A long time a go, back when I was in the Lab, I overheard an old scientist telling the bald man that a prisoner was missing.

"How could they have gotten out?" He demanded,
"I don't know sir, but it appears that they have picked the lock somehow."
"What? That's impossible!"
"Not impossible sir, there is a lot of junk on the prison floor from previous prisoners."
"Well, it's not my job to clean it out!"
"No when else wants to do the job either, sir."
"Well! This.... this is preposterous."

Recalling that conversation gave me a proposition that there would be junk on the floor.
I could't move a lot around my cell, however if I lay down I could scavenge the floor with ease.
"What are you doing?" Mother enquired.
I couldn't tell her just then in case someone (or something) was listening. I ignored her and returned to my search.

It was around half an hour of scavenging before- out of pure luck- I found a bobby pin.

My hands were roaming around in the dark when I felt something cool underneath the palm of my hand. I grasped it and pushed it closer towards me. It took great effort to unlock my handcuffs but soon enough we were both free.
"Oh Flora, you're a genius!" She exclaimed,
"We haven't got out yet." I replied, for I knew that we had accomplished the first step of unlocking the handcuffs... but there was still the escape and the saving of Noah to take place.
"How are we going to get out?" Mother asked. That was the problem. I sat back on my knees and thought, and thought, and thought.
I tried different scenarios but they all ended up with capture.

Hiding in the darkness?
Infrared detector.
Pretending to be dead?
They'd throw us in the incinerator.
Needing the toilet?
There would be a constant guard.
Slipping out when food comes?

Slipping out when food comes.

A brainwave came to me.

"When our dinner comes, the woman will open this door and put it in. What we are going to do is hide in the darkness, on your side- the right side of the door.
The woman is going to notice we are not there and freak; that's when we sneak out and slam the door. The thing I don't know is... how are we going to save Noah?"
"I didn't want to tell you this... but that keypad entrance is a finger print scanner.
Anyone from Katherine's family can unlock that door... including Brian and his wife."
"What?"
"How is Noah related... to him?"
"Brian... is the brother in law to Noah's mother."
"Meaning... Brian's wife is... Noah and Ailis' aunt..."
"Correct."
"So that means Ailis can unlock that door!"
"Yes." I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

Noah would be saved.
Ailis was accessible.
The bald man would be punished.

And that was when the woman who served us our food came.
That was when the escape began.

***

The escape went in a blur. As soon as we heard her footsteps, mother and I crawled to the darkness. I had to support mother, as she hadn't moved by herself in months. The door opened with a loud creak and the woman shoved our dinner into the cell without caring how much went onto the floor.
'Dinner' was half a slice of bread to share and two half glasses of water. When the woman noticed we weren't there, she foolishly stepped into the cell and exclaimed in surprise that we had gone.
I pushed mother into the corridor and slammed the door shut behind us, just as the woman realised what was happening. I laughed at her through the window like she did to my mother, for the only way into the cell was from the outside. The only way she would be saved was when the bald man or a scientist noticed she had been gone for a long time. Who knew how long that would be. Once in the corridor, I took mum by the hand and we ran towards Ailis.

***

She was in the same place as we left her- still cradling her leg. The girl shook her top and pointed to us.

"What happened?" Ailis said, limping towards us.

"She was tortured."
"Thank goodness she is okay."

Not really...

"Yeah, I guess. Look, we need your help." I looked around, wondering how the bald man hadn't noticed we were free. That was when I realised he wasn't there... Nor was Aldo, or Avery.
Ailis saw me looking around and answered my question before I could speak,
"Avery and the bald man took their fight to the Lab. Well... Avery sort of pulled him towards the Lab. Wilma... well she sort of gripped Aldo's neck- while still alive! And dragged him back to her enclosure. It was really fascinating really Avery nearly bit-"
"I'd love to hear the story another time Ailis, because we have bigger problems." She stopped mid sentence and closed her mouth abruptly.
"Noah is in the trauma chair."

"Oh my god, are you serious?" For someone who was supposed to be intelligent, Ailis had her moments.

"Yes, I'm serious. The only way we can free him is if you use your fingerprint on the keypad. It can only be authorised by someone from your mother's family."
"Please. Don't remind me I am semi-related to Brian. It unnerves me already."
Sighing, I pulled her through the prison door and back towards Noah's cell.
The manoeuvre was simple: She put her forefinger on the keypad and the two of us (mother was not strong enough) opened the door.
Noah was slumped in the chair with his head lolling on his left shoulder.
"Noah!" My feet slapped the cell floor, which was surprisingly white marble along with the walls and ceiling. He moaned which meant he was still conscious, but for how long was a different matter.
Ailis and I put his arm around our shoulders and the movement caused him to stir.
"Flora, Ailis. Thank goodness... you're alive."
Ailis and I gave a look that said 'the trauma chair.' The same look also said that we should not ask him about it unless he wanted to speak about it.

As we walked down the prison corridor, the prisoners banged their mugs against their cells demanding to be freed. It was the first time I took the corridor in.

The cells had metal bars wide enough to put an arm and a leg through, but if the prisoners jumped they would bang their head on the ceiling. At least 2 people could squeeze into one cell; and two people were in each cell.
There were 30 cells on my left and right, equally opposing each other. At the end (where Noah's cell was) there were two brick walls that created a T-junction that led to further corridors.
It seemed that Noah's cell was for the worst prisoners because it was the largest and most secured in the prison.

We ignored the prisoners and finally made it to the main entrance hall of the building. We lay Noah on the floor where he immediately rolled over and went unconscious.
"Now what?" Ailis asked, and my mother and the girl also looked at me for answers.
"Now... now we call a cease fire." Ailis looked confused, and so I told her. She seemed satisfied with the answer.
"Where do we get the weapons from?"
"Wilma's enclosure." Mother said. She walked a little way down the corridor before pointing to a room that must've been Wilma's kennel.
"We need a plan." Ailis pointed out, as if it wasn't obvious. I raised both eyebrows at her.
"Ok. Mother, you once told me that Wilma could be controlled with the whistle. Do you know where it is?"
"It's on the bald man."
"Great. Just great."
"I can get Avery to get the whistle?" Ailis suggested. For once, it was a smart idea.
"Fantastic. You do that now, and come back here." Ailis nodded in agreement and ran into the Lab. Moments later she came back with the whistle and a worn out Avery. His eyes were purple and bruises replaced his right cheek. His breathing was heavy and his shoulders were slumped, but you could still make out the strawberry blonde hair and freckles.
"How are you back so soon?" My voice came out surprised.
"Avery kicked him in the stomach so that he was temporarily winded, then he grabbed the whistle from the coat pocket- it was obvious it was hidden there- and then Avery came with me."
"Great work. Did the scientists stop you?"
"They were hiding... crouching by the children's beds. The children... were alert and scared. We have to... save them too." Avery said trying to catch his breath.
I had forgotten all about the children.
"We will save them after getting the weapons." Avery was confused and I repeated the plan.
He nodded in agreement.
"Mother, are you strong enough to control Wilma?"
"Of course." She took the whistle from Ailis' hand and made her way to Wilma's kennel.
"Ailis and I will save the children. Avery, you stay here with Noah and the little girl."

"Erica," She said innocently while smiling and swaying.

"Erica." I repeated.

"Got it." Avery sat next to Noah and Erica stood next to him, swaying. It was around 20 minutes before mother finally came back with the weapons.
"Do you know how to work those things?" I asked, slightly scared,
"Sure, doesn't everyone know how to work a sedating grenade?" 

It was the first time she looked insane.