As soon as Austin parked the motorcycle in the harbor, a low honk resonated in the 3 am silence.

"Is that our ship?" I squinted in the dark.

"I don't know but if we miss it, we won't have a next time." He said.

"It's leaving!"

"Let's catch it."

We took off for the only cargo ship which had smoke billowing out of the chimney and warm lights that shimmered in the water.

A hundred meter dash. I've never run with so much adrenaline, especially after a sleepless night.

The ship grew in size as we neared it. It was slowly detaching from the dock, the heavy ropes dangling down.

"There's an entrance here!" Austin shouted, well ahead of me. He jumped over the gap and landed on the other side.

"Jump!"

I stopped abruptly when I reached the edge, breathing heavily. A dozen meters below lay the cold, dark, rippling water.

"I...I can't- I'm not-"

A meter of void...slowly inching apart from the cement dock.

"I'm not going to make it!"

"It's now or never!" Austin yelled, standing on the other side, arms outstretched. "Jump!"

I stared in fear as the ship moved another inch. I'm going to be stuck here. For knows how much more time. Trapped in Korea again and I'll never be able to escape-

I jumped.

My heart plummeted and I expected to do the same; I felt like I was falling through the air only to plunge into the churning, freezing, inky black waters-

Two strong arms crashed into me and held me tight.

"Did you close your eyes when you jumped?" Austin said in amazement.

"I don't do this everyday, mister I'm-an-awesome-secret-agent." I said indignantly, my heart drumming against my chest.

"Okay, you have a point."

He stepped back and cranked open a door.

"And I'm not a secret agent."

Squinting through the dark, I could make out a myriad of boxes stacked upon each other. We stepped inside. It was like entering a giant lego castle, where each cargo container was one brick.

Some shuffling comes from next to me, and then Austin flicks on a tiny flashlight that makes barely enough light.

"So where does this ship go?"

"Madagascar." Austin replied without missing a beat. He climbed over a nearby container.

"Very funny." I said, way too late. "What are you doing?"

"If anyone comes by to check- though it shouldn't happen- it'd be better to be somewhere up high."

I tried to find some foothold on the container. It was almost as tall as me. Plus, I could barely see anything.

"I can't get up...?" I asked the floating spotlight.

Austin grabbed my hands and heaved me onto the box, with the torch between his teeth.
"What's inside all these?" I asked, trying to adjust to the darkness and not accidentally walk off the platform.

"Unfortunately, it's not mattresses. I could use some sleep." Austin led me behind another stack of containers.

"Here's a good hideout."

"We sleep on the floor?" I said, surprised at my own surprise.

"What did you expect? I mean it's not a cruise ship."

Austin climbed over a nearby container. "I'll be here. Hopefully no one should come check the containers during the trip. So sleep while you can."

I lied down uncomfortably against the plastic box. My thoughts were still churning from before. I felt the hairs on my arms prick at the thought of every single thing that could go wrong.

You're out.

You're escaping.

You'll get home soon.

No more Korean guards and vomit green cells.

Maybe everything was going to go just...fine?