The white tiger sprinted alone through the hallways of a completely empty facility.

Junior’s voice came over the headset, still weak but stable. “Minhyun has tuned into the ghoul’s um…let’s call it frequency. In any case he’s looking through their eyes now. There are about…what? Sixteen, he says.”

Eerie, lifeless office space all around. Everyone had left in a hurry. So far, so good. Aron had successfully set every remaining vehicle on fire and collapsed the helipad, burying the currently stationed aircraft. Other agents were on standby with missiles outside to bring the entire complex down if necessary. This base had no simple self-destruct button.

 Now if only Baekho could drag everybody possessed into Twi this would all be over. He had to avoid getting possessed himself while fighting or Nuest’s last hope would join the ranks of the supernatural entities.

 Except for the minor damage caused by Aron’s tunneling through the walls, the place was still standing. The areas affected by grenade fire were further ahead, close to the garages. The sprinkler system had put the fires out before failing from a series of pipe bursts. The lobby would be flooded ankle deep.

Most of the ghouls were still at the garage, trying to fashion some sort of transportation.

“They should be pretty much trapped,” Junior said. “Aron has sealed off every exit from the main building. And all the arsenals. Unfortunately the possessed have access to the weapons their hosts carried, so it might be possible for them to find a way out. The chances are below five percent as far as the security footage lets me see. We’ll keep Aron on standby, but I see terrible chances for him. They know how important he is. If he moves in to engage directly they’ll sacrifice pretty much anything to infect him. That would mean game over.”

“What are the chances they can make it out through the garage?” Baekho was practically there. Only a staircase separated him from the remains of the base’s cars. Any further and they would spot him.

“Fluctuates wildly,” Junior said. “The hosts aren’t mechanics and I don’t even know if the ghouls have access to the host’s skills anyway. Every decision can make or break part of their escape plan. But the longer we wait the better it becomes. Well, better for them.”

“Moving in. Talk to you when I’m back.”

“Understood. Good luck.”

Baekho shifted and flew the rest of the way down, slamming the door open. He surveyed the space while remaining in Twi. He knew the spot where most of them stood according to Minhyun’s description.

The possessed had chosen the least damaged wreckage and buzz sawn off everything burned, leaving only the underbody. It was a sizable truck’s bottom part. The wheels had not survived Aron’s general assault but the ghouls had found a total of four spare ones. It seemed they had been in the middle of fixing another wrecked truck’s intact motor to this one – surely the most difficult part of the entire endeavor.

Baekho flew up high and sat down on a metal beam that reached across the width of the ceiling, carrying thick cables.

He popped out, far enough above the possessed to remain undetected. Now he could see them. Ten were working on the motor or the fuel tank in some capacity. Two seemed to guard the area. Four scanned the wrecks for material. If only Aron had gotten another minute to be more thorough.

What could he do? If he freed a few, the remaining ones would re-possess them. Or worse, shoot them, in which case he might as well have Aron bring down the building right now.

Quietly, he spoke to Junior, mostly confirming everything Minhyun already saw. The leader didn’t have a plan either. As the minutes passed, it became increasingly obvious that there was no way for one boy to get everybody out alive. They might have to give up on the host agents and call in the heavy arms.

If only they moved around more, he could pick them off one by one.

Of course!

“Junior, I need a distraction. Something that makes them scatter just a bit. If I can get to each one just in time I might be able to kill all ghouls before they can spread back to the freed people.”

The leader grunted. “I was actually thinking of the exact opposite idea right now. If we can get them together into one pile you could drag them all at once. If you miss one or two you’d just have to shift and pop repeatedly to make sure you get everyone.”

“I think there are too many for that. And I’d need Aron here to turn the floor into a funnel.”

“Actually,” Junior said, “I was considering letting you snatch one, free him and then drag him through Twi into a safe area so they’d become fewer over time. I just don’t know how to keep them from noticing.”

“So, distraction it is?”

Junior was quiet for a moment. “Would they even react? If we had sleeping gas…When Aron comes back I’ll ask him if he can create that somehow. Maybe as a solid frozen block.”

The half-truck started up successfully.

“Oh no,” Baekho whispered. “It’s too late.”

None of the possessed made a sound or showed any sign of joy at their success. Then the engine died with a pathetic squeal and their only reaction was to fix the part that had failed.

“Okay,” Baekho said. “Not to late yet. But they’re practically done. I’m moving in. If I’m fast enough I can pick them off and drag the freed ones to a safe spot.”

Junior hesitated for a moment. “Can you reach the lockers at the other end of the hall?”

“I guess. They won’t see me there. Why?”

“Grab a bullet proof vest from locker bee-nine. Your chances will rise dramatically.”

“Gotcha.”

***

The white tiger took a minute to pick a target, then he shifted and descended towards the spot at top speed.

He entered reality directly on top of the leading officer. The moment he fell onto the man he shifted them both and kicked himself away. As soon as the man had popped back and left his ghoul behind, Baekho did the same and hit the ground back in reality.

Likely the other possessed were realizing what had happened but Baekho didn’t spare them a thought. He grabbed the officer and re-shifted to get them out of potential gun fire.

“Can you hear me?” he asked in his best Mandarin.

“Y-yes… where-“ The officer was confused, but didn’t try to resist his rescue.

“You got possessed but you’re better now. Let’s go. We’ll have to stay in Twi. You know what that is?”

The man looked around the silent, gray-lit place. “I… I read the introduction brochure when I got my promotion. I never thought-”

“Great. Hold on.”

Baekho lifted the man up and wished gravity irrelevant. He carried the officer to the door into the staircase and without letting go opened it from the inside. Once out in the corridor on a higher level, the boy brought them back to reality, pointed the freed man towards the chamber where the others were and told Junior to expect a visitor.

Minhyun confirmed that there were only fifteen ghouls left.

This was going to be slow, but at least it seemed to work.

He made his way back into the garage and popped on top of the metal beam where he had been hiding previously. The ghouls weren’t looking for him – because they had finished the truck. It started and stayed on. The engine sounded a bit tortured but the wheels turned steadily as the designated driver moved it towards the exit.

Only five possessed had taken a seat on the underbody. If Baekho grabbed the whole car he could shift them all at once and free five people. But what then? He couldn’t carry five. Briefly he wondered if he would be able to lift the truck in Twi and flip it over to make it useless, but that seemed unlikely from prior experience. Being able to fly did not substitute for superstrength.

Thanks to Minhyun the others already knew what was happening and Jason alarmed the soldiers outside. Baekho could hear the orders being given in the background of his headset’s transmissions.

The automatic door got stuck before it had opened far enough to allow the vehicle through. The lights went out, too. Aron had turned off the electricity. It didn’t seem to affect the truck’s engine though.

Possessed agents not riding the truck facilitated the escape. Three grenade launchers were fired in parallel, setting the door’s mounting ablaze. Crude but it did the job. The gate came free and fell over, allowing an unobstructed way out. Then they all jumped onto the vehicle, holding on wherever possible.

Maybe if he shifted the entire thing now… but it was already gaining too much speed to catch up.

The rotor blade noise of several helicopters echoed from the high walls of the complex and the surrounding mountains. Three aircrafts rose above the horizon. They were the narrow kind where pilot and weapons officer are seated in tandem – attack choppers.

“No, wait,” Junior yelled, probably at Jason who had to be their contact to the pilots. “This is bad. Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot the ghouls!”

Fifteen men and women on a makeshift car drove along the concrete between buildings. As soon as they were out on open ground, every helicopter fired its full arsenal of missiles. Twenty-four laser-guided rocket-driven explosives hit the truck in sequence.

The continuous explosion was so bombastic the debris from the ground broke every window facing the site. Baekho had to evade the wave of shards flying through the open gate into the garage.

No one could have survived this.

Unless they were immaterial.

Fifteen foggy entities rose from the hellfire and recombined on their way up. As only four separate beings remained they latched onto the two closest helicopters. One ghoul for each crewmember.

The third aircraft turned around but could not flee in time. Machinegun fire brought it down. It crashed into a roof and went up in flames.

Two attack helicopters, piloted by the possessed, turned towards the city and moved away at high speed. Not long until they were out of sight.

And there was no vehicle left in the entire base to chase them.