Friday Fiction Facts: Escape!

Welcome to Friday Fiction Facts: sciency things that fiction writers need to know.

Hi everyone! I’m working on an update and analysis of the Haliburton Wolf story, and of course it’s taking me longer than I thought. Analyses get that way.

So, while you wait for that, I thought I’d give you a quick Friday Fiction Facts post. This week, 5 ways to escape from the bad guys! Or, I suppose it could be 5 ways bad guys can escape from the good guys. Either way, this could get one of your characters out of trouble.

1. How to get duct tape off your mouth if your hands are tied.

Now you can shout for help! And, in case you don’t think he did that fairly, his update is HERE.

2. How to escape handcuffs if you don’t have a key, but do have a bobby pin or paperclip.

This one might work better if one character is trying to free another one.

3. Or, instead of handcuffs, zip ties.

You’d think these would be harder to get out of. But no..

A long version explanation HERE along with actions your characters can take while they’re being zip-tied to make escape easier. And how to escape if your hands are behind you.

4. Escape from a car through the trunk

This is not just an escape from the trunk, but escape from the main part of the car through the trunk. This might not work on all vehicles, so you’ll want to make sure your character is in the right kind of car before attempting this one. I do love the Johnny Cash soundtrack here.

I couldn’t help but notice, while I was looking for trunk escape videos, that trunks today all have a glow-in-the-dark trunk escape tab that you can pull to get out. That makes sense, but the image that goes with it shows a person running away, as though they’ve been kidnapped. Makes me wonder how often that even occurs. (It seems it does happen sometimes)

If the trunk doesn’t have an escape tab, there are other ways out. Here’s a wiki-How page on how to climb through the back seat, activate the trunk release, and even kick out a tail light.