Outbreak Quotes

Casey Schuler: I hate this bug.

Sam Daniels: Oh, come on, Casey. You have to admire its simplicity. It's one billionth our size and it's beating us.

Casey Schuler: So, what do you want to do, take it to dinner?

Sam Daniels: No.

Casey Schuler: What, then?

Sam Daniels: Kill it.

Casey Schuler: How many brain cells did I kill?

Sam Daniels: How many? About a billion.

Casey Schuler: Oh, now I'm only as smart as you.

Sam Daniels: What can we give him to kill his sense of humor?

Mrs. Pananides: I have a friend in the Coast Guard, all I have to do is call...

Sam Daniels: How close a friend?

Mrs. Pananides: Closer than his wife would like.

Sam Daniels: Sir, what did I ever do to make your life miserable?

General Billy Ford: You got up this morning, didn't you?

Sam Daniels: Just don't get negative on me.

Major Salt: Affirmative.

Sergeant Meyer: Sir, my pilot is taking a leak.

Sam Daniels: A leak? No shit!

Sam Daniels: You know Salt, fear gets a bad rap. I don't want anybody in my outfit that doesn't get scared.

Major Salt: Then I'm your man sir.

Sam Daniels: Anything I can do to help?

Major Salt: Just don't make me nervous.

General Donald McClintock: With all due respect, Colonel Daniels, if you do not follow us to Travis Air Force Base, I will blow you out of the sky.

Sam Daniels: General, with all due respect, fuck you, sir.

Sam Daniels: Colonel Daniels from USAMRIID.

George Armistead: Yes, and I'm George from Sioux City, SD. Back of the line colonel

Sam Daniels: We got a terrible epidemic. We're from Cedar Creek, CA

Major Salt: [shouts at everyone] Cedar Creek, site of the viral infection

[everyone backs away]

Sam Daniels: George, you heard about the virus? need we say more?

George Armistead: NO

Sam Daniels: [holding George hands] We need all the bills of landing from ships arriving from Africa in the last 3 months. George, shall I cough on you?

George Armistead: NO

Casey Schuler: [to Daniels] Allow me, sir.

[to Salt]

Casey Schuler: Major!

Major Salt: Yes... Major?

Sam Daniels: Why don't you just for once take a chance?

Robby Keough: You know what, Sam, I did, I married you.

Sergeant Wolf: This could mean my stripes, sir.

Sam Daniels: It'll mean your ass if you don't get your finger on the phone. Finger it!

Sam Daniels: Thank you, Mrs. - what was her name again?

Major Salt: Pananides!

General Donald McClintock: You silly, sentimental son of a bitch. Nobody puts me under arrest. Nobody.

General Donald McClintock: [last lines as Col. Briggs bars his path with a sidearm] Colonel Briggs. What a wonderful moment this must be for you!

[Briggs grins as he leads him away]

Chief of Staff: Alright, alright, please. Please. The president's ETA from the East Asian Economic Summit is about 20 hours from now. He wants a recommendation by then from this group. Now, as I understand it, you want to firebomb the town of Cedar Creek, California, population 2,600, with something called a fuel air bomb, the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in our arsenal. The way it works: it explodes, sucks in all available oxygen to the core, vaporizes everything within a mile of ground zero, men, women, children, and one airborne virus. Destruction complete, case closed, crisis over.

[Takes a copy of the Constitution from his pocket]

Chief of Staff: This is the Constitution of the United States. I've read it cover to cover. I don't find anything in it about vaporizing 2,600 American citizens. But it does say, several times, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process. So, a couple of things before Clean Sweep is even considered. One: unanimous, unwavering support for the president on this. And I mean, public. You're going to stand there shoulder to shoulder with him. He goes down, you go down. And the second thing is, I want an army of experts citing hundreds and thousands of lab experiments telling any idiot with a camera that there was no other way! Got that? Hmm? No member of this government is going to go sneaking off to the Washington Post, telling them how they were the "sole voice of opposition". If there is a voice of opposition out there, I want him in here, now!

[Throws photos of virus victims on the table]

Chief of Staff: Those are the citizens of Cedar Creek. Go on, look at them. These are not statistics, ladies and gentlemen. They're flesh and blood! And I want you to burn those into your memories. Because those images should haunt us until the day we die.

Major Salt: [flying a helicopter over a freighter boat] I can get you down close enough.

Sam Daniels: Close enough to what?

Major Salt: Jump, sir.

Sam Daniels: Are you serious?

Major Salt: Fine, *you* fly, and *I'll* jump.

Sam Daniels: Alright, just get me down lower.

Sam Daniels: What did you do with the dogs? Don't tell me you put them in a kennel.

Robby Keough: What was I supposed to do, leave them tied to a tree with a 5 pound bag of kibble?

Sam Daniels: That's what you did to me.

General Billy Ford: Danny, this is General Ford. I remind you that you are interfering with Presidential authority. SANDMAN has a specific line to the target. If you are in his way he cannot complete his bombing run, and there will be hell to pay! Do you understand? Over.

Sandman One Co-Pilot: Why'd he say that?

Sandman One: Beats the hell outta me.

General Donald McClintock: Billy! Are you dumb or somethin'? You just told him how to stop the -

[stops as he realizes Gen. Ford knows exactly what he was doing]

Nurse Emma: They keep coming in. What's wrong with these people?

Dr. Mascelli: I don't know, Emma. I don't know. Get me the county health department, now!

Tracy's Father: [frantically referring to his daughter] Doctor! She got sick! Really fast, doctor! I thought it was the flu! She fainted! Doctor, she's burning up!

Dr. Mascelli: Gonna be alright.

Mrs. Foote: Morning, Rudy. Lucretia won't touch those shredded beef wafers, so we'll have to go back to veal.

[Rudy leans on some fish tanks uneasily]

Mrs. Foote: [as the tanks tumble from Rudy's weight] What's wrong?

[Rudy collapses onto the tanks as they break; Mrs. Foote screams]

General Donald McClintock: Colonel Briggs.

Colonel Briggs: Yes, sir.

General Donald McClintock: Daniels was here? And here?

Colonel Briggs: Yes, he was down here.

General Donald McClintock: Why was I not informed?

Colonel Briggs: Sir, you were sleeping.

General Donald McClintock: I am never *that* asleep, Briggs. Now you find him and you arrest him.

Sam Daniels: Do you know the incubation period?

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: No. But it kills in two or three days. The mortality rate is 100%.

Sam Daniels: Jesus. Could an infected person have gotten out of the village?

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: If he did, he'd be dead or dying in the jungle. And it's 50 miles to the nearest village.

Sam Daniels: First case? Patient zero?

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: A young man called Murazo worked with a white man to build a-a road into Kinshasa. And when he returned, he was sick.

Sam Daniels: I see.

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: And he drank from this well. From there it spread through the entire village.

[Sam takes a look at the well, and then turns back to Benjamin]

Sam Daniels: Did you identify the carrier? The host?

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: No. When he arrived the boy was incoherent. He died, uh, two hours later. He couldn't tell us how he got it.

[Sam looks up and notices a healthy villager chanting on the hills]

Sam Daniels: He's not sick.

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: [looks toward the villager] He's a local juju man. Witch doctor. He stayed in his cave a whole week.

Sam Daniels: I'd like to talk to him.

Dr. Benjamin Iwabi: No, he talks to me. You see, he believes that the gods were awoken from their sleep by the men cutting down the trees where no man should be. And the gods got angry. This is a punishment.

Sam Daniels: Sir, I sent you the fax six hours ago...

General Billy Ford: Sam, I am not going to issue an alert.

Sam Daniels: I don't wanna bust up your party, sir, butyou gotta issue an alert.

General Billy Ford: You said it was contained!

Sam Daniels: I said containment was probable. You should be monitoring the airports, you gotta...

General Billy Ford: Sam! Do you remember 1989?

Sam Daniels: Yeah.

General Billy Ford: You found two lousy cases of Congo fever in Nairobi and we put a note to every American kid's lunchbox. You remember that?

Sam Daniels: Yeah, I was wrong.

General Billy Ford: You were wrong.

Sam Daniels: Uh-huh.

General Billy Ford: What about 1992? Lassa fever?

Sam Daniels: I was wrong. Yup.

General Billy Ford: Wrong again. But you're right about this?

Sam Daniels: No, I could be wrong...

General Billy Ford: Yet you waltz into my party smelling like dirty socks, snatch me away from Senator Rosales, whom I need not remind you, Sam, is head of the Senate Arms Services subcommittee which is in charge of our fucking budget.

Sam Daniels: Forget Ebola. Forget Lassa. This bug kills so fast, Billy. You could be dead in...

General Billy Ford: Keep your voice down.

[beat]

General Billy Ford: Now, that is exactly my point, Sam.

Sam Daniels: What?

General Billy Ford: It is the very lethality of this virus which is working for us here.

[referring to his party guests]

General Billy Ford: These unfortunate people don't live long enough to spread the goddamn thing around. So you're right, it is contained.

Sam Daniels: I hope so.

[Jimbo is calling up Rudy about the monkey]

Rudy Alvarez: When did you get it?

Jimbo Scott: Just today, Rudy. We still on?

Rudy Alvarez: Yeah, he still wants it.

Jimbo Scott: Great. Great.

[Jimbo prepares to leave the lab with the monkey He approaches a gate. A guard walks up]

Biotest Guard: [hearing the monkey chattering] Oh, I see. So your ship came in again, eh, Jimbo?

Jimbo Scott: Our ship, Neil.

[laughs]

Biotest Guard: Our ship.

Jimbo Scott: [pulls out some money] Africa, land of great beauty and untold riches.

[Jimbo hands the money to the guard]

Biotest Guard: Absolutely untold.

Jimbo Scott: Keep it that way.

[the guard opens the gate]

Jimbo Scott: [taking off] Take care.

[Jimbo enter's Rudy's shop, carrying the monkey]

Jimbo Scott: R-R-Rudy.

Rudy Alvarez: He-he-hey, fellow, welcome back.

Jimbo Scott: [presenting the monkey] Look, look, look, look...

Rudy Alvarez: Hey. Alright. Alright. Put it on the shelf, let's have a look.

[Jimbo sets the cage down on a shelf]

Rudy Alvarez: You got the papers and everything?

Jimbo Scott: Yeah, papers. That's a good one. Look at her. You asked for a monkey, I got you a monkey.

Rudy Alvarez: What do you mean, "Look at her?"

Jimbo Scott: [confused as Rudy opens the cage] What do you mean, "What do I mean?"

[the monkey jumps out of the cage and onto a dog kennel]

Rudy Alvarez: I told you a male.

Jimbo Scott: [as another monkey steals a banana out of the cage] No, you said, "She."

Rudy Alvarez: I said "male." Customer has already got a female. He wants to breed 'em.

[Rudy picks the monkey up. The monkey scratches Rudy's arm]

Rudy Alvarez: AH!

[Rudy puts the monkey back in the cage]

Jimbo Scott: Oh, you okay?

Rudy Alvarez: Goddamn, Jesus!

Jimbo Scott: [to the monkey] It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.

[back to Rudy]

Jimbo Scott: Alright, alright. Look, um... I'll sell her cheap.

Rudy Alvarez: No, come on.

Jimbo Scott: Oh, come on, I have done a lot of favors for you. Just help me out.

Rudy Alvarez: We had a deal, and you screwed it up.

[refers to his other monkey]

Rudy Alvarez: I can't even sell that one.

[showing his scratch]

Rudy Alvarez: Here, look at this, look.

Jimbo Scott: Well, it serves you right. What am I going to do with her?

[Dr. Mascelli wipes Rudy's infected blood off Henry's face]

Henry Seward: What about AIDS or hepatitis?

Dr. Mascelli: We'll have the blood tested for you, Henry. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.

Henry Seward: Or maybe you should give me gamma globulin or something? I wouldn't wanna give anything to my girlfriend.

Dr. Mascelli: Flowers would be nice on occasion, don't you think?

[Henry begins coughing in a movie theater, unaware that it's infecting others]

Corinne: Honey, are you all right?

Henry Seward: Yeah, just thirsty. Let me get something to drink.

[Henry walks out of the theater, still coughing. He makes his way through other movie goers, who react in annoyance]

Henry Seward: [to a snack lady named Tracy] Water!

Tracy: You'll have to wait your turn, sir.

[Henry reaches the snack counter and pleads Tracy]

Henry Seward: Help me! I need water...

[Tracy screams as Henry collapses onto the floor, dragging bowls full of popcorn, which fall onto him]

[Jimbo has just died of the virus]

Boston Doctor #1: What in God's name is this?

Robby Keough: I'm here to find out. We're gonna need a post.

Boston Doctor #2: No way! I'm not gonna cut myself and get whatever the hell he's got.

Boston Doctor #1: I don't do autopsies.

Robby Keough: [to a third doctor] What about you?

Boston Doctor #3: I'll do it.

Robby Keough: Okay.

Dr. Drew Reynolds: The warning will be included in our weekly report, Dr. Keough.

Robby Keough: But that hasn't got till Wednesday and Colonel Daniels believes this is serious enough to send out a special alert.

Dr. Drew Reynolds: Do you know how much it costs to send out a special alert to 400,000 workers?

Robby Keough: In '89, he predicted Hanta and it hit.

Dr. Drew Reynolds: Well, I suppose I understand your allegiance to your ex-husband, but both you and I know that the chances of this virus showing up in the U.S. is virtually nil.

[Robby, Aronson, and Ruiz arrive at the Cedar Creek Hospital]

Police Chief Fowler: Ray Fowler, chief of police. This is Mayor Gaddis.

Robby Keough: I am Dr. Keough, from CDC. This is Dr. Aronson and Dr. Ruiz.

Mayor Gaddis: Cedar Creek is a small town, doctor. We're like a family. Everybody's scared. I don't know what to tell them...

Robby Keough: I know, I know, and we're here to help you in any way we can. So from now on,

Police Chief Fowler: [referring to Sam as he enters] I thought he was in charge.

Robby Keough: [surprised] Sam...

Sam Daniels: Hi, Robby. They just set up the BL4 mobile unit.

Robby Keough: What are you doing here? I thought General Ford sent you to New Mexico.

Sam Daniels: [grins] He did.

[Robby grins back]

[opening lines]

[Ford and McClintock arrive at the campsite in 1967]

Dr. Raswani: Come this way!

[the trio races into the infirmary, where many are dying from the same mysterious virus]

Dr. Raswani: Men wounded in battle, we can deal with. But this strange disease... Thirty men dead yesterday. Eighteen, the day before. We need supplies. Plasma. Penicillin.

Young McClintock: We'll get you everything you need, doctor.

American Mercenary: [weakly] You're Americans! Please, get me out of this shithole.

Young McClintock: Hey, buddy. That's what we're here for. We're gonna take you home. But first we're gonna take a little blood sample, alright?

American Mercenary: I'm gonna die, right?

Young McClintock: No, you're not gonna die.

American Mercenary: Tell my girl I love her.

Young McClintock: I'm not gonna tell her. You're gonna tell her yourself, alright?

Young McClintock: It's even worse than I though. Get the plane here by 1900 hours.

Young Ford: Well, shouldn't we at least...

Young McClintock: Get the plane, Billy!

General Billy Ford: You know, Colonel Daniels is not going to like us going behind his back like this.

General Donald McClintock: Then we'll kill him.

[beat]

General Donald McClintock: Lighten up, Billy. We have no alternative. You're so goddamn sentimental. That's the trouble with this country.

[the staff at Cedar Creek Hospital is desperately trying to save Rudy]

Dr. Mascelli: Rudy, can you hear me? Come on, Rudy! Help me out here! Squeeze my hand! It looks like toxic shock.

Nurse Emma: Fred said he was fine yesterday.

Dr. Mascelli: Come on, Rudy!

Nurse Jane: I've been reading about these really bad strep cases in Newsweek.

Dr. Mascelli: Maybe I should subscribe. Henry, get me a blood culture, chemistry profile, and a blood count.

[Henry takes a blood sample from Rudy]

Dr. Mascelli: Goddamn it! Come on, Rudy!

[Sam, Salt, and Casey are examining the virus via computer]

Major Salt: Okay, sirs, here we go. These pictures were taken over a period of eight hours. Normal, healthy kidney cells before they met the virus.

[the computer supports Salt's following claims]

Major Salt: In the space of an hour, a single virus has invaded, multiplied and killed the cell. And in just two hours, its offspring have invaded cells

[points at the screen]

Major Salt: here, and here. Continually multiplying.

[Salt clicks another button and the virus is shown to be spreading further]

Casey Schuler: Jesus Christ, five hours? It infects the cell, replicates, and kills this fast? These numbers can't be right Ebola takes days to do this damage.

Major Salt: Sirs, the numbers are correct. I wish to God they weren't. One goes in, millions come out. Every cell is dead.

[Salt begins to zoom in]

Major Salt: Now we see them individually, searching for the next victim until there's nothing left to kill.

Casey Schuler: Mark this day, Salt. We could spend our whole careers waiting to see a new virus.

[Salt zooms in some more]

Major Salt: Sirs, Mr. Motaba, up close and personal.

Casey Schuler: I hate this bug.

Sam Daniels: Come on, Casey. You have to love its simplicity. It's one billionth our size and it's beating us.

Casey Schuler: So, what do you want to do, take it to dinner?

Sam Daniels: No.

Casey Schuler: What, then?

Sam Daniels: Kill it.