n

n

nAvery hated having her sleep schedule messed up. She hated sleeping on planes. She hated how airports jacked up the prices on food. Most of all, she hated the fact that she had to do this in the first place instead of being a normal woman in her twenties.

nThese people needed her though so she endured it. When she arrived at the Fresno airport she was dead on her feet and stumbled out into the pickup area where someone was holding up a sign with her name on it.

n

"Are you Regina Carlsbad?

" she asked wearily.

nThe older woman in question smiled.

"Yes, I am. Why don't we go get your luggage and take it out to the car? You'll be staying in my spare room tonight.

"

nAvery was grateful for that because she couldn't afford a hotel room on a cake decorator's salary. She was lucky Angelo was willing to buy her plane tickets because he made more than her.

nRegina could sense she wasn't in the mood for small talk based on the dark undereye circles standing out against her pale skin so she simply hummed or sang along to the radio. When they arrived Avery took her fastest shower yet to get the grossness from traveling all night off her and slept until the following evening.

nUpon waking up she was ravenous and wolfed down the food she was offered as she listened to a recap of the plan that involved more details than Angelo gave her. It made sense, as Regina was the unofficial leader of the California faction of their group.

n

"We need to wait until after the sun goes completely down, which unfortunately isn't until nearly ten these days. We know where they're keeping the refugees and you have to speak to them in their native language so they'll understand,

" she explained.

n

"Angelo mentioned he programmed a translation app into your suit's voice modulator. Use that to communicate with them and get them out to the vans we'll have waiting on the other side of the security fence. We need your suit's jumping ability and superstrength to get them out.

"

nAvery swallowed and cleared her throat before responding.

"I understand. How long do you want me to wait to destroy the place after you leave? You'll need some sort of head start.

"

nRegina nodded seriously.

"We need to be far enough away they won't be able to find us. I know it's an imposition…but could you give us forty-five minutes?

"'

nShe bit back a sigh. She was going to be SO BORED during those forty-five minutes. Maybe she should ask Angelo if there was a way to get videos to play on the inside of her helmet lens.

n

"That's fine. Whatever you guys need.

"

nSeveral people from different parts of California had come up (or down, respectively) for the weekend to help with this and drive their own rented bus. Part of the reason this mission had taken so long to put together was getting the resources and manpower necessary for it in addition to finding the intel. Bus rentals were not cheap.

nAvery texted Angelo asking about the video thing and he said it should be possible if he sent the videos over text message but he wanted to practice now to be sure it worked. Her heart overflowed with appreciation for him.

nShe activated the suit and they had to try a few different options before he got it to work. She would have to watch them with the volume turned off but that was fine. Most of the time she watched videos with no volume on her phone anyway.

n'You're an angel and I love you' she sent him.

n'Is that some sort of pun on my name?'

n'Not an intentional one'

n'Sure it wasn't. Good luck tonight, Güera. I don't care how late

/early it is here when you're done—you better text me so I know you made it out in one piece'

nAvery smiled. Of course he would say that now but when the time came he would not be happy if she woke him up. Better to do that than deal with his wrath when she got back though. He would be mad either way but not following his instructions would be worse.

nShe sent him a thumbs up emoji in response and sighed. She still had hours to go before it was time to leave and Regina seemed to be busy. She would have to entertain herself. At least her host had shown her how to operate the TV before she headed into her room.

nShe watched a few short, sappy chick flicks before it was time to go. She hitched a ride out there in Regina's bus and when they arrived in the literal middle of nowhere she noticed there were a few other buses scattered around in the dark far enough away from the factory that they couldn't be caught on security cameras. She was going to have a bit of running to do getting people out. Lovely.

nAvery had to knock out

/tie up a couple of night guards on her way into the refugee quarters and was sure to turn on her translation app before she addressed the first tired person she saw that sat up on their bunk. The conditions here were unbelievable; if the fire marshal got wind of how many people were packed into this small a space they would have a conniption.

n

"Hello, I am here to help you,

" she said, surprised when her Nox voice came out in a language she had never heard before.

nShe would have to use simple words so the app wouldn't end up gargling what she was trying to say too much. She knew how unreliable these things could be.

n

"Help us with what?

" the man asked tiredly.

nAvery was surprised she understood him. She could hear what he was saying in his own language but subtitles were scrolling across her helmet lens in English. So that was how the reverse translation worked. Nifty!

n

"Hunsacher told you that you would have homes, food, and jobs here but they lied, didn't they? You are all stuck here working yourselves to death and barely surviving.

"

n

"Yes. And?

"

n

"I have somewhere better for you to go. There will be more space and you won't have to work in these conditions,

" she told him.

nThe man eyed her with great skepticism.

"How do I know you are not like them?

"

n

"Because I seek to destroy them and all those who oppress others. You all deserve to live a life of freedom and dignity. I know you have been lied to before but I have no reason to lie to you. My friends and I are trying to get you out of here without any other motives.

"

n

"How can I trust a man in a mask? Show me your face and I may reconsider.

"

nAvery had nothing to lose. These people didn't know who she was and she was never going to see them again. She wouldn't tell them her name. They couldn't connect one pale girl in California to Nox in New York.

n

"I do not speak your language. In order for us to understand each other I need to wear the helmet. I can take it off but only for a moment,

" she told him before retracting the helmet and keeping the rest of the suit on.

nHis eyes widened and he said something she couldn't understand so she had to put the helmet back on and ask him to repeat that. He did as he pointed at her.

"You are a ghost!

"

nAvery let out a tiny laugh. It was nothing she hadn't heard before.

"Yes but a helpful ghost. Will you trust me now?

"

n

"I…yes, I will trust the ghost and her friends. I will wake up the others.

"

nThat took a while but he woke up everyone in that particular room and had her explain the situation to them. They all trusted the man's words and allowed her to take one person under each arm and get them out of there and out to the buses.

nIt was incredibly slow going because there were a lot of rooms to cover and she had to repeat the same thing over and over. Some were willing to listen faster than others but eventually they all agreed to it because their comrades had. Nobody wanted to be left behind because they had established a sense of community with each other.

nHumanity could be beautiful like that. Even in the worst of situations people wanted to stick together and look out for each other.

nAvery managed to get them all out and onto the buses before heading back to the warehouse. She knocked out and tied up the rest of the guards knowing she would need to get them a safe distance away before she blew up the place.

nOnce that was taken care of she kicked back in the foreman's comfortable spinning desk chair and watched those videos Angelo sent. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. As long as she was able to keep her tired eyes open, anyway. Maybe she should take advantage of this place's coffeemaker while she was here.

n