CHAPTER 5 — "The Entire Prison Was Ordered to Hunt One Woman… But Emily Turned the Trap Against Them"
The message spread through Blackstone Prison in less than thirty seconds.
KILL EMILY BEFORE SUNRISE.
No names.
No signatures.
No explanations.
Only one promise beneath it.
The inmate who succeeds walks free.
Every prisoner stared at the glowing screen of the smuggled phone hidden in her mattress, shoe, or wall vent.
A lifetime behind bars…
Or freedom.
The choice was obvious.
Cell doors suddenly rattled.
Whispers echoed through every tier.
Emily stood alone in the dim hallway after helping guards evacuate inmates from the smoke-filled laundry wing. She knew the fire had never been about escape.
It had been bait.
She was the target.
Footsteps surrounded her from every direction.
One…
Five…
Ten…
Nearly forty inmates slowly emerged from different corridors.
Some carried sharpened toothbrushes.
Others held metal locks wrapped in towels.
One woman gripped a broken mop handle like a spear.
At the front stood Brenda.
Her swollen jaw still carried the bruises from the shower fight.
She looked directly at Emily.
"You know what they're offering."
Emily nodded.
"I do."
"They'll never give it to you."
Brenda didn't answer.
Because deep down…
She knew Emily was right.
The Queen never rewarded loose ends.
Emily slowly raised both empty hands.
"If you attack me, some of you will die."
The hallway erupted with angry laughter.
A skinny inmate spat onto the floor.
"Listen to her."
"She thinks she's a superhero."
Another charged first.
Emily sidestepped.
The attacker slammed headfirst into a steel railing.
A second rushed in.
Emily caught her wrist and gently redirected her momentum, sending her tumbling harmlessly across the floor.
She wasn't fighting to hurt them.
She was fighting to survive.
That difference mattered.
Then three women attacked together.
Emily's military instincts took over.
Every movement was precise.
A block.
A sweep.
A controlled strike to the shoulder.
A pressure point.
Within seconds, all three attackers were disarmed without a single broken bone.
The inmates stopped.
Breathing heavily.
Confused.
No one understood why Emily refused to finish them when she clearly could.
Then Brenda noticed something.
Emily had opportunities to break arms…
Crush throats…
Even kill.
She chose not to.
Brenda lowered her fists.
"What are you?"
Emily looked at her quietly.
"A soldier."
"I was trained to protect people."
"Even when those people don't deserve it."
Silence fell across the hallway.
For the first time in years…
Someone looked at the prisoners as human beings instead of monsters.
Before anyone could speak again—
The prison lights suddenly went out.
Complete darkness.
Then—
Gunfire echoed from the administration building.
Not warning shots.
Real bullets.
Emily's expression changed instantly.
"Everybody get down!"
The inmates hesitated.
Emily tackled Brenda to the ground just as a bullet shattered the window behind them.
Glass exploded across the corridor.
Women screamed.
The attack wasn't coming from prisoners.
It was coming from inside the prison staff.
May you like
Emily whispered through clenched teeth,
"The Queen just made her next move."
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