HOT ZONE

We're carrying out this o.p. next to

children -- We should've told them

-- We should've evacuated them.

JOHNSON

Why didn't you?

JAXX

Orders. Might start a panic. I'd

pick panic over an epidemic anyday.

PUSH IN CLOSE ON JOHNSON

CUT TO:

INT. MONKEY HOUSE STAGING AREA - MORNING

The storeroom is crowded. The AIT's help Klages, Godwin,

Sgt. Pierra, Maj. Haines, Lt. Rice, Gerry Jaxx and

Johnson into the orange lightweight RACAL spacesuits and

plastic bubble helmets. The EIS officers observe.

NOTE: This process requires one person act as "dresser"

-- like putting armor on a Knight. Brown sticky tape is

applied to all seams and zippers. Suiting up continues

throughout this scene.

JAXX ENTERS

Shivering in her scrubs. She lays down sticking her legs

up. The AIT leader spreads her suit legs. She pulls them

on. She briefs as she suits up. This like a cadence.

JAXX

I know they look like "K-Mart

specials," but the Racals will

protect you in BL4 conditions.

Once again she evokes some nervous laughter releasing

tension. She straps her battery pack blower on her back.

JAXX

You've got six hours on the air pump

battery. So decon out before it

fails or you're in trouble.

She holds up a roll of sticky tape --

JAXX

These suits are fragile. Monkey

claws and fangs'll slice them like

butter -- If you get a rip --

She easy rips a rend in her leg spooking everyone.

JAXX

-- tape it shut fast or contaminated

air can flow inside. I keep extra

tape around my legs just in case.

She tapes the rend shut. Gerry checks the seal. GODWIN

AND KLAGES look at each other. "What've we done?"

JAXX

Be exquisitely careful. Stick with

your buddy. Watch for rips in each

other's suits.

She pulls on her gloves and tapes the wrists.

JAXX

Know where your hands are at all

times. If you get blood on you,

stop and clean it off. With bloody

gloves, you can't see holes in them.

Believe me, I know from

experience... Gerry?

Gerry holds up a syringe --

GERRY

Never hand a used needle to your

buddy. If a needle comes out of its

cap, it goes straight into an

animal --

He fixes the syringe on the end of a special pole with a

syringe clamp on the end. A deadly spear.

GERRY

Don't recap it. You could stick

yourself. Bag it.

He removes the syringe and drops it in a disposable bag.

JAXX

Everyone decons out to the cold side

for a fifteen minute break every two

hours. If you get tired, or sick --

tell your supervisor.

ON THE BIO-HAZARD TEAM

Godwin, Maj. Haines, Lt. Rice, Maj. Powell, Gerry Jaxx and

Karl Johnson. One by one, the AIT Team fit clear bubble

helmets over their heads and tie them in place.

Klages' suit pressurizes making her look fat. Nervous

giggles. Lots of sweat. All excited and scared.

JAXX

Karl... Anything to add...?

Johnson takes a moment, then --

JOHNSON

We're going to euthanize a whole

building full of animals as humanely

as possible. Remember, they're sick

and dying. They were caught up in

this... It's not their fault.

Faces in helmets. Grimset. Scared. Air blowers kick on

one by one. FM headsets activate.

JOHNSON (FM MIC)

Don't forget for a second -- they

carry the most deadly virus known.

Let's go. We'll go in by twos --

The Team grabs up gear and line up like paratroopers --

Gerry presses his helmet to Jaxx's.

GERRY (FM MIC)

How am I supposed to kiss you good-

bye, Colonel?

JAXX (FM MIC)

We're on the air, Ger. Watch your

"six."

She points behind him. The Team is smiling at them.

Jaxx presses her helmet to her lips with her pointer

finger then presses it to him. Their eyes say it all.

THEIR POV - THE DOOR

Push in on the Red Trefoil Biohazard symbol until it fills

the view --

INT. GRAY ZONE - CONTINUING ACTION

The staging area door opens slowly. Light spills into the

long dark hallway leading to the holding rooms.

GERRY AND JOHNSON

Step into the "gray zone." The air is heavy. Dense. No

sounds from the monkeys. Gerry instantly pours sweat.

Their helmets fog up --

JOHNSON (FM MIC)

Damnit -- can't see. It's burning

up in here. Must be 90 degrees --

GERRY (FM MIC)

Thermostat? Let's find it.

They head into the musky corridor. Fluorescent lights

glow that "end-of-the-world-red" in the heavy musky air.

TO JAXX - AT THE THRESHOLD

One breath and she LEADS THE TEAM in by twos.

KLAGES AND GODWIN pause at the door. WE HEAR: their

breathing, the rush of air, their heartbeats. They

squeeze each other's hands, and enter --

FOLLOW JOHNSON AND GERRY - HELMET POV

Fogged helmets. Air pump rushing. Poor vision. They

turn the corner at the cage washing area --

FACE TO FACE WITH TWO MEN --

MONKEY HANDLERS POV - BEINGS IN SPACESUITS

Coming right at them. The Handlers look at each other.

They're in jeans and t-shirts. What the hell is going on?

GERRY (THROUGH HELMET)

What the hell are you doing here?!

This is a hot zone --

Loc, the Vietnamese, points to the dismantled thermostat

and speaks rapidly in his language. Johnson understands.

JOHNSON

(in Vietnamese)

He doesn't mean "heat" -- "death."

"Killing field." Leave now.

They escort the two frightened Men away.

INT. STAGING AREA - THE AIRLOCK DOOR OPENS

The two frightened men enter. Gerry slams the door behind

them. The two EIS officers on duty look up surprised.

INT. GRAY ZONE - MINUTES LATER

QUICK CUTS: KLAGES AND GODWIN lay out necropsy tools on a

bleed table; scalpels, cutters, lancets, pipettes, blood

syringes -- the "sharps."

PIERRA sets out rows of "kill syringes." RICE stacks

plastic bags and biohazard body boxes.

WITH JAXX AND JOHNSON - ROOM "F"

They pause at the door to Room "F." Karl carries a mop

handle with a "U-shaped" prong on the end to hold the

monkey. Jaxx carries the pole and a bag of syringes. She

signals down the hall to:

GERRY AND MAJ. HAINES; Ready at Door "H." Gerry counts

three -- they enter.

INT. ROOM F - JAXX'S POV - THROUGH HELMET

Johnson pushes open the door with his broom handle. It's

dark. Visibility poor. Instantly MONKEYS screech and

rattle about. An unnerving cacophony in the gloom.

JAXX (FM MIC)

Cynos haven't been fed. They're

freaked -- Hunger gets them hostile.

HELMETS POVS - MISTY IMAGES APPEAR DREAMLIKE

MONKEY EYES STARING AT US. NOSES BLEEDING. FANGS

FLASHING. PAWS CLAWING AT US THROUGH THE BARS.

TO JOHNSON: Sounds of Africa surround him. He blinks.

FLASH TO: MONKEYS SWARMING OVER HIS ROVER

Faces of the dead. Burning huts. The big Male standing

four feet tall on his hood screeching at him --

RESUME: MONKEY HOUSE - TIGHT ON MONKEY

Screeching from its cage. Karl jerks back breathing hard.

JAXX APPEARS beside him.

JAXX

Karl? Karl! You okay?

He nods, his heart pounding.

INT. ROOM H - FOLLOW GERRY AND HAINES

Moving from cage to cage with precision and rhythm; HAINES

PINS a monkey with the mop handle O.S., GERRY THRUSTS his

pole syringe in the cage injecting the animal O.S. Gerry

dumps the used syringe and loads another. They move like

a martial arts kata.

CUT TO:

EXT. DAY CARE CENTER - DAY - MONKEY HOUSE IN B.G.

Children play enjoying the day.

EXT. RESTON ST. - SAME TIME

People come and go at the McDonalds across the street.

Down the block at the Amoco Station, more mundane life.

The Grocery store advertises "Butterball Turkeys."

CUT TO:

INT. FAIRFAX HOSPITAL - ISOLATION ROOM - SAME TIME

Deke lays sedated in an oxygen tent. Reese is there with

TWO HOSPITAL OFFICIALS and MEDICAL STAFF who are nervous.

REESE

Full barrier gear; scrubs, gloves,

masks must be worn. I don't want

any other patients on this floor

until we do the bloodwork and find

out if he's really contracted the

virus.

C.J. pulls him aside. The Doctors talk uneasily O.S.

C.J.

Let's get him back to the post. Our

medical slammer has BL4 isolation.

Our med-staff are trained for

this --

REESE

We'll contain it here. Protecting

the public from infectious diseases

is our jurisdiction. Don't make a

scene, C.J., please --

C.J.

A scene? This guy's bloodwork was

done here in their lab. If it's

lethal with virus and contamination

occurs, this hospital will go up

like wildfire.

Reese escorts C.J. politely from the room.

CUT TO:

RESUME: MONKEY HOUSE - INT. GRAY ZONE - LATER

Klages bags liver and spleen samples and puts them in a

cooler full of organs. Her gloves are covered in blood.

She washes the bloody table with Clorox then places

another monkey down. She picks up a swab and takes a nose

sample, flips it, takes another --

CLOSE ON - GODWIN

Drawing blood from a sedated monkey. (Only syringe and

part of monkey hindquarter visible). As blood fills the

tube; TILT UP TO: GODWIN singing softly to the monkey,

like mother to child -- Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven."

As she places the blood vial in a box filled with blood

samples, we see she is crying.

CLOSE ON PIERRA - FEELING THE PRESSURE

He fumbles for a scalpel with his gloves.

He slits the top from a cadaver bag and peers in. (We

don't see what he sees). His breathing is rapid.

PIERRA (FM MIC)

Can't breath in here.

Klages turns to him. Checking him out --

KLAGES (FM MIC)

You okay?

INSIDE SUIT - HELMET POV

Sweat rivulets run down his forehead into his eyes. His

faceplate fogs up. He wipes instinctively with his glove

smearing the visor on his wet face making it worse.

PIERRA (FM MIC)

Get me outta this fuckin' thing!

OUTSIDE SUIT - WIDER

He wipes his faceplate violently with his glove. The

scalpel in his hand slices the clear plastic bubble open.

Air rushes out. He goes nuts --

PIERRA (FM MIC)

Aw, fuck! I'm leaking! Oh shit!

KLAGES FORCES the scalpel from his hand. He flails,

knocking over the tray of sharps. His airhose uncouples.

GERRY ENTERS the Gray Zone on the double. He grabs Pierra

from behind pinning his arms back.

KLAGES GETS RIGHT IN HIS FACE

KLAGES (THROUGH HELMET)

Sergeant! Look at me!

Pierra does -- military reflex. Klages, in control, rips

a piece of brown sticky tape from a roll on her sleeve --

and tapes shut the tear in his faceplate.

Gerry rehooks his hose. Air rushes in. His suit holds

it.

GERRY (FM MIC)

You're Okay! You're not losing air

pressure.

Pierra instantly calms. He smiles sheepishly at Klages --

PIERRA (FM MIC)

Thanks... buddy...

-- and faints on the floor in his clumsy suit.

INT. STAGING AREA - CONTINUING ACTION

Gerry and Klages help Pierra through the door. Rice and

Haines instantly hose the trio down with disinfectant.

Gerry is exhausted. He's white as a ghost. And aged --

KLAGES

Thanks, Mr. Jaxx -- you look --

older --

GERRY

(meeting her gaze)

I thought I just felt that way.

(looks around

concerned)

Where's Nancy? Has she taken a

break yet? Johnson?

Klages indicates "no."

INT. ROOM K - LOW ANGLE

Jaxx crawls into frame on her hands and knees. She loads

another pole syringe and peers into the next cage. She

vapor locks -- staring at a very scary sight.

HER POV - AN EMPTY OPEN CAGE

JAXX (FM MIC)

We've got a loose one!

She stands up peering around the dank dark room. It could

be anywhere. KARL POPS UP on the other side of the row

scaring the shit out of her --

JAXX (FM MIC)

Aw -- Jesus Christ --

JOHNSON (FM MIC)

I don't think so -- ! Where'd it

go?

He fumbles his flashlight on checking the lower cages.

JAXX (FM MIC)

Just keep looking --

Something rattles in the corner. They wheel. Nothing.

Johnson's air blower suddenly stops. His suit begins to

deflate. He turns to Jaxx --

JOHNSON (FM MIC)

Nancyyyy --

She spanks his battery pack. It sputters to life. He

smiles in relief. It dies again.

JAXX (FM MIC)

It's dead. Get out of here.

JOHNSON (FM MIC)

I'm not leaving you. I've got two

minutes air in the suit --

UP IN THE CEILING - PREDATOR POV - LOOKING DOWN

A shadowy figure moves impossibly along the ceiling right

above them. Sitting ducks.