“My mom was just trying to save the planet!” I said defensively.
“Oh, I assure you, Maximum, so am I. We just had different ideas about how to go about it. Dr. Martinez wanted to alert the world powers about the asteroid and blow it out of the sky with nuclear missiles. But I persuaded her that we should handle things more privately.” The corners of his eyes wrinkled with amusement. “So as to prevent panic.”
“So instead you unleashed a deadly plague to kill ninety-nine percent of the world, let the asteroid destroy even more people, then nuked all the cities for good measure,” I said.
I remembered the pictures we’d scrolled through on the computer. The images of people sobbing, people praying, people running even when they had nowhere to go.
I didn’t know how he could live with himself. But then, he wouldn’t have to much longer.
88
THE ICY WIND whipped through my tangled hair and tugged at my aching arms, and I almost dropped the psychopath to his death right then. But I wasn’t done yet.
Find. Truth.
Dr. Gunther-Hagen was shaking his head. “The virus wasn’t my work, I’m afraid. The Apocalypticas left us that little gift, and they leaked it all on their own.”
So my mom was right about that.
“I don’t think they imagined such initial success. A hundred dead in a couple of days, millions within a week, and by the end of the month, a quarter of the world.” The doctor spoke breathlessly, his eyes lighting up. “It was extraordinarily impressive.”
“Impressive?” My mouth gaped. “Is that what you call murdering billions of people?”
I loosened my grip on his neck, and the doctor slipped down a few inches. His face blanched a light shade of green, but when he answered me, his tone was still measured.
“Let me remind you, child, I did the honorable thing: I developed a vaccine.”
“You can buy a lot with a vaccine when the population is in the grips of a global pandemic.” I narrowed my eyes. “Like… a bunch of nuclear bombs, for example.”
“Actually, those were a gift. My staff had the technology to accurately target the asteroid, after all. With your mother’s political connections, the Russians were easily persuaded to hand over the stockpile if it finally meant some good PR for them.”
He betrayed her—along with the rest of the world.
“Why develop the vaccine, then?” I pressed. “What was it worth?”
“I do love an eager pupil.” The doctor smirked. “It bought me a name.”
“A name?” I repeated.
“When the virus was released and so much of the population was infected, you can imagine how much media attention the discovery of a vaccine received.”
Yeah, I could. I pictured his face covering the newspapers, his smile flashing out of televisions. They probably called him a freaking hero. The thought made me so furious I couldn’t speak. I glared at him, daring him to continue.
“After the asteroid hit, suddenly everyone wanted another quick remedy. They looked to me again, of course. Who else could they trust more?”
“So you’r
e saying you were able to push the world into a dictatorial state through branding?” I said in disbelief.
“A remedy gave them permission to look away,” he explained. “It assured them that someone was capable of eliminating their problems. And I have.”
“How can you call yourself a doctor?” I asked in disgust. “Didn’t you, like, take some kind of oath saying, ‘I will not unleash death and destruction on my patients and all of modern society’?”
“The earth is my primary patient,” the doctor reasoned calmly. “And the ecosystem will recover much better with fewer people to compromise it.”
“Right, because radioactive debris is super healthy for the planet!” I sneered. “Wait, you didn’t really think this little confession was gonna save you, did you?” I loosened my grip a bit more.
He flinched, instinctively grasping at air, and I smiled faintly as I pulled him back. Gunther-Hagen’s eyes hardened, and his fingers locked around my wrists. “You still don’t understand. I don’t need to be saved. Humans aren’t supposed to be saved. My work will live on. My legacy—”