Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Four: The Funeral

August 19th 2025

Bridge Winters, Phinehas Maze, Michelle Brown and Anna Makarova were all gathered on the rooftop of the building Anna's father had perished at and were all staring silently at the body if Ivan Makarova, the man who had saved them all from the St Peters Virus. Ivan's body was laid on a huge pile of wood, with firelighters set up across them. Bridge had a lighter in his pocket and was waiting to set one of the firelighters so that Ivan's body could be burned. There was no point burying it, as one of the gangs of cannibal Rikers would just dig it up, roast it and consume as much as they could. As they had done with many other bodies. As the wind echoed through the buildings around them, Bridge looked at his three friends and asked "Anyone have anything to say?" Anna stepped forward with tears in her eyes and said "When the Virus came, Papa did everything he could to stop it. My Mama was one of the first to get infected.... and one of the first to die. After Mama died, he was devastated and did everything he could to destroy the Virus. For him, it felt like taking revenge against what had murdered Mama in a very slow and painful way. He was recruited by the W.H.O to stop the Virus due to his experience, but little did he know of the truth. When he found out that the Governments had left us all to die, he and a few other scientists went into hiding with me and their families to develop the Antidote. We spent a year and a half working to finish it, but then....".

Anna paused for a moment, thinking of all she had lost, then she continued with sadness in her heart "Then we started to get infected and one by one, our family of scientists and dreamers fell apart. Before long, it was just me, Papa and our cat Azrael left. But Papa kept going and finally finished the Antidote. When he unleashed it, he saved my life and the lives of millions more, but it was too late for him". Anna sniffed a bit as she looked down upon Ivan's cold and lifeless face. Anna then said with tears rolling down her face "The Virus had damaged Papa too much and those tiny red cells in his body started multiplying abnormally, killing him from the inside..... I tried to save him with chemotherapy, but he..... but he......". Anna fell to her knees, bursting into tears. Bridge came over to her and let her collapse into his arms. The two of them stood up and Bridge said "It's okay, I'll take it over from here". Bridge looked around at his family and said "I'll never forget the day the Virus disappeared: Phineas was a sick as a dog and I was sure he was going to die. But then he and the hundreds of millions across the world still infected got better and the Virus was gone. It was only yesterday that I learned that Ivan Makarova was the reason why". Bridge looked down upon Ivan's corpse, that had been wrapped in a linen cloth and said "Thank you Ivan, had it not been for you, then none of us would be alive here today. You may be gone, but we will treasure the fact that each and every living human being on this planet it alive thanks to you and that those generations that come after us are also alive". Bridge turned his attention back to his friends and said "Ivan saved us all from death, but only temporarily. The St Peters Virus still exists within Phineas, Anna and millions of others across the world. Hibernating, patiently waiting to mutate and try to wipe us all out again. In his last act of selflessness towards the Human race, Ivan revealed to us the location of the Antivirus that will destroy S.P.V once and for all. It is now up to us to stop this plague from returning and we shall do it in the name of the man who gave our species a second chance: Ivan Smirnov Makarova". Bridge brought out his lighter and flicked it a few times. The light was small and in Bridge's mind, represented a light of hope in this world. Bridge knelt down and said "Goodbye Ivan, may you rest in peace". Bridge set one of the firelighters ablaze and a few moments later, the whole pile of wood was on fire.

Ivan's body began to burn to nothing but ashes as Anna cried silently in Bridge's arms. The fire was visible from halfway across the city and small orange flickers went up into the sky. As Ivan's body burned, so did their despair in this broken world. They all knew that they had to keep going and to save the human race from extinction. After all, it is what Ivan had wanted them to do. Anna looked Bridge in the face and asked him with a great sense of uncertainty "What now, what do we do now?" Bridge looked at Anna with a sense of great hope and said "We survive, we get to San Francisco, we unleash the Antivirus and we build a new world". The four survivors stood by the fire for about twenty minutes, not saying a word as Ivan's body was burned to nothing but ashes. Although most of them had barely known Ivan, they felt proud to have attended his funeral and to have vowed to save humanity from the threat that was the St Peters Virus. Bridge knew in his heart that the journey ahead of them was going to be a long and difficult one indeed and was confident that whatever challenges they would encounter, they would encounter them together.