Outbreak Page #22

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 communications.

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.

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