Outbreak Page #20

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

f***ing 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 f***ing 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

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote