Another chapter, here's to hoping you guys enjoy it! It's one of those filler chapters that focus on development, so is it really a filler chapter then?
Anyways, Enjoy!
Chapter 18
Anamika pursed her lips as she regarded the general goods store in front of her. Carl was next to her, his breathing quiet as his eyes stayed alert. Daryl had gone off to hunt today and Anamika had declined going with, a shocking decision considering she had been spending every spare second with Daryl the last two weeks.
However, Carl had asked her the day before if she could go on a run with him, as his father had agreed as long as either Anamika, Michonne or Daryl accompanied him. Rick was reluctant, but understood that Carl was smart and strong and he could't hover over his shoulder every moment, especially now that Carl was mostly recovered from his injury.
Three, deep scars ran from the corner of his eye and cheek to his ear and into his hairline, twisted and red looking, but healing nicely. There were some smaller scars in between the three biggest ones, but they looked more like scratch marks and would eventually fade to light silvery scars. His eye was slightly stretched where the scars pulled at it, but not enough to be immediately noticeable. Though his vision in that eye was weakened, he had been doing various exercises the past two weeks and now that weakness didn't hold him back anymore.
"So, what were you thinking?"
"Hmm, well, she likes weird art and cats, so maybe we can find some garden accessory or cat-related object inside?" Anamika nodded, as the entire reason they were out here in the first place, was apparently because Michonne's birthday was around this time of year and Carl had wanted to get her something special, since she had done so much for him since he had gotten to know her.
"Alright then, let's get going. Stay on my six, and keep an eye out for walkers." Carl nodded, raising his silenced handgun as Anamika jogged over to the storefront. Glancing around one more time, she knocked on the glass doors and waited, hoping the place wasn't overrun. It took a minute, but finally five walkers slammed against the glass door, their moans reaching the two outside and causing Anamika to grimace in disgust, as one of the walkers were smearing their goo all over the glass.
Motioning for Carl to stand back a bit, she counted down on three fingers, pulling one of the doors open, keeping the glass between her and the walkers. Carl immediately, shot one, calling out to the others and they ignored the silent Anamika, their focus shifting to Carl. Carl backed up as he shot another one and as the last one shuffled past Anamika, she lifted her machete and separated its head from its body. Carl had stopped shooting, afraid to hit Anamika and she quickly and efficiently killed the last two walkers.
Nodding to the boy, she turned and walked into the store, making sure there wasn't another walker lurking about, Carl guarding her back. When she was sure the store was clean, she sheathed her machete.
"Alright, let's go to the garden section and if we can't find anything, we'll check the rest of the store.
"Sure."
Anamika let her young friend take the lead, knowing Carl would know better than her what Michonne would like. She kept a lazy eye out for anything useful, but apparently the store had been looted before, as only useless and broken items remained. Walking down the aisle, she was grateful for the large store windows and glass doors, as it allowed the sunlight to stream in and light up the aisles. Carl still had a flashlight for the dark corners, but overall it wasn't too bad. They looked for a while, but all they could find was some odd garden gnomes and sparkly reindeer statues, which Carl pulled a face at when he saw them. The branched out to the rest of the store, but found nothing of interest.
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.
It was entirely made of wood, with two stories and a porch that wrapped around the house. However, despite how grand it once might have been, Anamika could clearly see it has been abandoned for some time, moss covering parts of the house and the wood uncared for. Even the driveway was completely overgrown, making it obvious no one had used it in some time.
Silently, she and Carl made their way up the stairs to the porch, Anamika keeping an ear out for the sound of weak or rotten wood creaking, but luckily it seemed steady. Banging on the door three times, they waited till they heard a lone walker moaning and groaning on the other side and this time Carl was the one to open the door as Anamika immediately stabbed the walker in the head.
Entering the house, it was immediately obvious a very wealthy family owned this house, if the size of the house wasn't already a big clue. Lush Carpets, now frayed and moth-eaten, covered the grounds and heavy oak tables and chairs were places tastefully in the rooms. The walls were decorated with hunting trophies, the dead eyes of dozens of creatures seemed to watch them.
Anamika shuddered, she had always hated the tradition of mounting animal heads on walls. However, the fact that this was apparently the house of a hunter left her some hope that she would find something useful here. Leaving Carl to explore downstairs, she went up to the second landing, making sure to check closets and shut doors for walkers before letting her guard down.
However, she didn't find much of use, some bullets, a single rifle and some nice, big backpacks with some camping gear. Not really stuff they needed, but useful nonetheless. She took the two best hiking backpacks and filled them with gear, filling one bag, but the other one staying empty. Glancing around once more, she slung the one bag over her shoulder, carrying the other one as he made her way out of the room. She was about to go downstairs, but her eye caught a rectangular door in the ceiling.
An attic.
Placing the bags against the wall, she glanced around, searching for something to open the door with. Her eyes paused on a small metal box on the wall, looking vaguely like a circuit box, but when she opened it, it was merely a level. Raising an eyebrow, she shook her head at the stuff rick people did, before pulling the level.
She encountered some resistance, hearing gears shifting and concluded that the level was connected to some complex hydraulics system that opened the door, instead of using electricity, which was lucky for her. The trap door was slowly opening, but Anamika, being impatient, yanked the level all the way down, causing the trapdoor to back open. Before she could realise what happened, agitated moans reached her ears and the next thing she knows is a body falling from the hole in the ceiling, taking her down to the floor with it.
She let out a strangled yell, her forearm automatically placed under the creature's jaw, to keep the snapping teeth away from her face. Turning her head away, she strained against the walker on top of her, but it was thoroughly pinning her and she cursed her luck. Of course the walker would be a huge male walkers, easily three times her weight; she was amazed she was keeping it at bay as it is.
Her brow furrowed and she grunted as she pushed, trying to unbalance the thing, but it was determined. Her mind was racing along, trying to figure out another way of removing the creature from on top of her, when the point of a knife emerged from between its eyes, blood dripping from the tip onto her face. Hands appeared on the walker's shoulders, rolling it off her and Anamika had never been so glad to see Carl as she was at that moment.
Exhaling harshly, she dropped her head back to the floor, slowly steadying her breath, as Carl kneeled next to her.
"Anamika, are you alright? You're not bit right?" She managed to shake her head, still out of breath and high on adrenaline and Carl's sigh of relief was echoed by hr thoughts. He leaned down, resting his forehead on her collarbone and she realised he was shaking. Reaching one hand up, she removed his hat, carding her fingers through his hair as she reassured both him and herself that she was still alive.
Finally, she felt it was ok to sit up and Carl moved back as she stood, breathing in deeply.
"Where did it come from? From up there?"
"Yeah, want to check it out?'
"Sure. Let's go."
Anamika nodded, watching the open trap door and seeing the retractable ladder attached to the door. Pulling it down, she started climbing the rungs, making her way into the attic after checking that no more surprises waited for her. Pulling out her flashlight, she immediately realised this is where someone had made a nest. She assumed it was the walker that almost killed her and judging from the old, bloody bandages, he had either been bitten or mortally injured at some point, causing him to turn, probably when he went out looking for food,as she sw no supplies here.
What she did see, was a first aid kit, a ratty mattress and blankets, empty cans and bottles and a hunting knife lying around the floor. Carl followed her up and they both looked around, finding some more weapons and bullets, which was good, but the real treat came when Anamika unzipped a bulky duffel bag. Her face split into a wide grin and she knew tussling with that walker was worth this find.
WD
Daryl glanced around as he came inside the gates, handing the string of rabbits and pheasants to Olivia, his mind focused on finding a certain someone. He talked to Rick briefly, before continuing home, wanting to take a shower. It was an odd thought, home. He had never thought he could become comfortable in a place like this, but over the past month or so, Alexandria had truly become his home. He didn't mind taking showers and he actually talked to some of the people now.
Things had changed after the herd had invaded Alexandria and everyone was more united now, which was strange but oddly comforting. He also found himself seeking the company of Anamika more, the strong woman good company and an even better friend. Though Daryl adamantly told himself that was all; she was, he also couldn't help but notice the subtle swing to her hips as she walked, the strength of her muscles moving gracefully beneath her smooth skin, the scent of her hair as she brushed past him...
Shaking his head, he walked up the stairs into his house, seeing Carol cleaning a gun at the kitchen counter while something boiled on the stovetop.
"Hm, smells good."
Carol looked up, smiling, "It's peaches, one of the runners found a peach tree and brought the peaches back. I'm thinking of making some jam to make peach tart. It'll be ready by tomorrow. In the meantime, let me make you a sandwich."
Though Daryl was fully capable of making his own sandwich, he knew Carol liked to fuss over him, so instead he sat down at the counter, taking over cleaning her gun while they talked about her day and his hunt. He practically inhaled the sandwich she placed in front of him, brushing the crumbs off after an thanking her.
"I'ma take a shower. You know if Anna's here?"
"I think she's upstair with Carl." Daryl nodded, making his way up and heading straight for the bathroom. After a quick shower, just long enough to get all the dirt and blood off him, he knocked on Anamika's door, but heard no answer. Brow furrowing, he pushed the door open and saw that the room was empty. Before he could start to feel worried, he heard voices drifting through the open window and realised Anamika and Carl were sitting on the roof as they talked.
Walking towards the window, he paused as he heard Carl's serious voice mentioning his name, not wanting to interrupt them.
"Why did you come with me instead of going with Daryl today?" Daryl frowned, not wanting to eavesdrop, but curious all the same.
"It looked like you needed me more. Besides, you needed backup and Daryl is fine to hunt on his own for one day. He must have enjoyed the day without me hovering around him like an annoying gnat!"
Though Anamika was laughing and joking around, Daryl still frowned. That's not truly what she thought right?
"I actually think Daryl enjoys your company a lot, he wouldn't have spent the last two weeks with you if he didn't." Anamika just laughed as she replied, "Oh, I know he doesn't mind me, but it must have been a nice change to have the day to himself for once."
"Whatever you say Anna. Anyways, I need to go, but I just wanted to thank you for coming today, it means a lot."
"Anytime kiddo. I'm glad you were there to watch my back." Daryl's eyes narrowed at the strange inflection in her voice when she talked about Carl watching her back. Had something happened?
"Of course, you're family Anna, we look out for each other." He could hear Anamika inhale sharply and her voice was thick when she said, "Thanks Carl." After a short silence, he heard movement and shuffling and then Carl came into view as he climbed through the window into Anamika's room. He seemed surprised to see Daryl, but didn't say anything, just nodded to him as he left the room.
When Anamika didn't emerge after Carl, Daryl hesitated for a brief moment, before he climbed out onto the overhanging roof, seeing Anamika sitting to the side, her gaze turned towards the night sky. The sun had set completely by now and the stars were plentiful, seeming like bright city lights.
She turned to him and smiled, "Good hunt?"
"Yeah, was alright." She hummed, turning hr attention back to the sky. He settled in next to her, but his thoughts weren't on the beauty of the stars or even the beauty of the woman sitting next to him. No, he was more focused on her words he had overheard. After a short silence, he finally spoke up.
"Ya really think that? That I don't want your company on my hunts?" She seemed surprised, but not angry fortunately and he waited patiently while she seemed to order her thoughts.
"I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you'd appreciate some alone time, as I have been hovering around you quite frequently the last few weeks." Daryl stared at his hands, twisting his fingers as he glanced at her.
"Naw, I don't mind. It's better with you there." His voice was quiet, almost shy and Anamika seemed surprised for a second, before she smiled, the smile unlike any he had seen on her face before. It was gentle and warm and filled with something he couldn't quite name and inspired a rush of something else he couldn't identify to build up in him. He grunted, embarrassed and lied down, turing his gaze towards the stars. After a moment, the woman beside him laid down as well, her own gaze on the sparkling sky above them, and in the silence, he could clearly hear her soft whisper.
"Alright, then I'll stay with you."
WD
"I wanted to ask ya, ya mentioned something about carl watching your back last night? Did something happen?"
It was the next day and Anamika had just come downstairs for breakfast, yawning, as she and Daryl had watched the stars in a comfortable silence for hours before she fell asleep, to find daryl sitting at the counter, eating dry cereal.
"Morning. Did you put me in bed? I know I fell asleep on the roof lsat night." Daryl grunted, which Anamika took as an affirmative, before he turned his intense gaze to hr.
"Mika, stop avoiding the subject. What happened yesterday." Anamika felt a smile twitch at her lips when she heard Daryl's nickname that he had recently started using for heer, but his stern gaze had her sighing, sitting down across from him after pouring herself some cereal.
"A walker surprised me, fell from the attic door near on top of me. I couldn't reach my weapons and Carl killed it before anything happened." Daryl sighed, worrying his bottom lip, but clearly relieved it had ended well.
"Kid's good, strong. Glad he was there."
"Me too, believe me! Oh that remind me!" Anamika knew she must look like a mad woman, flying up from her chair and taking the steps two at a time. When she came back down, duffel bag in her hands, it was to find daryl still wearing a mildly bewildered expression. She wanted to tease him, but was too excited over her gift to do so.
"I found something in that attic, thought it would be perfect for you." She placed the bag on the counter in front of Daryl, waiting in anticipation as he unzipped it. As he started pulling his gift out, Anamika found herself babbling to settle her nerves, hoping she didn't make a mistake.
"I know it's not your Stryker, but the Excalibur Equinox is an excellent bow and though the draw weight is a bit heavier than the Stryker, it's strong and reliable. Besides, I didn't think you'd have trouble with the draw weight, going by the look of your arm, you have the muscle. Fuck I didn't just say that, I only meant that you can obviously handle it. I got a few dozen arrows there, we should be able to make more, I'm sure you know how, you always know everything when it comes to crossbows. Shit, I mean, not that you don't know about other stuff-"
Anamika's mouth snapped shut as those very same muscular arms enveloped her, holding her in a tight but slightly awkward hug. She exhaled slowly, her tensed muscles relaxing and the hug instantly became more comfortable as she hugged Daryl back. She knew then she made the right choice to take the crossbow; she had felt it in her very being as soon as she saw it, because Daryl without his crossbow had something inside of her cringe in pain.
Closing her eyes, she clutched Daryl tighter, entirely too comfortable right where she was and determinedly ignoring the implications of that feeling.
WD
Hope you guys liked it, this was actually an impulse chapter, because I wanted Daryl to get a crossbow and wanted Anamika and Carl to spend some time together. Let me hear what you guys thought about it!