BROKEN

Chapter 39 - Daryl

Me and Charlie are bouncing down the road in his old truck with Rick following behind us. I'm glad the big guy ain't much on talking cause I ain't in the mood. Did they have to clap like that? Ain't like they haven't seen anyone kiss before. "Fuckin' embarrassing," I say under my breath.

I feel Charlie start to pull the truck over to the side. We both get out and wait for Rick and Michonne. Charlie has his shotgun in his hands, and I have my crossbow. When we're all together, we follow Charlie down a narrow trail. I know we are supposed to be safe from walkers, but I doubt I'll ever not have a weapon in my hand just in case. I only trust myself, plus the living are just as big of a risk as walkers are these days if not more.

We come to a small meadow that has a stream running along one side and trees surround the other three. I see an old wooden split rail fence still partially standing along the tree line. We walk over to a post that's about six foot tall and positioned in the center of the high grass.

"This is a pulse station,' Charlie says.

"Did you build this yourself?" Rick asks.

"Yes, I looked for parts that I could use, and I built it. It sends the magnetic flow to the next station," Charlie explained.

Rick knowing Charlie's history looked impressed. "What happened is one of these stops workin'?"

"There's an alarm that goes off in my workshop, but I check them every week. Give me something to do."

Rick put his hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Nice job. If these work as well as Daryl says they do, Charlie you're an absolute genius."

I could tell the big guy was happy. The science behind how these machines worked was nothin' I could or wanted to understand. I'd leave that to everyone else. "Let's go check out the roads leading in and out of town. I want to show Rick and Michonne how this works."

"Sounds good to me," Rick said.

We headed back to the vehicles, and I had Charlie head towards Route 47 where Lauren and I had found the walkers blocking the road. When we came back into town, the road was clear of them, but I wanted to check it again. I recognized the area when we got there, but no walkers, so I had Charlie turn the truck around. Rick followed closely behind. I had never been to the other side of Danville, but from what I knew from Lauren there was more people and other towns on this side. The chance of seeing walkers was better. This was also the direction we would need to go to when we needed to make supply runs out of town.

"We're almost there, Daryl," Charlie tells me. I simply nod.

We come around a turn probably a mile or so out of the main part of town, and there they were. I saw maybe two dozen or so walkers blocking the road just like when Lauren and me saw them. "Stop here Charlie. Stay in the truck."

I met Rick and Michonne in the road. "Watch them, "I told them. "See how they aren't coming at us, but they see us." We watched them with arms outstretched trying to grab at us but never moving forward. Rick, cocked his head and then moved forward slowly and I followed. The closer we got the more agitated the walkers became, but none crossed that invisible line to get to us.

"That is just so weird," Michonne said.

"This magnetic field is actually working," Rick said amazed. "They are being held back by it."

"Watch this," I told them. I walked up to one of the dead that I could easily get to. I stood just outside their reach, but they never advanced on me. After a few seconds, I just slammed my knife into the head, and they dropped immediately. "See?" I said moving back to stand with them.

A slow smile spread across Rick's face. "Son of a bitch, it's holding them back. Better than any damn fence we could build."

"As long as the magnetic field holds," Michonne added.

"Yep. That's right, and that's what we got Charlie for. I get the feeling he monitors this thing constantly, but if we have anyone that would want to learn it and work with him, we'd have a backup in case anything ever happens." I could see Rick processing everything.

"Too bad we lost Eugene," Rick said. "This would've been perfect for him. Eugene got caught in the last walker herd that took over Alexandria. That dude wasn't good for much, but this was right up his alley.

"Wanna take care of the rest of them?" I asked nodding my head toward the small herd.

Rick smiled, "Only good walker is a dead walker."

"You can say that again," Michonne added.

The three of us took positions in front of walkers, staying just out of reach of their wildly moving hands. One by one we took them all down. Rick and I used our knives, while Michonne took care of them with her katana. Then we dragged all but two off the road and into the ditch on the side. The two last ones we had them lying across the road. This way we hoped to see if they were either moved or run over, letting us know that someone had come into town.

Charlie was still waiting in the truck. We stopped by his window to say goodbye and Rick reached out to shake his hand. "Charlie, that's damn fine engineering," he said. "Come back and see us anytime, just remember the light flash sequence, and we'll know it's you. Stay safe."

I said goodbye to the guy that almost choked me to death twenty-four hours ago. He was now a good friend. I climbed in the back of the car that Rick drove and we headed home. I couldn't wait to see my girl.