I have a story which ends with the main characters escaping from somewhere in a rather under dramatic fashion before skipping ahead a few months to show them enjoying their freedom. Do I need to include every detail of the planning that went into their escape and the arrangements that were made to allow them to manage in the outside world or can I get away with skimming over a few things?
I would think that unless what happened during their escape had any plot relevance then you could easily skip it over with only adding enough details to keep the escape from feeling cheap or deus ex-ey. However, omitting it completely could possibly be a waste of a good source of conflict and raising stakes.
Is the escape a big part of the story? If yes, then I would include most if not all details. If not, then I think it's safe to skim over things.
Find some middle ground. How elaborate is their escape? What are the odds and dangers involved? What/Where are they escaping from and why? The more involved the more you should include, if it is something simple like say finding an exit out of a tight spot then it will not need so much explanation. Digging out of prison with a spoon, or evading an assassin, it should best fit the situation to which they have the need to escape. Simply getting the hell out of Dodge on a battle field will not need a lengthy amount of word play.
The escape is simple in some ways and complicated in others. It's simple in that those they're escaping from have no idea that either of the is even capable of wanting to escape (it's a long story), one of the people escaping has access to stuff that facilitates said escape, and in the end they basically just walk out. It's complicated in that one of the escapees is an AI, not a human, them escaping via the internet is not an option, and while the other escapee is more or less human they're legally dead, have no money or other resources, and don't know anyone on the outside. So preparations have to be made to facilitate their escape and allow them to survive on the outside. They'd need transportation, a place to hole up for a bit, new computer hardware to replace what had to be left behind, food and new clothes for the organic half of the duo, and of course money. However I don't know how much detail I have to go into regarding the above and to be honest I'm kind of hoping it's not that much because there's a lot of stuff I'm not sure what to do about and would so rather avoid if I can get away with doing so.
My advice then would be to write it out and then add or remove information depending of what works best.
