22 ☞ s. walsh

30

Distractions

Natalie sat in the front seat of one of the cars and started pushing cars off the highway.

"Please be careful," Shane kept begging her.

Natalie rolled her eyes at him every time.

"Would you rather me hit cars or hit you? 'Cause I certainly have the desire to do both," Natalie teased, although she was dead serious.

"Is that really something you'd say to a friend?" Shane teased.

"Just a friend who used to be my cheating husband," Natalie retorted.

"Okay, okay, I deserved that one," Shane said with a chuckle.

Natalie continued pushing cars to the side of the road.

The highway was finally clear, but Rick and Daryl weren't back yet.

Shane spent the day trying to distract the group by giving them tedious and unnecessary tasks to perform.

Shane and Natalie walked back towards the RV, where a small group had congregated.

"Why aren't we all out there looking for my daughter? Why are we moving cars?" Carol asked.

"We need to make room for the RV to get through," Dale responded.

"We aren't going anywhere till my daughter gets back," Carol said quickly.

"That goes without saying," Lori interjected kindly.

Carol nodded.

"I know what you're going through," Lori said kindly to Carol.

Carol scurried away to the edge of the highway to look and see if she saw Sophia.

"Well, aren't you just the expert on how it feels to lose your child?" Natalie snapped at Lori.

"Oh, wait-- that's me," Natalie snapped angrily.

"Nat, don't do this right now," Shane whispered to her quietly.

"Back off, Shane. I might have to slap your whore and I don't think that's something you want to see," Natalie snapped at him.

He threw his hands up in surrender and walked away.

"You have no idea what she's going through. So don't say that you do," Natalie snapped at Lori.