It was a stormy night. Bill was admitted into a prison cell. He had been handed a 7 year sentence after being implicated as an associate of an armed robbery, which he did not participate in, nor did he have prior knowledge about. His 3 other accomplices, who were the actual participants of the armed robbery, however, were only handed 1 year sentences each after pinning him as the mastermind. Bill was incarcerated with 2 other inmates, Caleb and Dylan, who arrived in prison a few days ago. Caleb was imprisoned for 5 years for aggravated assault against his wife's affair partner, which left him paralysed. His wife hired a powerful lawyer against him and sued him out of all his property. Dylan was imprisoned for 5 years for embezzlement, the fall which he took for his wife. Despite differences in their backgrounds, the 3 inmates quickly found a common ground.
Bill spent the next few weeks trying to study the prison system. He noticed that the prison guards stationed at the barbed wire fence would change shift every few hours. He also noticed that the prison guards were generally corrupt, as they would favour more powerful inmates, while subjecting less powerful inmates to cruelty. In short, the ordeal that less powerful inmates went through was beyond description.
One day, Bill was going about his routine chores when he was informed that he had a visitor. He was escorted to the visiting area, where he saw his best friend, Andy. However, Andy's facial expression was evident that something was wrong.
Andy told Bill that the prosecution had decided to contest the charges against him and appeal for a heavier sentence, but on the contrary, his accomplices would walk free. It was revealed that the judge who delivered the sentence and the prosecution had been under the payroll of Bill's accomplices from the start, which was why he got the heaviest sentence, even though he had no prior knowledge of the armed robbery. Upon hearing this, Bill was devastated. He apologised to Andy for not listening to him about the nature of his accomplices. Andy comforted him and promised to do everything in his power to help him.
When Bill returned to his cell, he saw both Caleb and Dylan look crestfallen. Caleb told him that his wife's affair partner had appealed to have him incarcerated for good. As for Dylan, his wife filed for divorce despite him taking the fall for her, citing that she had found someone. His wife's boyfriend also mocked at him. Bill hit upon the idea of escaping prison, which he suggested to both Caleb and Dylan. They agreed.
Andy visited Bill again after 2 weeks and passed him a greeting card. When Bill returned to his cell, he opened the greeting card and found a series of sentences written. At first, he did not understand the meaning of those sentences, but when he saw specific highlighted words, he immediately understood everything. Andy wanted to break him out of prison.
A week later, Bill, Caleb and Dylan were assigned a prison officer, Officer Edward Hui, who had just been transferred to the prison. One night, he unlocked their cell and brought them to a fence at the prison yard. He opened the fence, which had been cut open, and asked them to flee while they still could, and to meet him at the roadside in 5 minutes' time, as his friend would fetch them. In a few minutes' time, a van stopped by them, with Andy at the wheel and Edward inside. "Quick, get into the van," he said. Once inside the van, Edward explained his reasons for helping them. It turned out that he was the son of the armed robbery victim in the armed robbery Bill's accomplices committed. His father recognised Bill's accomplices, but did not recognise Bill. However, for some reason, the prosecution found out that Edward's father had been seeing a psychiatrist after the armed robbery, and used that to discredit his statement. As for Caleb and Dylan, they had helped Edward years ago, which made him want to return the favour.
The van drove to a beach. With Andy and Edward's help, Bill, Caleb and Dylan inflated the rafts and swam in the cold water with the help of floatation devices, not once looking back.
The next day, the disappearance of Bill, Caleb and Dylan were discovered during the usual routine headcount, and a manhunt ensued. Later that day, the news reported 3 bodies being found in the very sea which the inmates made their escape. As the bodies were badly decomposed, they could not be identified. Despite numerous questions from the media about the identities of the badly decomposed bodies, Bill, Caleb and Dylan were nevertheless declared to have drowned.
Following the incident, the abuse against inmates was revealed, and the errant prison guards were taken to task. There were numerous appeals to improve the conditions in prison, which were successful. As for Bill, Caleb and Dylan, they were revealed to have survived. They settled down in a foreign country and started new lives.
