Taking Flight

Escape

"I've got it!" Sarang shouted, jumping up from her sprawled out position on the floor. They had been stuck for a few days now, and the two men and decided they had been well behaved enough to take off the chains.

"The celling!" she said, pointing above her. There was a yellow stain where water had once leaked, from the roof.

"There must be a pipe up there and that would lead to outside. If we stack the chairs or lift each other up we can get out!"

Emmy jumped and screamed out, "WE ARE FREE!"

"SHUSH!" Rosa shouted at her, looking at the door window to see of anyone appeared. She moved to the door and looked out.

"Alright, I don't see them. Let's do this," she responded eagerly, grabbing a chair and moving it under the stain. She stood on the chair and reached to move the tile, while Mi Young held the chair steady for her. But despite standing on her tiptoes her fingertips could only brush the tile. Straining and grunting, she jumped up, jostling the tile a bit.

"It's too high," she sighed defeated, and got down from the chair.

Daia looked at the celing. Even if they could move the tile, there was still the problem of pulling themselves up into the space, and even then, there would be the problem of the ceiling, if it could hold their weight. They need to be able to get a look at what was up there. And if Rosa couldn't reach, she wouldn't be able to either. Something was needed to give them extra height. She peered around the room, looking for stackable things.

"I've got an idea." Daia said, gesturing for the girls to draw in close. "We can stack the chair on the table to give us more height."

"Yes, Perfect!" Rosa exclaimed, as she moved over to the table. Sarang grasped the other side, and the two of them moved it to be under the spot, while Emmy placed the chair on top. As Emmy held the chair, Daia climbed on top of the table and onto the chair, and shakily stood up, her hands reaching for the celing. She made contact with the tile and pushed it up and over as she stood to her full height.

Her palms rested on the sides of the opening helping her to keep her balance. With the added height, her head and shoulders were inside the ceiling. She couldn't see much around her, but a small light at the far end shone and reflected of the metal air duct to the right. It gave enough light that she could get a general idea of what was around her.

"Can you see anything, Di?" Rosa called up.

"A little bit. There is a light at the end. It looks like sunlight." She replied, turning her head to look down at the girls below.

"Push me up." She called to them, and was joined by Emmy and Rosa. Daia grabbed on to a steel beam and pulled her self up, while Emmy and Rosa gave her a lift from below pushing on her bottom and then moving to her feet. Extending her leg, she was able to get it above the tile and used it as a grip to pull herself fully into the celling cavity. She pulled herself to the side and turned around to see the others.

"Alrighty, who's next?" she asked with a grin, reaching her left arm down to pull the next girl up.

But before anyone could respond, the door burst open revealing the two henchman.

"What is going on here!?!" the tall one shouted and rushed to the table.

'"Daia! Go!" Rosa shouted, waving her arms.

"But...." Daia started but was cut short, by Rosa's urging.

She quickly turned away from the opening and began crawling towards the light at the end. Down below she could here the scuffle of the table and chairs being moved, and shouts from the girls. She wanted to stop and return to them, but right now she was their only hope of escape.

She heard a high-pitched voice shout out "I hope you step on a lego!" but it was quickly muffled. Daia chuckled, the only one who could have said that would have been Emmy. To her, that was the worst thing there was.

Daia continued to crawl towards the exit, never looking back, but hoping that her bandmates would be alright. Up in the celing, Daia nimbly made her way over the pipes and tubes, sticking close to the air duct, as it must lead to an exhaust.

Finally, she reached where the bright light was coming from, and saw that it was the top of a window. The lower portion was below the tiles. She investigated the window and to her dismay, saw that the lock and release button was found lower, out of her reach. Trying to think of a plan, she placed her palms against the window and pushed, the window shifted a bit at her weight. She pushed harder, but little success happened. Shifting her body, she brought her feet in front of her, and kicked as hard as she could at the window. The glass cracked on impact, but didn't shatter. Trying again, the glass fell forward as her feet made contact again.

The window was gone, but it had left behind jagged pieces in the frame. Looking around her she found a loose steel bar, that she used to break off the pieces around the frame.

She leaned forward to look out the window, and saw that it was a considerable drop to the bottom, about nine feet. The height frightened her as she retreated back into the building. She looked around for another option, but all she could see in the darkness around her was the glint of the metal beams. The window seemed to be her only option, and she knew she had to act fast or the men would be able to catch up with her. Hopefully, the girls were still struggling with them to keep them busy, and unable to come catch her.

Her friends were counting on her to escape and get help. They were all relying on her to be the one to save them. She HAD to make the jump. Moving back to the window, she squatted in the frame and grasped the sides with her hands. She winced as the few remaining shards dug into her palms. Taking a deep breath, she sighed, imaging her fears leaving her with her breath.

And then, she jumped.