Outbreak

FADE IN:

EXT. JUNGLE

HIGH-PITCHED WHINES. LOUDER AND LOUDER. MORTARS race

through the air and EXPLODE in the distant jungle. Soldiers

-- 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 feverish,

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 appears

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:

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote