Born Nameless

Chapter 18

This place was a complete bust and there wasn't really any other stores to search, as it was a small town with only the basic stores. Finally, Anamika sighed, shaking her head as she made her way to Carl.

"Hey Carl, this place is empty, we're not going to find something here. Come on, let's go look through some of the houses, maybe they'll have something."

Carl sighed and Anamika's heart squeezed painfully at his dejected expression. Slinging an arm over his shoulders, she gave him a sideways hug as she steered them out the store.

"Hey chin up, we'll find something! If not today, we'll come out again tomorrow, to a bigger town." She knew it would be difficult, if not near impossible, to convince Rick to let Carl go to a more populated town and she could see Carl knew it too, but he smiled nonetheless, appreciating the thought.

They searched for about two hours, fining nothing and was finally forced to admit that they wouldn't' find anything today, and that it was time to start heading home. Walking along the street, Anamika listened intently as Carl talked about the new game he started playing with Judith, when an old weathered sign caught her attention.

Newnan's Antique Store

Stopping, she tapped Carl's shoulder, pointing towards the small hole-in-the-wall store, "Let's go check that out, antique stores usually have lots of odds and ends and I can't imagine people looting it too much."

Anamika's words proved true, as the front door was locked and no walkers emerged when she knocked on the door. Kneeling in front of the door, she slid her lockpicks from her bun, where she kept them permanently and picked the lock in a few seconds. Carl looked quite impressed and she promised to teach him all the tricks and techniques.

Entering the dimly lit store, they both pulled out their flashlight, doing a quick sweep just in case, before splitting up as they explored the densely packed store. Anamika was surrounded by junk on all side, but she knew these stuff would have been collectables back in the old world. Picking up an old clock, she turned it around in her hands, studying the engravings as an idea niggled the back of her mind, when Carl's triumphant shout reached her. Placing the clock back on the shelf, she followed the sounds Carl was making, runding the aisle to see him holding a cat sculpture in his hands.

It appeared to be made of junk; small metal sheets, bolts and screws, plastic wrappers and clock gears, old jewelry, buttons and accessories, all welded together and wrapped in thin wire. Despite the items it was made of, the sculpture was a truly fantastic one and Anamika stepped forward to grab the name card that sat in front of the open space where the sculpture used to stand.

Mixed Media Cat by Barbara Franc

"That looks great!"

"Yeah, Michonne will love this!" Carl's happy face had Anamika's own face breaking into a smile and she squeezed his shoulder.

"Good, I'm glad you found something." Carl nodded and they quickly grabbed some newspapers, wrapping the cat up and luckily finding some duct tape behind the counter to secure it. They made their way out, both their moods lifted and started for home. The car they had used to come here was parked about a quarter mile down the road and soon they were off, driving quiets roads while singing to silly songs. It was as they were driving that Anamika spotted a flash of a house through the trees, slowing down before stopping by the side of the road.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just saw a house through the trees. Wanna go check it out, might be undisturbed." Carl nodded and they both climbed out of the car, Anamika taking the spark plug to make sure it wasn't stolen by some random survivor, before they ventured into the woods in the direction Anamika had seen the house. Soon the trees became fewer and they emerged into an overgrown clearing, a mansion of a house in the middle of it.