Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Three: The Last Doctor of St Petersburg

Bridge, Phinehas and Michelle were all staring right at the bed in the room that had Anna's father on it. He was a man in his early forties and was suffering from cancer. The heart monitor next to him showed that he was at 82 heart beats per minute and it was only a matter of time before he left this world. Bridge looked at his two friends and said with shock in his voice "Are you seeing this? He's dying". Upon hearing those last two words, Anna's father said weakly "I noticed". They all looked at him as he gently stroked the white cat next to him. Bridge walked over to the bed and asked "Anna told us that you had something to explain, what is it?" Anna's father looked at Bridge with his weak eyes and said "Come here and I shall explain". The three of them gathered around the bed as Anna sat next to her father on a chair and Anna's father said "My name is Ivan Makarova, I am, or at least I was, a virologist for Anastasia Romanov Memorial Hospital. Me and my daughter Anna have been watching you three in that house of yours for months". Phinehas silently said "That's in no way creepy". Ivan heard him and said "I didn't mean it like that". He then looked at Bridge and asked "Please, tell me your names". Bridge complied and said "I'm Bridge, this is Phinehas and Michelle". Ivan looked at Michelle's large baby bump and said "I see that your expecting, sorry about that". Michelle was confused and asked "What do you mean?" Ivan looked at her with a serious look in his eyes and said "I am the reason you're pregnant". Bridge was shocked at that statement and asked "What?" Ivan cleared his throat and said "There is something you should know". Anna picked up a notebook on the bedside cabinet and handed it to Bridge. Bridge opened it and inside were words written in Russian with English translations below them. As Bridge read through the notebook, he saw the word "Antidote progress" written at the top of each page with a number and a percentage symbol next to it. There was constant mention of an antidote and the progress being made on it. Such as what was used to make it and tests conducted on St Peters Virus infected people. He turned a bunch of pages and came across a page near the end that had the words "Antidote complete! Ready for release!" at the top of the page. When Michelle and Phineas saw this they looked at Ivan with shocked eyes as he said "It was I who created the antidote to the St Peters Virus".

As those words uttered from Ivan's mouth, the three survivors said in shock "WHAT!?" Ivan looked at them all with serious eyes and said "Yes, Anna helped me". Bridge looked at Anna with shock filled eyes and asked "So you two created the antidote?" Anna nodded and said "Yes, me and Papa finished it seven months ago". Phinehas froze and said "Seven months ago? That's when I got better". Ivan looked at Phinehas and angrily said "Indeed, of course billions more would still be alive if not for traitors to our species like Putin and Adams!" Michelle then asked "What do you mean? Also, how are you the reason for my pregnancy?" Ivan looked at Michelle and said "Michelle, I will explain it, I promise". He then turned his attention to all three of them and said "I was one of the doctors at the hospital where the first patients were located. They all came in not feeling very well for check ups, unaware that they were spreading a deadly virus to the doctors and patients. I was lucky to survive, but Svetlana, my dearly beloved wife, she didn't make it". Bridge noticed the tear headed down from Ivan's face as he said so and timidly said "I'm sorry about Svetlana". Ivan showed a weak smile and said "Spasibo. Thank you". Ivan then coughed and said "Due to my experience at the hospital in St Petersburg, I was made a researcher on the science team that attempted to find a cure for this retched disease. About six months passed and still we had made no progress. But then I found something". Bridge scratched his head and asked "What is it?" With his weak right hand, Ivan pointed to a file on his bedside cabinet. Bridge picked it up and opened it. He read it aloud and what they learned had shocked them. From the file, they learned that an airborne antivirus was created mere weeks after the S.P.V first appeared and the government had refused to release it! They saw the photo of a green canister filled with the Antivirus and there were so many redacted parts that it put modern art to shame. Bridge looked at Ivan and asked "Is this for real? Did the government really have an Antivirus!?" Ivan nodded and said "Yes, they could have saved billions of lives, but instead they let them die".