Outbreak Page #10

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.

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