Unreachable

5. The Shed

I can't give up on Ginger. I can't let anyone else go. I am going to hold on. Forever, if I can.

I run to Plemington square again. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Maybe I went to the wrong shed. Wow. Maybe I'm the one going crazy. The wrong shed. Boy I am kidding myself.

I unlocked the door and slowly opened it, it creaked louder than I thought it would. Ginger? I whispered into the darkness. Even though it is light outside, darkness remains in the shed. I hear a sniff and some whimpering.

"Hello?? Ginger?" I open the door even more hoping for the light to brighten the shed. No luck. I hear silent crying, well obviously it's not THAT silent.

"If anyone is in there, come out! Right now. I am not in the mood for your -"

I was cut off by a small girl about 5 or 6 years old who ran up to me and hugged my waist. I grabbed her hands and bent down to her level, facing the cute little girl. She flinched when I grabbed her hands and a tear dropped from her cheek.

"What's your name?" It would be weird to call her kid, I don't even know her. "Um. My name is Natalie" she looked unsure about her decision to answer me. "Well, Natalie. What brings you to this haunted shed?" I joked around hoping to make this situation a little less awkward. I mean, to find a girl crying in an old shed... just a little weird.

"Well I heard some barking and I came In here." Tears started flowing down her face. I lifted my hands up to her face to dry her tears. Blood. Blood. Oh my gosh! My right hand is covered in blood. I look down at the hands of Natalie that I once held.

She had a deep gash in her left hand that didn't look so good. Blood stained her small beautiful hands that used to be clean and gentle.

"What happened??" It seemed like I was closer to her. Like if known her for years even though I only met her minutes ago.

"Well there was a dog In there and... it bit me when I tried to pet it"

Oh my gosh. Ginger bit Natalie and that only means one thing.
Natalie's infected.
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"Natalie? We need to get you home!" I grabbed Natalie's non-bloody hand and lead the way to her safety. I hope I'm going in the right direction.

"Where do you live?" I asked Natalie. I was walking in circles waiting for her to direct me the right way. "Laine 7C. I forgot the house plate but I know my house when I see it" Natalie is mature for a young one.

They divided the society into different sections called Laines. They are labeled 1A, 2A, 3A and so forth. There were 30 sections to each letter in the alphabet. I led Natalie to 7C hoping her parents wouldn't jump to conclusions that I bit Natalie. Well, I don't think they would jump THAT far into conclusions.
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"We're here" I warned Natalie, I don't know the consequences that await her. I squeezed her hand, this is it. My goodbye, and I only met her 3 hours ago. Natalie lets go of my hand and knocks on the door in front of her. A tall guy about 30 drags himself to the door- man, what is with me and guessing peoples ages? The guy (I'm guessing it's Natalie's dad, I hope not) finally reaches the door and has to put down his bottle of beer in order to welcome Natalie into a big bear hug. "Princess! Oh my goodness. I missed you so much! Where were you?" Natalie updated him with the situation, leaving out the injury part. I guess she doesn't want to rain on his parade. It took a while for Natalie's dad to notice me hovering over his front steps. "Did you find my princess?" he asked me with a big smile on his face. Well, I guess I mis-understood this guy. "Um. Yeah I guess." I had my hands behind my back, shifting awkwardly on my feet. "Thank you" he smiled and motioned for me to join in on the big hug. Well, I don't want to be rude.