OUTBREAK
Written by
LAWRENCE DWORET & ROBERT ROY POOL
December 1993 Draft
FOR EDUCATIONAL
PURPOSES ONLY
OUTBREAK
FADE IN:
EXT. JUNGLE
HIGH-PITCHED WHINES. LOUDER AND LOUDER. MORTARS race
through the air and EXPLODE in the distant jungle. Sol-
diers -- black, white, Oriental -- curse and mutter in
French, German, Australian and American as they reload.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND -- the letters leap across the screen:
THE MOTABA RIVER VALLEY, BELGIAN CONGO (ZAIRE), 1960.
THE CAMP OF FORCES LOYAL TO MOISES TSHOMBE - DAY
BLACK MALE NURSE
carrying a bucket of water from the Motaba River rushes
past the Mercenary Army to --
CAMP INFIRMARY
Where he replaces the towel on the forehead of a fever-
ish, delirious AUSTRALIAN MERCENARY with a cold new one.
AUSTRALIAN MERCENARY
Gimme somethin' for the bleedin'
pain. C'mon, mate, help me.
The Mercenary tries to lift himself out of his stretcher.
Can't. He's too weak. His skin is yellow and covered
with blisters that look like chicken pox.
NURSE
(checking the
soldier's temp)
He's still over a hundred and
six. Why can't we bring it down?
The black African army physician, DR. RASWANI, looks on,
helpless. Suddenly, the Australian emits a sharp cry.
His eyes roll back, and he begins convulsing. Before
Raswani can even reach into his bag for medecine, the
Mercenary is dead.
Raswani and his Nurse stare with horror.
The DRONE of a CHOPPER grows LOUDER as a Bell Z180 ap-
pears over the edge of the forest and kicks up a storm of
dust as it lands. Raswani and the Nurse run to meet it.
In their eyes, hope.
(CONTINUED)
2.
CONTINUED:
Two space-suited figures emerge from the chopper, their
faces hidden by thick green plexiglass shields. The U.S.
flag is emblazoned on the side of their helmets, which
also display their ranks. The much taller man is a
lieutenant whom we'll know as McCLINTOCK. Through his
visor, we can just make out his pock-marked, angular
face. The shorter, pear-shaped man is a CAPTAIN. We
can't see his features, only the reflection of horn-
rimmed glasses.
RASWANI
Have you brought the medicines?
CAPTAIN
Soon.
RASWANI
Why the hell didn't you bring
them?
CUT TO:
INFIRMARY
The two space-suited figures follow Dr. Raswani past
soldier after soldier infected with the same disease.
RASWANI
Thirty deaths yesterday, eighteen
the day before, the disease is
killing our men faster than enemy
bullets.
The Captain stops at a young AMERICAN MERCENARY'S cot.
He's shaking with fever. His skin is mottled and looks
like the pulp of an orange. His voice is a whisper:
AMERICAN MERCENARY
Take me home, Captain... Get me
outta this shithole. Please, I
wanna see my girl.
The American Mercenary reaches out with his arms to the
Captain, who shrinks back, not wanting to be
contaminated.
CAPTAIN
We'll get you home, soldier.
First, I need a tissue sample.
He pulls from his black bag a long metal syringe and
plunges the biopsy needle deep into the man's liver. He
places the needle in an aluminum test tube and seals it.
(CONTINUED)
3.
CONTINUED:
AMERICAN MERCENARY
Promise me you'll get me home.
Promise me, Goddamit!
A long uneasy beat.
CAPTAIN
We'll get you home.
CUT TO:
TWO SPACE-SUITED U.S. ARMY FIGURES
boarding their chopper, Dr. Raswani and his Nurse
standing by.
RASWANI
Not just supplies, but doctors
and nurses. And suits like yours
to protect us. This disease
spreads too fast.
CAPTAIN
The plane tonight will bring
everything.
CUT TO:
INSIDE CHOPPER
ascending above the camp.
Lt. McClintock and the Captain look out the window at the
campsite.
McCLINTOCK
It's viral. There's no way to
stop it. It could spread all
over the world.
We can't see the Captain's face, but feel his remorse.
So can McClintock:
McCLINTOCK
If you'll excuse my bluntness,
sir, you can't go halfway on this
one.
CAPTAIN
Don't ever -- ever -- tell me
what I have to do.
CUT TO:
4.
TSHOMBE CAMPSITE - DUSK
Dr. Raswani gives a shot to the American Mercenary, who
looks terminal.
DR. RASWANI
This will help the pain.
The Male Nurse rushes up.
MALE NURSE
They're coming.
AMERICAN MERCENARY
I knew... they'd come back... I
knew. Help me up. Help me --
CUT TO:
RASWANI
ThE Male Nurse, and dozens of soldiers rush across the
forest to the makeshift runway beside the camp. In the
distance a camouflaged DC-3 is rapidly approaching.
INT. DC-3
The PILOT, no more than 21, sees the soldiers celebrating
their arrival down on the runway. His hand is on the
green bomb release lever.
PILOT
I can't.
McClintock is in the copilot's seat.
McCLINTOCK
It's either them or us.
He puts his hand on the green release lever. Hesitates.
PILOT
You can't either.
ON GROUND
Dr. Raswani and the soldiers stare at the plane, coming
in too high for a landing.
INSIDE PLANE
McClintock squeezes the green lever.
(CONTINUED)
5.
CONTINUED:
The bomb cannisters under the wing open up, releasing a
thick cloud of yellow cyanide gas.
ON GROUND
Screams of agony rip out as Raswani and the soldiers
convulse and die.
The plane shoots over the treetops, spraying the ground
below like a crop duster.
Then the plane arcs and approaches again.
OVER RUNWAY
littered with the dead, the plane releases a waxy grey
cloud. One second. Two seconds. An eerie stillness.
The CLOUD EXPLODES in a huge inferno.
The plane releases more and more napalm, burning the
jungle for miles.
The CRIES of ANIMALS caught in the fire pierce the night.
Flames shoot up trees a hundred feet high.
PULL BACK to show the whole forest ablaze. A long beat,
then at the very LEFT CORNER OF the FRAME, a MONKEY with
a black and white coat (a Colobos monkey) emerges from
the fire, looks back at its mate, threatened by the
flames. The Colobos jumps up and down, baring its teeth,
SCREAMING. The fire moves relentlessly forward. The
monkeys dart to safety.
CUT TO:
MOTABA RIVER VALLEY - NEXT MORNING
A metal syringe burned to a molten shard lies beside a
mortar launcher, twisted and deformed like some bizarre
modern sculpture. PULL BACK to reveal acre after acre,
mile after mile of nothing but ashes and carcasses of
burnt-out trees. Not a single living thing remains.
FADE OUT and ROLL CREDITS.
FADE UP:
TREETOPS
A wind rippling through treetops.
(CONTINUED)
6.
CONTINUED:
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "THE MOTABA RIVER VALLEY, AUGUST
12, 1994."
SHOCK CUT TO:
ABOVE RAINFOREST
Brilliant streams of orange and purple, the last rays of
the setting sun, dance across the sky and penetrate the
vapor cloud above the rain forest. Unworldly silence.
Shattered by:
Giant TREES CRASHING to the ground. TRACTORS ROAR,
CHAINSAWS REV with a penetrating whine. Huge trees
living undisturbed for hundreds of years topple to earth,
their roots ripped from the soil.
REVEAL the army of construction workers clearing a path
for the new road linking Kinshasa with Bangui. White
foremen bellow orders in French at their black workers,
including:
MORAZU: a seven-foot tall Goliath with mischievous eyes.
He PUNCHES on his CHAIN SAW and RIPS into another tree.
A cloud of wood dust envelops him.
OVERHEAD - ZAIREAN ARMY HELICOPTERS
ROAR by overhead, their machine gunners searching for
guerilla activity.
INTERCUT - TWO COLOBOS MONKEYS
a mother and her daughter, whom we'll know as Betsy.
Betsy plays with a fat, round jackfruit, kicking it and
rolling it every which way. Her mother watches the
construction workers warily.
Morazu hums as he pulls a huge tree limb off the road and
into a thick patch of brush where he comes face to face
with Betsy. Morazu smiles. He takes a long piece of
sweetened bread from his pocket and lays it down right in
front of the young monkey.
Betsy eyes it warily.
MORAZU
(softly)
Take it.
(CONTINUED)
7.
CONTINUED:
A long beat. Betsy takes the bread, examines it careful-
ly, finally takes a bite.
Morazu grabs her. BETSY struggles, thrashing and SCREAM-
ING. Morazu pins her hands behind her back. She spins
around and sinks her teeth into his finger.
He lets go with a shriek and swears at Betsy, who disap-
pears with the bread.
STAY WITH Morazu as he returns to his work. He sucks the
blood out of the small wound.
CUT TO:
EXT. MOTABA RIVA VALLEY (AUGUST 15)
Morazu gets off a bus by a small muddy river and walks
slowly toward his village of about fifty mud-thatched
huts. Pain in his back makes him wince. We see him UP
CLOSE: his eyes are red and his skin is pale. He's
sweating.
He stops at the village well and takes a drink. Other
villagers come up to say hello, and Morazu greets them
wearily, dipping his cup back in the water for another
drink. The villagers drink too.
DISCOVER in the background: the tribal medicine man, the
"ju-ju man." Streaks and circles of paint cover his
skin. He watches the excitement surrounding Morazu's
return.
CUT TO:
RAIN FOREST - LATER THAT NIGHT
A small group of Colobos monkeys including Betsy and her
mother run swiftly through the forest. Suddenly, BETSY
CRIES OUT. Her foot is snagged in a trap. Before her
mother can respond, she's pulled high into the air into a
bamboo cage. The DOOR SNAPS SHUT. BETSY SCREAMS in fear
and pain, hanging upside down --
CUT TO:
SAME - FOLLOWING MORNING
The Colobos monkeys scatter as VOICES APPROACH, REVEALING
two TRIBESMEN pulling a small wagon. The men chatter as
they lower the cage holding Betsy onto the cart.
(CONTINUED)
8.
CONTINUED:
FADE UP LUCIANO PAVAROTTI singing a love song from
"La Boheme" and...
CUT TO:
CLOSE ON HUMAN SKULL
wearing Porsche sunglasses and an Army Colonel's hat.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "Frederick, Maryland, August 19."
INT. GILLESPIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
FADE UP the VOICE of a MAN SINGING along with the GREAT
TENOR. CONTINUE PANNING OVER the room: the skull gives
way to a full skeleton wearing a star-spangled red-white-
and-blue bow-tie and carrying an umbrella over its fore-
arm. CONTINUE PAST the oak rolltop desk.
MIKE GILLESPIE, about 40, keeps singing as he reads
through a lengthy typed report, making notes in the
margin.
LUCIANO hits a high C. Gillespie reaches for it... and
misses badly. DOGS WHINE O.S., probably in closer
harmony to Luciano than Gillespie. He's not pleased.
GILLESPIE
I rescue you from certain death
and instead of gratitude, you mock
me.
His two WOLFHOUNDS, Olser and Harvey, GROVEL on the floor
contritely, each with a worn shoe in his mouth. Behind
them we see the rest of Gillespie's living/dining room.
His townhouse is spartan; it needs a woman's touch. Un-
packed boxes stand in the corner beside a treadmill.
GILLESPIE
That can't go unpunished. No
Letterman for three nights.
The dogs wag the running shoes.
CUT TO:
OLD CREEK PARK (FREDERICK, MARYLAND) - NIGHT
Gillespie, puffing, a weekend runner, strains to keep up
with the DOGS. They BARK excitedly.
(CONTINUED)
9.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
(reaching into his
pockets)
Okay! Okay!
Without breaking stride, he throws what look like sticks
high into the air. The dogs jump and catch the objects in
their mouths and race back to Gillipsie.
We see they're old stethoscopes with thick rubber tubing.
Gillespie lets them fly again. He laughs at their eager-
ness and keeps running, sprinting now, trying to prove to
himself that he's still young. Suddenly -- a PHONE RINGS.
Without breaking stride, he pulls a cellular phone from
his pocket:
GILLESPIE
(into phone)
Dr. Gillespie... How many dead?...
INT. BILLY FORD'S OFFICE (FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND)
Gillespie's boss, GENERAL BILLY FORD, MD, is a heavy-set
man in his early 60's with thinning hair, piercing, in-
telligent grey eyes and a warm smile. Scattered all
around his office are cages filled with frogs and rep-
tiles. As he talks on the phone, he's feeding a green-
horned toad some dead flies.
FORD
Almost an entire village.
INTERCUT WITH:
FORD WITH GILLESPIE
still running.
GILLESPIE
Is is Lassa Fever? Ebola? What?
FORD
How the hell do I know? I'm the
bureaucrat, you're the detective,
remember? All I know is State
wants us to lend a hand and when
the Secretary talks, I listen.
And when I talk, you listen.
You're Code Red. The plane's
leaving at 01:30.
(CONTINUED)
10.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
Yes, sir.
Gillespie hangs up, out of breath... excited.
CUT TO:
EXT. GILLESPIE'S OLD BMW - LATER THAT NIGHT
Gillespie and the dogs pull into the driveway of a comfor-
table two story colonial home, passing a "For Sale" sign
on the front lawn pasted with a "Sold" sticker.
EXT. COLONIAL HOME
Gillespie knocks. The DOGS BARK excitedly.
WOMAN (O.S.)
Who is it?
The dogs recognize the voice and jump against the door.
GILLESPIE
Mike.
ROBERTA "ROBBY" KEOUGH, an attractive, intelligent woman
in her mid 30's, opens the door a few inches, until the
latch LOCK CHAIN SNAPS tight. The dogs try to push
inside.
ROBBY
(smiles; delighted)
Hey, guys!
But when she looks at Gillespie, she's guarded.
GILLESPIE
Robby, I know I'm the last guy
you'd do a favor for, but I've got
no one else to ask.
ROBBY
My lawyer said not to talk to you
anymore.
GILLESPIE
Then just listen. I gotta go to
Zaire.
Robby shakes her head, "No, no way."
(CONTINUED)
11.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
Put 'em in a kennel.
GILLESPIE
So they can die of some weird
disease like Stripes did?
She mouths the word "no."
GILLESPIE
-- Look, Robby, if I had any other
choice, I wouldn't be here.
ROBBY
You should've let me have them.
You can't take care of them.
Beat. Robby's torn. The dogs nuzzle against her leg.
GILLESPIE
I won't be gone long.
ROBBY
You know I'm moving to Atlanta --
they want me to start in four days.
GILLESPIE
I'll be back before that.
ROBBY
(sharply)
Four days is four weeks -- to you.
Silence.
GILLESPIE
It wasn't all my fault, Robby.
ROBBY
(quietly)
I know.
A long beat.
ROBBY
I'll look after them on one
condition: if you're not back in
four days, they're mine.
Gillespie doesn't like it.
GILLESPIE
Okay.
(CONTINUED)
12.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
In writing.
She unlatches the door and moves inside. The dogs race
after her. Gillespie enters...
FRONT HALL
overflowing with moving boxes, some sealed, others waiting
to be packed. Gillespie feels awkward, a stranger in his
own home.
She hands him a prescription pad. He crosses off her
nameplate, "Roberta Keough, MD," and starts writing
while Robby enters...
KITCHEN
ROBBY
Hey, guys, c'mon!
They follow her in.
ROBBY
Guess what I got?
The DOGS BARK excitedly.
ROBBY
Damn straight!
She opens the freezer, grabs a couple of frozen bagels and
flips them to the DOGS. They catch the bagels and start
CHOMPING.
ROBBY
I missed you guys so much.
Gillespie hands her the note.
ROBBY
(reading it)
'I, Michael Gillespie, agree that
if I'm not back in exactly four
days from now, the ownership of my
dogs, Osler and Harvey, will go
to Roberta Keough.'
(handing it back)
Time and date it.
He does. She points to a huge box on the kitchen
table:
(CONTINUED)
13.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
That's stuff from med school...
Some of it's yours. I don't know
if you want any of it.
He fishes through it, shoving aside old medical books
and equipment. He finds an old wood stethoscope with
thick rubber tubing. He shoves in into his pocket.
GILLESPIE
Got a place yet?
ROBBY
An apartment.
GILLESPIE
The first thing you'll do is spend
the whole night unpacking...
You'll stay up 'til dawn but
you'll get everything in its
place.
ROBBY
(smiles)
Probably.
GILLESPIE
Nothin' in my life has been
organized since you left, Robby.
Beat. She's surprised at his admission. And un-
comfortable. So's he. He continues searching through
the box and pulls out...
A photo taken during their honeymoon cruise: they're
both smiling radiantly as they hold between them a
trophy of a dancing couple.
GILLESPIE
Y'know, this is the only evidence
on Earth that I was ever graceful.
He checks her reaction. There is a hint of a smile.
ROBBY
Take it.
GILLESPIE
Nah, people might see it... get
the wrong impression.
He drops the photo back in the box and moves toward
the door.
(CONTINUED)
14.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
Four days.
GILLESPIE
Or less.
As we hear the front DOOR OPEN and SHUT, HOLD ON
Robby: a hint of regret.
CUT TO:
ANDREWS AIR BASE, MARYLAND
COMPUTER KEYS POUNDING: "Andrews Air Base, Maryland."
Flood lights illuminate a huge C5A transport plane
waiting on the runway, its nose cocked open exposing
its innards to the pouring rain. Several enlisted
men rapidly wheel equipment into the open hatch. A
private pushes a dolly loaded with boxes with the red
cross emblem up the ramp.
DR. ISAAC "IZZY" BERMAN, a short, bald Army Major in
his late 30's directs traffic.
IZZY
Blood in the freezer over the
right wing. C'mon! Gut it!
We're late.
The private grunts and pushes the dolly slowly up the
ramp. Izzy lends a hand, and the two of them run it up
the ramp.
Mike Gillespie, dressed in a uniform, climbs down from
the cockpit. Now we see his rank: Colonel.
GILLESPIE
Where the hell's Yaffe?
IZZY
His wife... she's due tomorrow.
I put him on leave.
GILLESPIE
We need him now! Who's going to
read the electron micrographs?
IZZY
I will.
(CONTINUED)
15.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
You can't even read a Playboy
pinup.
IZZY
He said he'd get a guy to fill in.
GILLESPIE
We can't wait.
A Jeep drives across the tarmac, toward them and comes
to a park a short distance away. The Driver scurries
out to open the passenger door to let --
General Ford get out.
IZZY
What does he want?
The driver pulls two suitcases out of the Jeep and
follows Ford into the plane.
FORD
I'm comin' along, Mike.
GILLESPIE
Sir, we're going into very
dangerous territory.
FORD
I'm well aware of the dangers.
GILLESPIE
Beggin' your pardon, General, I
don't think you are. You've had
only the most cursory training
on how to avoid contamination.
Concerns for your safety would
distract us.
FORD
Nothing distracts you, Colonel.
You won't even know I'm there.
GILLESPIE
Sir, I'm not comfortable --
FORD
Mike, have a little compassion for
an old man who's been rotting
behind a desk.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
16.
CONTINUED:
FORD (CONT'D)
For once I'd like to be there
when one of these buggers hits.
You're not going to tell me I
can't go, Colonel, are you?
GILLESPIE
No, sir.
FORD
Good. I feel wanted, now.
(beat)
I get airsick in the back. I'll
be up with the pilot.
As they watch him move forward and out of sight:
IZZY
The guy wouldn't know a virus from
a Barbie Doll. I'm not lookin'
after him. He's yours.
GILLESPIE
Bullshit.
IZZY
All of a sudden, playing golf and
pushin' papers isn't good enough.
Damn, when I'm his age, that's all
I'm gonna want to do.
Gillespie flips a coin, covers it over his wrist.
IZZY
Heads. No! Tails.
Gillespie lifts his hand and smiles.
IZZY
Fuck!
Gillespie grabs the phone to the cockpit.
GILLESPIE
(into phone)
Rafferty, rock and roll with this bird.
INT. COCKPIT
The Pilot, CAPTAIN RAFFERTY, checks General Ford,
nestled in safely behind him.
RAFFERTY
(into headmike)
T minus sixty seconds.
17.
DOWN BELOW
Gillespie pulls a lever and the hatch starts to close.
IZZY
Wait!
Mike follows his eyes out to the --
TARMAC
where a BLACK MAN carrying a duffel bag is sprinting
toward them at incredible speed, like a ghost through
the pelting rain.
Berman swings the lever down and the hatch starts to
open but the Man doesn't wait for it to lower
completely. Without breaking stride, he leaps the
four feet onto the plane and slides to a stop right
in front of Gillespie. He steadies himself and
salutes:
SALT (BLACK MAN)
Captain Walter Salt reporting, sir.
Izzy smiles. He looks at Gillespie, who is impressed
but won't show it.
SALT
I'm sorry to be late, sir. I was
wrapping up some tests in my lab --
GILLESPIE
-- Strap in.
The huge JET ENGINES come to life. Gillespie, Berman,
and Salt strap themselves into the row of jump seats
along the fuselage.
Issy is filled with the excitement of a young kid who
can't believe his luck:
IZZY
You're not the football player
from West Point, that Salt?
SALT
The same, sir.
IZZY
I thought you had the Heisman
sewed up 'til you hurt your knee.
(CONTINUED)
18.
CONTINUED:
SALT
You and my mother, Major... I was
never that good. But thank you
for saying so, sir.
IZZY
Don't call me sir. The only one
who does that is the Colonel here.
Everyone else calls me Izzy.
SALT
Izzy, sir?
IZZY
My mother calls me Isaac, but I
hate it. I pitched for my high
school team. My dad thought I
was gonna be another Dizzy Dean.
So he called me 'Izzy.'
SALT
Yes, sir, Izzy, sir.
The plane surges forward and taxis down the runway.
GILLESPIE
I want to know just one thing.
Can you read electron micrographs
as well as you can run?
SALT
I'm not sure how to assess the
question --
IZZY
-- Just say 'yes, sir,' Captain.
Whatever the Colonel asks, you
just say 'yes, sir.' That's how
we keep him under control.
GILLESPIE
Have you ever seen filovirus
infection in a human being?
SALT
No, sir.
GILLESPIE
It's about as pretty as goin'
naked up the middle against the
Dallas Cowboys.
(CONTINUED)
19.
CONTINUED:
SALT
I grew up on the South Side of
Chicago, sir. Whatever it is,
I can handle it.
GILLESPIE
I hope so, because if you can't,
you'll make a mistake. You'll
be holding a needle and it'll
slip. Or your glove will have
a crack in it and you won't notice.
You work with filoviruses, it's
like working with plutonium. A
single drop of blood can hold
six billion... That's more
filoviruses than there are people
in the world. You get a single
one of those inside you, you're
infected. Say you're lucky and
it's one of the few filoviruses
we have antiserum for. Then we
can treat you and you'll probably
live. But say you're unlucky.
And you get one of those
filoviruses we don't have an
antiserum for, which is most of
them. There's no medicine, no
cure, nothing we can do to help
you. Your body gets so hot, your
liver, your kidney, all your
vital organs melt, and your skin
turns into tapioca pudding.
Stunned silence.
IZZY
(smiles)
He means chocolate pudding.
Salt smiles slowly. He likes Izzy.
The WHEELS come up with a THUMP. The giant jet shakes
and rattles and soars into the air.
SHOCK CUT TO:
TWO U.S. ARMY HUEY HELICOPTERS - DAY
flying low over the rain forest. The first carries
Gillespie and his crew, the second is a gunship flying
escort. They pass over the wide Motaba River that
snakes for miles.
(CONTINUED)
20.
CONTINUED:
On the river: a Zairean Army patrol boat cruises down-
stream, looking for guerrillas. The machine gunner
swivels his cannon around at the two choppers.
The machine gunner looks up at the U.S. Army insignia
and waves.
INT. BACK OF CHOPPER
Izzy slips the clear helmet over General Ford's head.
PULL BACK to reveal:
The General covered from head to toe in BL-4 bio-
safety suit. Salt, dressed the same, looks on, amused.
FORD
(panicking)
How do you breath in here?
IZZY
(laughs)
With a respirator. Positive
pressure's what you want. Keep
those buggers out.
Izzy flips the switch on Ford's respirator, which sucks
air out of the atmosphere, filters it, and pumps it
into the suit. Ford starts to swell up like the
Pillsbury doughboy.
FORD
And I thought it was a hassle
wearin' a tie all day.
INT. FRONT OF CHOPPER - A LITTLE LATER
Gillespie, now suited up in full biosafety gear, but
holding his helmet in his hands, sits beside the
CHOPPER PILOT. In the distance, we see a village in
which numerous huts are burning.
GILLESPIE
We got a lot of equipment.
You're gonna have to get us in
close.
PILOT
I... I don't want to get no
disease, sir.
GILLESPIE
Then don't kiss me, Sergeant.
CUT TO:
21.
CHOPPERS
throwing up a storm of dust as they sweep down to the
ground on the perimeter of the village.
INT. CHOPPER
Gillespie, Salt, Berman and Ford stand by the door,
ready to get out as soon as the chopper puts down.
Gillespie has to shout at Salt over the sound of the
WHIRLING CHOPPER BLADES:
GILLESPIE
Captain Salt, if you fail to
observe strict decontamination
protocol, three things can happen.
First, you can be court-martialed.
Second, you can die from this
horrible disease. Third, and
worst of all, you can incur my
displeasure. You got it?
SALT
Yes, sir.
GILLESPIE
If one of us gets sick, we all get
sick.
(turns to Ford)
And I didn't come here to die.
BURNING HUTS - WIDE ANGLE SHOT
juxtaposed against the U.S. Army choppers disgorging
the U.S. Army Infectious Disease Team -- blue space-
suited figures with the U.S. flag emblazoned on their
arms and helmets.
The ju-ju man remains high on the cliff above the
village, chanting and wailing, burning an offering to
the gods.
The U.S. Army Team approaches the village through the
smoky haze, and we see --
Two different worlds juxtaposed -- men in spacesuits
and a man in a loincloth.
Gillespie, followed by Berman, Salt and Ford, moves
across the village which now looks devastated and
deserted except for a few remaining huts and a small
cinder block building with an old Volkswagen van,
marked with a red cross, parked out front.
(CONTINUED)
22.
CONTINUED:
Ford walks slower taking everything in, appalled at
what he sees.
The U.S. Army team enters the cinder block hut.
INT. CINDER BLOCK HUT
A short, slender, bespectacled black man in his late
forties -- DR. IWABI -- head of the Zaire Infectious
Disease Heath Agency -- and his NURSE, protected only
by a smock, a surgical mask, and gloves, gives comfort
to a young woman who's dying.
GILLESPIE
Doctor Iwabi? I brought blood,
plasma --
DR. IWABI
-- You're too late.
GILLESPIE
I came as soon as I could.
DR. IWABI
It wouldn't have mattered when you
came. This one is different --
worse than Lassa, worse even than
Ebola. It strikes and kills so
fast. The young, the healthy,
everybody.
GILLESPIE
Who was the index case?
DR. IWABI
A road construction worker.
IZZY
How did he get it?
DR. IWABI
We don't know. He died three days
ago.
Salt moves ahead to the next bed and pulls aside the
thin mosquito curtain to inspect the patient. Ford
is right behind him.
SALT
God...
(CONTINUED)
23.
CONTINUED:
The corpse's eyes are yellow and his flesh, speckled
with hemmorrhages, looks like pulp. Blood oozes from
his nose and his nipples. Ford turns away in horror.
SALT
(retches)
I'm gonna be sick.
He starts to rip off his mask. Gillespie grabs his
arms.
GILLESPIE
Keep you helmet on, Goddamit!
SALT
I can't breath.
Salt vomits in his helmet. Rips it off. He rushes
out. Izzy moves after him.
GILLESPIE
Put him in quarantine. Now!
DR. IWABI
You don't need to.
GILLESPIE
Why?
DR. IWABI
It's not spread in the air.
GILLESPIE
How do you know?
DR. IWABI
(pulls down his mask)
There's no cough. Or we'd all be
dead. For days we've been working
with only these masks. They can't
keep out a particle as small as a
virus.
GILLESPIE
Could any infected person have
gotten out of this village and
spread it?
DR. IWABI
The incubation period is only one
or two days. The mortality is one
hundred percent.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
24.
CONTINUED:
DR. IWABI (CONT'D)
If anyone got out, they are dead,
or will be soon. And if they have
spread the disease, we will know
rather quickly.
GILLESPIE
Finding the host is the only way
to control the spread. Our only
hope is that this is like most
viruses and that it has to live in
a host, an animal, to which it's
adapted over thousands of years.
And that animal host has developed
antibodies to protect itself
against the virus. If we can
identify that animal host, and
harvest its antibodies, we can use
them to fight the disease in
humans.
DR. IWABI
There are a hundred thousand
species of animals and insects in
this rain forest. The
construction worker could have
been in contact with any one of
them. Where do I start?
GILLEPSIE
General, tell him that our
government will help with money,
personnel supplies, whatever it
takes.
Ford hesitates.
FORD
Of course, we'll do whatever we
can.
CUT TO:
EXT. OVER MOTABA RIVER VALLEY - DAWN
In a SINGLE-FRAMED TIME LAPSE SHOT, dawn arrives in the
Motaba Valley. FADE UP the hundreds of sounds of the
rain forest ANIMALS. There is something primeval about
this vista; this surely must be what the Garden of Eden
looked like, except for the...
(CONTINUED)
25.
CONTINUED:
Plumes of black smoke which waft up from the blackened,
smoldering huts, each one the home of someone who has now
died from this terrible virus.
Two African orderlies carry a stretcher bearing the dead
body of a villager. They slide it onto a funeral pyre
already burning with bodies.
Gillespie, Ford and Dr. Iwabi make their way to the
choppers where Berman and Salt are loading into the hold
plexiglass cases of blood samples.
ON CLIFF OVERHEAD
The ju-ju man chants. He seems to float above the
funeral pyre like a mirage.
GILLESPIE
What's he saying?
DR. IWABI
He's asking for forgiveness from
the Gods of the forest. They're
angry because they've been awoken
from their sleep by the men
building the road. These deaths
are their punishment.
FORD
Why isn't he sick?
DR. IWABI
He stayed in his cave all week and
greeted his visitors with poison
darts.
GILLEPSIE
(a sense of
foreboding)
It was as if... as if he knew what
was coming.
CUT TO:
INT. C5A COCKPIT
Heading home. Ford reads a hand-written paper Gillespie's
just handed him and gets irate.
(CONTINUED)
26.
CONTINUED:
FORD
A memo to the CDC to issue a
warning to every physician in the
United States to be on the
look-out for this disease? What
the hell is this?
GILLESPIE
A safeguard, sir.
FORD
Are you nuts? Within a week we'll
know if this thing burned itself
out in that village, just like
Iwabi said --
GILLESPIE
-- And if Iwabi's wrong? American
doctors should be warned so cases
can be quarantined. Sir, this one
is different --
FORD
-- You're a smart guy, Gillespie,
but you can't write a memo to the
CDC which says the sky is falling.
GILLESPIE
(sharply)
We should do nothing?
FORD
Did I say that, Colonel?
(beat)
We will monitor the situation in
Africa, and if this virus
reappears, we will act with all
our resources, not just to protect
the American people but the people
of the world. You will destroy
this memo. That's an order.
Gillespie's frustrated.
GILLESPIE
Yes, sir.
SMASH CUT TO:
NATIONAL AIRPORT (WASHINGTON) - DELTA GATE - DAY
Robby is moving forward in the boarding line, and Mike is
walking beside her.
(CONTINUED)
27.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
You asked for four days and four
days it was... last night.
GILLESPIE
It was a bad virus... Cut me some
slack.
ROBBY
I cut you ten years of slack. I'm
not giving you the dogs.
GILLESPIE
Stop joking. Where are they?
ROBBY
I shipped them this morning.
GILLESPIE
You did not.
ON her face: a triumphant smile.
ROBBY
It's better for them. And for
you. I'll be there to feed them
and take care of them. You won't
have to feel guilty.
She moves past the gate. Gillespie's stuck behind it.
Screaming after her:
GILLESPIE
I'm coming to Atlanta... I'm
takin' 'em back.
ROBBY
Dream on.
HOLD ON Gillespie's dismay as she disappears.
CUT TO:
INT. MAIN CORRIDOR OF M.I.D.U.
Mike walking briskly down the main corridor. Two M-16
toting security guards salute as he passes by. He
reaches six-inch thick metal doors, closed tight. He
slides his ID card into the optical reader.
(CONTINUED)
28.
CONTINUED:
The computer screen above it prints out the words,
"Colonel Michael Gillespie." A digitized voice booms
from the WALL SPEAKER:
WALL SPEAKER (V.O.)
How-are-you-today-Doctor-Gillespie?
GILLESPIE
Piss ass good. And you?
ON COMPUTER SCREEN
We see Gillespie's voice print.
The doors spring open.
CUT TO:
INT. ELEVATOR
Gillespie going up in the elevator past the four floors of
glassed-in laboratories. At the first level, workers wear
civilian clothes. At the second level, they wear respir-
ators. At the third level, they wear body suits, and at
the fourth level they wear biosafety suits.
CUT TO:
INT. M.I.D.U. - SMALL LOCKER ROOM OUTSIDE BL-4 LABS -
STEADI-CAM SHOT
Mike and Izzy strip off their clothes.
IZZY
Admit it, for chrissakes: The dogs
will get better care with her than
they got with you.
GILLESPIE
That really cheers me up.
IZZY
You think cause we're friends I
should ignore reality.
GILLESPIE
I think cause we're friends you
might show some tact.
(CONTINUED)
29.
CONTINUED:
IZZY
You were gone so often that when
you were home... you spoiled 'em.
Robby keeps an even keel.
GILLESPIE
Hey, she's available...
IZZY
Don't think I haven't thought
about it.
GILLESPIE
You're just what she's looking
for. Mr. Stability. Three wives
in five years.
IZZY
Two. I never married Sherry. I
liked her too much...
Izzy pulls a red air hose down from the ceiling and in-
flates his space suit before he puts it on; this is stan-
dard safety procedure. Mike steps right into his suit.
IZZY
What are you doing?
GILLESPIE
What?
IZZY
You forgot to test your suit.
Look! It's torn.
There is a small tear on the left leg of Gillespie's suit.
They both realize Gillespie's mistake could have cost him
his life.
IZZY
(beams)
If I let you die, who've I got to
rag on?
FADE UP the sound of furiously RUSHING AIR, then:
CUT TO:
INT. FT. DETRICK MILITARY INFECTUOUS DISEASE UNIT
(M.I.D.U.) - BL-4 LAB - AIR LOCK
Gillespie and Berman, dressed in their BL-3 suits, stand
in the air lock.
(CONTINUED)
30.
CONTINUED:
There's no sound other than the FILTERED AIR RUSHING from
a WALL JET into the long red tubing attached to the back
of their helmets. These red tubes are called umbilical
cords. Gillespie disconnects his, punches the wall plate
and enters...
MAIN ROOM OF LAB
Quickly he connects to another umbilical cord; they hang
from the ceiling at ten foot intervals.
PAVAROTTI and SUTHERLAND singing the duet from "Lucia de
Lamamoore" BLASTS from the SPEAKERS. Whenever
Gillespie's in the lab, he's listening to opera. He
approaches...
The space-suited figure working under the hood. The
figure turns and smiles; it's Salt. Gillespie's
surprised. Salt salutes.
SALT
Good afternoon, Colonel, sir.
GILLESPIE
I thought you were doing your
thesis at Walter Reede.
SALT
A lot's been published on Herpes B
but nothing on this new virus.
GILLESPIE
So you were hoping to change
subjects and get your name on my
research papers?
IZZY
Our research papers.
SALT
I would do my share of the work,
sir. More.
IZZY
And you wouldn't have to worry
about anybody publishing the same
thing cause there ain't nobody
else crazy enough to work with
this dangerous a virus.
Salt hesitates, then beams.
(CONTINUED)
31.
CONTINUED:
SALT
Yes, sir! Have you given the
virus a name, sir?
GILLESPIE
Motaba... after the valley where
we found it.
SALT
I like it, sir.
IZZY
Like it? Listen to the way it
rolls off your tongue. Mo-ta-ba.
Like a perfume.
He lifts up a vial labeled MOTABA and puts it close to
his body as if he's putting on perfume.
Salt watches with horror. In spite of their BL-4 suits,
you just don't play with these things. Salt checks
Gillespie, expecting the same reaction, but...
Gillespie's enjoying the moment. He expects these things
from Berman.
Izzy rubs the vial against his chest, savoring the
experience.
IZZY
One drop and you feel... so
different... Your lover will never
recognize you again.
(shoving the vial
at Salt)
Have some, Captain.
Izzy tosses the vial of Motaba to Wally, who, terrified,
doesn't know whether to catch it or not. But he does.
IZZY
Good hands... That's important for
working with level 4 viruses.
Salt, trembling, notes that the vial is made of plastic.
SALT
This plastic is unbreakable,
right?
IZZY
So far.
(CONTINUED)
32.
CONTINUED:
A short, husky SPACE-SUITED FIGURE pushing a cart of test-
tubes round the corner. The name Owigatsuyama is embla-
zoned above his breast, Sergeant Major stripes on his arm.
THROUGH his visor we see the face of a Japanese-American
man in his early 60's with a warm friendly grin. We'll
know him as Owi.
OWI (SPACE-SUITED FIGURE)
(saluting Gillespie)
Sir.
(gesturing to Salt)
He's here early. No coffee breaks.
GILLESPIE
Should we let this guy horn in on
our new virus, Owi?
Owi hesitates.
OWI
I don't think so.
GILLESPIE
Well, that's that.
Salt nervously eyes Izzy: "Is this a joke?"
IZZY
Captain, Sergeant Owigatsuyama
here not only looks after
everything in this lab, but since
he knows the birthday of every
great tenor and soprano who ever
lived, Dr. Gillespie looks to him
for supreme guidance on all
matters.
SALT
Just a minute! I could've changed
the radio to jazz. I love jazz.
But I didn't. Whaddya haveta do
to get on here?
GILLESPIE
Get me a blood test for the Motaba
Virus.
SALT
With a PCR catalyst I should be
able to have a crude -- and I
underscore crude -- screening test
in a few weeks.
(CONTINUED)
33.
CONTINUED:
IZZY
Excellent. But nobody's asking
you to work a hundred and fifty
hours a week...
GILLESPIE
A hundred and twenty will be
plenty.
IZZY
Welcome aboard, Captain.
CUT TO:
INT. FORD'S OFFICE - LATER THAT NIGHT
Ford feeds flies to the Gila Monster. He looks out the
office window at the BL-4 lab where Salt is working late.
Ford moves on to the frog cages and feeds them too. He
looks back at the BL-4 lab: sees Salt exiting. The
lights go out.
CUT TO:
INT. FORD'S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER
Ford watches the bank of video monitors behind his desk:
one shows Salt in the parking lot, getting into his old
Fiat and leaving.
CUT TO:
INT. BL-4 LOCKER ROOM
Ford, naked, slips on his suit with the ease of Joe
Montana pulling on his helmet. He buckles the suit with-
out even looking, as if he's done it five thousand times.
FADE UP the sound of RUSHING AIR and...
CUT TO:
GILLESPIE'S BL-4 LAB
Ford steps out of the air lock, disconnects his red hose
and reconnects. He moves quickly across the room. Sud-
denly, his air tube snags on the side of the lab bench.
Ford stops, freaked. Quickly checks his hose. Indented,
but not broken. He breathes again.
(CONTINUED)
34.
CONTINUED:
FORD
The world is round, Gillespie.
Didn't anybody fucking teach you?
He grabs a metal file off the tool board and files down
the side of the bench until it's perfectly smooth and
round. Then moves on to...
One of the huge circular freezers in the center of the
lab. He punches in a seven-digit code on the keypad and
the LOCK SNAPS OPEN. He lifts the heavy lid. VAPOR
RUSHES OUT. He looks inside, sees the 65 aluminum test
tubes labeled "Motaba."
CUT TO:
NEGATIVE PRESSURE HOOD - FORD - MINUTES LATER
opening one test tube after another, expertly withdrawing
from each only a tiny sample of the virus, then putting it
into a large test tube. Suddenly --
The air lock opens and three BL-4 figures approach Ford.
We recognize the tall lean figure although he's 35 years
older: McClintock, now a Lieutenant General. Ford hands
him the large test tube.
FORD
Tell the boys the Old Man wants
the answer tonight.
McCLINTOCK
Yes, sir.
McClintock places the test tube into a clear plexiglass
container which is contained within a large plexiglass
container, each with its own combination lock. He twirls
the tumblers. The LOCKS SNAP into place.
CUT TO:
GILA MONSTER
Its eyes darting back and forth, ever watchful, trusting
nothing.
EXT. BALCONY - FORD'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Ford leans on the bannister oblivious to the Gila Monster
beside him. He's depressed and worried. In the distant
sky,, traces of orange and pink announce the new day.
From inside the office, a BEEP. Ford rushes...
35.
INT. FORD'S OFFICE
to his computer terminal. A message ratchets across the
screen: "ANALYSIS FINISHED"
He punches a computer key and swivels around in his
chair to see the huge video screen on the wall. It shows
two viral structures that look like DNA double helices.
One is labelled "CD-40 1960 (Motaba Valley)"; the other
is labelled "Motaba Virus - Gillespie - 1994."
Letters flash across the screen.
Ford puts on his horn-rimmed glasses and stares at the
screen. He doesn't breathe. A long beat.
FORD
You fucker, why couldn't you stay
dead?
CUT TO:
MOTABA RIVER VALLEY - DAY (AUGUST 24)
Deep in the rain forest, a trapper wheels a cage contain-
ing a baboon to a clearing where other trappers and
Government Health workers have lunch. Scattered around
them are cages filled with other animals they've caught
for Motaba Virus testing.
The DRONE of approaching PLANES builds. The animals hear
it first and grow restless. The Army troops guarding the
workers scan the sky but can't see the planes because of
the treetops. They scream into their walkie-talkies.
On the river, the Machine Gunner on the Army Patrol-Boat,
hears their reports and swivels his cannon around, scan-
ning the sky. But he can't see the planes either. The
DRONE becomes DEAFENING. Suddenly:
Over the treetops, three camouflage-painted DC-3 gunships
emerge, CANNONS FIRING right on target.
The Patrol Boat explodes into a shower of splinters.
The DC-3 Gunships turn and arc high into the sky.
On the ground the soldiers sight the planes. They OPEN
FIRE but the planes are out of range.
The ju-ju man comes out of his cave and watches the planes
circle back and release a waxy grey cloud.
The ju-ju Mmn raises his arms defiantly. He bares his
teeth and screams, and his cry fuses with:
(CONTINUED)
36.
CONTINUED:
EXPLODING NAPALM. The planes press on relentlessly,
extending the fireball mile after mile, extinguishing
all life.
CUT TO:
INT. FORD'S OFFICE - SHORT TIME LATER
Gillespie bursts in. Ford looks up from his desk.
GILLESPIE
The rebels hit Iwabi's camp.
FORD
I know.
He swivels around in his chair to the world map on the wall.
FORD
They hit Kisangani, Bukavu, and
Mbandaka as well. Three hundred
thousand acres of forest burned,
at least thirty-seven dead. I'm
trying to find out about Iwabi.
GILLESPIE
He's all right, thank God. He was
in Kinshasha at his clinic but
his entire field staff was killed.
His whole lab destroyed.
FORD
Terrible.
GILLESPIE
I want to continue working on
Motaba, sir.
FORD
Look, as a scientist, I appreciate
the fact that this one fascinates
you --
GILLESPIE
-- It scares the shit out of me,
sir.
FORD
Colonel, the Pentagon's biting my
ass cause we're months behind on
the Anthrax studies. Get 'em
finished. Take the heat off me.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
37.
CONTINUED:
FORD (CONT'D)
Then you can fiddle with Motaba
as much as you like.
GILLESPIE
Sir, if this virus came to
America --
FORD
-- Then it'd be outside our
mandate. The CDC takes care of
civilian problems. Christ, now
you've even got me buying into
your paranoia. We can't protect
everybody against everything.
We've got to make decisions based
on the odds, and the odds of
Motaba causing us any more trouble
are a billion to one.
INT. BL-4 LAB
Gillespie, Salt and Izzy search through the round freezer.
IZZY
Every sample of Motaba gone...
Where the fuck did he put it?
Owi looks contrite.
OWI
General Ford ordered me to move
all tubes to the sealed vault in A
wing... Only he has access. He
said you weren't gonna need it
for months.
Gillespie and his men are despondent.
GILLESPIE
Those were the only samples in the
world of Motaba, Iwabi lost all
his in the fire.
(to Owi)
There's got to be a way to get
that access code from Ford's
computer.
OWI
Sir, I don't want any more
trouble.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
38.
CONTINUED:
OWI (CONT'D)
It's bad enough that I already
made one mistake and forgot to
transfer one of the tubes of
Motaba. I seemed to have mixed
it up with a tube of common cold
virus. If I give you the tube,
I'm sure you'll fix my mistake,
sir.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gleaming
aluminium test tube with the words "Motaba #48" written
on the side.
GILLESPIE
I love it when you make mistakes,
Owi.
OWI
How do you know? I never made
one before now.
Hold on their grins, FADE UP the sound of FURIOUSLY
RUSHING WIND and:
CUT TO:
EXT. PACIFIC SEAS
A Dutch freighter plowing through the heavy seas.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "THE DUTCH FREIGHTER APELDORN.
AUGUST 29."
INT. FREIGHTER
In a cramped dark hold, Betsy stares sadly through the
bars of her cage at her captor, SEAMAN SECOND CLASS
DIETER JANS, 21-years-old and making his first trip.
SEAMAN JANS
(in Dutch)
What's the matter, girl?
Dieter pushes a banana through the bar of the cage, and
Betsy snatches it. Then she retreats with it to the far
corner of the cage and studies Seaman Jans with plaintive
eyes. PULL BACK to show the ship headed for the Golden
Gate Bridge.
SMASH CUT TO:
39.
EXT. DOCKS (SAN FRANCISCO) - DAY
Betsy stares out from her cage as it swings down from
ship to wharf.
CUT TO:
BIOTEST ANIMAL HOLDING FACILITY (SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA)
We're in a long aisle with monkey cages stacked two high
on both sides. A translucent skylight gives this place
a greenhouse glow.
A forklift putters down the aisle with Betsy's cage in
front. Betsy's cage is lifted up and placed into a slot.
Betsy stands out from all the other monkeys because she
is the only black and white Colobos -- the other monkeys
are all brown rhesus.
Betsy's cage slides into place. BETSY SHRIEKS at the
man in the forklift.
JIMBO SCOTT, 23-years-young, long, scraggly hair, an
aspiring rock and roll drummer working here to make ends
meet. Jimbo's BEEPER SOUNDS. He checks the message,
then looks puzzled.
CUT TO:
EXT. BIOTEST GUARD GATE - NIGHT
Jimbo's red Nissan pulls up to the exit lane of the guard
gate. The GUARD leans over.
GUARD
Hey, Jimbo, I saw your band last
night. Hot! I didn't know you
were such a good drummer, man.
JIMBO
Wait'll I get my new traps. The
world'll never be the same.
The Guard raises the gate and Jimbo drives forward.
CUT TO:
SIDE OF DARK ROAD
Jimbo opens the trunk to reveal Betsy, drugged, asleep
in her cage. Jimbo slides Betsy's cage out of the trunk
and places it in the back seat.
CUT TO:
40.
INTERSTATE FIVE (OREGON) - DAY
Jimbo speeds along in his red Nissan.
INT. RED NISSAN
In her cage in the back seat, Betsy moves back and forth
restlessly, a baby bottle of water in her hand.
JIMBO
Cars put babies to sleep, why
not you?
Betsy takes a mouthful of water and spits it on Jimbo.
His reaction is instant rage. He slams the cage:
JIMBO
You stupid fucking monkey!
Why'dya wanna go and do that?
He shoves the cage further away. Then he sees it - a
small cut on his hand, caused by a couple of wire pro-
trusions on the cage. He rubs the blood off on his shirt.
The Nissan roars down the road.
CUT TO:
EXTREME CLOSEUP - TISSUE CULTURE - THROUGH ELECTRON
MICROSCOPE
A normal cell.
SALT (O.S.)
A normal healthy liver cell.
The image changes.
SALT (O.S.)
Infected cell.
The infected cell is swollen and filled with black brick-
like structures.
SALT (O.S.)
Bricks of virus. They multiply
until...
The image changes: the bricks have completely overrun the
cell, shattering its outer membrane so that bricks run
rampant inside and outside the cell.
(CONTINUED)
41.
CONTINUED:
SALT (O.S.)
They explode the cell and destroy
it. Then they move on to the next
healthy cell. And the next. 'Til
there's nothing left to kill.
INT. BL-4 LAB - M.I.D.U.
Gillespie, Berman, and Salt, dressed in their biosafety
suits, peer at the video monitor hooked up to the electron
microscope. Salt flicks a switch on the console to
change the magnification. The fuzzy brick-like structures
are computer enhanced and enlarged to razor-sharp crystal-
line structures that look like huge ominous steel balls
climbing up the sides of thick pillars.
IZZY
There's our guy, Mr. Motaba.
GILLESPIE
Ugly bastard, isn't he?
SALT
I wouldn't let him date my sister.
CUT TO:
EXTREME CLOSEUP - MICROSCOPE FIELD
as the image comes INTO FOCUS we see a wavy purple out-
line of a cell.
SALT (O.S.)
The blood test. Normal is this --
pure purple. But if you're
infected...
Focus changes and another image fills the screen: the
field is filled with wide patches of red circles.
Gillespie and Berman each peer into the scope.
GILLESPIE
If you're red, you're dead. Is
that what you're telling me?
SALT
That's right, Colonel. The virus
doesn't know the Cold War is over.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
42.
CONTINUED:
SALT (CONT'D)
(beat)
But the rest is just a quickie; I
haven't had time to refine it.
There are false negatives, purples
that should be red. I don't know
why yet.
GILLESPIE
How long to fix it?
SALT
Hard to say.
GILLESPIE
How long?
IZZY
Hey, don't pressure the kid! It
took the NIH guys eight months to
get the kinks outa the AIDS test...
And they didn't have to put up with
your nagging.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. SMALL ANIMAL TESTING ROOM - TRAVELING SHOT
Gillespie, Berman and Salt moving rapidly through the
room within the BL-4 lab.
IZZY
This bug definitely ate its
Wheaties.
ANGLE ON FOURTEEN CAGES
each contains three or four different small mammals --
rats, guinea pigs, small lab mice, hamster, and rabbits.
All stone dead.
IZZY
It survives in air for twelve
hours, and it survives in water
for two hours.
GILLESPIE
(incredulous)
Bullshit.
(CONTINUED)
43.
CONTINUED:
IZZY
Hey, this little bugger's so hardy
it can read the whole Sunday NY
Times and not die, it can run the
hundred in nine flat, and it can
kill fish faster than my cat.
Voila!
A fish tank with a dozen dead fish floating on top.
IZZY
No test species has survived, even
when I've treated them with all
antivirals, including every damn
antiserum. What's even worse is
there's a latency phase. Iwabi
didn't see this in Zaire, I don't
know why, but some of the animals
I've tested had the infection a
long time before they showed any
symptoms. They even tested
negative but had the disease. If
this is true of humans... why we
could have it ourselves and not
know it.
SALT
Yet be spreading it.
IZZY
Exactly.
SALT
Holy shit.
INT. RUDY'S PET SHOP (BONNEVILLE, OREGON) - DAY
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "BONNEVILLE, OREGON... FRIDAY,
AUGUST 31."
Jimbo slides a cage containing Betsy into a space beside
a cage containing a male brown RHESUS MONKEY. He grabs
the bars of his cage and HISSES. Betsy cowers.
RUDY ALVAREZ, the owner of the shop, slips on a pair of
gloves and opens the cage, reaches in for Betsy. She
tries to avoid his grasp.
RUDY
You got the papers and all?
(CONTINUED)
44.
CONTINUED:
JIMBO
Yeah, sure... I got the papers.
She's legal.
RUDY
Whaddya mean 'she'?
Betsy takes advantage of the opening and bolts out of the
cage, heading for the window. As Rudy and Jimbo both
chase after her, Rudy is steaming.
RUDY
I told you a male.
JIMBO
You said 'she'.
RUDY
Bullshit! I said 'he'. The
customer's already got a female
Colobos. He wants to breed 'em.
Betsy slams against the glass. Rudy grabs her.
RUDY
C'mon, baby... c'mon.
She lashes out at his naked forearm, digging her nails
into him, drawing blood. He yelps and lets go, and she
runs away to the other side of the room, passing the
brown rhesus, who eyes a half-eaten banana in Betsy's
cage. He grabs it and scarfs it down.
Jimbo finally grabs Betsy from behind. Rudy grabs her
from the front and they thrust her back into her cage.
Rudy wipes the blood off his arm.
RUDY
Get this bitch outa here.
JIMBO
What about my money?
RUDY
Go back and get me a male Colobos.
JIMBO
We ain't got one. This was the
only Colobos we had... Look, I'll
sell her cheap.
RUDY
I wouldn't take her for free.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
45.
CONTINUED:
RUDY (CONT'D)
(indicating the
Brown Rhesus)
I can't even sell this one.
JIMBO
(depressed)
Hey, I need some money now, man.
Rudy hesitates.
JIMBO
I done you a lot of favors.
Rudy pulls out a billfold.
RUDY
All right... Fifty bucks for
your expenses. A lot more when
you bring me a male.
JIMBO
What am I going to do with her?
Rudy shrugs.
CUT TO:
SMALL ROAD DEEP IN FOREST - LATER THAT DAY
Jimbo opens the cage which is sitting on the side of the
road by the Nissan, but Betsy shrinks back in a corner
of the cage. Jimbo feels sorry for her.
JIMBO
Look at all the trees. It's like
home.
Jimbo jabs her lightly with a drumstick. She runs out of
the cage but stops at the edge of the road, afraid of the
forest she doesn't know.
JIMBO
(flicking pebbles
at her)
C'mon, get. Get!
She scampers off into the forest. Jimbo follows her
with his eyes, a little saddened.
CUT TO:
46.
INT. 757 CABIN
Jimbo Scott is asleep against the window in the back
row of the plane.
BILLY BOY (O.S.)
Bang, bang! You're dead.
Jimbo bolts up, and looks groggily at the four-year-
old boy standing on the next seat: he's dressed in
a cowboy's outfit with a huge sheriff's star pinned
to his chest. He sneezes right in Jimbo's face. His
mother puts down her Cosmo.
BILLY BOY'S MOTHER
Billy!? Say you're sorry.
(to Jimbo)
He's so excited; he's going to
see his cousins.
BILLY BOY
My uncle's a real cowboy at a
rodeo.
Jimbo looks terrible. His eyes are red and he's
having trouble swallowing. He grabs his pillow and
blanket and gets up. Billy jabs his six guns into
Jimbo's belly:
BILLY BOY
Where d'you think you're goin',
mister?
JIMBO
Someplace they don't have lawmen.
He goes to the back of the plane where's it's deserted,
and lies down across three seats. His body shakes
with a chill. He pulls the blanket tight against his
chest.
CUT TO:
EXT. LOGAN AIRPORT (BOSTON) - DAY
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: LOGAN AIRPORT, BOSTON, SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 1.
The 757 glides almost silently over Boston Harbor as
it sweeps in towards Logan Airport.
47.
LOGAN AIRPORT - GATE
Jimbo lumbers out and is greeted by a young woman
with long scraggly hair who wears blue jeans and an
old, faded T-shirt that says "Metallica." Her name
is ALICE, and she puts her arm around Jimbo and hugs
him.
ALICE
What'sa matter, honey?
JIMBO
Some little brat gave me his cold.
She plants a kiss on him and pats his ass.
ALICE
Too many late nights, that's all.
Come home to bed.
Jimbo smiles and pulls her close.
CUT TO:
EXT. MOUNTAIN FOREST - NIGHT
Betsy's eyes glow in the moonlight. She looks hungry
and sad. She hears the SHRIEK of a HAWK and freezes.
These are foreign sounds. She moves stealthily
across the forest floor.
CUT TO:
MOUNTAIN FOREST - LATER THAT NIGHT
A patch of wild blackberries grow in a thicket. Betsy
begins eating them ravenously. Then she HEARS
SOMETHING and turns to see --
A coyote poised to leap. Betsy races up a pine tree.
HER POV
The COYOTE BARKS below. He's joined by his mate. The
coyotes settle in for a long, hungry wait.
Betsy is terrified.
CUT TO:
48.
MOUNTAIN FOREST - FOLLOWING MORNING
Betsy, still high up in the pine tree, looks down on --
The COYOTES, still waiting. One of them pricks up his
ears and GROWLS. Suddenly a SHOT rings out, and the
coyotes bolt.
In the distance a hunter takes aim and FIRES again.
Betsy cowers behind the tree, hiding herself from this
new danger.
The hunter runs under Betsy's tree, rifle in hand,
cursing to himself, hell bent on killing the coyotes.
CLOSE ON BETSY IN TREE
She waits as TWO more SHOTS ring out in the distance,
then slowly climbs down.
INT. DR. DREW REYNOLDS' OFFICE - DAY
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, CENTER
FOR DISEASE CONTROL (CDC), ATLANTA, SEPTEMBER 1."
DR. DREW REYNOLDS, 55, dressed in a doctor's coat,
paces in front of a bookcase filled with medical tomes
and topped by tennis trophies. Reynolds has a rest-
less energy; he squeezes a tennis ball as he listens
to Robby, sitting in a chair across from his desk,
with a folder of fax papers in her papers. She's
clearly intimidated by him, which is his intended
effect on everyone.
ROBBY
Dr. Gillespie wants us to send
out a special bulletin warning all
physicians to watch out for any
symptoms of a virus from Zaire
named 'Motaba.' He thinks it's
serious enough to warrant
emergency reporting nationwide,
that it can't wait for our regular
monthly report.
DREW REYNOLDS
Which will be released next week,
correct?
ROBBY
Wednesday.
(CONTINUED)
49.
CONTINUED:
DREW REYNOLDS
To get out a special bulletin for
four hundred thousand health
professionals is about a hundred
and fifty thousand dollars.
ROBBY
Dr. Gillespie says it's the worst
virus he's ever studied --
DREW REYNOLDS
-- Forgive me, Robby, but this is
the guy who found three cases of
Congo Fever in Nairobi in '87,
and suddenly it's in every
American kid's lunch box --
ROBBY
-- You're not being fair --
DREW REYNOLDS
In '91 he said Tsutsugamushi
Fever was coming. In '92 it was
Ebola. His panics cost us plenty.
Around here he's known as Doctor
Doom.
ROBBY
He could've been right about any
of them. Rule out the worst
first... that's what my father
always taught.
DREW REYNOLDS
Your father was one of the
greatest Surgeon Generals this
country ever had. He took me
under his wing and let me fly.
I've always been grateful. And
I've always had a special feeling
for you, Robby. The... pain it
gave him to see you working under
Gillespie... all your promise...
the man never gave you a chance
to show it.
A long silence. Drew has hit home.
DREW REYNOLDS
Look, is there a shred of evidence
that Motaba is more transmissible
than the other filoviruses we've
seen in the past?
(CONTINUED)
50.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
No.
DREW REYNOLDS
Then as long as the bulletin goes
out next week, we're covered.
CUT TO:
INT. ELEVATOR (DESCENDING) - ROBBY
alone, very depressed, leans against the wall. We
sense, if somebody walked in and said hello, she'd cry.
The doors open into her floor and she gets out, not
making eye contact with anyone. She enters...
HER EXPANSIVE OFFICE
Her young assistants, DR. JULIO SANCHEZ and DR. LISA
ARONSON, faxes in hand, join her from their neighboring
offices.
LISA ARONSON
An E-Coli outbreak in Michigan at
a couple of Ronny's steakhouse
franchises.
JULIO SANCHEZ
And -- a couple of fevers of
unknown origin at Boston Municipal
that the infectious disease docs
can't figure out. That's all
we've got on the log.
ROBBY
(jesting)
The Boston case is not some guy
out of Zaire... with Motaba, is it?
LISA ARONSON
(laughs)
Yeah, right! Nah, it's a couple
of Americans. No unusual travel.
JULIO SANCHEZ
They've probably got some atypical
strain of Lyme and the Boston
doctors have just missed the boat.
ROBBY
Then let's see if we can throw
them a lifeline.
51.
INT. RUDY'S PET SHOP (BONNEVILLE, OREGON) CLOSE ON
RUDY - DAY
He doesn't look good, his face is flushed and sweaty,
his eyes glassy. He turns the "Closed" sign around to
"Open" and unlocks the door for an elderly lady,
MRS. FOOTE, standing impatiently outside with her fat
Persian cat in her arms. The BELL TINKLES as the door
opens and she enters.
MRS. FOOTE
Rorshie didn't like the shredded
veal wafers. I asked her and she
said, 'Can we change it for the
beef chips?'
He's not up for this today.
MRS. FOOTE
Are you okay, Rudy?
RUDY
I'm fine, Mrs. Foote... it's hot.
That's all. Lemme open a win--
Suddenly his face twitches, his body stiffens, his
eyes roll back and he falls to the floor, convulsing
violently.
Mrs. Foote screams.
CUT TO:
INT. BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL - EMERGENCY ROOM
COMPUTER KEYS POUNDING: "EMERGENCY ROOM, BONNEVILLE
GENERAL HOSPITAL - SEPTEMBER 1, 08:50."
DR. MASCELLI, 43, a local G.P. auscultates Rudy's
chest with his stethoscope. A nurse, EMMA, starts
an IV. A second nurse, Jim, puts an oxygen mask over
Rudy's face. The lab tech, HENRY, 23, very serious,
wraps a tourniquet around Rudy's arm and draws some
blood into three colored tubes.
DR. MASCELLI
C'mon, Rudy, talk to me!
No response. Dr. Mascelli rubs his knuckles into
Rudy's chest. Rudy groans.
EMMA
They said he was fine yesterday.
(CONTINUED)
52.
CONTINUED:
DR. MASCELLI
(rattled)
And now he's in shock with
pneumonia.
(to Henry)
Get me some blood cultures.
Henry nods as he fills a lavendar-topped tube with
Rudy's blood.
DR. MASCELLI
I've been reading about real bad
strep cases. I bet this is one of
'em. Emma, don't leave him alone.
His heart could stop any minute.
CUT TO:
LAB - CLOSE ON LAVENDER-TOPPED TUBE - MINUTES LATER
spinning in a centrifuge. Henry turns it off. In the
b.g., the RADIO BLARES with the MARINERS -- ANGELS
game:
BASEBALL RADIO
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Johnson's ready... Checks the
runners... Salmon is waiting.
Johnson delivers.
(a LOUD CRACK)
That ball is hit. Deep... deep...
it's gone. The Angels win!
HENRY
Damn!
Without thinking he reaches into the centrifuge, but
it's still spinning. The lavendar tube shatters,
spraying Rudy's blood everywhere.
Henry squints. He's got blood in his eye. He rushes
to the sink and washes it out.
CUT TO:
EMERGENCY ROOM OFFICE - MINUTES LATER
Dr. Mascelli trying to calm Henry.
(CONTINUED)
53.
CONTINUED:
DR. MASCELLI
You washed it out. Don't worry.
But just in case, I'll put you
on some penicillin
prophylactically.
HENRY
I wouldn't want to give it to my
girl friend.
DR. MASCELLI
(nudging Henry)
Cheer up, the penicillin'll kill
that, too.
Henry manages a smile.
CUT TO:
INT. VICTORIA STREET THEATRE
COMPUTER KEYS POUNDING: "VICTORIA STREET THEATRE,
BONNEVILLE, OREGON - SEPTEMBER 1, 20:25 PDT."
Henry sits with his girl friend, CORINNE, watching
a showing of the Warner-Kopelson blockbuster, Thief
Of Araby. Henry starts to cough violently, then
stands up.
CORRINE
Honey, what's wrong?
He's sweaty and pale.
HENRY
Nothin'. Just thirsty... Lemme
get something to drink and I'll
be okay.
Henry heads up the aisle in the darkened theatre.
INT. THEATRE LOBBY - CONCESSION COUNTER
Henry hits the concession stand line just as it's
filling up before another movie in this multiplex.
He's still coughing. He covers his mouth as he coughs
again and again.
(CONTINUED)
54.
CONTINUED:
Movie patrons, children and adults, on all sides of
him are exposed to his "cold." HOLD ON each of their
faces for a second as Henry pushes his way to the
front of the line and grabs a handful of napkins.
HENRY
Could I please get something to
drink?
TRACY, the salesgirl with a spiked haircut regards him
with a hostile glance.
TRACY
You'll have to wait your turn,
sir.
HENRY
Please -- I'm not feeling too good.
A large Coke. Or Pepsi. I don't
care.
At the front of the line, a black woman (MRS. LOGAN)
with a streak of purple in her hair holds her toddler
in her arms. She sees that Henry is ill.
MRS. LOGAN
That's okay, let him go first.
Henry, coughing violently, slaps down three dollars.
Tracy serves him.
INT. DARKENED THEATRE
Henry walks down the aisle with his drink in hand. He
stumbles and falls forward, spilling the drink all
over a MOVIE PATRON sitting on the aisle.
MOVIE PATRON
Hey?! Watch what you're...
When he sees Henry sprawled face down on the carpet,
he's scared. He touches Henry's back:
MOVIE PATRON
Hey, buddy...? Usher!! Usher!!
SHOCK CUT TO:
INT. BOSTON MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL
COMPUTERS KEYS POUND: "BOSTON MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL."
(CONTINUED)
55.
CONTINUED:
Dr. Julio Sanchez from the CDC and THREE OTHER DOCTORS,
dressed in full surgical smock, cap, foot covers, and
gloves, stride briskly down the hall and approach
double-doors marked "Quarantine: Protective Clothing
Required" in red letters. They put on positive
pressure respirator face masks and we hear the sound
of RUSHING AIR. They push through the double-doors.
INT. QUARANTINE WARD
Jimbo lies near death in one bed, and his girl friend --
Alice lies near death in another. Plastic drapes
have been placed over both beds, holding the air
inside.
CLOSE ON JIMBO
The scarlet hemorrhagic rash can be seen on his
cheeks. Blood trickles from his nose and his mouth,
and soaks his sheets. Dr. Sanchez is shocked at how
far gone Jimbo is.
JULIO SANCHEZ
(loudly)
Mister Scott -- Jimbo... We're
trying to figure out how you got
this disease. It's important, so
try to help me. You work at an
animal facility in San Jose --
Jimbo's eyes are blank. He's dead.
BOSTON DOCTOR #1
What's this guy got?
JULIO SANCHEZ
I don't know. That's why we'll
need a post.
BOSTON DOCTOR #2
No way. I'm not gonna slip and
cut myself and get what he's got.
BOSTON DOCTOR #1
Me neither.
Suddenly from under her plastic protective shield,
Alice stares over at Jimbo's bed. She calls out,
her voice a whisper:
(CONTINUED)
56.
CONTINUED:
ALICE
Jimbo -- Jimbo? Honey, are you
all right...? Answer me, please.
Alice has just spoken her last words. FADE UP the
WHIR of a SUCTION PUMP and...
CUT TO:
INT. BOSTON MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL - PATHOLOGY LAB
Boston Doctor #3, in a biosafety suit, stares at Jimbo's
naked body lying on the autopsy table. Dr. Sanchez,
also in a biosafety suit, stands opposite.
JULIO SANCHEZ
Go very carefully, very slowly.
Maximum sharps precautions.
Sweat drips off Boston Doctor #3's face, fogging his
visor. He starts to make the first cut, but his hand
is trembling too much.
JULIO SANCHEZ
Don't let your eyes leave the
blade. Ever. And you'll be okay.
Doctor #3 cuts deep into Jimbo's ribs but no matter
how slowly he cuts, the sharp edge of the scalpel
seems too close to his fingers. PULL BACK to reveal
they're doing the autopsy in a plastic tent using
negative pressure suction pumps. As the PUMPS WHIR...
CUT TO:
AUTOPSY TENT - LATER
BOSTON DOCTOR #3
Jesus -- the liver, spleen,
kidneys -- they've turned into
jelly.
CUT TO:
OPERATING ROOM NURSING STATION
JULIO SANCHEZ
(into phone)
It's as if they swallowed a bomb
and it went off inside them.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
57.
CONTINUED:
JULIO SANCHEZ (CONT'D)
I don't know if it's Motaba but
it sure looks like what Gillespie
described.
INTERCUT WITH:
ROBBY
at her kitchen table. Petrified. We see she's been
working late: her laptop's on, papers are strewn about.
ROBBY
(into phone)
How many were exposed?
JULIO SANCHEZ
Too many. The medical staff
didn't know what they were dealing
with so they didn't take
precautions. They're scared outa
their minds.
Julio gazes through the glassed-in walls at the half-
dozen pathology residents and nurses, peering at him
with worried expressions. He spins around in his
chair so he doesn't have to see them.
JULIO SANCHEZ
That's just the beginning.
Patient zero -- this guy Jimbo
Scott -- worked in an animal
quarantine facility in San Jose,
California. That's probably where
he picked it up. Probably the
whole place is infected by now and
is gonna have to be nuked.
(beat)
It gets worse. Jimbo here takes
a goddamn plane from Portland to
Boston. The plane stopped in
Chicago. Two hundred and eight
people on the first leg, and
Christ, something like two hundred
and fifty on the second! If this
guy was infectious, by now the
whole country's been exposed. And
Gillispie says there's no treatment
for this mother, nothing to do but
pronounce people dead. What are
we supposed to do, Robby? Christ,
what the hell are we supposed to do?
(CONTINUED)
58.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
(coolly)
Gillespie said Motaba only spreads
by direct contact, that the
disease isn't airborne. Was
patient zero coughing?
Sanchez flips through Scott's medical record.
JULIO SANCHEZ
I don't see anything about his
coughing.
ROBBY
Then the people on the plane are
probably okay. But we're going to
have to check every one of them
out. Plus all the medical staff
who worked on him and his
girl friend. Plus all their recent
contacts.
JULIO SANCHEZ
-- That's thousands of people --
ROBBY
-- I don't see a choice --
JULIO SANCHEZ
-- This whole hospital is buzzin'
with rumors... it's gonna hit the
press real soon. What are we
gonna tell them?
ROBBY
That the C.D.C. is investigating
the situation, but we do not feel
there's reason for alarm. I know
it's scary, Julio, but the truth
is we don't know what it is yet.
JULIO SANCHEZ
Gillespie's the only one who can
tell us.
Robby has mixed emotions: the last person she wants to
involve is her ex-husband.
ROBBY
Send him everything by stat
courier.
JULIO SANCHEZ
Got it.
(CONTINUED)
59.
CONTINUED:
He hangs up. STAY WITH Robby: her mind racing. She
punches in a speed-dial key. An operator answers:
OPERATOR (V.O.)
Center for Disease Control.
ROBBY
This is Dr. Keough. Put out a
stage three alert.
OPERATOR (V.O.)
Your password, Doctor?
ROBBY
Zebra, Apple, Charley, Kill.
CUT TO:
WAR ROOM OF C.D.C (23:00)
A wan Drew Reynolds enters this large, frenetic room
crowded with doctors and staff man the phone banks and
fax machines that take up an entire wall. Along another
wall is a huge electronic map of the U.S. A red circle
blinks on Boston. Reynolds knows that if Motaba Virus
rips through America, he's scapegoat number one. He
makes his way to --
Robby at the large desk in the middle of the room.
ROBBY
(into phone)
Great! Now get the list of all
his friends in San Jose. I want
to know every contact the last
last five days.
She hangs up, turns to Lisa Aronson, on the phone at the
next desk.
ROBBY
Paitent Zero didn't take a
commercial plane to Portland.
Presumably he went by car. Fax
every emergency room in the
Portland area a description of the
disease. Then hit every hospital
along every freeway from San Jose
to Portland.
LISA ARONSON
Right.
(CONTINUED)
60.
CONTINUED:
Drew Reyonlds sits down at Robby's desk. Suddenly he
looks much older.
DREW REYNOLDS
We don't even have confirmation.
This could all be for noth --
ROBBY
-- Worst first. My father never
made the same mistake twice.
Reynolds is humbled.
CUT TO:
INT. BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPTIAL - INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
Corinne stands at Henry's bedside. She's getting sick
too: pale, sweating, starting to cough, but she's more
worried about Henry, who's barely conscious.
DR. MASCELLI
Henry, we got it early, and you're
gonna make it. But I need you to fight.
Henry stares at him with blank eyes.
CORRINE
Fight, Henry. Fight hard.
The OVERHEAD PAGING SYSTEM GOES OFF.
PAGING OPERATOR (V.O.)
Dr. Mascelli, E.R. stat. Dr.
Mascelli, E.R. stat...
Dr. Mascelli rushes out.
CUT TO:
EMERGENCY ROOM
Two paramedics wheel in Tracy, the Movie Counter Sales-
girl with the spiked haircut. Her father runs alongside.
TRACY'S FATHER
Doc, she got sick so fast. I
thought it was the flu, then she
fainted in the bathroom. She's
hot, Doc, so hot.
HOLD ON Dr. Mascelli's fear, then --
CUT TO:
61.
E.R. HALLWAY - MASCELLI - MINUTES LATER
He's searching through a thick book on infectious
diseases. Nurse Emma approaches, near tears:
EMMA
What's wrong with these people?
DR. MASCELLI
I don't know.
INTERCUT EMERGENCY ROOM - B.G.
We see a roomful of people waiting to check in, including
Mrs. Logan (the black woman with purple hair) and her
toddler. Suddenly the toddler starts coughing and
coughing. His lips turn blue.
MRS. LOGAN
(screams)
My baby. My baby!
Dr. Mascelli throws down the book and rushes out, past --
The FAX MACHINE, spitting out a sheet of paper. The words
at the top declare: "Center for Disease Control, Atlanta,
Emergency Bulletin."
FADE UP the ROAR of a CHOPPER and --
CUT TO:
FT. DETRICK - HELIPORT (23:50)
As the BELL CHOPPER emblazoned with the Boston Police
logo hits ground, Gillespie, Berman, Salt and Owi yank
open the doors and pull out the two shiny aluminum
coffins.
INT. GILLESPIE'S BL-4 LAB
The aluminum coffins containing Jimbo Scott and Alice
still lie open. Gillespie, Berman, and Owi anxiously
watch Salt slip a slide under the scope and peer though
the eyepieces. A long beat. He moves carefully from one
field to the next.
IZZY
C'mon, for chrissakes.
Salt shifts to another field, looks at it long and hard.
Pulls his head back: hopelessness in his eyes.
CUT TO:
62.
INT. FORD'S OFFICE
A fuzzy, bright fluorescent glow FILLS the SCREEN. As
the image comes INTO FOCUS, we see the ugly, large red
circles of Motaba.
ANOTHER ANGLE
A shaken Bill Ford pulls back from his scope. He tries
to project an air of calm:
FORD
P.C.R. tests are tricky. It's
easy to make a mistake --
GILLESPIE
-- Yeah, I followed your orders
instead of my gut.
He grabs the phone and punches in a long distance number.
GILLESPIE
I should've blasted our African
findings across every newspaper
in the country.
(into phone)
Robby.
INTERCUT C.D.C. WAR ROOM - ROBBY
One person after another sees her on the phone and real-
izes what this is about. Within seconds the room is si-
lent. Drew Reynolds squeezes his tennis ball. Robby's
shoulders sag with dismay.
ROBBY
(into phone)
You're sure?
Reynolds drops the ball. Around the room: shock; even
though they all anticipated the positive result, nobody
can quite believe it.
GILLESPIE
(into phone)
You need my help, Robby.
Robby, flustered, doesn't answer.
GILLESPIE
I know this virus, you don't.
I've worked this virus, you
haven't. How many people are
infected?
(CONTINUED)
63.
CONTINUED:
She's afraid to tell him.
GILLESPIE
How many?
ROBBY
We don't know. We've only got a
whole emergency room full of
people in Bonneville, Oregon, and
we don't know what they've got.
GILLESPIE
(dismayed)
How could that many people get
infected so fast?
ROBBY
We're not sure.
GILLESPIE
Robby, don't get anywhere near
this thing.
Robby doesn't answer.
GILLESPIE
You've been in an office for years.
You've forgotten what these things
are like.
ROBBY
I worked with the A.I.D.S. virus.
GILLESPIE
That's level two, nothing! This
is level four. Stay the fuck
away, Robby.
ON ROBBY
She is scared.
BACK TO SCENE
GILLESPIE
Please, Robby. Stay away.
ROBBY
I need to be able to test a lot of
people and quickly. I need the
primer --
(CONTINUED)
64.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
Why has it always been so hard for
you to admit that you need
anything from me?
ROBBY
I don't have time to fight with
you. I'll have a courier pick up
the primer at 01:00.
She hangs up without giving him a chance to respond.
GILLESPIE
Robby!
Hands trembling, he hangs up the phone. Ford says
nothing, but in his eyes -- pity.
GILLESPIE
Request permission to bring my
team to Bonneville, Oregon, sir.
FORD
Request denied. Civilian infections
are not within our mandate --
GILLESPIE
-- A Presidential order can override --
FORD
Let the C.D.C. do its job. If they
need help, they know we're here.
GILLESPIE
The Goddamn fuse is lit! What're
you gonna do? Wait for the bomb
to go off?
FORD
We don't live in the African bush.
We don't crap in our streets, we don't
drink dirty well water filled with
spit. The disease will be stopped.
GILLESPIE
Yeah? Today, maybe they've got a
handful... By tomorrow they could
have a hundred, and the day after
that, a thousand. When the
President and Congress ask why you
didn't bring in one group, the
only group in the entire world
with experience in fighting this
disease, what're you gonna say?
(CONTINUED)
65.
CONTINUED:
FORD
You don't obey orders, Gillespie.
You're the last person I'd send.
GILLESPIE
I'm sending a letter to the Surgeon
General right now. I'm going to
create a paper trail. You will fry.
Gillespie storms out. Ford remains unruffled.
INT. GILLESPIE'S SMALL, CLUTTERED OFFICE
Gillespie bursts into the room and slams the door.
He grabs the glass PAPERWEIGHT off his desk and throws it
against the wall. It SHATTERS.
He stops. A moment of hesitation.
INT. FT. ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE - CONTORL TOWER
SERGEANT MUCIA picks up the phone. The wall clock reads
midnight.
SERGEANT MUCIA
Fort Andrews. Air traffic control.
Sergeant Mucia.
INTERCUT MUCIA WITH GILLESPIE IN HIS OFFICE
GILLESPIE
Sergeant, this is Colonel Gillespie
at Fort Detrick. We're on code
red status for Bonneville, Oregon.
Time of departure 01:00.
SERGEANT MUCIA
That's not possible, sir.
GILLESPIE
Is that Mucia with a 'C' or an
'S'?
SERGEANT MUCIA
(nervous)
'C,' sir.
(CONTINUED)
66.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
Get it done, Sergeant. That's a
direct oroder from General Ford.
SERGEANT MUCIA
Yes, sir.
CUT TO:
EXT. FT. ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE
Flood lights illuminate dozens of enlisted men rapidly
wheeling equipment into the open hatch of the huge C5A
standing on the tarmac.
Gillespie, Salt, and Berman approach the plane, Gillespie
in the lead, the others two steps behind.
SALT
The C.D.C. asked us? That doesn't
sound like them.
GILLESPIE
They're going to have to show the
President they did everything
possible.
There's a nervousness in Izzy's face, something we've
seen before.
GILLESPIE
Get a bunch of paper pushers scared
enough, they'll do anything.
CUT TO:
INT. FORD'S OFFICE
He punches the words "Bonneville, Oregon" into his
computer. The computer answers: "Population: 1218.
Portland Metropolitan Area: Population: 532,000." He
punches another key. A TELEPHONE speed dial WHISTLES
across the room.
CUT TO:
EXT. DUGWAY (UTAH) - NIGHT
A gila monster hunts for prey, its eye darting back and
forth, its tongue twitching hungrily. It runs off,
vanishing in the dry chaparral and desert that stretches
for hundreds of miles.
(CONTINUED)
67.
CONTINUED:
We're seemingly in the middle of nowhere until we find --
An electrified barbed-wire fence emblazoned with signs
warning: "U.S. Military Property: Trespassing Strictly
Prohibited."
Behind the fence stand rows of huge satellite scanners.
Behind them are rows of duplexes. Inside one of the du-
plexes a light comes on.
INT. DUPLEX
McClintock grabs the PHONE RINGING by his bed.
INTERCUT FORD AND MCLINTOCK
FORD
The genie's out of the bottle in
Bonneville, Oregon, Donny, and
we've got to get him back in.
General McClintock looks dumb.
FORD
Cancel all leaves. Mobilize all
personnel. I'm going to want wind
conditions and transmission rates
-- for all insects, animals,
marine, and human vectors. If
this virus is spreading, I want to
know how fast and where.
He looks at his computer monitor, which projects a map of
Western Oregon: the town of Bonneville is close to the
Columbia River.
FORD
Bonneville's only five miles from
the Columbia River and if this
mother gets there, we're in big
shit trouble.
CUT TO:
EXT/INT. C5A
Flying in heavey weather.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: September 3, 02:30.
The Radioman turns to Gillespie, seated with Izzy and
Salt in the back of the cockpit.
(CONTINUED)
68.
CONTINUED:
RADIOMAN
We've got the Secretary of Defense
on the radio. They had to wake
him up.
Gillespie unstraps himself and takes hold of the
microphone.
GILLESPIE
(into mike)
Tell him it is Colonel Mike
Gillespie, Commander of the U.S.
Army Motaba Virus Task Force.
INTERCUT WITH:
SMALL OAK-LINED STUDY (VIRGINIA)
where PHILLIP GOODELL, the Secretary of Defense, is
dressed in his pajamas.
GOODELL
Give that to me one more time,
Colonel.
GILLESPIE
We've got to quarantine the entire
town of Bonneville and do it
quick. Morning will be too late --
people will panic and try to leave.
If even one infected person gets
out, the entire effort could be
for nothing.
GOODELL
Why can't the State Police do it?
GILLESPIE
They can shut down the major
roads, but we need a much larger
force to encircle the town.
GOODELL
Where would I get troops at this
hour and have 'em in Bonneville,
Oregon before sunrise?
GILLESPIE
Fort Lewis, Washington, or Ford
Ord, California. Closer is
better. Sir, this is a doomsday
disease.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
69.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE (CONT'D)
As deadly as A.I.D.S., but it kills
within days. It could spread over
the entire country.
Goodell's wide awake now.
GOODELL
Does your commanding officer know
about this?
GILLESPIE
Yes, sir, of course. He asked me
to call you.
GOODELL
Colonel, all I can do is refer the
matter to the National Security
Council. An action of this scope
would require the President's
approval.
GILLESPIE
Then get it, sir. Right away,
please.
They break radio contact. Salt looks at Gillespie with
awe.
IZZY
If the C.D.C. asked us to help, why
did you have to call the Defense
Secretary? Why didn't General
Ford make the call?
Gillespie shifts uncomfortably. Salt realizes he's in
trouble.
IZZY
You bet your ass, Captain.
Colonel Gillespie has taken it
upon himself to circumvent the
entire chain of command.
The plane bounces in the turbulence. Salt turns to
Gillespie.
SALT
You're shitting me?... Sir?
GILLESPIE
I'll take full responsibility for
whatever happens.
(CONTINUED)
70.
CONTINUED:
IZZY
That only means they'll hang you
first.
GILLESPIE
Don't worry, the C.D.C. -- and the
President -- will invite us to
Bonneville.
(beat)
They'll invite Mary and Jesus too.
CUT BACK TO:
DEFENSE SECRETARY GOODELL'S OAK-LINED STUDY
GOODELL
(into phone)
I just got a disturbing call from
one of your officers, General.
INTERCUT WITH:
FORD IN HIS OFFICE
sitting at his desk. As we hear Goodell go on, a look of
anger builds on Ford's face.
GOODELL
I can tell the President we're
looking at a situation you can
contain with minimal loss of life,
can't I?
FORD
Of course.
CUT TO:
GILLESPIE'S BL-4 LAB (02:30)
TRACK PAST the open aluminum caskets holding the remains
of Jimbo and Alice to Owi working under a negative pres-
sure hood. He removes a rack of test tubes, suddenly
freezes.
Facing him are General Ford and four men dressed in BL-4
suits and carrying automatic weapons in plastic sheaths.
One soldier closes the caskets and starts moving them out.
The others start unpacking the freezers.
(CONTINUED)
71.
CONTINUED:
OWI
Are you crazy? Don't touch them.
Those are Level Four viruses.
The lead soldier raises his rifle at Owi.
FORD
Sergeant, I want every specimen of
Motaba Virus in this lab and this
time no 'mistakes.'
FADE UP COUNTRY MUSIC with a real twang like the JUDDS'
"Red Cadillac" and...
CUT TO:
RED PICKUP
with chrome wheels racing along a deserted country road
in the dark of night.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "BONNEVILLE, OREGON, TUESDAY --
05:00."
INT./EXT. PICKUP - NIGHT
TOMMY HULL, 28, a construction worker, sings along. The
windows of his pickup are wide open and the wind blows his
long hair straight back. There's an empty gun rack in the
back. He rounds a turn and BRAKES to a SCREECHING HALT.
The glare of flashing red and blue lights crosses his
face.
TOMMY
What the hell?
TOMMY'S POV - THREE HIGHWAY PATROLMEN
wearing gas masks and toting shotguns in their latex-
gloved hands, stand in front of their patrol cars whose
emergency lights flash off and on, creating an eerie
glow. Down the road, is a second checkpoint where the
patrol cars are facing the other way.
BACK TO SCENE
Tommy Hull climbs out. The HIGHWAY PATROLMAN raises his
shotgun and aims it.
(CONTINUED)
72.
CONTINUED:
TOMMY
What's goin' on?
HIGHWAY PATROLMAN #1
Stay inside your car.
Tommy Hull freezes.
HIGHWAY PATROLMAN #1
Turn around, go home, and stay
there.
TOMMY
What's goin' on? Why are you
wearin' all that stuff?
HIGHWAY PATROLMAN #2
Go home and you'll be all right.
Move it.
Tommy Hull ain't gonna argue with three loads of buckshot.
He STARTS his TRUCK, then stops and gapes, as rapidly ap-
proaching from the opposite way towards town is...
CONVOY OF THREE STATE POLICE CARS
They ZOOM by him. In the back seat of the lead car, we
see Robby and Lisa Aronson.
CUT TO:
EXT. BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL (TUESDAY, 6:15 AM)
The convoy of police cars pull in the parking lot where
local police, wearing respirators, hold back a crowd of
about twenty people, the families of those who are sick
inside.
Robby and Lisa and the state police officers climb out
wearing their respirator/helmets and biosafety suits. The
twenty people react as the realization sets in that what-
ever their loved ones have, it's awful.
Tracy's Father pushes forward.
TRACY'S FATHER
Nobody's tellin' us what's goin'
on.
Robby turns to the local POLICE CHIEF, Ray Fowler, a
stringy, taciturn man.
(CONTINUED)
73.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
I'm Dr. Roberta Keough from the
C.D.C. I'm in charge.
POLICE CHIEF
I thought he was in charge.
She follows his gaze to the main entrance of the hospital.
Standing at the top of the stairs, dressed in his bio-
safety suit is...
MIKE GILLESPIE
Robby is shocked, but not shocked. She moves up the
steps. He blocks her path.
GILLESPIE
I've got people inside. They can
do what needs to be done. Set up
your command post outside the
town, where you'll be safe.
She tries to go around him. He grabs her arm.
ROBBY
(quietly)
Let me do my job. Please. I know
what I'm doing.
A beat. He reluctantly lets go. She goes inside.
INT. HOSPITAL
Robby, followed by Mike, moves down the corridor.
ROBBY
On whose authority are you here,
Michael?
GILLESPIE
Want me to leave?
She doesn't answer. We hear only the RUSH of AIR in their
SUITS, drowning out the horror we see as they pass room
after room of Motaba patients, screaming and moaning in
pain. They pass...
Izzy in a room with Henry, the lab tech. Lips blue,
gasping for every breath, he fights against the vent-
ilator. Streaks of blood line the wall. In the next
bed is his girl friend, Corinne, comatose and near death.
(CONTINUED)
74.
CONTINUED:
A MOTHER'S cry of agony rips through the RUSH of AIR as
Robby and Mike pass the room where Mrs. Logan is holding
her dying toddler in her arms. Her body is covered with
the fine red vesicular rash of end-stage Motaba. She
pleads with Salt, standing there in a biosafety suit,
completely helpless.
MOTHER
Save my baby... Please... Save my
baby.
Robby exchanges a glance with Gillespie. She's
devastated.
GILLESPIE
I tried to warn you.
But nothing he could have said could have prepared her for
this. She moves on into...
SMALL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
crammed with ten patients on gurneys, all sick with end-
stage Motaba.
Nurse Emma and Dr. Mascelli, in biosafety suits, pack
Tracy, the movie-counter girl, in ice.
TRACY
(delirious with
fever)
Daddy... Daddy! Where's my daddy?
Robby looks at Rudy, lying in the next cubicle, eyes com-
pletely yellow and lifeless, face and body covered in
black-and-blue splotches. His chest rises and falls in
short gasps.
GILLESPIE
Bonneville patient zero. He never
regained consciousness so we don't
know how he got infected.
Suddenly Tracy starts convulsing.
DR. MASCELLI
More Valium. Quick.
EMMA
We're out.
ROBBY
Where's the crash cart?
(CONTINUED)
75.
CONTINUED:
Nurse Emma nods to a Sears Roebuck-style tool cabinet in
the corner.
Dr. Mascelli starts for it, but Gillespie's already there.
He punches off the plastic lock, rips open a drawer and
grabs a small box labeled Valium. He flips it to...
Robby, who in a second, pops it open, pulls out the
syringe of Valium and shoots the yellow liquid into
Tracy's IV. She stops seizing.
Dr. Mascelli and Nurse Emma are impressed.
ROBBY
Dr. Mascelli, we spoke on the
phone, I'm Dr. Keough from the
C.D.C.
One of the patients starts coughing. Gillespie and
Robby are alarmed.
ROBBY
How many of your patients are
coughing?
DR. MASCELLI
(indicating Rudy)
Except for him, all of them. Why?
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. MASCELLI'S OFFICE
And a grid map of Bonneville with cases of Motaba marked
in red. They're spread out all over the town.
DR. MASCELLI
The common bond is the movie
theatre.
GILLESPIE
This isn't the same virus --
ROBBY
-- It's mutated --
GILLESPIE
-- To an airborne form --
(CONTINUED)
76.
CONTINUED:
DR. MASCELLI
My God, if it's spreading through
the air, person to person, by
droplets, it's... it's the plague.
Everybody in the town's gonna die.
GILLESPIE
They may not all be infected.
DR. MASCELLI
But they will be. And if one
person gets out --
ROBBY
The quarantine has to be
ironclad --
DR. MASCELLI
People are gonna get out over the
mountains -- it will be impossible
to stop them.
GILLESPIE
You're wrong.
FADE UP the ROAR of CHOPPERS. An OVERWHELMING DIM.
Dr. Macselli moves to the window, pulls back the shades.
Can't believe his eyes.
In the distance, against the dawn half-light... the sky is
filled with Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopters from the U.S.
Rapid Deployment Force.
ROBBY
(astonished)
How...
GILLESPIE
... Don't ask.
CUT TO:
EXT. BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL (06:40)
A giant helicopter maneuvers a mobile BL-4 lab into the
parking lot behind the hospital. Another chopper flies
behind it, carrying a portable pre-fab hospital. Another
sets down and begins disgorging combat troops wearing
chem-warfare suits.
CUT TO:
77.
SOLDIERS
dressed in chemical warfare gear and carrying M-16s ride
in a Jeep through the center of the town.
The SOLDIER with a megaphone bellows at a group of
townspeople gathered in front of a donut shop:
SOLDIER
Go home and stay there or you will
be placed under arrest.
The townspeople stare at these terrifying figures, then
quickly disperse.
REVEAL the next street over, and the next. Soldiers blast
out warnings.
CUT TO:
TOMMY HULL, HIS WIFE, DARLA, AND TWO KIDS (06:40)
barreling along a gravel road in their pickup.
In the hazy light, Tommy sees...
Two infantry men in chem-war gear move into position on
the road and raise their guns toward the pickup.
Tommy does not slow down. His wife screams:
DARLA
They'll shoot us!!
TOMMY
They won't.
But he can't be certain.
The soldiers take aim.
Tommy brings the PICKUP to a SCREECHING stop, throwing up
gravel on all sides. He whips the vehicle around and
heads back toward town.
A Chinook HELICOPTER THUNDERS overhead.
Tommy scans the horizon for an escape.
TOMMY
I know one place they won't think
to go.
CUT TO:
78.
RED PICKUP
bouncing along an overgrown creek bed, splashing water
everywhere, careening into the big rocks which litter the
creek bed. Suddenly --
A helicopter gunship emerges over the tree-tops.
DARLA
Stop!
But Tommy doesn't stop. The PICKUP keeps going -- SMASH-
ING and BASHING its way up the creek. The GUNSHIP OPENS
FIRE, shredding the tires. The PICKUP THUMPS to a halt.
Inside, Darla and the children cry, Tommy is shaken. The
helicopter hovers above them as the Hulls climb out and
head back toward town.
CUT TO:
STATE POLICE CAR
coming to a fast stop at the highway checkpoint outside
Bonneville as...
GUNFIRE RINGS OUT from the distance.
Inside, Mike and Robby react with alarm and climb out.
CHOPPERS ROAR by overhead, create a DEAFENING BLAST.
The line of cars trying to get out of town is a quarter
mile long. They're held back by a...
Long line of infantrymen in chem-war gear who look like
futuristic insects. This area will become the front lines
of a war. Robby and Mike race by the soldiers...
To the command where LIEUTENANT COLONEL RONALD BRIGGS is
on the radio, coordinating his units.
ROBBY
You're using rubber bullets,
aren't you?
Briggs salutes Gillespie. He speaks with a Georgia
accent.
LT. COLONEL BRIGGS
No, ma'am. My orders are that no
one is to get out of this town.
ROBBY
You're operating under civilian
control in a civilian disater.
(CONTINUED)
79.
CONTINUED:
A monster Chinook comes down, sending up a torrent of
dust.
LT. COLONEL BRIGGS
No, ma'am, we're not.
He turns to...
The figure emerging from under the WHIRLING BLADES:
General Billy Ford.
Gillespie braces himself. Robby's surprised. Billy hands
Robby a sealed document.
FORD
The Secretary of Defense and the
President have made this a joint
operation between the C.D.C. and
the United States Army. I've been
placed in command.
Ford goes straight over to Gillespie. Briggs intercepts
him halfway there, salutes, and reports:
LT. COLONEL BRIGGS
Sir, since we established our
perimeter at 06:20, nobody has
penetrated our line. Before that,
I can give no guarantees.
FORD
There are one thousand two hundred
and eighteen people living in this
town. I want every one of them
accounted for by 09:00.
LT. COLONEL BRIGGS
Yes, sir.
He moves off. Ford and Gillespie square off.
FORD
You're under arrest. With Major
Berman and Captain Salt --
ROBBY
-- He was right. We were wrong --
FORD
-- Stay out of it, Robby.
Gillespie, you violated a direct
order --
(CONTINUED)
80.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
-- The virus is airborne.
FORD
Motaba is only spread by direct
fluid contact.
GILLESPIE
Since it left Africa, it mutated.
FORD
That's crazy.
GILLESPIE
Go to the hospital and see for
yourself. Leave your face bare.
Ford starts away from Gillespie.
ROBBY
You can't put him in jail. I need
him. I need his whole team.
Ford thinks for a moment.
FORD
Very well. Colonel, you, Major
Berman, Captain Salt... can help
Dr. Keough for the duration of
this crisis, but you cannot leave
this town and as soon as we get
this under control, you'll be
taken into custody.
GILLESPIE
Major Berman and Captain Salt
were following my orders -- I am
the only one at fault.
FORD
We'll let the court martial decide
that.
Suddenly Robby's walkie-talkie squawks:
LISA ARONSON (V.O.)
We got the host!
FADE UP the cacophony of SHRIEKING ANIMALS and --
CUT TO:
81.
INT. RUDY'S PET SHOP
The brown rhesus sits in the back of his cage, staring at
Biosafety suited doctors crowded around his cage. The
other ANIMALS SCREECH with hunger.
LISA ARONSON
I found this note on the desk...
She holds a post-it with the words scribbled across it:
"Scott - Monkey - 8/31."
LISA ARONSON
This must be the monkey Scott
brought up from Biotest.
SALT
And if he is the host, his blood
will give us a treatment.
LISA ARONSON
He's so cute it's hard to believe
he's caused such destruction.
IZZY
Hitler's girl friend used to say
the same thing.
Ford stands in the back of the room, disinterested, as if
he knows already the brown rhesus is going to lead
nowhere. Robby peers into the rhesus's cage.
ROBBY
Why is he so quiet?
GILLESPIE
Monkeys get quiet when they get
hungry...
FORD
... Or sick.
SMACH CUT TO:
INT. BIO-TEST ANIMAL QUARANTINE FACILITY
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "BIOTEST ANIMAL QUARANTINE FACILITY
-- SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA"
McClintock hurries down the long aisle filled with monkey
cages stacked two high on both sides. Keeping pace is
FELDER, the president of Bio-Test.
FELDER
These animals are all healthy.
(CONTINUED)
82.
CONTINUED:
McClintock turns to a dozen biosafety-suited figures,
each carrying a doctor's bag.
McCLINTOCK
Fan out.
They each go off in a separate direction, leaving
McClintock and Felder opposite a cage of African Green
monkeys. McClintock opens his black bag, takes out a
strange looking pistol and feeds in a cartridge con-
taining a turquoise-blue liquid (amobarbital).
McCLINTOCK
One of these animals may be the
host of the worst virus the world
has ever known.
Felder shudders. McClintock thunders into his walkie-
talkie.
McCLINTOCK
Make sure the animals are
completey tranquilized before
specimens are drawn. Use all
level four precautions.
Felder squirms as McClintock aims the pistol at the Green
MONKEY, who grabs the bars of the cage and HISSES. As
one GUN after ANOTHER GOES OFF --
SMASH CUT TO:
HOSPITAL PARKING LOT - NEAR PORTABLE BL-4 LAB
ChemWar-suited infantrymen standing with M-16s held
ready. Behind them is a pre-school with a yardful of
toys now abandoned.
The infantrymen stare at the brown rhesus, held tightly
in a "squeeze cage." Robby, Mike, Lisa, and Wally look
on anxiously as Izzy approaches the monkey with a needle
attached to a long syringe. The rhesus strains with
every muscle to lash out. Izzy moves quickly, jabbing
the needle into the monkey's thigh. He pushes the
plunger. The rhesus suddenly jerks his arm.
ROBBY
Izzy!
NEEDLE HEADS FOR IZZY'S HAND (SLOW MOTION)
but he yanks it back just in time.
83.
ON IZZY
trembling. A long beat.
BACK TO SCENE
The rhesus falls asleep. Izzy draws blood as a Jeep
carrying Ford pulls up, followed by an Army truck.
Soldiers empty the truck, piling up crates of plastic IV
bags filled with brown fluid.
FORD
Filo-four antiserum. Antitoxin.
Anyone with symptoms or positive
blood tests will get it stat.
GILLESPIE
What for?
FORD
It kills twenty-five percent of
filoviruses.
IZZY
Not Motaba. We tried it.
FORD
In the lab. People react
differently.
Gillespie and Izzy exchange a skeptical glance: is Ford
losing it, or what?
FORD
We have nothing to lose -- the
disease is incurable.
ROBBY
General Ford is right.
FORD
Thank you.
CUT TO:
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) A school classroom, empty.
B) A factory, empty.
C) A supermarket, empty.
(CONTINUED)
84.
CONTINUED:
D) The center of town --
Not a sign of life except for the Jeep carrying ChemWar
troops bearing M-16s.
ROBBY (V.O.)
The Army will begin emergency food
deliveries once a day...
CUT TO:
INT. SMALL ONE STORY HOUSE - KITCHEN
SHERRY listens to a RADIO with her three young children.
She coughs and exchanges a worried look with her husband.
INTERCUT WITH:
INT. LOCAL RADIO STATION - GLASSED-IN BROADCAST BOOTH -
ROBBY AND MIKE
ROBBY
(into mike)
... If you have special needs,
such as medicine you take, let
them know and it'll be delivered
to you. But please -- stay
inside. Do not go out for any
reason.
GILLESPIE
(into mike)
This disease looks like a regular
flu in its early stages, but if
you have flu symptoms, don't
panic... It's probably just a
normal virus and not Motaba.
INT. SHERRY'S HOUSE - SAME TIME
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
(on radio)
But the way to protect your family
is to detect it early, before you
spread it.
ON SHERRY
Terrified.
85.
BACK TO SCENE
SHERRY'S HUSBAND
You don't have it, honey.
HER FOUR-YEAR-OLD SON
What do you have, Mommy?
SHERRY
Nothing. Mommy's fine.
CUT TO:
INT. MOTABA HOSPITAL WARD - SIMULTANEOUSLY
Ford walks through the Motaba ward, now overflowing with
infected patients, some of them unconscious and some of
them moaning. Their loved ones have not been allowed into
this infected ward, so most of these people are alone and
scared.
In Ford's eyes we see pain.
From a RADIO in the nursing station.
ROBBY (V.O.)
(on radio)
If you're feeling sick in any way,
you should hang a pillowcase or
other piece of cloth on your
front door. Soldiers will take
you somewhere safe for a test.
You'll know the result within a
few hours. If you're positive,
you'll go into one of our isolation
hospitals, so bring clothes and
personal things you might need.
INT. TOMMY HULL'S SMALL HOUSE
Darla and her two kids gather 'round the radio. In the
b.g. Tommy takes a swig of whiskey. He's still trembling
from his encounter with the chopper.
TOMMY
Turn it off!
DARLA
No.
Tommy grabs the radio and throws it across the room, break-
ing it.
(CONTINUED)
86.
CONTINUED:
TOMMY
We don't have it, goddamn it. But
if we stay here, we'll get it.
DARLA
They're doctors. They know more
than you.
CUT BACK TO:
RADIO STATION BROADCAST BOOTH
ROBBY
(into mike)
I know you're scared. We're all
scared. But together we're going
to get through this.
CUT TO:
BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL
A room full of Motaba patients, all with antiserum running
through their IV's. Dr. Mascelli and Izzy listen to the
RADIO. Mascelli's eyes are blood-shot. He sneezes and
sniffles.
DOCTOR MASCELLI
And now I've got it too. I'm
going to die along with the rest
of them, aren't I?
The look in Izzy's eyes confirms Dr. Mascelli's worst
fear.
INT. SHERRY'S HOUSE
Sherry slowly opens the front door, puts a white pillow-
case over the door. Her kids run into her arms crying.
SHERRY
(hugging them)
I'll be back in a few hours. It's
like I'm goin' to work.
She wipes the tears from her eyes; she's trembling.
(CONTINUED)
87.
CONTINUED:
SHERRY
(to each kid in turn)
Now, promise you won't fight.
Promise you'll do what your
father tells you.
They each promise - nodding "yes" in order from the
oldest to the youngest. It's a very solemn moment as
Sherry steps onto:
EXT. PORCH
She walks slowly down the small path, knowing this could
be the last time she ever makes this walk, ever sees her
family. She stops, wipes a tear off her cheek. She wants
to look back so bad, to get one last look at her kids,
but doesn't want them to see her scared. She climbs into
the waiting Army Jeep.
Sherry waves as the Jeep pulls away. But she's sitting
next to a soldier in full ChemWar gear, and this only
amplifies the fear in her children's eyes.
The Jeep drives past other houses with pillowcases over
the door.
SHOCK CUT TO:
SHERRY'S ARM
Her fist clinches as Lisa Aronson finishes drawing blood.
INT. TESTING TENT
Lisa carefully slips the test tube of blood into a plexi-
glass case and locks it. As she exits the tent, we see:
TENT CITY
Tent after tent -- at least four hundred of them -- a
tent city set up on the high school football field.
Housing people in isolation who have had or are about
to undergo the blood test. This is purgatory, where
you wait for judgment.
CUT TO:
88.
MOBILE BL-4 LAB
Izzy carefully withdraws a syringe of clear liquid from
a rubber capped bottle labeled "DNA PRIMER." He mixes
this into a blood sample from a test patient. At the
bench, Robby is doing the same. Izzy looks under his
scope. The field is filled with red circles.
IZZY
Positive.
He takes another tube of blood from a different patient.
Looks under the scope.
IZZY
Positive.
Robby looks under her scope.
ROBBY
Positive.
IZZY
The whole fucking town's infected.
A sense of despair.
IZZY
Double check it! Triple check it.
CUT TO:
INT. SHERRY'S TENT
Sherry Templeton tries to come to terms with the fact
she's positive.
SHERRY
Does this mean my children have
it, too?
GILLESPIE
(shaken by her pain)
No...
But she sees he's not sure.
SHERRY
Oh my God.
CUT BACK TO:
89.
BL-4 LAB - IZZY AND ROBBY
working. Izzy looking under the scope. Everything is
purple.
IZZY
How can this be? Doctor Mascelli
can't be negative. I know he's
got it. Something's wrong.
CUT TO:
BL-4 LAB - LITTLE LATER
Izzy concentrates on Mascelli's blood test. His eyes
are bloodshot from fatigue.
EXTREME CLOSEUP - AIR HOSE COUPLING
at Izzy's side. The red umbilical cord connected to the
ceiling catches on the sink handle in the center island;
it slowly slips out of its coupling and drops. The sound
of RUSHING AIR suddenly STOPS.
BACK TO SCENE
... but Izzy doesn't hear it. He continues looking
through the scope. Suddenly, he spots the red umbilical
cord lying on the floor.
IZZY
No!
Robby grabs the cord and re-inserts it into Izzy's suit;
the RUSH OF AIR quickly fills the suit, but --
Izzy - panicked - runs out of the lab into:
FORMALDEHYDE SHOWER AREA
and blasts himself with formaldehyde. As the frothy
liquid bath pours over him:
CLOSE ON IZZY'S FACE
terrified: Did he breath in the virus?
CUT TO:
90.
LOCKER ROOM - MINUTES LATER
ROBBY
It was only a few seconds, nothing
got in.
IZZY
I know. I'm fine.
Silence.
ROBBY
I can finish the tests --
IZZY
-- I'm fine.
She nods, worried.
CUT TO:
HOSPITAL WARD - NIGHT
Ford checks Henry's (the Lab Tech's) pulse. Nothing. He
looks at McClintock, staring at Henry's corpse into which
the antiserum is still flowing. In the next bed, Corinne,
Henry's girl friend, also lies dead.
McCLINTOCK
The Motaba antiserum doesn't work.
FORD
(devastated)
The virus has changed enough so
that the antibodies can't recognize
it. We've got to find the host,
Donny.
McCLINTOCK
How? The San Jose animals were
all negative.
(sharply)
For thirty years you've thought it
was a breath away. And we looked,
and tested and tested. And we
couldn't find it.
(beat)
What good would it do anyway? The
virus has mutated. The host would
carry the antibodies against the
African strain -- before it
mutated.
(CONTINUED)
91.
CONTINUED:
FORD
Nature is more generous than man,
Donny... it creates more
variablity in the antibodies. If
we find the host, its antibodies
may be effective against the
mutated strain.
McCLINTOCK
That's a guess. And there's no
time, no cure. We have no choice
but to implement the Emergency
Containment Plan.
ON Ford's troubled reaction --
CUT TO:
BL-4 LAB - LATER THAT NIGHT
Gillespie, Robby, Lisa, and Izzy peer...
Into the Brown Rhesus's cage. The monkey looks dreadful:
he's crouched in a fetal position and his nose drips puss.
SALT
He's dying of Motaba. His blood
doesn't have any protective
antibodies. Nothing.
Gloom and defeat sink over the room.
ROBBY
But where did this monkey get the
disease?
LISA ARONSON
Christ, it could have been
anywhere... Maybe he was on a boat
from Africa, next to the host.
IZZY
Then there's no hope.
GILLESPIE
No. Unless Jimbo Scott had close
contact with the host and that
animal is somehow traceable.
There's got to be something at
Bio-Test.
(CONTINUED)
92.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
Lisa, go back there. There's got
to be something that was missed.
Lisa nods.
CUT TO:
BL-4 LAB - LATER
Salt looks plaintively at the Rhesus. He opens the
refrigerator and takes out a bottle labeled morphine.
He's about to close the fridge, but stops and stares...
Inside the refrigerator: a unit of antiserum just lying
around. He looks at the antiserum, then at the monkey,
sick in its cage.
CUT TO:
QUARANTINE PERIMETER - DAWN
The line of troops and tanks stretches for miles. HUEYS
THUNDER overhead, keeping watch.
Behind the tanks are a swarm of figures wearing red BL-4
suits. They're moving cages filled with insects and
animals toward a huge series of trailers.
INT. GENERAL FORD'S COMMAND CENTER - DAWN
The Command Center is buzzing with activity. Along one
wall is an array of supercomputers all feeding data to...
The big board -- a computerized map of the Quarantine
Area.
DR. FRANKLE, a Biowar Defense expert, an intense, bearded
man of about 50 -- paces in front of the big board. As
Frankle briefs Ford and McClintock, we literally see the
epidemic spreading out from the center of Bonneville --
more and more terrain is colored red each time the big
screen redraws. The red gets larger and larger, until it
comes within three miles of the Columbia River, which cuts
a big blue swath through the map.
FRANKLE
Mosquitoes are picking up this
virus. An hour ago a squirrel
with Motaba was trapped just three
miles from the river.
(CONTINUED)
93.
CONTINUED:
FORD
(angry)
Increase the spraying, Goddamnit!
FRANKLE
The best stuff we've got won't
kill every last one. Eventually
one bug, one animal's going to get
through to the river. Worst case
is the virus penetrates the
ecosystem. Then we can't stop it.
FORD
There's got to be a way to deal
with it --
FRANKLE
-- The only similar case I know of
is the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
It circled the globe in two weeks.
Silence.
McCLINTOCK
People can be asymptomatic, for
weeks. The tests are faulty. We
have to assume everyone in this
town is infected and will get this
disease sooner or later.
Silence. Finally:
FORD
I want the most rapid-acting nerve
gas. Something so quick they'll
never know what hit 'em.
INT. BIO-TEST MAIN OFFICE (SAN JOSE) - DAY
The office is a small, chaotic room filled with old filing
cabinets and ancient PC's. The company President, Felder,
and Lisa Aronson sit near a speakerphone.
LISA ARONSON
(into phone)
And I've been through all the
files... No animal's been removed
in the last fourteen days.
FELDER
If Jimbo Scott got an infected
animal, he didn't get it here.
INTERCUT WITH:
94.
SMALL OFFICE IN BACK OF BL-4 LAB
Gillispie, Robby, and Izzy are running out of options as
they converse with Lisa Aronson in San Jose, California,
on the speakerphone:
GILLESPIE
Could Jimbo Scott have deleated all
traces of an animal stored at your
facility?
FELDER (V.O.)
Don't be absurd, he was a good
employee --
GILLESPIE
Mr. Felder, don't take this
personally, but either you're a
horrible judge of character or the
world's in deep shit. Could Jimbo
Scott have erased all records on
an animal stored at your facility?
Yes or no?
Felder hesitates.
Suddenly Gillespie's WALKIE-TALKIE BEEPS:
SALT (V.O.)
Colonel, come quick.
INT. BL-4 LAB
Robby, Mike and Izzy enter the animal lab and stop cold.
The brown rhesus is sitting up in his cage, weak but
eating some lettuce.
SALT
He should be dead.
The last of the antiserum drips into the animal's arm.
SALT
I gave him the antiserum.
IZZY
It doesn't work on people. It
shouldn't work on simians either.
SALT
So how come it worked on this one?
Gillespie's mind is racing:
(CONTINUED)
95.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
He was infected with the first
strain, before it mutated.
IZZY
It still shouldn't work. This
Korean Filo4 doesn't cross-react
with the Motaba virus. We checked!
GILLESPIE
Maybe it's not Korean Filo4.
SALT
What else could it be?
Izzy leans against the wall; he's pale, feverish. The
others pay no attention.
IZZY
I need some air.
He takes a step, then starts seizing, his whole body
shaking in one convulsive wave after the next.
Gillespie, Robby and Wally rush over.
SALT
(checking his pulse)
He's slowin' down. He's gonna
arrest.
GILLESPIE
Let's go. Now!
With extraordinary effort, he heaves Izzy over his back.
CUT TO:
CROWDED MOTABA WARD
Gillespie gently drops Izzy onto a hospital bed.
GILLESPIE
Ice, fluids, blood, oxygen...
Let's go!
Gillespie puts a probe in Berman's mouth, shudders when he
sees the reading.
GILLESPIE
A hundred and eight. Ice... I
want ice... I mean now!
(CONTINUED)
96.
CONTINUED:
Wally runs in with ice, packs it around Berman's neck.
GILLESPIE
Open your eyes. Open your fuckin'
eyes, Izzy. Nobody's lettin' you
off so easy. Pressure?
ROBBY
Comin' up.
A long, long beat. Berman slowly opens his eyes.
Gillespie smiles.
GILLESPIE
You were a hundred and eight. Not
too long... but long enough...
(an evil grin)
You musta lost a billion brain
cells.
IZZY
Now I'm only as smart as you.
Gillespie grins.
Berman tries to smile. His lip twitches... uncontrolla-
bly. His whole body seizes.
GILLESPIE
We need a line.
Robby flips Gillespie a catheter set. He looks for a
vein. Robby and Wally try to keep Izzy flat while
Gillespie works, but...
SLOW MOTION SHOT
Izzy's arm jerks free, pushing Mike's hand and the razor-
sharp needle right at Mike's other hand.
ROBBY
Watch out!
She shoves Mike's hand out of the path, but the needle
nicks her glove.
Mike and Wally are horrified.
GILLESPIE
Lemme see it.
(CONTINUED)
97.
CONTINUED:
ROBBY
(yanks her hand away)
It didn't get past the outer glove.
(to Wally)
Hold him down.
Wally pins Izzy's arm down as Robby sticks in an IV and
injects medicine. Izzy stops seizing.
CUT TO:
INT. SURGERY LOCKER ROOM
Robby, alone, peels back her triple-thick glove, and...
The second layer is cut, too! She rips off the second
layer and...
The third layer is cut, too! She pulls it off to reveal:
Her finger -- we see just the tiniest thin line of
crimson blood.
Terrified, she runs into...
SURGICAL SCRUB ROOM
and squeezes her finger, trying to expel any virus. She
pours iodine into the tiny wound and frantically scrubs,
as if her life depened on it. It does.
She turns at the sound of the DOOR OPENING. It's
Gillespie.
GILLESPIE
(anguished)
You took the hit for me... Why?
Tears fill her eyes. Her mouth opens. She can't talk.
Only a low moan of terror.
Gillespie cradles her head against his.
CUT TO:
PROP PLANE (07:45)
spraying over the forest outside Bonneville.
Huge wafts of smoke drift over the birch and pine forest
like a thick fog.
(CONTINUED)
98.
CONTINUED:
Hidden in the dense woods, Tommy Hull takes a slug of
whisky and watches the plane. Between him and the plane
are Armed Personnel carriers, their gas-masked personnel
unaffected by the poison. Tommy coughs.
He stands up on the hood of an old blue van and screams
at the troops.
TOMMY
That's right. Kill us all. C'mon!
They can't hear him or see him. He finishes the last of
the bottle and climbs into...
HIS BEAT-UP VAN
We see on the floor a half dozen guns including a shotgun
and an AK-47. He STARTS the ENGINE and ROARS off.
CUT TO:
PERIMETER CHECKPOINT (08:00)
CHECKPOINT GUARD #1
I'm sorry, Colonel. You can't
proceed.
Gillespie's Jeep is blocked by THREE GUARDS armed with
M-16s.
GILLESPIE
Get the hell out of my way. I'm
going to see the General.
CHECKPOINT GUARD #1
Strict orders, sir. Anyone with
direct patient care is
contaminated.
GILLESPIE
That's a load of crap. Get him on
the line, soldier. Now!
CHECKPOINT GUARD #1
(punches on the
radio)
Checkpoint three to base. Colonel
Gillespie to speak to General Ford.
Suddenly, Tommy Hull drives up and brakes to a stop.
(CONTINUED)
99.
CONTINUED:
CHECKPOINT GUARD #2
Go home.
TOMMY
You go home.
Before Guard #2 can react, Hull raises his SHOTGUN and
FIRES.
Gillespie dives under the dashboard of his Jeep.
The other Guards react. Too late. Tommy Hull pulls an
AK-47 out from behind his seat and CHEWS them UP.
The RADIO BLASTS:
RADIO (V.O.)
Base to checkpoint three: what's
goin' on?
Tommy Hull FIRES the SHOTGUN again, ANNIHILATING the
RADIO. He ROARS ahead.
Gillespie races over to soldiers. They're dead. He looks
at...
The van, racing toward the crest of the hill. Suddenly,
from the other side of the hill:
Two Apache helicopters appear.
Hull sticks the AK-47 out the window and FIRES at the
choppers.
They keep coming.
Red sparks erupt from their bellies. HELLFIRES.
The VAN EXPLODES into tiny pieces.
Gillespie GUNS the JEEP toward the wreckage.
A Jeep driven by General Ford comes over the hill and
pulls up on...
OPPOSITE SIDE OF WRECKAGE
Ford and Gillespie both survey the charred remains of the
van. Both are appalled.
(CONTINUED)
100.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
You had the antiserum to the
original African strain, you
could've made it available right
away. The virus would've never had
a chance to mutate. You could
have stopped this whole epidemic
before it got started. Why?
Ford says nothing. He stares at the wreckage as if some-
how he could find an answer there he himself believes.
GILLESPIE
Why?
Silence. Finally:
FORD
It's so strange... You look at
these viruses under the electron
microscope... They're like... like
beautiful symmetrical crystals, so
cold, so pure. You think you're
looking at some fabulous piece of
sculpture behind a museum wall...
till you see the blood and people
dying all around you. I stopped
it once. I thought I could stop
it again.
GILLESPIE
You ordered the attack on Iwabi's
people in Africa?
Silence. Ford neither confirms nor denies the accusation.
Then with sadness and remorse, Ford tells the truth:
FORD
We had to ensure that we had the
only live samples of the virus.
GILLESPIE
Biowarfare research is illegal.
We signed a treaty...
FORD
... What do you know about the
real world, Gillespie? Even the
air you breathe is artificial. Why
do you think Saddam Hussein didn't
kill our boys with his anthrax and
his botulism and all the other crap
he created in his labs? 'Cause he
knew we had something worse --
(CONTINUED)
101.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
-- One mad man --
FORD
-- Every fucking dictator of the
future's going to use biological
weapons that you can manufacture
cheap in a test tube with
technology you can buy at the
newsrack. Deterrence works.
Gillespie, horrified, steps away from his boss as he
begins to understand the scope of the deception which he
has been the victim of.
FORD
We spent years synthesizing an
antibody that worked with the
original African strain. We
assumed it would work with this
Bonneville strain. We gambled.
We lost. We can't afford to lose
again...
GILLESPIE
So you're going to wipe out this
entire town -- kill everyone in
it?
FORD
The virus is going to reach the
river.
GILLESPIE
Take the people who are well and
get them out!
FORD
If even one were sick, no matter
where we were, the disease would
start again.
Beat, Gillespie knows he's right.
GILLESPIE
Your only hope is to look for the
host.
FORD
I did -- for thirty years.
GILLESPIE
Let me.
(CONTINUED)
102.
CONTINUED:
FORD
You might be contaminated.
GILLESPIE
I know I'm not.
FORD
We have facilites to hold a few
people in quarantine. Get out
now. Take your team.
GILLESPIE
Izzy is sick, Robby infected.
Beat.
FORD
I'm sorry.
Beat.
GILLESPIE
Wipe out the town, wipe out Motaba.
And you're still the only one in
the world who's got the virus. No
matter what, your program's
secure.
FORD
That's not a consideration.
GILLESPIE
Bullshit!
CUT TO:
BL-4 LAB - OFFICE (09:10)
Pages spit out of the fax. As WALLY gathers them up, we
see the cover page:
INSERT - COVER PAGE
From: Lisa Aronson, M.D.
To: Colonel Gillespie, M.D.
RE: Biotest Animal Inventory
Mike -- Here is the list of every animal
imported by Biotest during the last six
months...
BACK TO SCENE
Salt looks outside, worried:
103.
SALT'S POV
A Black Hawk helicopter takes off. Soldiers gather
around a second Black Hawk and start to load their gear.
The BioWar Defense Unit is pulling out of the town.
BACK TO SCENE
HOLD on Salt's face: scared.
Robby has as yet no sign of the fever. She and Gillespie
pour over the fax from Lisa Aronson.
WALLY
Colonel, we gotta go now.
Beat. Mike and Robby exchange a glance, knowing this may
be the last time they're together.
ROBBY
No goodbyes. It's bad luck.
ANOTHER ANGLE - ON GILLESPIE
desperately torn, not wanting to leave her.
ROBBY
I'm glad you were here.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOSPITAL HELICOPTER LANDING AREA
Salt carries a decontamination unit on his back,
Gillespie a cellular phone and a black duffel bag as they
reach --
BLACK HAWK
Where soldiers finish loading under the watchful eye of
SERGEANT MEYER.
SERGEANT MEYER
Atten-shun!
The soldiers salute Gillespie and Salt.
GILLESPIE
Sergeant, General Ford has ordered
us to decon all aircraft before
takeoff.
(CONTINUED)
104.
CONTINUED:
SERGEANT MEYER
But we've been doing it at the
base, sir.
GILLESPIE
Vector transmission is increasing
and airborne contamination must be
minimized. Pretty soon, Sergeant,
even that suit won't protect you.
SERGEANT MEYER
(scared)
Yes, sir.
Salt takes hold of Sergeant Meyer's walkie-talkie. The
Sergeant is puzzled by this but says nothing as Salt
sprays it thoroughly with disinfectant before handing it
back. He sprays the outside of the chopper, then moves
inside.
SERGEANT MEYER
The pilot is inside, sir!
GILLESPIE
I'll get him out.
CUT TO:
OUTSIDE CHOPPER - SECONDS LATER
Sergeant Meyer reacts as the big rotor blades start to
turn. The chopper begins to rise:
SERGEANT MEYER
What the hell?
Sergeant Meyer reaches for his walkie-talkie, but it
won't work. He slams it down.
INT. CHOPPER - FLYING OVER COMMAND CENTER
The pilot, WARRANT OFFICER DETERICH barks into his radio:
WARRANT OFFICER DETERICH
Den mother, this is Naked Zulu.
Going to decon.
RADIO (V.O.)
Roger, that, Naked Zulu.
PULL BACK to reveal Gillespie holding a gun against
Deterich's head.
(CONTINUED)
105.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
Nice and easy now.
The Black Hawk cruises over the camp, blending right in
with half-a-dozen other choppers going in all directions.
CUT TO:
COMMAND CENTER - FORD'S OFFICE
Sergeant Meyer stands nervously at attention, trying to
avoid the eyes of General McClintock, who's fit to be
tied.
In a rapidly moving DOLLY SHOT, McClintock leaves Meyer
and approaches General Ford, who is on the phone.
McCLINTOCK
Your Colonel Gillespie has
commandeered one of our
helicopters.
CLOSE ON FORD
Just the hint of astonishment. Then he regains his usual
composure:
McCLINTOCK
Gillespie has become a vector of
the disease. Mobilize all
resources to find him.
CUT TO:
EXT. ISOLATED STRETCH OF OREGON COAST (10:00)
Warrant Officer Deterich, dressed in underwear, huddles
against a huge rock. A pile of rations lie beside him.
GILLESPIE
There's food and water for two
days. They'll find you by then.
Gillespie slips on Deterich's uniform, Salt pulls on
Gillespie's.
GILLESPIE
You never expected to make Colonel
this fast, did you, Salt?
CUT TO:
106.
INT/EXT. BLACK HAWK
Hovering above Deterich. Salt opens the throttle; the
CHOPPER ROARS down the coast and Deterich becomes nothing
but a dot in a cove shut off by soaring cliffs on one
side and the ocean on the other.
Salt keeps the chopper just feet above the whitecaps.
GILLESPIE
Not bad for somebody who hasn't
flown in six years.
SALT
Seven. Want to see my loop-d-
loop?
He pulls the wheel, brining the nose up to a high angle
of attack.
Gillespie looks panicked. Salt levels out the chopper.
SALT
Just kidding, sir.
Gillespie studies the air map of the Pacific Ocean.
GILLESPIE
Cut inland at Klamath River and
keep this mountain ridge between
us and Oregon.
SALT
To San Jose, sir?
GILLESPIE
No. Ford will anticipate that.
SALT
Lisa Aronson sent us all the
shipping records...
GILLESPIE
No, not all... Just the ones
Biotest had.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND.
SUPERIMPOSE: KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON -- 10:10
TWO F-15 EAGLES
SCREAM down the runway and lift off. Within seconds,
more follow.
107.
EXT. ABOVE OREGON COASTAL FOREST
McClintock's Apache sweeps above the forest. The radar
screen indicates a return. McClintock picks up the radio:
McCLINTOCK
Portland regional, please
identify transponder 2CAW442.
Over.
TRAFFIC CONTROLLER (V.O.)
That's another light plane, number
86221 Zebra, registered
Corvallis...
McClintock grimaces.
McCLINTOCK
Where the hell's that A.W.A.C.S.?
PILOT
Sir, they're comin' from Oklahoma.
The radio crackles:
F-15 PILOT (V.O.)
Got a low target sitting on the
coast. Going down for visual.
INTERCUT WITH:
INSIDE BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER
Where Salt sees a blip on the radar screen.
SALT
Problems.
He pushes the wheel down, and the camouflaged-painted
chopper descends into a tight ravine between two rocks.
The blades whirl inches from disaster. Gillespie holds
his breath; so does Salt who tries to hold the Black Hawk
motionless. We hear a SONIC BOOM. The F-15 streaks
overhead.
Gillespie and Salt exchange a glance. Have they been
seen or not?
F-15 PILOT (V.O.)
I've lost it. Possible bird
flock.
The plane turns inland. Gillespie and Salt breathe
again.
108.
INT. McCLINTOCK'S APACHE
McCLINTOCK
(into radio)
General, Gillespie could now be
anywhere inside a thousand mile
radius, and if he's landed, we
got no way to track him.
INTERCUT the Command Center.
Ford is angry and frustrated.
FORD
You're Gillespie, you don't trust
the C.D.C., you don't trust
anybody... you'd want to look at
all the data yourself.
Ford turns to an aide, Lieutenant Richardson:
FORD
Issue an all-points bulletin to
every police department on the
West Coast. Start with San Jose.
Colonel Gillespie and Captain Salt
are armed, and assumed to be
contaminated until proven
otherwise...
CUT TO:
FAX MACHINE
Photos of Gillespie and Salt roll into the reader,
then --
CUT TO:
EXT. BIOTEST ANIMAL FACILITY (SAN JOSE)
It is pouring RAIN. At first, everything looks normal.
Until we realize there aren't any people on the side-
walks. And no moving cars on the streets.
Snipers with .22 rifles and telescopic sights straddle
the rooftops.
SMASH CUT TO:
FEDERAL BUILDING - MAIN OFFICE - DAY (12:05PM)
A long line of people wait for a single clerk; it's lunch
hour.
(CONTINUED)
109.
CONTINUED:
Gillespie storms in and goes right to the front of the
line. The others glare. The clerk, ARMISTEAD, a 50-ish
man with long grey hair tied in a pony tail, continues to
help the lady in the front of the line.
GILLESPIE
(sharply)
Excuse me.
ARMISTEAD
Just a minute, soldier.
He continues helping the lady.
GILLESPIE
I am Warrant Officer Deterich of
the United States Army --
The NEXT PERSON in line reacts:
NEXT PERSON
Hey -- end of the line, asshole --
GILLESPIE
I just came from the site of the
virus epidemic in Oregon and you
will help me now!
Armistead's supervisor, MRS. PANAMIDES, comes out of her
office as the other persons waiting in line, fearful of
the dreaded Motaba Virus, edge away from Gillespie
rapidly.
MRS. PANAMIDES
What do you need?
GILLESPIE
Bills of lading for all ships which
arrived from Africa during the last
six months.
MRS. PANAMIDES
What are you looking for?
GILLESPIE
An animal.
MRS. PANAMIDES
What kind of animal.
Beat.
GILLESPIE
I don't know.
CUT TO:
110.
INT. RECORD ROOM
A shaggy, sloppily dressed COMPUTER JOCK types.
COMPUTER JOCK
Biotest is very methodical about
their paper work.
The printer spits out pages of animals. Gillespie cross-
checks them against the fax pages from Lisa. They match
perfectly.
COMPUTER JOCK
That's it. Sorry.
Gillespie leans back: In despair. Not sure what to do
next.
A long beat. The Computer Jock walks over to the printer.
COMPUTER JOCK
Damn! Jammed again!
He hits a reset button. One more page prints out.
At the top of the page: An entry that Lisa's list doesn't
have. Gillespie circles it in red.
GILLESPIE
That's it. The Apeldoorn, a Dutch
freighter. One monkey. But what
kind of monkey?
COMPUTER JOCK
There's no way to tell.
CUT TO:
GILLESPIE
climbing into the Black Hawk. The RAIN is much heavier
now.
CUT TO:
INT. BLACK HAWK
as it rises off the rooftop of the Federal Building.
From this vantage, Gillespie and Salt can see a threat-
ening rain storm sweeping in over the San Francisco Bay.
(CONTINUED)
111.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
I tried to radio. All static.
'Cause of the storm.
SALT
So 'cause of the storm, you want
me to fly twenty miles through a
gale and hover while I drop you on
board a ship at sea?
GILLESPIE
Yes.
SALT
Sir, with all respect -- no fuckin'
chance.
Beat. Gillespie is dead serious.
GILLESPIE
The storm won't break 'til
tomorrow.
Salt is torn.
GILLESPIE
If you want, I could try to hover
and drop you on board.
SALT
No way.
CUT TO:
PACIFIC OCEAN
The chopper fighting the gale, trying to find the ship in
the storm. The sky is so dark it's like night. RAIN
POUNDS the windshield; the wipers can't keep up.
SALT
Colonel, I couldn't find my
umbrella in this rain.
Despair. A long beat. Then: In the distance through
the mist, a red light flashes.
CUT TO:
BLACK HAWK
hovering above the Apeldoorn, riding rough on twenty-
foot swells. The winds rock the chopper.
(CONTINUED)
112.
CONTINUED:
Wally fights to hold it steady.
SALT
Ready for drop.
GILLESPIE
Speak for yourself.
On the deck of the Apeldoorn: Four crewmen hold tight
onto their lifelines and wait for --
Gillespie, who emerges from the belly of the chopper.
He hangs tight onto the winch, which strains in the wind,
thrusting Gillespie over the waves. One breaks on top
of him.
A crewman grabs the line with a hook and reels Gillespie
in.
SHOCK CUT TO:
FREEZER DOOR
opening. Gillespie isn't ready for this:
Frozen on a shelf, is Seaman Dieter Jans. Even under a
layer of ice, the yellow skin, blood streaking from his
nipples, and other signs of Motaba are all too clear.
GILLESPIE
How long has it been since the
monkey was on the ship?
One of the seamen translates Gillespie's question to
the CAPTAIN in Dutch. The Captain answers in halting
English:
DUTCH CAPTAIN
How long? Six days.
GILLESPIE
When did Seaman Jans first get
sick?
DUTCH CAPTAIN
Yesterday -- he is sick yesterday
night. He is dead early this
morning.
CLOSE ON GILLESPIE
alarmed. This is ominous information.
(CONTINUED)
113.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
Captain, your ship will have to be
quarantined at sea. No one is to
go near this freezer. Do you
understand?
The Captain nods, overwhelmed by sudden fear.
GILLESPIE
Someone else must have seen the
monkey --
The First Mate steps forward. As he begins to jabber in
Dutch...
SHOCK CUT TO:
BLACK HAWK
racing back to shore. Gillespie's on the cellular PHONE.
The storm fills the line with STATIC.
GILLESPIE
The monkey was small, black and
white...
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: KINSHASA NATIONAL HOSPITAL, ZAIRE.
INTERCUT WITH:
INT. HOSPITAL WARD - DR. IWABI
DR. IWABI
(into phone)
A colobos monkey. The highways
have chased them deeper and
deeper into the jungle. But
there are still a few left.
GILLESPIE
Find as many as you can.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. CDC WAR ROOM - DREW REYNOLDS
On the phone. Drew Reynolds listens with rapt attention.
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
(into phone)
-- But you have to help me --
(CONTINUED)
114.
CONTINUED:
REYNOLDS
(into phone)
-- I will do whatever they let me
do...
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
(desperately)
If they implement the containment
plan --
Reynolds is angry, flustered -- terrified his worst
nightmare has come a reality.
REYNOLDS
It's out of my hands!
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
If we can find the host, we can
obtain an effective antibody
against the virus, and reproduce
it. We can present them with a
credible alternative...
Reynolds squeezes his tennis ball.
REYNOLDS
My people have been doing
everything humanly possible
to help.
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
Drew, Robby's infected.
Reynolds squeezes his tennis ball tighter.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: MOLALLA, OREGON - 14:45
EXT. PRE-SCHOOL
Four and five-year-olds play happily in a sandbox outside
their pre-school which borders the Columbia National
Forest. Their teacher, MRS. JEFFRIES, carefully watches
over them.
Betsy hides behind a nearby tree. She's hungry and can't
take her eyes off the half-eaten sandwiches lying in the
kids' snack boxes.
Sean is distracted by a glimpse of Betsy and spills his
juice all over Geneva.
(CONTINUED)
115.
CONTINUED:
GENEVA
You dodohead.
(breaking
into tears)
Mrs. Jeffries, look what Sean
did.
SEAN
I didn't... mean to!
MRS. JEFFRIES
(taking her by
the hand)
We'll clean you up right away.
(heads inside)
The rest of you come in, too.
All the children follow her except Sean, pouting. Betsy
runs up and starts gobbling a sandwich. Sean stares at
the monkey, then moves toward her:
SEAN
Hey, that's mine!
BETSY HISSES. Sean, scared, runs.
INSIDE
SEAN
A monkey stole my sandwich.
He points to the sandbox but there's no trace of Betsy.
Mrs. Jeffries kneels.
MRS. JEFFRIES
There are no monkeys in this
forest, Sean. It's okay.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMAND CENTER (14:55)
Dr. Frankle paces nervously.
DR. FRANKLE
The storm's blowin' up the coast
faster than we thought. That's a
problem. The wind's going to
hasten vector transmission and
the rain's going to absorb the
gas.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
116.
CONTINUED:
DR. FRANKLE (CONT'D)
Jesus Christ, Colonel, you'd have
to hit the town two, three times
to be sure you got everybody.
The thought of this troubles Ford deeply.
FORD
What time's that storm going to
hit?
Frankle wavers.
FORD
Goddammnit, you got every computer
in the world here, what time's it
comin'?
DR. FRANKLE
Any time before dawn you should be
okay.
FORD
Then we go at midnight.
COMPUTER KEYS POUND: SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA - 17:00
EXT. HELIPAD
In the pouring RAIN, the Black Hawk carrying Gillespie
and Salt lands on the helipad next to the television
station: WNER.
ON NEWSROOM SOUNDSTAGE
The ANCHORMAN looks grim:
ANCHORMAN
The governor of Oregon this
morning extended the evacuation
zone another five miles.
INT. STATION LOBBY
The security guard watches the NEWSCAST: The governor of
Oregon is giving a press conference.
(CONTINUED)
117.
CONTINUED:
GOVERNOR (V.O.)
(on T.V.)
General Ford and the Army
physicians have assured me there
is no threat of spread of this
disease at the present time.
This is strictly a precautionary
measure...
REPORTER FROM FLOOR (V.O.)
(on T.V.)
Why have all communications in and
out of Bonneville been cut off?
GOVERNOR (V.O.)
(on T.V.)
There is apparently some kind of
computer malfunction in that
area...
The guard suddenly freezes.
Salt and Gillespie burst inside holding M-16s.
INSIDE NEWSROOM
ANCHORMAN
In a related story, the Army has
released the names of two men who
escaped from Bonneville and are
infected with this virus.
The pictures of Gillespie and Salt fill the screen.
Suddenly there's a RUCKUS O.S. and the Anchorman gasps
as the security guard, hands held high, moves toward
the news desk.
SALT
Nobody move!
Gillespie sits down beside the Anchor. He shrinks back
as Gillespie leans over, grabs his lapel mike and pins
it on himself.
GILLESPIE
I am not infected.
One of the two cameramen backs away from his camera and
bolts toward the door. Salt points the gun at him, but
doesn't pull the trigger. More and more people stampede
out.
(CONTINUED)
118.
CONTINUED:
SALT
Shake it, Colonel!
Gillespie talks into the camera with the red light on.
GILLESPIE
We need help to find the animal
carrying the Motaba Virus. It is
a small black and white monkey and
it was brought to Northern
California or Oregon within the
last two weeks. If you have any
information about this monkey,
please call this number at the
C.D.C. in Atlanta.
He holds up a crude sign with the numbers
"1-800-888-0000."
GILLESPIE
Many people are going to die.
This is their only chance.
Please... Help us...
Gillespie bolts up. He and Salt run out of the newsroom.
FADE UP POLICE SIRENS and --
CUT TO:
EXT. STATION - HALF-A-DOZEN POLICE CARS
pull up to the station, but --
The Black Hawk is half a mile away, running full-
throttle.
The OFFICER in the lead car grabs his radio.
OFFICER
(into radio)
Suspects heading northwest...
CUT TO:
INT. COMMAND CENTER - FORD'S OFFICE
Ford and McClintock watch Bernard Shaw on CNN. Behind
them we see the computerized map of the quarantine area.
The red perimeter is within one mile of the Columbia
River. The clock reads: 17:12.
(CONTINUED)
119.
CONTINUED:
BERNARD SHAW (V.O.)
(on T.V)
Colonel Gillespie's action --
commandeering this news room at a
California television station in
order to get his message out --
raises troubling questions about
what is really going on inside the
quarantine area.
McCLINTOCK
Great, now we've got the whole
fucking world watching. You
should've locked him up when we
got here. People'll be calling
Washington... The President won't
be able to make up his mind, and
the whole fucking planet will go.
Outside, it's starting to SPRINKLE.
CUT TO:
PRE-SCHOOL CLASSROOM (MOLALLA, OREGON)
Empty except for Mrs. Jeffries who's cleaning up. A pile
of paintings. One is of an enormous black and white
monkey towering menacingly over a little stick figure.
Mrs. Jeffries smiles.
INT. PRE-SCHOOL OFFICE (17:45)
Other staff idly watching the NEWS. Mrs. Jeffries enters
and grabs a cup of coffee.
On TV, we see the face of Mike Gillespie, and we hear
the tail end of his plea:
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
(on T.V.)
If you have any information about
this monkey, please call...
HOLD ON Mrs. Jeffries' face.
SMASH CUT TO:
BLACK HAWK (POURING RAIN) (18:50)
flying low over the redwoods of Northern California.
(CONTINUED)
120.
CONTINUED:
Gillespie clicks off the phone. Salt is dumbfounded:
SALT
I'm gonna fly into the heaviest
radar surveillance on Earth on
account of something that might
have been seen by a toddler?
GILLESPIE
We know that Jimbo Scott took an
animal up to Bonneville to sell.
This place, Molalla, would be
right on the way to the airport.
Gillespie studies the map.
GILLESPIE
To get back up there we're gonna
haveta fly through everything the
Air Force has got. Are you
feelin' lucky, Captain?
SALT
Luck ain't gonna be enough.
Salt pushes the wheel down, until the Black Hawk is just
a few feet above the tall redwood trees. He veers to
avoid --
A particularly tall redwood -- and misses it by inches,
whacking off a few of its upper branches with the rotor
blades.
SALT
'Course -- a little luck won't
hurt us any.
He and Gillespie exchange a tense, worried glance. That
was close.
As the chopper skims low over the redwoods --
CUT TO:
AWACS PLANE (AT 10,000 FEET)
cruising high above the clouds which now blanket the
terrain below.
INT. AWACS PLANE
Inside, the RADAR OPERATORS scan. They're pissed.
(CONTINUED)
121.
CONTINUED:
RADAR OPERATOR
Where the hell did it go?
CUT TO:
BLACK HAWK (DIRECTLY BELOW ON INTERSTATE 5)
flies just thirty feet above the freeway, at the same
speed as the traffic. The Black Hawk's RADAR DETECTOR
SQUAWKS each time the AWACS radar scans it, every two
seconds.
INSIDE BLACK HAWK
Salt flies anxiously. One moment of inattention could
bring the Black Hawk down on top of one of the cars on
the freeway.
SALT
It moves like a truck, it reflects
radar like a truck, but guess what?
It ain't a truck.
ON INTERSTATE BELOW BLACK HAWK
An IRATE DRIVER is watching Salt and yelling into his
cellular phone:
IRATE DRIVER
That's right, Sheriff -- flying
too Goddamn low --
INT. COMMAND CENTER (19:05)
Ford hangs up the phone.
FORD
We got him!
McClintock smiles, grabs his flight helmet and races --
EXT. COMMAND CENTER
His squadron of Apaches takes off. A FAX MACHINE WHINES
O.S.
INT. COMMAND CENTER
Ford scans the fax.
(CONTINUED)
122.
CONTINUED:
The other officers in the room grow silent as they see
his face grow grim and serious.
FORD
Gentlemen, I have in my hand the
final authorization to proceed,
signed by the President. I know
that each of us has doubts about
what we are about to do. It is
only human to have doubts when you
are commanded to take the lives of
other human beings. Remember your
wives, remember your children...
they will all get the disease and
die if we let fear govern our
hearts. We are doing what is
right, and what the nation
requires of us.
PAN ACROSS the grim faces.
FORD
I expect each man to do his duty.
I know you won't fail.
CUT TO:
BLACK HAWK (19:20)
Gillespie standing beside the open door aiming an
infrared heat-sensing device down at the forest which is
so thick with trees you can only rarely catch glimpses of
the forest floor.
ON COMPUTER MONITOR
Swirls of colors -- like gases moving on the surface of
the sun -- diffuse across the screen. Gradually, we see
that one bright red band is moving faster than the
others.
SALT (O.S.)
The monkey!
GILLESPIE (O.S.)
No, it's moving too fast.
FOREST BELOW
A deer scurries across a clearing.
123.
ANOTHER ANGLE
DISCOVER Betsy: Only a few hundred feet away from the
deer. Afraid of man and his loud machines, she runs
deeper into the forest, hiding herself under the branches
of trees.
GILLESPIE
picks up another swirl of red on the infra-red sensing
device. He points to it.
GILLESPIE
Circle in.
ANOTHER ANGLE
OPEN WIDE to show the chopper moving in a tight circle.
BETSY
hearing the ROAR of the CHOPPER LOUDER AND LOUDER,
scurries up a tree and tries to hide.
GILLESPIE
stares at the monitor. A faint red band appears in the
corner of the screen, then disappears.
GILLESPIE
Starboard!
The chopper veers to the right and the red band glows
brighter and brighter.
GILLESPIE
Lock!
The chopper hovers, then starts to descend straight down.
Gillespie looks through binoculars at:
GILLESPIE'S POV
Nothing but trees... trees... more trees... Stop! A patch
of black and white. A pair of frightened eyes.
Betsy hisses at the terrifying monster.
124.
BACK TO SCENE
SALT
Drive her down! She falls from
that height, she'll bleed out.
Gillespie jams cartridges containing turquoise liquid
into the M-16. He FIRES. The bullets land above Betsy.
She jumps onto a lower branch. The bullets keep coming.
She jumps onto:
ON GROUND
Gillespie FIRES. Misses. The blue liquid splatters
against a tree trunk.
BETSY
caught in the open, darts toward a thick patch of trees --
safety. She's only a step away.
GILLESPIE
FIRES again.
ANGLE ON BETSY - SLOW MOTION SHOT
Betsy's hit. She spins, grabbing her arm in pain, then
gets up. Tries to make it to the next tree. Goes down
on one knee. Then the other. She reaches out. Cries
for freedom. Then collapses.
As Gillespie lowers himself out the door --
CUT TO:
HORIZON
The Apaches approaching fast.
INT. CHOPPER
Gillespie stows Betsy in the back. Salt sees the
glistening lights of the Apaches.
GILLESPIE
Up! Fast!
Salt yanks the wheel back. The Black Hawk starts
climbing.
The Apaches quickly surround it. INTERCUT:
125.
COMMAND CENTER - LEAD APACHE
on a radar screen, Ford can see Gillespie's chopper and the
Apaches. He and Gillespie and McClintock converse through
their radios:
FORD
Give me the monkey, Mike.
The Black Hawk climbs higher and higher, through the thick
layer of clouds, now absolutely black in the darkness of
the night.
GILLESPIE
If the antibodies work, we'd have
a way to stop the epidemic by
medical means --
FORD
-- We have no way to produce them
in quantity --
GILLESPIE
-- Dr. Iwabi --
FORD
There's no time for that now.
In the lead Apache, snipers lean out the window. Their
telescopic sights lock on Gillespie and Salt.
McCLINTOCK
Give me an order to fire, sir. We
don't need the monkey.
GILLESPIE
You do. Because if you fail to
contain the virus, you're going
to be racing to synthesize an
antiserum. How long did it take
you to do the last one? A year?
Two years? Five?
Ford's torn.
GILLESPIE
If the monkey's antibody is
effective, you could use it as
a template. Maybe you could
save Europe.
Ford hesitates.
McCLINTOCK
Sir, let me --
The Black Hawk blasts through the cloud cover and emerges:
126.
ABOVE CLOUDS - NIGHT
A full moon illuminates the Black Hawk.
The Apaches burst through the clouds, too.
INT. BLACK HAWK
GILLESPIE
Fire away! Nothing's going to
survive the crash.
ANGLE ON FORD
a long beat. Gillespie's got him.
FORD
You've got until midnight, Mike.
CUT TO:
FOREST SURROUNDING TOWN
The forest looks dark and primeval in the damp night. The
sounds of BIRD CALLS and CRICKETS CHIRPING can be heard in
the background. This is what a biological meltdown looks
like -- nothing at all. Then suddenly a deer drops to
its knees, stricken with the Motaba Virus. It struggles
to rise, but fails. The deer keels over, barely
breathing.
CUT TO:
OUTSIDE QUARANTINE PERIMETER - STAGING AREA
Large canisters of deadly nerve gas are loaded onto
Chinook helicopters. The canisters are clearly marked
with the skull-and-crossbones for "poison" and big red
"CAUTION!" labels.
CUT TO:
HOSPITAL HELIPORT - BLACK HAWK
settling down.
CUT TO:
127.
HOSPITAL LAB
Tubes run from Betsy to a blood separator as Salt works
feverishly to separate the antibodies out. As the
centrifuge spins faster and faster --
CUT TO:
HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - GILLESPIE
moving rapidly past the patients 'til he gets to:
IZZY'S ROOM
Gillespie's alarmed. Izzy looks terrible, his voice a
whisper:
IZZY BERMAN
Mike... I know you never liked
my name.
GILLESPIE
What?
IZZY BERMAN
My nickname -- Izzy. You never
really liked it.
GILLESPIE
I like it all right.
IZZY
(smiles)
It's okay, 'cause from now on you
can call me Hurricane.
GILLESPIE
(smiles)
I like it.
IZZY
Good, 'cause I'm giving you a new
name, too. Guess what it is?
Izzy's lips go dusky, his breathing only short gasps.
GILLESPIE
Tell me.
IZZY
Guess.
Gillespie's voice breaks:
(CONTINUED)
128.
CONTINUED:
GILLESPIE
I can't.
Izzy's dead. Tears stream down Gillespie's cheeks.
CUT TO:
ROBBY'S ROOM
She's lying in a bed, her face flush with fever, her skin
covered with the rash. She's just barely conscious enough
to see him at the door, watching her.
ROBBY
I'm scared. So scared.
He comes toward her.
ROBBY
No false hope. No games.
GILLESPIE
You can't give up.
ROBBY
Just be with me.
He cups her hands in his gloved hand.
ROBBY
How's Izzy?
GILLESPIE
He's gonna be okay. You're both
going to be okay.
Her eyes start to close. Gillespie, horrified, shakes
her:
GILLESPIE
Stay with me! Fight!
She half opens her eyes, her voice a murmur.
ROBBY
Hold... me.
He puts his arms around her. Screams into helmet radio:
GILLESPIE
Salt, where the hell are you?
Salt, answer me!
(CONTINUED)
129.
CONTINUED:
No response. A long beat. Then Gillespie... with more
tenderness than we've ever seen:
GILLESPIE
Remember the first time we made
love? In France. Behind the
haystack. And we were so worried
that the little boy on the bicycle
might see us.
She smiles, remembering.
GILLESPIE
I never felt anything except with
you, Robby. I was so stupid to
let it slip away.
She closes her eyes. A cry of anguish:
GILLESPIE
Salt!
Beat. Then Salt appears in the doorway holding a large
plastic bag of Betsy's antiserum.
Gillespie connects it to Robby's IV and the brown fluid
flows into Robby. Gillespie sits down beside her. A
long beat. Then he does:
Something crazy. He removes the glove from his biosafety
suit so that his own bare hand can touch Robby's skin.
He touches her face gently.
HOLD ON Gillespie, sitting beside his wife's bed, holding
her hand.
EXT. QUARANTINE PERIMETER - NIGHT
Massive Chinook HELICOPTERS RUMBLE over the staging area,
loaded down by the weight of the nerve gas they carry in
their bellies and the spray rigs which protrude on both
sides of the fuselage.
CUT TO:
ROBBY'S ROOM
The wall clock declares 11:30. Robby's still comatose.
GILLESPIE
I was wrong. The antiserum doesn't
work.
(CONTINUED)
130.
CONTINUED:
Salt shares his despair.
A long beat. Gillespie hands Salt a paper.
GILLESPIE
Take this. A signed declaration
by me that at all times you were
following my orders -- Now get
out of here.
SALT
-- No, sir.
Gillespie's moved:
GILLESPIE
You'll be the only person left
alive who knows the truth --
SALT
-- But, sir --
GILLESPIE
-- You will leave! You will not
disobey an order.
SALT
(very emotionally)
Yes, sir.
MONTAGE - EXT. COMMAND CENTER - NIGHT (23:45)
A) In the pouring RAIN, Ford surveys the vast
machine he's assembled:
B) Soldiers in Chemwar gear pile boxes of body bags
into trucks.
C) Tractor drivers REV their ENGINES and THUNDER
forward to the front line of Chinooks carrying
the poison gas.
D) Corpsmen check their watches and flash their
signal lights.
E) The CHINOOKS THUNDER into the air.
FORD
All the parts move with such precision he should be proud.
But he's deeply troubled. He moves:
131.
INT. COMMAND CENTER
BUZZING with activity. Dr. Frankle and McClintock stand
beside the computerized map of the quarantine area which
shows the red perimeter is within a half mile of the
Columbia River. The clock reads 23:47. The RADIO
CRACKLES with a Louisiana drawl from the Squadron
Commander of the nerve gas team; we'll know him as
Sandman One.
SANDMAN ONE (V.O.)
General, we got a problem. It's
rainin' pitchforks up heah. The
damn rain will dilute it down,
barely be strong enough to kill a
cat.
Frankle's troubled too:
DR. FRANKLE
He's right.
Ford agonizes.
FORD
To implement the plan and to kill
only a portion of the population...
That would cause great harm and
solve nothing.
McCLINTOCK
Sir!! The nerve gas rapidly loses
its potency after it's mixed. The
choppers have got enough to make
two runs. The virus is a quarter
mile from the river. You've got
to go forward.
Ford wavers. He grabs the radio mike:
FORD
Stand down!! Return your squadron
to base and stand down until you
receive further orders.
SANDMAN ONE (V.O.)
Acknowledge. Return to base.
Ford moves into:
HIS PRIVATE OFFICE
a highly secure area, sound-proofed for top-secret commu-
nications. McClintock follows him in and slams the door
shut. They're completely alone.
(CONTINUED)
132.
CONTINUED:
McCLINTOCK
How are you going to stop the
virus from reaching the river?
FORD
Napalm everything from the town
outward.
McCLINTOCK
In the rain, the napalm will burn
unevenly.
FORD
I'll take that chance.
McCLINTOCK
The virus will escape and we'll
have to use nuclear weapons to
sterlize the area.
FORD
I gave you my orders.
Beat. Then quietly:
McCLINTOCK
Let's say the antiserum did work,
General. You'd bus out the people,
move 'em somewhere, and treat 'em.
And with luck some of them would
live. But it's not going to work
and in the meantime you don't
understand what you've done.
FORD
I understand perfectly.
McCLINTOCK
No, you don't. We can't fool the
media forever. They'll ask
questions... there'll be
inquiries... What we did was
important. What we did was right,
sir.
A long beat. Ford knows he's ruined either way he turns.
McClintock's despair is deep and profound.
Ford feels sorry for him, but:
(CONTINUED)
133.
CONTINUED:
FORD
I'm sorry, but my decision stands.
If there is any hope of avoiding
this horrible contingency, I've
got to...
McClintock has slowly drawn his belt out of his trousers.
He quickly throws it around Ford's neck, crosses it, and
pulls violently on the two ends. Ford kicks and
struggles, but he's no match for McClintock's strength.
McCLINTOCK
I am relieving you of command on
the basis of cowardice in the face
of a national emergency.
Ford's dead. McClintock lays him out on the floor. Opens
the door and screams into the main room.
McCLINTOCK
Help!
He starts doing CPR as aides rush in.
McCLINTOCK
Call the medics quickly. The
General's had a heart attack.
One aide grabs the phone and calls the medics. Two more
take over CPR. McClintock straightens his shirt and moves
back into:
INT. MAIN ROOM
McCLINTOCK
I am assuming command under the
authority of the Secretary of
Defense.
PAN AROUND the room: Faces of uncertainty and fear.
McClintock grabs the radio mike:
McCLINTOCK
Sandman One, this is General
McClintock. You are to proceed
with nerve gas dispersal. You
will make two runs.
INT. LEAD CHOPPER - ON SANDMAN ONE
He shares a look of concern with his co-pilot.
134.
BACK TO COMMAND CENTER
A long beat. Then:
SANDMAN ONE (V.O.)
Yes, sir.
CUT TO:
EXT. COMMAND CENTER
Salt drives up in a Jeep. Immediately he's surrounded by
MP's, and taken into custody.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. ROBBY'S ROOM
Gillespie stares out the window at the rain. Just visible
in the distance: The blue and red lights of the
approaching Chinooks.
He moves back toward Robby, still comatose. The bag of
Betsy's antiserum is empty.
He reaches for Robby's hand. Her finger twitches. Beat.
Her eyes open.
CUT TO:
NURSING STATION
Gillespie grabs one phone. The line's dead. He grabs
another. Dead. He throws it aside. Races to the window.
The choppers' lights burn brighter.
GILLESPIE
Stop!
But nobody's listening. He runs down the hall screaming.
CUT TO:
INT. COMMAND CENTER
SANDMAN ONE (V.O.)
General McClintock, we are ready
to commence phase one.
McCLINTOCK
Proceed.
135.
CLOSE ON YOUNG MAJOR
agonizing. He leaves his post.
YOUNG MAJOR
Sir, General Ford ordered --
McCLINTOCK
Sit down, Major, or I will have
you arrested.
The Young Major hesitates. McClintock draws his pistol.
Salt enters, escorted by two MP's. The MP's survey the
situation, with the General facing off against a young
Major. What the hell is going on?
EXT. HOSPITAL HELIPORT - GILLESPIE
races for the Black Hawk. Throws the door open and grabs
the RADIO. A beat, then it FLICKERS to life.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. COMMAND CENTER
Gillespie's voice rings out over the radio:
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
Stop! The antiserum works.
McCLINTOCK
Turn it off!
The radioman hesitates.
INTERCUT Sandman One in his chopper.
GILLESPIE (V.O.)
This is Colonel Gillespie. And I'm
ordering you... begging you... to
stop. We can save these people.
McClintock punches off the radio.
ON FACES OF OFFICERS
in the room, wavering.
(CONTINUED)
136.
CONTINUED:
SALT
You do this, every night for the
rest of your life you will wake
up screaming.
INTERCUT Sandman One. A long beat.
SANDMAN ONE
This is Sandman One... we are
returning to base.
McCLINTOCK
(into radio)
You will be shot for dereliction
of duty in a national crisis. Do
you understand?
Sandman One doesn't answer. McClintock turns to the
Young Major.
McCLINTOCK
Order him to proceed.
The Young Major hesitates. McClintock points the gun at
his head. The Young Major trembles, but shakes his head
"no."
SALT
No!
McClintock turns the gun to Salt.
YOUNG MAJOR
No, sir... Please.
McCLINTOCK
I cannot allow a catastrophe to
occur --
He puts the PISTOL into his own mouth and PULLS the
TRIGGER.
Dead silence. Then:
SALT
(to the Young Major)
As the ranking officer, you are
in command...
(punching on the
radio)
Until --
137.
AT BLACK HAWK
Gillespie has heard this entire action on the radio.
SALT (V.O.)
Colonel Gillespie gets here.
Gillespie pulls his coat up over his head to shield
himself from the driving RAIN and begins to run toward
the quarantine perimeter.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. BONNEVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT (03:00)
The rain has stopped, as if for a brief moment man's
battle with nature has been suspended. Buses loaded
with the townspeople of Bonneville pass by. We
recognize the Police Chief, Tommy Hulls' wife and
children, Sherry Templeton's kids. All the windows
and doors of the buses have been sealed with tape.
TRACK PAST Betsy being loaded into the back of a van TO:
GILLESPIE
pushing Robby on her gurney into an Army truck. He
seals the back tight with tape. Then climbs inside:
CAB
Salt turns the key and the ENGINE ROARS to life.
CUT TO:
EXT. COLUMBIA RIVER - NIGHT (03:10)
Eerie silence. A PLANE CRUISES over the forest on the
Bonneville side. A waxy grey cloud fills the air. One
second. Two seconds. The forest erupts in a wall of
fire.
CUT BACK TO:
CONVOY OF TRUCKS AND BUSES
heading out of town. The fire burns in the b.g.
As the end of the convoy leaves the town, PLANES ROAR by.
As they drop a waxy grey cloud over the town of
Bonneville --
DISSOLVE TO:
138.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
A C-5A transport gliding to a landing on a runway carved
out of the desert.
Waiting anxiously for the plane to disembark:
Wally, Mike, and Robby, in a wheelchair. They move
forward to greet the small African man who emerges from
the plane. Dr. Iwabi smiles and quickens his pace.
The cargo hold doors open to reveal cage after cage of
Colobos monkeys.
SHOCK CUT TO:
BLACK SCREEN
COMPUTER KEYS POUND; the letters leap ACROSS the SCREEN:
November 21 -- the CDC announced that no evidence of
aquatic spread of the Motaba Virus had ever been obtained,
and that its intensive monitoring of the Columbia River
would be scaled back.
March 14 -- researchers at the University of San
Francisco announced the production of the first synthetic
antibodies effective against the mutated Motaba Bonneville
strain. Mass production of the antibodies began four
weeks later at the CDC and at the Military Disease
Institute.
May 12 -- Dr. Roberta Keough and General Michael Gillespie
were married for the second time.
ROLL CREDITS and --
SHOCK CUT TO:
EXT. DUGWAY (UTAH) - DUSK
A gila monster hunts for prey, its eye darting back and
forth, its tongue twitching hungrily. It moves past:
The barbed-wire fence emblazoned with the sign warning:
"U.S. MILITARY PROPERTY: TRESPASSING STRICTLY
PROHIBITED."
Behind the fence the duplexes are dark and abandoned.
The gila monster catches a fly and disappears into the
night.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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