A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

Now that I got a little taste of freedom, I don’t want to die.
I run fast past houses. I cut through yards. I run down the road.
A ways down, my legs become tired as all get-out. Gus and I ain’t
got a lot of options. There are a handful of houses, but what are the
odds that anyone would open up for us if we knock on their door in
the dead of night? I’m not sure we can risk it. We’re sitting ducks if
no one lets us in.
Hiding out seems like the better choice. I start looking for a place
to hide. My running has slowed down some. We’re no longer being
tailed by the flashlights, but I’m not so dumb as to believe the man
and the lady plumb gave up and went home. They’re playing games
with Gus and me.
In the backyard of one of them houses, I spy a shed tucked
beneath a gnarled tree.
“Come on, Gus,” I call, knowing the shed would be as good a
place as any for us to hide. “In here,” I tell him, spotting a padlock on
that shed door, but seeing that it ain’t locked up tight. We can still get
in.
I silently remove the padlock from the metal loop and open up the
hasp. The shed door pipes when I open it up, so I don’t open it all
the way. Just enough to get in. I slip inside, make room for Gus. But
Gus doesn’t come. He must have fallen farther behind than I
thought. I got to wait for him to catch up.
Only when I’m in, tucked behind the shed door, do I allow myself a
look back. I hold my breath waiting for Gus to materialize in the yard
in the darkness of night and join me in the shed. But Gus ain’t there.
I look all around and call quietly for him. Gus ain’t nowhere.
I hear footsteps. I hear the mashing of leaves beneath someone’s
feet, like someone’s chomping on chips. I hear the sound of
breathing, of heavy huffing and puffing, and though I hope and pray
it’s Gus, I know it ain’t, ’cause that’s the same huffing and puffing
that man was making when he was first chasing after me.
I’m in that shed. I got the door pulled to. It ain’t closed up tight
’cause I was looking out for Gus when the footsteps came. I slinked