Betrayed Spotlight
Chapter 27: The escape plan

Chapter 27: The escape plan

Sarah had been searching the container walls for what felt like hours. Her shoulders ached from the awkward position, and the ropes around her wrists had rubbed her skin raw. But she didn’t give up.

Finally, near the back corner of the container, she found what she was looking for. There was a small piece of metal that stuck out from where two walls met. It was sharp and rusty.

"Perfect," Sarah whispered to herself.

She positioned herself so the metal piece was against the ropes on her wrists. Then she started moving her hands back and forth, trying to cut through the rope.

It was slow work. The metal was sharp, but the rope was thick. Sarah had to be careful not to cut her own skin while she worked.

"What are you doing?" Mei asked quietly.

"Cutting the ropes," Sarah said, still working. "If I can get my hands free, maybe I can untie my feet too."

"Then what?" Isabella asked. "The door is locked from the outside."

Sarah paused her work for a moment. "I don’t know yet. But I have to try something."

The other women watched her with a mixture of hope and fear. Some of them had given up completely, but seeing Sarah’s determination was starting to give them hope again.

"Even if you get free," one of the women said, "there are guards everywhere. They have guns."

"I know," Sarah said, continuing to work on the rope. "But I can’t just sit here and wait to be sold to some stranger."

As she worked, Sarah thought about Mason. Where was he right now? Did he know she was missing? She tried to remember what time it was when she was taken from her father’s house.

"Please find me," she whispered. "Please care enough to find me."

After what felt like forever, Sarah felt the rope around her wrists start to loosen. One of the strands had finally cut through.

"Yes!" she said quietly, working faster now.

A few minutes later, her hands were free. Sarah brought her arms around to the front and rubbed her sore wrists. There were red marks and small cuts from the rope, but she was free.

"You did it," Mei said with amazement.

Sarah quickly untied the rope around her feet. When she was completely free, she stood up and stretched. Her whole body was sore, but she felt better than she had in hours.

"Okay," Sarah said, looking around at the other women. "Now we need to figure out how to get out of here."

She went to the container door and examined it carefully. It was locked with a heavy padlock from the outside. The door was made of thick metal, and Sarah knew she couldn’t break it down.

"What about the roof?" Sarah asked, looking up.

The container was about eight feet tall, and there were small air holes near the top. But the holes were too small for a person to fit through.

"I already tried that," Isabella said. "The holes are too small."

Sarah walked around the container again, looking for any other weak spots. The walls were solid metal, and the floor was concrete. There didn’t seem to be any other way out.

"Maybe we can surprise them when they open the door," Sarah suggested.

"How?" Mei asked.

Sarah thought for a moment. "We can pretend we’re still tied up. When they come in, we can attack them."

"Attack them?" one of the women said with fear. "They have guns!"

"Not all of them carry guns all the time," Sarah said. "Sometimes only one or two men come to check on us. If we work together, maybe we can overpower them."

The women looked at each other uncertainly. They had been prisoners for weeks, and they were scared and weak.

"I know you’re scared," Sarah said gently. "I’m scared too. But we have to try. What’s the worst that could happen?"

"They could kill us," Isabella voiced out.

"They might kill us anyway," Sarah pointed out. "Or sell us to people who will do worse things to us. At least if we fight, we have a chance."

Sarah knelt down next to the girl who had been attacked earlier. The girl was still curled up in the corner, crying softly.

"What’s your name?" Sarah asked gently.

"Xiao Yu," the girl whispered. She didn’t bear an English name.

"Xiao Yu, I know you’re hurt and scared. But I need your help. We all need to work together if we want to get out of here."

Xiao Yu looked up at Sarah with tears in her eyes. "I can’t. I’m too scared."

Sarah took her hand. "I understand. But if we don’t try to escape, they’ll do the same thing to all of us. Maybe worse."

Xiao Yu wiped her eyes and nodded slowly. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to be brave," Sarah said. "Can you do that for me?"

Xiao Yu nodded again.

Sarah stood up and looked at all the women. "Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make it look like we’re all still tied up. When they open the door, we’ll wait for them to come inside. Then we’ll attack them all at once."

"What if there are too many of them?" Mei asked.

"Then we’ll fight anyway," Sarah said firmly. "I’d rather die fighting than live as a slave."

Sarah found the ropes that had been used to tie her up and showed the other women how to position them so it looked like they were still tied up, even though they could move freely.

"Practice getting out of the ropes quickly," Sarah told them. "When I give the signal, we all need to move at the same time."

The women practiced for a while, getting used to the fake ropes. Sarah was proud of how brave they were being, even though they were all scared.

"What will the signal be?" Isabella asked.

"I’ll shout ’NOW!’" Sarah said. "When you hear that, everyone attacks the nearest guard."

"What if we can’t overpower them?" Xiao Yu asked.

"Then at least some of us might escape," Sarah said. "And maybe we can help the others later."

Sarah heard footsteps outside again. She quickly got into position, making it look like she was still tied up.

"Everyone get ready," she whispered. "Remember, wait for my signal."

The footsteps stopped outside the container door. Sarah could hear voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Then the voices moved away. False alarm.

"They’re checking on us more often now," Mei observed.

"That’s actually good," Sarah said. "It means they’re not expecting us to try anything."

Sarah continued to plan their escape. "After we overpower the guards, we need to get to the main gate of the seaport. There should be security there who can help us."

"What if the security guards are working with the loan sharks?" Isabella asked. Sarah was getting tired of the questions. She wasn’t even a police officer or a commander. She was just a singer, but thanks to so many action movies, she watched while growing up, she was able to figure it out easily.

"Then we’ll have to find another way," Sarah said. "Maybe we can find a phone and call the police."

"Or maybe your husband will come," Mei said hopefully.

Sarah’s heart clenched. She wanted to believe Mason would come for her, but she was starting to lose hope. How long had she been here? It felt like days, but it was probably only hours.

"We can’t wait for rescue," Sarah said. "We have to save ourselves."

Sarah looked around at the other women. They were all looking at her with hope and determination now. She had given them something to fight for.

"I want everyone to know," Sarah said, "that no matter what happens, you’re all brave and strong. Don’t let anyone tell you different."

The women smiled at her, and Sarah felt a warmth in her chest despite their terrible situation.

"When we get out of here, please give me your autograph." Mei said and the others nodded in agreement.

"I’ve always been your fan right from day one. It would be an honor to enter your fan club and also get your autograph."

"Sure, I’ll give you more than that, only if you work hard today." Sarah smiled at them.

"Now," she said, "let’s go over the plan one more time."

They practiced their escape plan several more times. Sarah made sure everyone knew their role and what to do if things went wrong.

"Remember," Sarah said, "the most important thing is that we stick together. If we work as a team, we can do this."

Just then, they heard footsteps outside again. This time, the footsteps stopped right outside their container.

"This is it," Sarah whispered. "Everyone get ready."

The women quickly got into position, making it look like they were still tied up. Sarah’s heart was pounding so hard she was sure the guards would hear it.

Keys rattled outside the door. Sarah took a deep breath and prepared herself for the fight of her life.

The lock clicked open. The door started to swing open slowly.

Sarah could see light coming through the crack in the door. Any second now, the guards would walk in.

"Get ready," Sarah mouthed to the other women.

The door opened wider. Sarah could see two men standing outside - the scarred man and another guard she hadn’t seen before.

"Time for breakfast, ladies," the scarred man said with a nasty grin.

He stepped into the container, followed by the other guard. They were both carrying guns, but the weapons were in their belts, not in their hands.

Perfect.

Sarah waited until both men were fully inside the container. Then she took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could:

"NOW!"

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