Outbreak Page #2

The CRIES of ANIMALS caught in the fire pierce the night.

Flames shoot up trees a hundred feet high.

PULL BACK to show the whole forest ablaze. A long beat,

then at the very LEFT CORNER OF the FRAME, a MONKEY with

a black and white coat (a Colobos monkey) emerges from

the fire, looks back at its mate, threatened by the

flames. The Colobos jumps up and down, baring its teeth,

SCREAMING. The fire moves relentlessly forward. The

monkeys dart to safety.

CUT TO:

MOTABA RIVER VALLEY - NEXT MORNING

A metal syringe burned to a molten shard lies beside a

mortar launcher, twisted and deformed like some bizarre

modern sculpture. PULL BACK to reveal acre after acre,

mile after mile of nothing but ashes and carcasses of

burnt-out trees. Not a single living thing remains.

FADE OUT and ROLL CREDITS.

FADE UP:

TREETOPS:

A wind rippling through treetops.

(CONTINUED)

6.

CONTINUED:

COMPUTER KEYS POUND: "THE MOTABA RIVER VALLEY, AUGUST

12, 1994."

SHOCK CUT TO:

ABOVE RAINFOREST

Brilliant streams of orange and purple, the last rays of

the setting sun, dance across the sky and penetrate the

vapor cloud above the rain forest. Unworldly silence.

Shattered by:

Giant TREES CRASHING to the ground. TRACTORS ROAR,

CHAINSAWS REV with a penetrating whine. Huge trees

living undisturbed for hundreds of years topple to earth,

their roots ripped from the soil.

REVEAL the army of construction workers clearing a path

for the new road linking Kinshasa with Bangui. White

foremen bellow orders in French at their black workers,

including:

MORAZU:
a seven-foot tall Goliath with mischievous eyes.

He PUNCHES on his CHAIN SAW and RIPS into another tree.

A cloud of wood dust envelops him.

OVERHEAD - ZAIREAN ARMY HELICOPTERS

ROAR by overhead, their machine gunners searching for

guerilla activity.

INTERCUT - TWO COLOBOS MONKEYS

a mother and her daughter, whom we'll know as Betsy.

Betsy plays with a fat, round jackfruit, kicking it and

rolling it every which way. Her mother watches the

construction workers warily.

Morazu hums as he pulls a huge tree limb off the road and

into a thick patch of brush where he comes face to face

with Betsy. Morazu smiles. He takes a long piece of

sweetened bread from his pocket and lays it down right in

front of the young monkey.

Betsy eyes it warily.

MORAZU:

(softly)

Take it.

(CONTINUED)

7.

CONTINUED:

A long beat. Betsy takes the bread, examines it carefully,

finally takes a bite.

Morazu grabs her. BETSY struggles, thrashing and SCREAMING.

Morazu pins her hands behind her back. She spins

around and sinks her teeth into his finger.

He lets go with a shriek and swears at Betsy, who disappears

with the bread.

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