten Him]

"Wayne, I understand where you and Helga are coming from, and I know how you feel right now." Clementine pleaded. "But we're all asking for your help. So please... Just help us get AJ back, get Maree and Hazen back."

There was an ominous silence for a moment. Wayne was thinking hard on Clem's plea. And then he responded. "...I know what you're trying to say Clementine, but I know for a fact that you don't know where Helga and I are coming from." He paused and the man turned to Dusty. "You remember that guy who held the kid at gunpoint. Nate right?" He then spoke in a much more quiet tone in an attempt that only the two men could hear. But Clem heard a slight whisper. "He was looking at her the wrong way..." Dusty remembered and his eyes widened. "I can't risk that... she's already been down that road before..."

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Helga shifted uncomfortably at the mention of this. She didn't know exactly what he meant but Clem sighed, she had to pull out all the stops on this one. She doesn't have any other cards to play, she needed them to know that this was bigger than just them. "...A long time ago, back when this all started. My parents went to Savannah for vacation and left me with a babysitter. And they never came back..."

"What...?" Dusty and Wayne pressed their attention back to the little girl. Helga and Michael remained silent for her case. "You're talking about way before? You had to be no older than eight years old. You were alone?"

Clem answered him. "This man found me and took care of me, we met up with other survivors and tried to make it, but... it didn't work." She smiled at his memory, and yet it was getting harder and harder to remember the details of his face. "...His name was Lee, he taught me how to survive... He's the reason I keep my hair short."

"So walkers couldn't grab it." Helga chirped quietly. "That's smart, but what's your point?"

Clementine closed her eyes and bit back her tears, trying to remain strong for the sake of appearances. She felt a hand on her right shoulder to find that it was Michael, he gave a comforting squeeze. "Go ahead."

Here came the hard part. "I was stupid one day, and I... ran away from him. I thought this other man had my parents, and he took me."

"Oh no." Dusty let his comment slip out for concern of the twelve year old's innocence.

"What... what happened next?" Michael inquired, on edge for the next part of Clem's story.

And she answered. "That Stranger lied to me... my parents were already dead and he said he wanted to keep me, to... start a family together." Everyone else had a look of shock on their faces. Clem wanted to cry but her mask of numbness had already taken its place by now. "And Lee, he fought through a city of walkers to get to me and he... He saved me."

Now Helga saw her point. "Well... what happened to your big strong savior?"

Clem then directed her gaze at the blonde teen. "I killed him." Now that shut her up as her eyes widened at the thought. "He got bit trying to save me and I had to make sure he didn't turn..."

(?) They will remember this.

"Like Kenny..." Michael commented sadly. "Fuck..."

Clementine sighed again as she placed a hand on her right shoulder, on top of Michael's. She moved it away but gave a wordless thank you for the support. "For a the longest time... I thought it was my fault that he died, that he shouldn't have came and found me but... I'm glad he did. Because I knew he still cared, he was a good man... and he wanted me to live."

(?) They will remember that.

Michael nodded. "I wish I could have met him." And then he took over and declared this to everyone. "If it wasn't for Lee then Clem wouldn't have been here. And if Clem wouldn't have been here with us, we'd probably all be dead and walking back in Wellington."

"They're right. They're both right." Dusty agreed. "We gotta push on for the people we care about. No matter what the circumstances, our cause here is a good one. Maree, Hazen, and that baby need us. All of us. Some of us might die, I can't promise any of you that will not happen, but the two of you need to tell us what you're gonna to do now..."

"And if we lose AJ to them... then Kenny would've died for nothing." Clem sternly yet sadly added.

Wayne seemed taken aback at all of this new information as did Helga. He rubbed his eyes and then gave a nod towards Helga to which she nodded back. "Okay umm, listen... I just remembered that uh, I let that Hazen kid borrow my compass after we left the Bed n' Breakfast. You remember that Helga?"

Her face remained neutral with a curt nod. "Yeah, I do bro."

"You sure about this? You sure you want to remember that compass?" There must have been an underlining meaning to this. Clem could notice the man's inflection on what he was trying to ask her.

Helga repeated her answer while giving a rare somber look at Clementine and Michael. "...It's important. I get it."

"Yeah, I think he still has it in his pocket or something." He then rested his gaze on a curious Clementine. "...I really really liked that compass."

"What are saying Wayne?" Dusty questioned him with slight suspicion.

"All I'm saying is...well. I need to get my compass back." He shrugged looking around at all of them. "You three seem to be going in the same direction so..."

Dusty smiled sincerely towards Clementine. Now it looked like they finally had a chance. "Okay. Okay... thanks guys, we appreciate this."

"You better." Helga smirked as she went towards Clementine. The twelve year old tensed up when the blonde teen playfully punched her. "Fireflies... right squirt?"

"Sudden change of heart Helga?" A surprised Michael was astounded by the turn of events: Helga cooperating? "I'm impressed."

"Fireflies." Clem returned the action and playfully punched her back in the shoulder. "Thank you for this. Really."

"Oh shit! The squirrel's burning!" Wayne exclaimed, in fear of loosing the food he bent down and tried to save the meal. They all smiled at his frantic attempt, and they decided to turn in for the nigh to rest up for next day...

Now they had a chance...

They were almost there... Thankfully, it only took them a couple of hours after they all woke up to follow the signs and see their destination near the horizon.

And lucky for them, Helga was able to hold onto the binoculars she still had. Clem had already borrowed them when she saw through the lenses and spotted the large white church in the distance. All they had to do was go down and up the marshy swamp area then St. Francis was within their grasp. They appreciated that it was a nice and sunny day for a change though, and the five of them were crossing through a meadow near the lip of the marsh valley they had to traverse.

"You see anyone Clem? Any guards or walkers over there?" Michael asked while he put his hand over his eyes to block the sun.

"There's a guy on the roof of the church, but I don't think he sees us." Clem informed them.

"No, he shouldn't, not till we're close." Dusty comforted them all as he looked down in the small swamp when they got to the edge. "Ugh... well shit."

"What is it?" Wayne inquired as he mirrored his action and looked down too. "Fuck..."

Down there in the swampy pit were four water-logged walkers shuffling around in cloudy muddy water. Cattails and other marshy plants jutted out of what looked like waist-high water, at least they would be below the line of sight from the church's point of view.

Groahh... Oooahh...

Clementine handed back Helga's binoculars to her which she pocketed and slung a wooden branch she picked up earlier on her shoulder, similar to her baseball bat she had before the resort burned down. "Disgusting..."

"Yeah... can't risk the noise." Dusty continued to peer down. "We're too close to the church, they might hear the gunshots."

"Yeah well... good thing we're low on ammo anyway." Michael shrugged. Fortunately for them, the group found a couple of pistols with a few bullets in the clips off of some dead bandits on their way here. Dusty and Wayne were dubbed with the guns while Helga used her wooden club. Michael and Clementine still had their bloodied hammer and screwdriver respectively to defend themselves with.

"Ain't no was can go around either, but fuck it... it's just four walkers right?" Wayne grimaced as he was the first to step off the lip and carefully head down the decline to the marsh below, followed by Dusty then Michael and Helga with Clem in the rear.

"Everyone move slowly so you don't splash the water." Clementine advised, trying to make it easier on everyone. "I don't think they see us yet."

(?) They will remember that.

"Jesus!" Helga sniffed and covered her nose. "I sure bet they can't smell us yet. It stinks to high heaven down here."

They stopped by the edge of the water they had to cross, the walkers had not noticed them yet. Maybe it was because of the rotten eggs smell? Probably from some of the plants in the small wetland. Dusty nodded to them. "It's now or never."

Dustin was the first one to calmly step into the water now. He eased in as ripples emanated from his body moving deeper and deeper into the waist high swamp. The sooner they got through this the sooner they could make it to St. Francis. Wayne slowly followed. "Everyone stay quiet." He whispered to the kids.

Michael was third to enter the marsh, and to his dismay he didn't have a second hand to plug his nose from the swampy wetland smell. He peered back at Clementine who was the last to enter.

They're weren't exactly single file, the group had spread out to self assign a walker to kill. These gross bulbous-looking monsters had absorbed so of the swamp water that their skin just swelled and sagged. It was absolutely disgusting, and all they did was continue to groan and moan, roaming and trapped in this marshy plot. Dusty, Michael, and Helga raised their weapons to act as melee and they sent a mutual signal to attack almost simultaneously. But on Wayne's efforts, he caught his foot on something under the water and tripped causing a huge splash. "SHIT!"

Helga exclaimed. "Wayne!"

With the three walkers already dead, the fourth walker turned around and lunged at the fallen man. Clementine was the closest and she threw stealth aside as she strode as sloshed towards Wayne's position, who was already yelling for help. With the walker on top of him and now pushing him underwater, Clem raised her screwdriver and stabbed the sodden skull like it was butter.

But then the others' eyes widened when they saw a fifth walker rise outta the marsh from underwater right behind the struggling eleven year old like it was rising from the dead all over again. This elderly walker growled and looked the most decrepit out of all of them as it grabbed Clementine by the shoulders and pushed both of them forward with another splash!

"Clemen-!" Their voices were cut off as the little girl plunged into the murky opaque water, disorientated beyond belief. Her stomach quickly met the bottom, and to her horror she could feel a body on top of her. The echo of its snarl was definite in her mind. The walker was on top of her... she was pinned.

And she thought was going to die...

She felt the pressure in her left shoulder when she felt a pair of teeth bite down into her leather jacket...

'This was it...'

But then the weight on her back was gone and she instinctively and immediately picked herself up to get outta the water and get a breathe of fresh air. ! She was alive...?

Clementine turned around to see Wayne had grabbed the walker that was on top of her by the head. And he held it up like it was on a tee from tee ball when suddenly Helga came in from around Clem and batted the lurker's head with her club. The monster's skull was obliterated to a pile of mush, muck and rotten blood began to accumulate in the marsh water around them, it didn't exactly improve the smell. Everyone was relived to find that all the apparent walkers were definitely dead.

But Michael pointed a Clementine's shoulder, with a look of worry on his face. "Clem, you got something on your..." Clementine followed his finger and turned her head, and she was surprised to notice a really old pair of dentures were still clamped onto her left shoulder where that walker tried to bite her. "Fake teeth... leather jacket."

"Oh my god, you're one lucky kid." Dusty grinned.

Kenny had given her this jacket, and it was a good line of defense when it came to some attacks against walkers, like this one. Clem brushed off the pair of dentures and it plopped into the water. She internally thanked Kenny for this gift and then approached Wayne and Helga. "Thanks guys, you really saved me there."

(?) They will remember that.

Helga chuckled. "Don't worry about it squirt. I like getting in the batting practice anyway."

Wayne added as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You saved mine just then so, we saved yours." He then examined himself and his clothes. "Ah damn... could really use a shower now though."

Clem smiled at their mutual gratitude as did Dusty and Michael who had already made it to the other side of the marsh and climbed back onto the land waiting for the other three. Dusty affirmed them. "It's now or never guys."

The rest of the group followed suit and they climbed out of the pernicious wetland. They began to head up the incline where the church would be within shooting range, they had to be careful when they got to the top. Helga however noticed that her older brother was limping, favoring his right leg now. "Bro, what's wrong? You're limping."

"I'm fine sis, just caught my foot on something bad, that's why I fell in the water. I'm fine though." Wayne comforted her as he shifted to a slower pace.

"Maybe we can stop for a minute, for everyone to rest and dry our clothes a little?" Clem suggested to everyone.

(?) Helga will remember that.

"I wish we could, but we don't got anytime to lose." Dusty shot down as he continued to lead the pack up the hill.

"We could wait until it gets dark, when everyone's asleep." Michael submitted his rational input. "That might help us."

"We're already too close to the church, we can't make camp here." Dusty ordered as he trudged on. "We'll have to just power through." Clementine then hitched back to talk to Michael while Wayne and Helga made an extra effort to talk to Dustin more.

"Michael, how are you?" Clementine inquired from him as he wiped his brow with his sleeve.

After a couple of seconds of silence between them he spoke up. "Do you think I can kill at a place of God?" Michael asked her, referring to church they were going to Clem assumed. "You know, that church?"

"I don't think it matters by now." Clementine responded honestly with a half-shrug.

"That's good. I don't want any of them pulling that shit on me when I'm holding them at gunpoint." He muttered.

"Have you killed anyone before?" She questioned. Michael was a little stunned by this.

"Yeah, once..." His voice trailed off. "A long time ago, my mom, she was in a bad way. She'd taken a bullet to the gut and she needed medicine. There were these bandits close to where we were based, so she had this crazy idea to rob them. It was a stupid plan but... She was desperate. She got away with some meds but... The bandits caught up to her. The leader pinned her down and threatened to rub some walker guts on her wound, and that would've infected her. That same day I had learned how to use a gun and... I had to do something. So I shot him. ...I can still see the blood and brains spraying out of the side of his head, even now."

Clementine wanted to say 'I'm sorry' to him but she thought that would prove ineffective. So instead she just said. "We've all got to do it at some point or another... if we want to survive."

(?) Michael will remember that.

"Yeah." The fourteen year old agreed. "Yeah you're right, Clem."

'Welcome to The Sanctuary of St. Francis Church'

The sign's 'Welcome' had been scratched off, so that sort of sent a clear message. The five of them still had damp clothes when they all quickly ran to an abandoned school bus that was tipped over and provided great cover for them. They made it, and Dusty was the one to peer around the side to find the guard was still on top of the church.

"Okay, good. We just got to time this just right." He then addressed the whole of them while eyeing an old blue truck halfway towards the side entrance. "When I say go, everyone head over to that truck over there when that guard's not looking."

"Sounds good." Michael whispered, and he got to the opposite end of the bus to get ready to run as did Clem and Helga. "Now?"

"He's not looking. Move, move!" Dusty pushed them as they all headed to the truck for cover. Right in the nick of time, they all crowded behind the vehicle when the guard on the church roof turned around in their direction, seemingly not seeing them. "Wait for it..." He pointed towards the home stretch that was the side or backdoor of the church. "We got this guys." He encouraged.

The guard looked away...

"Go!"

They moved like ninjas if you believed it. Fast and quiet, luck must have been on their side because they were now up against the side wall of the church, now impossible for the guard on the roof to spot them. They silently cheered for their progress since they still had to keep their element of surprise for as long as they could.

"Open it." Helga urged as she pushed past Dusty and turned the doorknob, finding it locked. "Shit."

"Nah..." Wayne sighed with his arms crossed over his chest. "That would've been too easy." He then moved forward too. "Maybe I can pick the lock-!?"

He was interrupted when the door swung open and a barrel of an AK-47 pointed at them. "Hands in the air." She commanded sternly. Clem remembered who this woman was back from the resort.

It was Brooke.

Brooke's eyes widened at the realization of who these people were. "Holy shit... you're alive. All of you." She was awestruck, brushing her red hair and tucking it behind her ear. "How did you...?"

Taking advantage of her disbelief and being off-guard, Helga swung her wooden club downward and knocked her weapon out of her loose grip. She then kicked it back which Dusty caught and picked up as the whole group rushed inside and swarmed the redhead. "Don't move!"

Brooke staggered back and stumbled down in a crappy chair next to a long brown conference table while holding her hands up tentatively. Michael shut the door behind them, and the group of five were able to examine their surroundings. It was a pasty-colored meeting room of some sort, perhaps where deacons, reverends and people of other high esteem meet for the church's affairs from before all of this happened.

Dusty advanced on Brooke with her assault rifle pointed at her. "Where's our people?"

Brooke ignored his question. "How did you get out? I just can't believe... I thought you were all dead..."

"Talk." Clem glared at the woman. "Where's AJ? And Maree and Hazen."

"Answer her dammit!" Michael growled as he came to the front of the group to address her. "Now."

For a moment there, Brooke looked like she was just a deer in the headlights. But then after a few seconds of silence the redhead began to spill the beans. "I'll tell you everything." She then pointed to a sliding wooden closest in the corner of the room. "All of your stuff is there, weapons, food... we took it all and put it in there."

Dusty nodded in compliance. "Michael, you and Wayne go get our stuff."

Michael didn't waste any time as he and a still slightly limping Wayne made their way to the closet and quickly opened it. The fourteen year old exclaimed. "It's all in here!"

"Good, now. You'd say you'd tell us everything, where's our people then?" Dusty repeated, frustration etched onto his face.

"And where's the rest of your group?" Clem decided to ask as well. If the two groups were in different places then maybe extraction would be easier. "Why did they even take our friends?"

(?) Brooke will remember that.

She sighed a hearty sigh and rested her arms on her knees, but still held them up. "Twelve... she needs twelve."

"Twelve what?" Helga question as Wayne and Michael joined back up with all of their stuff again.

"Twelve people in her group. That's her number. 12." Brooke confessed to them as she rubbed her eyes. "With Sven and her son dead, she was down to 10 people, that's why she took two of yours, okay?"

"Why twelve? What's so special about that number? And wouldn't the baby make 13 anyway?" Clementine smartly inquired from her.

"Yeah, but the baby has a special meaning to her." She then revealed the reasoning. "It was The Twelve Chosen Disciples of Jesus Christ. That's what she's trying to pose." Brooke stated to them. "As you could kinda tell, Katherine is a bit of a religious person."

"You think?" Wayne sarcastically retorted. " 'Cause I didn't notice at all..."

Dusty cleverly deduced. "So that must make you Judas..." Referring to Brooke.

He earned a slight smirk from her. "Good one." She then closed her eyes as she naturally traced her fingers over the disfiguring scar on her white cheek. "...Listen though, you've met him before, that guy Nate, when he was picked up by Katherine, he began to show her a different side to all of this. We got more violent, much more violent, and... by the time I got my wits about me, I didn't even recognize the people I used to call friends. I never wanted any of this. Sven wanted to get away too but..." She paused and just decided to get to the matter at hand. "The uh... black girl is upstairs with everyone else. I don't know where the baby or the kid Nate and Katherine were in charge of them..."

"Great..." He huffed. "What should we do with her?" Michael asked the group.

Clem though was ready to answer. This woman was sincere but could they really trust her?

...

[Ask Brooke For Help]

[Tie Brooke Up]

"Brooke, do you think you can help us?" Clementine addressed towards the woman to which her eyes widened at the request of her assistance.

(?) Brooke will remember that.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Helga berated. "You want this girl's help after she helped locking us in a burning building?"

"She could be bullshitting this whole thing, AND she could walk us into a trap!" Wayne angrily added.

"What are you getting at Clementine?" Dusty inquired while keeping his eyes on the woman in question.

Clem may hate math, but that didn't mean she sucked at it. "We'd have a better chance if she was with us. It'd be six of us against nine of them now. And we can still surprise them. If we leave her tied up, someone could find her and they'd know we were in here."

That did make some sense. But would Brooke be willing to attack with the intent to kill her own group? Would it even be a good idea to give her a gun? Michael shook his head at the situation, seeing as it could go either way. "Guys?" He pulled some rope outta one of their bags he retrieved. "I got some rope right here..."

Suddenly, the door on the far side of the conference room opened up, and a bearded man in a black robe walked right in casually. "Hey Brooke, I was looking for you and you're not at service..." He trailed off at the sight he saw.

Five unknown intruders in their midst.

"Brooke! What in God's name-!" But the guard was cut off when immediately Brooke stood up and pulled a pistol hidden beneath her person, which had a black suppressor on the barrel, and fired twice. The muffled noise was enough to keep their guise and drop the guard to the ground, dead. Brooke sighed as she dropped her pistol to the ground. "I'm sorry Peter..."

"You had another gun?!" Dusty questioned frantically as he ran to the doorway where this Peter laid sprawled out, and he pulled him into the conference room. He shut that door and smashed his head in with the butt of the rifle to prevent reanimation.

"She could have killed any one of us but she..." Michael shrugged and decided to put the rope away, now siding with Clem concerning Brooke now. "I guess she is willing to help."

"I've had enough of these people. You've seen what they've done to Sven." Brooke declared to all of them. "I just made my choice. So... If we take everyone else hostage in the service upstairs, you should get all of your people back. I'll leave it up to ya'll if you wanna kill the rest of them."

"We can deal with it when the time comes." Clementine tried to make sure of that with the rest of them. "We all don't want to do anything we'll regret."

(?) They will remember that.

"That's up to them." Wayne grimly argued as he and his sister passed the two kids and Brooke while he motioned her. "Pick up your gun."

Brooke complied and picked up her silencer pistol, checking her ammo. Michael and Helga were also distributing their guns and rifles to everyone else, so now they were all well equipped and well armed. Dusty resumed his lead of the pack with his hand on the doorknob and the rifle in the other. "No going back from here on in."

Now it was six against eight...

St. Francis was a lot bigger than Clementine initially thought, even more so on the inside. When they all stepped out of the conference room, they came into a large dining area of sorts. Makeshift bedrolls and supplies were strewn out all around this place. When they passed down a hallway, Clem noticed a full-sized kitchen located down there. The group remained mostly silent for now however as they picked up the pace and traveled towards the front lobby which was carpeted and led to some stairs.

"Next floor up is the chapel. Katherine and her friends are up there." Brooke whispered as they all began to head on up.

"What if we cause a panic? We need to know where Hazen and the baby are too." Dusty questioned her as she got her pistol at the ready.

"Can't we just search the rest of the church while they're busy?" Clementine inquired further.

"There's a staircase in the back of the chapel. It goes up and down and only Katherine and her closest friends live back there in those rooms. It can get us access to the basement and maybe that's where your friends are."

"Aren't you one of her closest friends?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Heh... not anymore." Brooke affirmed as they reached the large wooden doors. From where they were, they could hear Mother Katherine herself, preaching. The redhead peaked out only a pinch and she addressed them. "She's at the podium with Maree and Angus, everyone else 'cept for Nate are in the pews. Looks like the guard from outside just came in too. You guys ready?"

Clementine nodded. "Let's finish this."

The moment of truth. Everyone took a deep breathe as they heard Katherine's regal voice speaking her sermon, echoing throughout the chapel and to their ears. "...I remind you all that this end of days was our punishment. For over three years now, we are slowly loosing the war against the dead and the living... But I beseech you! There is a solution! This apocalypse was a message from God that Man was to lose their freedom and their control over their destiny. However, we now see... freedom invited chaos. And our destiny only foresaw further weakness. And if we do not seek Salvation from Him, then the monsters will beget more monsters. One creates another." She paused. "And in the Lord's eyes we are all-!.

Dusty and Brooke were the ones that kicked open the doors. And calamity ensued as the intruders flooded into the chapel's entrance. With wooden pews on either side, everyone began shouting and barking orders for people to put down their weapons. There were five people in the pews, two on one side and three on the other who were armed but held their hands in the air in sign of surrender.

At the head of the church, near the podium where she spoke, Mother Katherine looked surprised and absolutely appalled at the interruption. The giant Scot Angus stood by her left side. And it was only then that they noticed that Maree was tied and bound on the step that led up to the level where Angus and Katherine stood. Dusty shouted at the culprits. "Drop your weapons! NOW!"

"Dusty! Clem!" Maree exclaimed as Mother Katherine quickly scooped up and held Maree in front of her as a shield. "You need to find AJ! He's-!"

"SILENCE!" Mother Katherine ordered as she took hold of her head and slammed it down off the top of the podium with a loud thunk! She then resumed her role for her as a hostage.

"HEY!" Dusty roared as he aimed his rifle, trying to aim around the woman he deeply cared about, so that he could shoot the bitter older one. "You let her go! Right now, or I put a bullet in you!"

She ignored his threat. "How dare you defile the house of God with your presence! With your stink! You all should have burned in the depths of Hell where you belong! Angus!"

"Yes ma'am!" The large man complied as he raised a shotgun and aimed it at the group of six who were in the middle of the aisle while having trouble trying to cover everyone from using their guns which they did not reach for. "Brooke?! What are ye doin'?" Angus questioned the woman.

"This ain't my rodeo anymore, Angus! I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees with that bitch!" She motioned towards her wicked former leader, who looked aghast at her actions.

"I knew you were weak!" Mother Katherine hissed disgustedly. "Most whores are you ungrateful swine!"

"Let Maree go! You're at a disadvantage!" Clementine yelled towards them.

(?) Katherine will remember that.

"Our time has not come yet, child! NOT YET!" Katherine shouted back as she looked past them and stared dreamily at the large stain-glass windows that was now shining some sunlight through them. It depicted the beautiful Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve next to the tree with the forbidden fruit. The spectacle created a multitude of colors all across the floor when light passed through it. She muttered. "Or perhaps..."

"Come on." Wayne whispered to the rest of them. "It's just those two up there who are calling the shots. We take them out and be done with it."

"For once, I'm with Wayne here." Michael agreed as he continued to train his gun on a guard on the left.

"But they might kill Maree." Dusty argued angrily.

[Talk Them Down]

[Take Them Out]

It was a powder keg ready to light, just like back at the resort, except this time the tables had turned. The opposite side now had the choice of their person in custody. If they fired their guns now, there would undoubtedly be casualties. Clementine looked around wildly for any source of a solution. But before the eleven year old could make a decision for the group, she heard a loud clank and saw an AK-47 dropped to the ground... and Dusty stepped forward with his hands up.

"Take me instead..." All eyes were on the young man who wore the uniform even though he was never really a soldier. He was burned and beaten before, but still he had the tenacity and courage to expose himself like this.

"Dust mite! What the hell are you doing?" Wayne questioned his rival.

"I have no damn clue..." He shrugged as he took only one step closer towards Maree and her captor. He stopped in the middle of the two groups.

"He's being stupid again!" Helga complained while keeping a firm grip on her gun as well. "Squirt, tell him."

"Dusty! This isn't the way!" Clem shouted at the young man, burned at the will of these people who were in front of him. "Please!"

"Clem! Let me do this!" Dusty proclaimed to her and the rest of them, now at the mercy of Mother Katherine and Angus. "Please, let her go... let me take her place..."

Her expression contorted to that of rejection. "I will not compromise for you! What can you say that will dissuade me from my mission from God!? You stupid boy..." She sneered. "You have no idea what true loss is, do you? What it means to suffer? I must warn you, if you continue to carry on as you do now, hard lessons will be taught here. But that's okay, you will be my student, and I your teacher."

"Dustin..." Maree cried and begged for him as Katherine pressed the barrel of her gun deeper into the back of her head. "Please... it's okay..."

"No! STOP! Listen! Please, listen to me! It's doesn't have to be this way! If you won't take me as your hostage, then you have to understand! We gave you that man Sven, to satiate your anger and sadness for your lost son. And I'm truly sorry for his passing, but we made that choice for you! I didn't agree with that. And also, we forgive you, for trying to kill us, all of us. There's no ill feelings her."

Dusty sighed with his pause and he went on with his plea.

"I forgive you, for this..." He touched his burnt face and burnt arm. "I forgive you... Now I know that the world out there... the world we all knew... is gone. But whether it's in the name of God or not, keeping our humanity is a choice! And we get to make that choice, right here, right now! No one here has to die, we just let it go... we go our separate ways, just let her go..."

His words softened her demeanor, and she furrowed her eyebrows into those of doubt and regret, knowing for a fact that from before, this was wrong, this was all wrong. Katherine knew she was so angry and sad from recent current events that made mistakes. And now maybe she could forgive herself after these people forgave her. Everyone watched as Mother Katherine looked back up at the stain glass windows where the Garden of Eden flourished in the sunlight. She smiled at the thought of peace, but then she looked at Angus and the other five people who followed her, watching her contemplate this man's proposal. It was now her turn to choose... Clem watched as the old woman's grip began to slacken on Maree's figure.

But something was wrong... Dusty looked hopeful, but Katherine seemed confused and disorientated. Maree however was able to shake free from her captor's grip and ran towards Dusty, smiling and with open arms, thankful. Everything seemed to go in slow motion...

Katherine then looked back up with a look of malice and enmity. "Infidel...!"

And so hatred was born out of love...

With Maree a mere couple feet from Dusty's embrace, Katherine raised her pistol and...

*BANG!*

The bullet entered the back of the nurse's head and exited out of her eyeball... Blood and brain matter splattered Dusty's face, and instead of a relived Maree reuniting with him, a dead corpse met his grasp, shock and fury etched all over his face when he caught her body. It was over...

His scream echoed thoughout the chapel. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

"KILL THEM ALL!"

Clem dived in a nearby pew as bullets began to go off everywhere! An endless hail of gunfire erupted, and St. Francis Church was no longer a sanctuary...

A/N- Review your thoughts on the long chapter and the current state of events. What would you have done? Who do you think will live and who will die? Stay tuned for the climax of episode 3 next time on the Walking Dead Season Three... :)