The Hot Zone (2019) s01e01 Episode Script

Arrival

1 Merci.
Can I help you, sir? Thank you.
What's wrong with you, sir? Just Sir, please, roll up your sleeve.
Doctor! Doctor! Uh, Doctor, the patient is showing signs of headaches, vomiting and nausea.
- Is he from the west, the Congo? - Hapana.
Not far from the Nzoia River area.
Is it the new disease? I don't know.
There's no signs of sarcoma, no meningitis.
We have massive hemorrhaging.
Sir, sir, can you hear me? Have you been traveling anywhere? Kitum.
Uh, the caves.
Clear a room.
He needs fluids, a transfusion.
He's lost a lot of blood.
Let's go.
His skin is loose.
Doctor? He's choking.
He needs a breathing tube.
Get me a breathing tube.
Something is in the way.
Merry Christmas, baby You sure did treat me nice Oh! Mom, way too early for Christmas music.
Uh, chef gets dibs on music.
It is a Thanksgiving rule.
- That's bogus.
- That's life, sweetie.
Help your grandfather to the table and go find your brother.
Jason, can you come in and help, please? I was nothing like that.
Identical.
Except with bell-bottoms.
- And a macramé bikini top.
- I never even owned - a macramé bikini top.
- Oh, I remember it well.
- Really? - Very hard to get off.
Ooh.
Damn it.
- Oh, Nancy.
- Honey.
Let me see.
It's fine, it's fine.
Thank you.
Thought I could trust you with a sharp blade.
Apparently, not in the kitchen.
Hmm.
Okay.
- We could have come to him.
- You know your father.
Tradition is important.
I offered to go over there, set everything up, he wouldn't hear of it.
Jason, honey, can you come and get some dishes for the table? Thanks.
I'm just gonna go get some Pepsi.
the AIDS Quilt is a sobering reminder of the scope of the tragedy in this country.
As the virus has spread and more families are affected by its deadly consequences, the quilt continues to grow.
- Hey.
- Hey.
You okay? He's so much worse than last summer.
Why didn't he tell me? I'm sorry.
What can I do? - I just need a few more minutes.
- Okay.
I'll just tell everybody the Pepsi's putting up a fight.
Oh, here you go, honey.
- This looks just delicious.
- Mmm.
- It really does.
- Let's hope it tastes - as good as it looks.
- A glorious feast.
- Thank you.
- All right, you two, that's enough.
- Ow.
- Who is hungry.
Enough.
Okay, everybody's got wine? - You're gonna want more than that.
- Dear Lord thank you for the blessings of this food and this family.
Help the Eagles crush the Cowboys today, please, and please watch over our family Nancy, my sister, Jerry and these two monsters.
In Thy name we pray, - Amen.
- Amen.
Dig in.
Did you sign the paper for coach? In your backpack.
State Invitationals already, huh? - Yep.
You're up for carpool.
- Okay.
Have you ever seen AIDS? Mom doesn't see human patients.
Besides, Tammy's mom says that all the AIDS are in New York.
Um, Tammy's mom believes that Falcon Crest is a real place.
Let's just stick to science.
Okay? Facts only.
We do have vials of HIV.
But it's not a Level 4 agent.
Actually hard to contract.
You've seen something worse? Jason.
Don't worry about what you're seeing on TV.
I work in one of the safest places in the world.
Come on.
We're gonna be late.
Good morning, ma'am.
Have a good day.
- Hey.
- Morning.
Wow.
What do we have here? They really skimped out on the giftwrapping.
Who would drop a package off looking like that? Hazelton.
- Those research monkey guys? - Yep.
Well, hello, Monkey 053.
Wow.
It just gets better.
It looks like a spleen.
Huh.
Let's see what brought you in here today.
- Hmm.
- What's wrong? It's not just a spleen, it's a-a blood clot? I think? Engorged from I'm guessing from subcutaneous hemorrhaging.
- What would cause that? - A virus.
A powerful one.
If this is a primate, it's probably SHF.
I'm sorry.
Peter's the virus guy.
Simian hemorrhagic fever.
Highly contagious.
Wherever this guy came from, it could wipe out the entire colony.
Oh, you're safe.
It rips the hell out of the inside of monkeys, but it doesn't spill over to humans.
We'll make a few cultures, see what's going on.
If this monkey has simian fever, you're looking for tiny black peppercorn shapes in the stew.
Dead monkeys make me sad.
I never know how to decipher your level of sarcasm.
Well, I guess I'd put us at, uh on, like, a level three.
Not the pun type, Jahrling.
- Stick with acerbic.
- Sardonic? - Acidic.
- I'll take it.
Guys, it's no good.
It's all milky.
I can barely see anything.
- It's off the plastic.
- This is what I'm saying.
SHF doesn't kill cells like this.
There's only a few things in the world that could do this.
User error? Wha-What? Look, I told Hazelton to send us samples if they saw any characteristics of SHF.
My guess? Your first hunch was right.
Some random bacteria invaded the culture while you were prepping the flasks.
No judgment.
Happens to the best of us.
And what if there is something else in there? Nancy, if I zipped myself up into one of those body bags and went down to that house of horrors every day, I'm sure I'd be seeing deadly pathogens everywhere I looked, too.
That's why the army hired a regular guy with a PhD.
All right, so, head of his class at Cornell Did you see the carpet? It's been eaten away by something that's far more aggressive.
A virus like you're suggesting just appears out of nowhere on U.
S.
soil? I mean Well, there's a first time for everything.
Even you admitting you're wrong.
I'd really need to see the data on that.
Well, there's only one way to find out: we'll take it to BL4.
All right.
Meanwhile, I'll be here running tests, finding out what kind of crap actually got in there.
Okay.
Carter, I know the last thing you want is to be bothered, but I need you.
Are you there? Just pick up, please.
Okay, look.
I've got something in my lab that's scaring me.
I've just spent the last 30 minutes looking at dead cells under a microscope.
I swear I've only seen one thing that could cause this reaction.
If I'm right, I'm looking at a filovirus.
That means it's out there, uncontained in a building just outside of D.
C.
I'm gonna run some tests, but you're the only one who would know how to handle something like that.
All old messages deleted.
Every pathogen contained in Level 4 is deadly and incurable, Some of the worst of which are the filoviruses.
They spread through bodily fluids.
Blood, mucus, feces, vomit, even sweat.
In 1980, a doctor in Nairobi contracted the Marburg filovirus from a patient's vomit.
Specimens of Dr.
Musoke's blood are kept in USAMRIID's Which one of you is Captain Orman? deadly hot agents would be difficult to contain if they were unleashed in an urban environment.
M.
D.
? Ranger.
I'm looking for a science background.
Bachelor's emphasis on pathology.
And you're cleared for Level 4 training tomorrow? Mm-hmm, that's me.
You're going in tonight.
family are so dangerous and why.
The viruses of this family have a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome Didn't expect such a charming escort to take me to Colonel Jaax.
I am Colonel Jaax.
Stupid So what's in there that can't wait till tomorrow? A hunch.
We'll only know for sure when we run some tests.
Hope I'm wrong.
How do you have anymore eyelashes left, ma'am? This isn't routine.
I'm just making a tool.
We're going to send out a sample to the electron microscope and they'll throw it under the beam.
While we are in Level 4.
We'll only get the concrete proof when we test the blood against the hot agents in there.
Nothing like jumping in the deep end.
I thought they taught you to swim when you were in training.
- Did I grab the wrong guy? - No.
I'm ready.
You aren't a little scared? Of course not.
That's bad.
If you're not scared, you shouldn't be in Level 4.
Fear keeps you sharp.
Put that on.
Hey, Walter, thank you so much for the samples.
Unfortunately, the cultures for 053 got botched.
But if we're looking at hemorrhagic blood clot here, my money's on simian fever.
Thought you might want to let the facility know sooner - rather than later.
- So we're talking low survival rate.
Yeah, less than half.
There's a slight possibility it's something else, but it's doubtful.
When will you know for sure? Well, we're gonna run some tests tomorrow, but you might want to quarantine the other monkeys from 053's cell.
Jahrling, this isn't gonna get out of hand, is it? Mays here.
Glad it's you who picked up.
Oh, yeah, hey, Walt.
So what's going on in cell H? That's what I'm calling about.
I just heard from the guy at USAMRIID.
It looks like SHF.
- Simian fever.
Damn.
- Yeah.
Pretty nasty stuff.
And I'm hoping we don't lose anymore.
So what kind of precautions you want to take? That's one hell of a blade.
It's a diamond.
Costs more than my car.
100 million viruses can be on the head of a needle.
This blade is so sharp, it could cut one of them right in half.
There we go.
There it is.
Ugh, oh, my ears are bleeding.
Do not even think about starting up with that Milli Vanilli crap.
You know, my ex-wife never made me wear one of these cummerbund thingies.
Aw, did you have to wear one of these at your wedding? Last chance, man.
Giving up the single life for puking kids.
Going once twice Hey, uh, did you ever figure out what blew up the colonel's batch? Yeah, I was just prepping the cultures right now.
I'll bet you anything it's Pseudomonas, man.
It's a common soil bacterium, lives in dirt.
Literally, one of the most common life-forms on the planet.
It's everywhere.
It's Hospitals, hot tubs, under everyone's fingernails.
Don't you want to wait till Nancy finishes up her tests? You're talking about a million-to-one odds.
Look, man, I wouldn't put too much stock in Nancy's paranoia.
I mean, look, she's smart as a whip.
But her mentor? He's, like, a pathogen-chasing whack job.
This guy went off the deep end, kind of always looking for the big one.
I mean, it's not her fault.
No clothes, no jewelry of any kind.
Nothing but yourself.
Going into Level 4 is like being born.
You're stripped down to your bare essence, and you emerge into a strange and hostile environment.
Ah Leaving Level 0 for Level 2.
When you open the door, you'll feel resistance.
Keep a firm grip.
The negative air pressure keeps what's inside the hot zone from drifting out.
Viruses fall apart under the ultraviolet.
It smashes their genetic material and makes it impossible for them to replicate.
We like that.
Leaving Level 2 for Level 3.
Just do as I do.
You want to make sure nothing gets between your scrubs and your gloves.
First layer of protection is complete.
I like to grab an extra length just in case I need it.
That's the second layer.
Wrap your tape around the coupling.
Okay.
Level 4 is designed with no sharp corners.
Even so, we're handling scalpels, tools.
We'll be on a buddy system, like scuba diving.
No one goes into Level 4 alone.
I'll be scanning you head to toe for anything that could let contaminated particles in.
You get a tear, I will get you out fast.
Now, this is the moment.
It's going to seem very claustrophobic.
- I've heard about it.
- Yes, but you haven't seen it.
People panic, they claw at their suits, they scream.
Let's try not to do that, okay? Good.
All right, just breathe.
Breathe through it.
Like childbirth.
Well, I guess you wouldn't know what that's like.
Is it like being buried alive in a coffin? - What are you doing? - I'm checking your pupils.
Signs of panic.
Okay, let's bring your breathing down a little.
Good.
Level 4 airlock.
This is where the real world meets the hot zone.
All these nozzles, they will decontaminate us on our way out.
Hey.
You need to be straight with me.
Can you do this? Welcome to the hot zone.
Okay, you ready? Disconnect.
First thing I want to do is get more cultures made.
Hand me the acetone.
Fixation? What are we testing for, exactly? Immunofluorescence.
The cells I saw in that culture weren't just dead.
- They were exploded.
- What would do that? Filovirus.
Where the hell did these samples come from? - Africa? - Somewhere closer.
Close enough not to need postage.
This is Jaax, I need a code.
Got it.
Cleared.
Every known filovirus on Earth is in this freezer.
Do you know how many people would die on this planet if the leftovers of this freezer ever got released? All of us? And there's not a cure on the horizon.
Without Dr.
Musoke, we wouldn't have Marburg antibodies.
I'll start by testing the antisera one at a time.
My gut is that Marburg is matched.
That's the filovirus found in monkeys.
If we hit the virus jackpot, it'll glow green.
No glow.
It's negative.
- That's good? - No.
If it's not Marburg, none of the other options are good.
Hey, smell that.
- What? - It's the easiest way to determine if it's Pseudomonas, if it smells like grape juice.
Huh.
Nothing.
So it's not contaminated? Then what's eating those cells? Ebola Zaire.
One of the deadliest viruses on Earth.
Similar symptoms as Marburg, but instead of killing 30% of its victims, it kills 90%.
Hole.
Hole, hole! Oh, God.
This is Jaax.
I've got a breach.
I'm gonna do a crash exit.
Orman, just stay here, someone's gonna come in and bring you out.
I have to decontaminate.
Romeo-Bravo-Lima-Four, Code 3.
- Ma'am, are you all right? - Whatever it is, it didn't get me.
Just c-check the glove.
- We have a laceration.
- Uh The cut was there before, but I I'm observing blood in the powder.
What the hell were you thinking? Sir, we have a duty to warn Hazleton.
Why'd you go in there with a cut? I-I don't even know where to start.
You can get as angry as you want at me later.
Right now, we've got to get to them.
We may have a filovirus on our hands, and there's a chance that it's Ebola.
It-it can't be Ebola.
Did you see a glow? I didn't get that far.
And did you check for contaminants? No, because I was using a fresh sample.
Well, there you go.
I mean, how can you be 100% sure? I already have the lab running a thorough test of all known bacteria.
Colonel, weeks ago, I asked Hazleton to send me samples of anything that looked even remotely like SHF.
The package was for my study.
The cells blew up because they were infected.
I already told Hazleton that it's simian fever.
What, you really think Koko Jr.
in there has two rare and deadly diseases? Look, what's more likely? They sent us samples of SHF, which I've been expecting for weeks, or Ebola, which has literally never before been detected on U.
S.
soil? - That's reckless.
- No, that That's experience.
I'm sorry, I'm the only one here who's chased these viruses on the ground.
Look, enough of this crap, okay? Ebola? Jaax, do you have any idea what kind of panic this will cause? I'm gonna need unequivocal proof I was about to introduce Ebola Zaire to the sample tissue.
I just need to get back in there.
All your samples were compromised during sterilization, ma'am.
It's protocol.
Jaax, you and I know, if this was Ebola, there would be a trail of dead bodies already.
All right? If I learned anything from Carter, it's that every time Ebola strikes, it retreats back into the jungle, and it emerges again as something different.
And there's a reason that no one listens to that guy anymore.
I'm not going to argue with you! Jaax, until this accident investigation is concluded, you're suspended from Level 4, as of now.
Jahrling will take it from here.
I'm sorry, Jerry.
How you doing? You okay? You're scaring the hell out of me, Nance.
I'm gonna go check in with the lab, see about your tests.
Okay.
Thanks.
Hey, where's Ben? He's halfway to Shenandoah by now.
Damn it, I want to talk to him about something.
He'll be back Monday.
How are these tests coming? You ID any contaminant yet? Not yet.
I'm ruling out bacteria one by one.
Won't be done for another few hours.
Good night, Dr.
Jahrling.
Good night.
Wait All clear.
You know better, Nance.
You have to trust me.
- I used precautions.
- I'm sorry, but - If anything happened to you - It didn't.
- Okay, let's go home.
- I I can't.
Not now.
I'm pretty sure of what I saw in there today.
Okay, not that I don't trust you, but, why does it have to be you? - Someone else can do it.
- Really? Who? Peter's convinced I'm wrong, and the colonel thinks that it's too improbable.
So who else is there that's gonna raise a red flag? Jerry, look at me.
These two hands have held anthrax, Marburg You know I don't like talking about that.
And I do it because it is my responsibility.
It's my duty.
What about your duty to Jamie and Jason and me? You can't be angry with me for doing what I signed up for.
You know, most days I lie to myself.
I tell myself you're not in any real danger.
I hate that I can't do that today.
We're gonna get through this.
I can't drop it.
I Not now.
I need to find another monkey to sample.
Okay? Just be extra careful, all right? I will.
This facility is not open to the public.
I'm not the public.
I'm a colonel with USAMRIID.
My name is Nancy Jaax.
Oh, sorry.
Uh, I'm Frank Mays, uh, colony manager.
Thank you for the heads-up on the SHF.
What did you do with the other monkeys in the cell? Well, I quarantined them.
Why? Because I need to see them.
That's private property.
They'd have my balls if I let you see 'em - without clearance from HQ.
- Your whole colony is in danger.
Ma'am, I've been here for 30 years, and this is not our first outbreak.
- Luckily, we caught it early.
- How many dead? Aside from 053, uh 11.
12.
Did you nick yourself when you processed them? Any cuts or scrapes? You don't think this is simian fever, do you? Now, look, some colonel shows up unannounced in the middle of the night, you What the hell am I dealing with here? I can't tell you that until I get my hands on - some fresh tissue.
- Samples? - That's days of paperwork.
- We don't have days.
Lady, I am three years from my retirement.
Frank, there's no one in this world who wants to see you live to your retirement more than I do.
All right, uh, let me see what I can do.
Uh, but I'm gonna have to meet you off-site.
I got 'em right here.
Oh, my God, what did you do? They-They're double-bagged.
What am I supposed to do with these? You wanted monkeys.
I wanted a little fresh tissue so I could make a concrete diagnosis.
- This - Well, they're fresh, ma'am.
They just died today.
And y-you just put them in garbage bags? They should be in coolers.
Look, I did the best I could.
Are you gonna help me figure out what's killing them or not? All right, you gotta bring 'em to my lab.
Wha Lady, I can't go on that base.
I-I can't I got to stay under the radar.
- Well, these are gonna thaw.
- Look, it's a hell of a lot longer back to Reston than it is to Fort Detrick.
This is All right.
This is what we're gonna do.
You're gonna help me move them to my trunk.
We need to hurry, it's gonna be rush hour soon.
Help me get everything out.
We gotta take everything out that can puncture a garbage bag.
Now, have the exteriors of the bags been washed thoroughly - with bleach? - Yes.
All right, when you pick them up, you need to be careful.
You don't throw these around, you understand? - Uh, yes.
- Okay.
Okay.
There you go.
No, no.
You need to follow me.
- What? Why? - Because by the time I get back to base, these bags could be soup.
We can't have contaminated blood dripping on the highway.
That is not an option.
You need to stay close and watch for drips.
Carter, it's me again.
Did you get my fax? The electron microscope found eye hooks.
I won't be 100% sure until I can test fresh tissue, but we're looking at a definite Filovirus.
If it breaks out, I really need you.
This could sweep through D.
C.
in a matter of weeks.
They won't know what hit them until it's too late.

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