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The next day, Major found himself in front of an expensive apartment building, watching as Oates and his very competent security guard exited. They both looked around before Oates got in the car, but they didn't see Major. He looked up at the balconies with binoculars, but couldn't tell which apartment was Natalie's. Should he buzz every one, hoping she would answer? No, they'd have a doorman, maybe even security guards, to make sure that wouldn't happen.

With a sigh, he pulled out of the parking space, resolving to be back again the next day, and the next, and the next. As long as it took.

The next day was a bust, but the day after he was there again with the binoculars, and he saw her! Standing on the balcony in the light rain, drinking a cup of coffee, looking out across Seattle, and probably dreaming of far-off lands. As he watched, she turned and went in, and Major opened the car door and burst out as if something was impelling him forward. If this was his windmill, he would tilt at it with everything he had.

As luck would have it, the doorman was having a nice smily chat with a very cute delivery girl, and a man in a suit had just come out so that Major could catch the door before it swung closed. He was in the elevator, banging on the buttons, before the doorman called out to him.

Major came out onto Natalie's floor into a warren of hallways. Which way? Which one? He wouldn't have long before the doorman—or security—followed him up here.

It looked like the last one on the left was hers. It had to be. This might be his only chance. He knocked, and then waited what seemed like forever. The elevator binged at the end of the hall, the doors sliding open, and Major looked to see the doorman getting off, calling "Sir!" at him as he came toward him. He knocked again.

And, finally, there she was, her eyes wide with surprise … and as beautiful as he had remembered. More, even. "Oh, my god," she said. "Major!"

The doorman was still calling to him. "Sir, can you come with me?"

"Why did you come here?" Natalie demanded.

"Sir, I'm going to have to call security!"

"To save you," Major said to Natalie, in a desperate hope that she would understand. That maybe, just maybe, she had been unable to stop thinking about him the way he had been unable to stop thinking about her.

She rolled her eyes at that, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the apartment, shutting the door behind them. He made a beeline for a closet, guessing correctly that her suitcase would be in it. He took it out and headed for her bedroom.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"We need to get you out of here before your benefactor's muscle shows up."

"And where do you propose I go?" She yanked the bag out of his hands.

"Look, I know a place. It's an organized group of zombies, they can protect you from Oates and provide you brains."

"You don't get it, Major. Seattle doesn't work. This man, he will hunt me down. So unless your group of zombies has offices in Sri Lanka or the Amalfi Coast, I can't go."

Major had grabbed a handful of clothes and was stuffing it inside the bag. "I can't walk away and leave you here."

"I agree. You can't walk away." She tugged on his arm and made him look her in the eye. "You need to run. You have no idea what he'll do to you if he finds you here."

Everyone seemed to think he was some kind of complete innocent here. He wasn't. He was a trained Fillmore Graves mercenary, and he knew what he was doing. "Oh, I have a pretty good idea."

Natalie stared at him, shaking her head. Then she turned away, running a hand through her hair. She walked to the window, looking down on the street below. "Don't worry. I'll figure a way out of this. Someday."

"I left you once. I'm not going to leave you again."

Her face softened, but before she could say anything, she glanced down at the street again, and her eyes were full of fear when she turned back to Major. "Okay, you need to go. Now!"

She was right—he couldn't help her if he was dead. So he did what he had planned to do as a last resort. He put his hand in his pocket and took out the syringe full of cure. "Here. Let me give you this."

"What is it?"

"It'll turn you human again. You won't need brains anymore. You can go anywhere you've ever dreamed of."

Natalie stared at the vial in disbelief, but hope was dawning in her eyes, and it was a beautiful sight. "I'll be human again?"

Major smiled at her. This was what he had wanted to give her all along—her life back.

"That's wonderful, Major. Oh, my god."

This part was less wonderful. Carefully, he told her, "After a couple days, the memories of your life and your loved ones, they'll all start to fade." He wasn't sure if that was exactly the way it worked, but it seemed kinder to describe it that way. "Eventually, you won't remember anyone or anything. You'll be starting life as a new person."

Wide-eyed, Natalie absorbed the news. Then she nodded, understanding. She looked outside, then toward the door, listening. "Please go, Major."

He held out the vial.

Natalie looked at it, weighing the risks and the possibilities. Finally she took it. "Now will you go? Please?"

Major nodded. "It was good to see you. You look beautiful!" he called, hurrying toward the door. He made it out of the apartment and down the hall and around the corner just before the elevator doors binged open and Oates and his security guard got out. He took the stairs down, hoping he could make it to his car before they realized Natalie wasn't hiding him.

Apparently she stalled them long enough, because he was driving off before he saw them come out of the building.

"Ha-ha!" he whooped, punching the ceiling. Don Quixote, huh? Well, some windmills were actually giants.