SEASON 1
EPISODE 7
"A Virus Among Us"
Written by Lawrence Meyers
Directed by Fred Keller
Transcribed by TeeJay, Tia & Marg

(In Jarod's lair, a cockroach is crawling along on a plate with the remnants of 
a half-eaten piece of cake on it. Jarod is watching the cockroach in fascination 
and curiosity. The roach continues crawling along the knife that's lying on the 
plate, Jarod continues to stare at it.)

Horace Greely High School
Portland, Oregon
(The school is a large brick building; students are walking on the campus. 
Inside the school, a teenage boy is showing Miss Parker through a high school 
biology lab.)
Student: Sorry about the Principal not being able to give you the tour. He's 
real busy. 
Parker: Working up a school lunch schedule is trying work I'm sure.
Student: This is Mr Jarod's classroom. He was like the best substitute. Kids 
would sit in on the class even though they weren't enrolled. And he did the 
coolest experiments. 
Parker: (Examining a specimen in a glass jar.) I can see that. (She puts it down 
and moves on into another part of the classroom where various mounted bugs are 
displayed in glass cases.)
Student: Oh, yeah. We even did a virology unit on bugs to learn their 
resiliency. He told us that roaches would be the only living thing after a 
biological holocaust. Them and some woman named Parker. 
Parker: (She takes it well, barely reacting.) Hardly sounds like High School 
biology.
Student: Mr Jarod like - marched to his own drum. 
Parker: He's a one-man band all right.
Student: The best part is he wouldn't grade us. It was like he was conducting 
his own experiments and we were collecting the data for him. 
Parker: (She sees a Petrie dish on a bench and waves the student away 
dismissively.) You run along to homeroom now. (Inside the dish is a note from 
Jarod. It reads: "To Miss P. Drop a drop in the tray for your next clue." Parker 
takes the accompanying eyedropper and follows the instructions, lifting the dish 
right up to her face as tiny words materialise on the bottom of the dish. "You 
Just Gave Yourself the Flu - Jarod".) Agh! (She throws the dish away in 
disgust.)

House
(In a dimly lit stairway of a residential building, a boy runs down a staircase. 
Men in anti-contamination suits, complete with mask and breathing apparatus are 
chasing him. A flashlight held by the figure casts rays of light through the 
dust-laden darkness. A voice calls "Carlos?" The figure behind the boy continues 
to pursue him. Another frightening figure in full protective clothing joins the 
chase, calling to the boy and each other.)
Figure 1: Wait! Come back here! Hold it right there! 
Figure 2: He's not going to stop!
Figure 1: There he is. That's it.
(The boy runs into another man completely covered in the protective gear who 
kneels and holds him by the shoulders. It's Jarod.) 
Jarod: Where's your dad?
Boy: Down the hall, last room.
(Jarod and his companions enter another littered room. Jarod kneels beside a 
sick man lying on a mattress on the floor and holds his hand.) 
Jarod: My name is Jarod. You're going to be just fine.


OPENING CREDITS


Chicago Illinois
(Outside the apartment where the sick man was found the area is busy with police 
and Jarod's co-workers. Now out of the protective headgear, he talks with Dr 
Hoffman, a petite lady with curly blond hair. Behind them the man is carried to 
an ambulance on a stretcher. He's enclosed by plastic and accompanied by the 
boy.) 
Lisa: Weight loss, fever, night sweats, violent cough, swollen nymph nodes… 
Jarod: Micro-bacteria and tuberculosis. 
Lisa: Looks like it. 
Jarod: You don't see that much any more. 
Lisa: No, but he'll be fine once we get him admitted. 
Jarod: How's the boy?
(A car pulls up and Garber emerges, looking annoyed at the boy walking 
uninhibited beside his father.) 
Lisa: Too early to tell, but much better off than you're going to be once Garber 
finds out what you did with the kid.
(Walter Garver, wearing an ordinary suit, walks up to Lisa and Jarod.) 
Walter: Violating quarantine procedures with these people is damn foolish. 
Jarod: I realise that it was a bit unorthodox sir but TB is a level two 
classification and it doesn't require an on-site quarantine. 
Walter: Friendly advice Dr Reilly if you don't want to end up dead you'll 
remember that every one of these situations should be treated as a level four 
situation. 
Lisa: Walter, whether or not the boy was already exposed, what difference does 
it make? He's protected either way. 
Jarod: And the boy gets to be with his father now. I felt like he needed that. 
Walter: Great our new guy is Florence Nightingale. (He walks away from them.)

Apartment Building
(In a run-down hotel, Jarod and the hotel manager walk along a dark corridor. 
The dim lighting and the attire of the apartment manager suggest that the 
apartment building is of a very poor standard.)
Landlord: Hey you'll love this place. Stove, oven in the kitchen, hot and cold 
running, one seventy a month plus utilities. (He returns to the door, barely 
giving Jarod a look at the apartment.) 
Jarod: One seventy?
Landlord: Ah okay, one fifty, I'll pay the water. Come on down to the office and 
we'll sign the papers. 
Jarod: Does it have roaches?
Landlord: Of course not. This place is a Bohemian's dream, not some slum. Come 
on into the office. 
Jarod: (Jarod looks strangely disappointed.) No roaches? (The sound of 
incredibly bad and loud violin playing filters down to them through the 
ceiling.)
Landlord: Damn it! 
Jarod: What is that?
Landlord: It's a never-ending catgut nightmare is what it is. (He yells.) Not to 
mention the worst (He hits the wall to punctuate his words.) rental decision of 
my life! (A baby starts to cry. The violin 'music' stops and the landlord turns 
back to Jarod, his manner resigned to losing the prospective tenant.) There's 
another building two blocks away from here. You might be able to find something 
quieter there. 
Jarod: No. I'll take this place. It's a lot nicer than where I used to live.

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
(Parker walks into a corridor and sneezes. Sydney catches her up and walks in 
front of her.) 
Sydney: Bless you. Sounds like the flu. Cold and raining in Portland this time 
of year. (He hands her his handkerchief.) Here, keep. It's clean. 
Parker: So I took a trip without you. Don't tell me you're jealous. (She ignores 
the handkerchief and starts to walk away.) 
Sydney: Confused. I thought we were working together. 
Parker: (She turns back to face him.) So did I, until I discovered your personal 
ads all over the country trying to contact Jarod. I don't like secrets. 
Sydney: He wasn't answering my e-mail messages so I tried another tack, but I 
would have let you know if he had contacted me. 
Parker: I have a fever Syd but it's not bad enough to believe that. (Broots 
sneaks out of a door, looks over his shoulder nervously before approaching 
Parker and Sydney.) What? (She takes out a cigarette, taps it and prepares to 
light it.) 
Broots: Ummm uh, he's in the lab. 
Parker: Who? 
Broots: (He lowers his voice.) Mr Raines. 
Parker: (She talks around the unlit cigarette hanging from her bottom lip.) Mr 
Raines hasn't been in the lab in ten years. 
Broots: Well uh he's in there now and he's looking for you two, so good luck.
(Broots scurries off. Sydney and Parker walk slowly into the lab to find Raines 
examining Jarod's model of the Empire State Building.) 
Parker: Mr Raines? 
Mr Raines: (His voice sounds shallow, more like a wheeze.) The Empire State 
Building. Who'd have thought something so beautiful could be replicated by a 
four-year-old boy in only two hours. Jarod was brilliant the day he got here. He 
was brilliant the day he escaped. The question is . . . where is he? (As he 
moves the wheels of the oxygen tank from which a thin tube runs to his nose, 
make a squeaking noise.) 
Parker: Mr Raines, Jarod has been harder to catch than we thought. 
Mr Raines: Sydney we need him. 
Sydney: (Nodding.) I know.
(Miss Parker sneezes then lifts her now lit cigarette to her mouth. Raines looks 
longingly at the cigarette and holds out his hand.) 
Mr Raines: May I? 
Parker: (She hands the cigarette to Mr Raines.) Mr Raines I have the flu. 
Mr Raines: I'm dying. (He enjoys a puff on the cigarette, then coughs. He offers 
the cigarette back to Parker.) 
Parker: Keep it. 
Mr Raines: Bring Jarod back where he belongs or I'll get someone who will. Are 
we clear? 
Parker: My father wants me to do it. 
Mr Raines: Unlike everyone else around here I'm not afraid of your father. (He 
walks away, pulling his oxygen tank.) I don't have to be.

Regional Infectious Disease Authority Lab
Skokie, Illinois
(The R.I.D.A. building is a modern white building. Inside, large ceiling-high 
doors slide open and Walter and Jarod walk through. The doors close 
automatically behind them.) 
Walter: Our job here at RIDA is to contain viral outbreaks before they spread. 
I've seen the worst that a virus can do and because of it By the Numbers is 
usually best. In retrospect you did the right thing with Grady and his son 
Jarod. Listen, I was out of line. 
Jarod: It's alright. 
Walter: Well your credentials are impressive. A stint in Cambridge in London; 
M.D., pH.D. in Virology. Where did you do your doctorate by the way? 
Jarod: Horace Greely High School, Portland.
(Walter laughs at what he thinks is a joke. They pass through another set of 
doors into an enormous work area with huge pipes overhead. Jarod glances back at 
the doors closing behind them.) 
Jarod: Your doors are under negative air pressure to contain leaks? 
Walter: Well, we pioneered this technique here. I noticed in your file that you 
were vaccinated for anthrax and the W.E.E. series. 
Jarod: I was working in the Gulf (?.) and the W.E.E. was for the Pikasky 
Syndrome in Johannesburg. 
Walter: A frightening scenario. 
Jarod: Yes very. But watching somebody suffer can have an effect on you. I hope 
I can make a difference here. (They stop in front of a large numbered keypad lit 
in red. Walter presses a sequence of numbers and the device responds in a female 
voice: "Code Accepted." The panel changes to green and Walter opens the door 
alongside then leads Jarod through. Inside this room, an area reserved for 
storing of the protective clothing, a man is changing his clothing.) 
Walter: Jarod…. Jeff Baytos, decontamination and facilities specialist. 
Jarod: (He extends his hand.) Nice to meet you. 
Jeff: Ah, nixay on the handshake, hey doc? 
Walter: (He laughs at Jeff's discomfit.) Mr Baytos tends to be overcautious. 
Jeff: That's the thing in a place like this. One wrong move like pressing the 
flesh and it's off to the submarine for ten thousand years. 
Jarod: You call your morgue the submarine? 
Walter: What did you call it at Bambridge? 
Jarod: Chernobyl. 
Walter: (He starts pulling on his anti-contamination suit.) Well we're working a 
level three today. Offshoot strain of Red Valley Fever. You ready to battle the 
unseen enemy? 
Jarod: Absolutely. Will you be joining us Mr Baytos? 
Jeff: Level two is my limit now, man. (He walks past Jarod to the door and 
raises his hand with the fingers separated in the middle - Star Trek's Vulcan 
sign of greeting.) Live long and prosper. (Jarod, who is unaware of the 
significance of the greeting tries to emulate the hand sign. Jeff pulls his 
protective mask on and walks out.) 
Walter: Baytos witnessed a man die of Ebola. He's been reluctant to go past 
level two ever since. Fortunately he's the best there is when it comes to decon.
(Walter moves on leaving Jarod looking at the anti-contamination suit still 
hanging on the wall. The name label beside it reads "Jon Florence".)

Outside Jon Florence's Residence
(Jarod stands across from a suburban home. He looks at a newspaper clipping in 
his red notebook: "R.I.D.A. Scientist Jon Florence Vanishes, No Foul Play 
Suspected. Car found abandoned, family left to wonder." There is a photo 
accompanying the article which shows a family shot of Jon Florence, his wife and 
daughter. Jarod watches as Mrs Florence and her young daughter remove groceries 
from the back of a car and carry them inside the house.)

Garden
Jon Florence's Residence
(Jarod sits at a garden table with Mrs Florence.) 
Wife: It's nice to have visitors. Our friends don't know what to think or say so 
they just stay away. Did you meet John in South Africa? 
Jarod: No But I heard a lot about him. We were both working at separate strike 
teams in the Mutaba village. 
Wife: (She moves to another table laden with books and cases - perhaps her 
husband's personal possessions from work.) He loved that job. He was the first 
to arrive and the last to leave. He'd stay in places where there was no hope, no 
chance to make a difference. 
Jarod: Holding the hand of a dying man to let him know he's not alone? That's 
making a difference. I'm working with Walter Garber now. I'm trying to finish 
the work your husband started. 
Wife: You're lucky to be working under Walter. Jon thought the world of him. 
(She shows Jarod a framed picture from the objects on the table.) That's them at 
the WA Banquet. (Her daughter emerges from the house, rubbing her eyes.) Hey, 
you're supposed to be napping. 
Daughter: I thought I heard Daddy. 
Wife: It's not Daddy. It's just a friend. 
Jarod: Hi. My name's Jarod. 
Daughter: Hi. 
Wife: Go lie down now Honey. (Her daughter nods and obediently goes inside.) 
This has been especially hard on her. He vanished right before her birthday. How 
do I explain that to Cindy? How do I explain any of it? I, I know he's not 
coming back, I, I've accepted that, I have. I just wish I knew where to go from 
here. How to go from here. Is he dead? Is he alive?
(Jarod notices her fiddling with her wedding ring. There are three intertwined 
bands that move over each other freely.) 
Jarod: It's a very beautiful ring. 
Wife: Jon designed our wedding bands. I know it's corny but he wanted them to be 
the only two alike in the world. (She takes a jacket from the table of her 
husband's things and takes it to Jarod.) Here, John wore this when he went into 
the field for work. He never got sick wearing it. I'd like you to have it. 
Jarod: I couldn't possibly accept that. 
Wife: He would have wanted somebody who cared as much as he did to have it. 
Jarod: Thank you. 
Wife: You're welcome. (Jarod leaves the Florence residence. As he walks to his 
car he removes his own jacket and pulls on Jon's. It fits, except the arms are 
way too short.)

RIDA
Change Room
(Jarod puts on the anti-contamination suit that hangs on Jon Florence's hook. He 
holds up his gloved hands that are attached to the sleeve of the suit.) 
Jarod: Fits like a glove. (He looks at Jon's jacket now hanging on the wall.) 
Supermarket
(Jarod is sitting cross-legged in an aisle, looking at items on the aisle 
shelves. He stops a shop boy who is passing by.)

Jarod: Excuse me, I was wondering if you might help me. 
Shop Boy: Ah sure. What's the problem? 
Jarod: (He takes a small box from the shelves.) It says here that this is a 
motel for roaches? 
Shop Boy: Yeah. It's like ah the Hotel California for our little six legged 
friends, you know. 
Jarod: Hotel California? 
Shop Boy: Yeah, like they can check out any time they like but they can never 
leave. 
Jarod: Oh. (He's puzzled, but then brightens.) Oh. (He grins as he realises the 
significance.) Like a trap. 
Shop Boy: Yeah, something like that. 
Jarod: Oh that's perfect. I'll take one hundred. (He begins pulling boxes off 
the shelf.) 
Shop Boy: Right on.

Jarod's Apartment
(Jarod is sitting on the floor with several of the roach hotel boxes around him. 
He's throwing food that looks like popcorn out, trying to attract cockroaches. A 
trumpet begins to play loudly in another apartment and another tenant yells in 
protest.)

Tenant: I'm gonna wrap that thing around your neck if you don't shut up! 
Jarod: (To the roaches that haven't yet appeared.) Come and get it. 
Tenant: You're a dead man Hansell! 
Jarod: Come and get it. (Still no roaches appear. Jarod picks up another box, 
looks at it, then gets an idea. He stands to leave.)

Outside Apartment 27
(Jarod knocks on the door from where the 'music' is coming. A voice calls out 
from inside.)

Ben: I've paid my rent - you can't evict me. 
Jarod: Uh, Sir, my name is Jarod. I'm your neighbour, I just wanted to tell you 
that I'm very intrigued by your music. 
Ben: I'm not falling for that! 
Jarod: I would very much like to meet you and I would like to ask you a 
question. (There 's a pause, then the sound of locks being undone. The door 
opens and an older man wearing glasses and a dressing gown pokes his head out.) 
Ben: Are you here to give me the boot? 
Jarod: (Jarod misunderstands the man's meaning.) I wasn't planning on it sir, 
but you're more than welcome to mine. 
Ben: (He laughs and beckons Jarod inside.) It's nice to have a friendly audience 
for a change. (He lets Jarod in and closes the door. Ben is carrying a trumpet 
and Jarod also sees a harp amid the clutter.) Ben Hansell's the name. (He shakes 
Jarod's hand.) 
Jarod: Ben, I need your help. 
Ben: And I need yours. Do you play? 
Jarod: I've conducted a symphony here and there. 
Ben: (He laughs.) Well then what do you think of this? (He takes a seat and 
begins to play the trumpet. Again another tenant protests loudly but Jarod 
listens attentively with a neutral expression.) 
Tenant: Shut up! 
Ben: (He stops playing but is quite breathless from the effort of playing.) 
Cultural worm! 
Tenant 2: You Suck! 
Jarod: That's very interesting. Hayden's Cello Concerto in C Major I believe. 
Ben: I rewrote it for trumpet. I'm working on an arrangement for glockenspiel. 
An artist must stretch you know. 
Jarod: Yes. How long have you been a musician? 
Ben: Fifteen odd years. 
Jarod: (He pauses, then nods, his expression still neutral.) That's a long time. 

Ben: But it will be all worth it when the Philharmonic calls. (He hands Jarod a 
folded newspaper. In a column headed "Help Wanted" there is an advertisement 
reading: Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. Unique interpretations of classical 
pieces preferred.".) I sent them a tape about a week ago. You had a question? 
Jarod: Yes. I'm trying to attract roaches and this doesn't seem to work. (He 
shows Ben one of his roach hotel boxes.) Do you have any? 
Ben: Roaches? I can't get rid of them. I spilled a box of Crunchy Crawlers 
cereal behind the fridge once. Every night they come out hunting. 
Jarod: Crunchy Crawlers? 
Ben: They're grotesquely delicious. I was wondering about my interpretation of 
the first movement - is it a tad subtle? 
Jarod: Subtly is a virtue in any form. 
Ben: A neighbour who is a scholar of the arts. Thank you Jarod. You can yell at 
me through the walls any time. 
Jarod: And thank you for the tip.

The Centre
(Sydney carries a potplant to his desk and sets it down.)

Sydney: You will do very nicely here.
(He sees a package on his desk addressed: "To: The Centre, Psychogenic Research 
Dept., ATTN: Sydney". Sydney opens it. Inside is a note "Your Legacy, Love J". 
Sydney looks grim as he looks through some of the newspaper clippings 
accompanying the note: "Tainted Water Poisons Town, 66 Dead"; "Gas Line Ignites, 
25 Hurt"; "Chemical Explosion Kills 124".)

R.I.D.A.
Lecture Room
(Jarod, clad in a white lab jacket is giving a presentation to a group of 
doctors while projecting slides of microscopic virus images onto a screen. Two 
of the people watching are talking and laughing rather than listening.) 
Jarod: In seconds the virus invades the host cell. With a level four virus the 
results are devastating. (The slides show villagers suffering.) In the Mutaba 
village outbreak subjects begin coughing only four hours after exposure. 
Internal bleeding commences at hour twelve, and by hour thirty-six the subject 
completely bleeds out. (He interrupts the two men talking.) Gentlemen you can 
ignore the flight attendant if she tries to teach you how to fasten your 
seatbelt, but with the Mutabo virus and other level fours…the kill rate is 
ninety percent.
(Walter stands up beside Jarod.) 
Walter: And might I add an airborne virus, coupled with a pin prick in your 
glove or a faulty seal sends you into the slammer and from there it's an express 
straight to the submarine. Lights. (The room lights up. Lisa is one of those 
watching.) Thank you for the safety review Doctor Riley.

R.I.D.A.
Suit Room
(Back in the preparation room Lisa, Jarod and Walter are kitting up ready for 
work.) 
Lisa: You misled them back there. You and Jon Florence did develop a vaccine for 
the Karangi virus. 
Walter: We got lucky on that, but with Embola and Mutaba…..ah we have to keep 
'em on it. 
Jarod: Sorry about Dr Florence. You must miss him. 
Walter: Very much. 
Jarod: From what I understand Dr Florence was a family man, hardly the type to 
just up and leave. 
Lisa: He was a good man. 
Walter: Of all people you two should know that awful things crawl beneath the 
healthiest of exteriors. John confided in me that things at home 
weren't…..optimal. He never went into specifics but he certainly enjoyed working 
the extra hours here rather than being at home. (He goes into the lab.)

In Lab
(All three are clothed in the blue protective gear with their own air supplies. 
Jarod carefully carries a sample and places it on the table.) 
Walter: This is an airborne level four virus, let's be on our toes. 
Jarod: Commencing Phase Two dissection.

Lisa: We're at 72 hours after expiration by Mutaba strain B-3247. (Jarod reveals 
the specimen he has carried in, then reaches for a scalpel from the instruments 
laid out on the table. He jerks his hand back and turns it over. There is blood 
on the glove surrounding a cut in the glove.) 
Jarod: (In a worried tone.) Walter? 
Walter: Good God! Decon! 
Lisa: Come on, let's move it! Go! 
Walter: Okay let's remain calm!
(An alarm sounds as they all hurry from the room. Jarod steps up onto a 
platform, holding his hand up.) 
Jarod: Proceed with Decon shower. (What looks like a fine mist or gas covers 
Jarod from above. He turns around underneath it.) 
Lisa: Coming through. 
Walter: Stay calm, you'll be fine. 
Lisa: (She pushes buttons on a red-lit panel. It beeps and says "Code Denied".) 
Damn, it isn't working. 
Walter: Here let me. (He pushes her aside and enters a different set of numbers. 
The panel changes to green and says "Code Accepted". The door opens and they 
walk through.) 
Lisa: Get the glove off. 
Walter: (He presses some sort of triggered apparatus to Jarod's shoulder and 
squeezes.) Inoculate. Hurry up.
(Jarod's glove is removed and he holds his hand under a light as they examine 
it.) 
Jarod: No skin breaks. The blood must have been from the sample. 
Walter: (He visibly relaxes.) Well done everybody. Everything by the numbers. 
We'll review the security tape tomorrow. (He shakes Jarod's hand.) You handled 
that simulation as if it were completely real Jarod. 
Jarod: Well I've had a lot of practice Sir. 
Lisa: Who changed the Slammer access code? 
Walter: Lisa the fewer people that have the code the fewer people that are at 
risk. I don't want anybody near the slammer unless they have to be. 
Lisa: It's your funeral. 
Walter: No, it's his. (He laughs and pats Jarod on the shoulder then goes back 
towards the lab. Lisa smiles, but is less amused.) 
Jarod: Is Walter the only one who has the access code to the Slammer? 
Lisa: And the submarine. (Jarod looks thoughtfully up at the security camera.)

Tape Archives
(The room has shelves of videocassettes all neatly labelled. Jarod selects one 
and inserts it into a player. The picture shows Walter and Jon Florence donning 
safety gear in the prep room. The caption below left reads R.I.D.A. 11/23.) 
Walter: Ah Jon, how's my goddaughter? 
Jon: About to turn six but she thinks she's sixteen. (Walter laughs.) I hope you 
can make it to her party. 
Walter: I wouldn't miss it for the world.
(Jarod continues to watch as Walter and Jon, now in full protective clothing 
including hoods, enter the lab.) 
Walter: I proceeded with the autopsy on the monkey. Look at the liver. (Jon 
looks into a microscope.) 
Jon: Mush. The virus has mutated.
(Jon's figure seems to move instantly back from the microscope.) 
Walter: We'll finish this first thing Monday.
(Jarod frowns having noticed the irregularity with the recording. He rewinds the 
tape and plays it twice more, confirming that Jon's figure seems to suddenly 
shift position. He then follows the video feed line down into a lower level, 
then to the Central Security Archives. He uses the computer to select the 
footage dated 11/23 then copies it using an external storage device and a blank 
disk.)

Church
(Sydney kneels before the crucifix and four candles. A priest walks past and 
enters the confessional. Sydney makes the sign of the cross before entering 
himself. Inside Sydney begins his confession.) 
Sydney: Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been…Oh my 
God…..thirty-three years since my last confession. I have betrayed a friend. 
Priest: Then you must seek his forgiveness. 
Sydney: He has shut me out. 
Priest: You're troubled by something else. Will you pray to the Lord for 
forgiveness? 
Sydney: Not even He can forgive me for what I have done.

Jarod's Lair
(Jarod inserts the disk into his laptop and watches the playback. The display 
again states that the date is 11/23, and we see Walter and Jon in the lab just 
as before.)

Walter: Look at the liver. 
Jon: Mush. The virus has mutated. 
Walter: Hmm mm. 
Jon: It's like the Karangi virus but worse. (Alarmed.) This is a level 5 virus. 
What the Hell have you done? You made Ebola look like the flu! 
Walter: I've been working on the genetics- 
Jon: No you've been playing God! We've got to shut down this project now. I'm 
destroying it. 
Walter: You can't. 
Jon: Yes I can. (He takes the sample from the microscope and turns, but Walter 
grabs him.) 
Walter: I won't let you. 
Jon: Let go of my air hose! (Walter pulls Jon's air hose out. Jarod rewinds the 
footage and replays it over and over.) 
Walter: I won't let you. 
Jon: Let go of my air hose! Let Go of my air hose! Let go of my air hose! (Jarod 
lets it play on.) 
Jon: My god Walter - you've killed me. 
Walter: Quick, into the decon shower. (He hurries Jon out of the lab and onto 
the shower platform.) The lab is full of the virus. Stay calm, don't panic. 
Jon: (Nothing comes from the shower.) Pressure failure. 
Walter: Get into the slammer. I'll meet you there. (Jon steps off the platform 
and hurries away. Walter goes back into the lab. Jarod frowns.)

The Submarine
(Jarod is in full protective clothing. He opens one of the drawers, pulls out 
the body and draws back the sheet from the head. He is visibly stunned by the 
condition of the face. He lifts the sheet from the corpse's left hand to reveal 
a wedding ring exactly like the one Mrs Florence wears.) 
Jarod: Hello Jon, I was afraid I'd find you here.

Jarod's Lair
(Jarod has a box of "Crunchy Crawlers". He takes some and puts small piles in 
front of several of the roach motels. A cello is being played - badly- elsewhere 
in the building.)

Ben's Room
(Ben sits playing the cello as Jarod listens attentively.)

Tenant: Hansell you are driving me nuts! Shut up!!
(Ben finishes his piece. There is a long pause before Jarod speaks.) 
Jarod: Interesting interpretation. Tenant 2: (Banging on the floor.) You suck! 
Ben: You're a polite neighbour Jarod but I fear that the cultural dwarfs are 
right. I'm terrible. 
Jarod: It takes a long time to master music Ben. 
Ben: A lifetime would not be long enough for me. (He starts tapping his hand in 
agitation with the bow before throwing it onto the table beside him.) My music 
kills plant life. I'm (?.) for Mozart Jarod. I curse God for bestowing me with 
mediocre ability. (Ben covers his face sadly. Jarod looks about the room and 
spots a small wooden piano. He rises, picks it up and opens the top. It plays a 
tune. He sees more tiny models of instruments, all beautifully made.) 
Jarod: What are these? 
Ben: Trifles. (?.) Pointless exercises. 
Jarod: Did you make these? 
Ben: Yes. 
Jarod: (He examines a figurine of a guitar.) Ben these are exquisite. 
Ben: Your compliment is appreciated Jarod, but art it is not. 
Jarod: (He selects a delicate glass piano.) Art is many things. Some choose a 
brush, some a bow, some a pen, and some (He raises the piano.) choose glass. 
Ben: What do you mean? 
Jarod: Maybe the way you create is through these pieces rather than….(looking at 
Ben's cello.)…. that. You said it yourself Ben, sometimes an artist needs to 
stretch. (Ben looks up at the glass piano and begins to smile.)

Jarod's Lair
(Jarod finds that he has e-mail waiting. He opens it and reads the message. Only 
one word is in the message: "Refuge" in large, bold type. Jarod remembers back 
to when he was small.)

Flashback
(Jarod is a very small boy, standing at a ship's wheel in front of a projection 
of the sea. Smoke is billowing around him and Jarod is frightened.) 
Young Jarod: Sydney I'm scared, I can't do this! 
Sydney: You have to Jarod. 
Young Jarod: There's smoke. People are screaming! Sydney they're burning! (He 
pulls the wires from his forehead and runs.) Burning! Make them stop! Make the 
burning stop! 
Sydney: Jarod. 
Young Jarod: Make it stop! No go away and leave me alone! (He runs out of the 
room with Sweepers and Sydney in pursuit.) 
Sydney: It's all right Jarod! It's all right. 
(Jarod yells as a man picks him up. He's quickly surrounded by sweepers. Sydney 
appears.) 
Sydney: It's all over Jarod. (To the other sweepers.) Alright.
(The other sweepers depart. Jarod is still held by the sweeper that caught him.) 

Young Jarod: I want my Daddy. 
Sydney: The code word makes it stop Jarod. You didn't use the code word we came 
up with. 
Young Jarod: I said I want my Dad. 
Sydney: (To the sweeper.) Let me. (The sweeper hands the boy to Sydney, then 
goes.) Jarod. Remember, when you're doing the simulation and you become 
frightened and want to stop say "refuge". Alright? (Jarod nods and hugs Sydney. 
Sydney closes his eyes and holds him.)
(In present day Jarod repeats the word thoughtfully.) 
Jarod: Refuge.
(He turns back to the laptop, then replies to Sydney's message: "Sydney to find 
refuge go to…..".) 

The Centre
(Sydney walks into his office and discovers he has e-mail waiting. He reads 
Jarod's message.)

(Miss Parker is reading documents as she walks, coughing and smoking a cigarette 
at the same time. Sydney stops her.) 
Sydney: He contacted me. (He raises a note.) No secrets. 
Parker: (She ignores the note.) What? Sudden change of heart? 
Sydney: Lately I've been seeing things from another angle and maybe it's best if 
you get him. (Parker snatches the note from Sydney's hand.)

R.I.D.A.
Containment Lab
(A beaker attached to machinery spins. A Petrie dish labelled "Florence 4C-2117" 
sits on a table. Below it is a slide with a visible object on it. Jarod, in full 
protective gear, carefully drops a liquid from another test tube onto the 
object. He takes the slide and examines it under a microscope. What he sees 
looks just like the figure "9", the same as the Mutaba virus.)

Outside RIDA
(Lisa is leaving the building. Jarod catches up with her.) 
Jarod: Doctor Hoffman. Do you have a minute? 
Lisa: What's up? 
Jarod: What do you make of this? (He hands her a clipboard. She opens it and 
reads.) 
Lisa: Hmm? Vivification of organs, (?.) through the skin pores, loss of 
hair…..looks like an advanced version of Mutaba. 
Jarod: That's what I thought until I found this. (He hands her another sheet 
with enlarged pictures of virus cells.) 
Lisa: I've never seen this before. Did you cross check it? 
Jarod: Against every sample on record. 
Lisa: There's over three thousand on record. 
Jarod: Well it did get a little tedious after the first 800. 
Lisa: My God Jarod, this is worse than any level four I've ever seen. 
Jarod: It's a level five. 
Lisa: There's a level five here? 
Jarod: It's a sample off a body in the submarine. 
Lisa: Wait, how did you get in the submarine? Only Gar…(She glances at Walter 
Garber, who is nearby.)… Garber has the code. 
Jarod: Is all research here sanctioned by a governing body? (She's silent.) 
Which project isn't? 
Lisa: It's only hearsay but I trust the source. Garber was working on something 
secret, I don't know what. 
Jarod: What else did Jon Florence tell you? 
Lisa: How did you know Jon was the source? 
Jarod: Besides Garber he was the only person that knew everything that was going 
on here. What else did he tell you? 
Lisa: That Garber was working on some radical mutations of a level five. He said 
it started out good, but it got corrupted. John said God would never forgive him 
if he let this project continue. 
Jarod: Well unfortunately for Jon Florence he never had the chance to stop it. 
Lisa: Oh my God.

Jarod's Lair
(Jarod is viewing the videotape, again watching how the figure of Jon Florence 
suddenly shifts back.) 
Walter: We'll finish this first thing Monday.

In the Park
(Jeff Baytos pedals his bicycle through the park. He's wearing a filter mask 
around his neck. He passes Jarod without realising it, and stops to drink from a 
fountain.) 
Jarod: I'm guessing between the knob, the mouthpiece and the city water you're 
drinking there's enough germs to kill a cockroach. 
Jeff: Dr Riley, hi. Yeah, you're probably right. I deal with the germs I can but 
something tells me I wouldn't last long living in a plastic bubble. (He starts 
to walk away with the bike but Jarod's next words stop him.) 
Jarod: Even one equipped with a decon shower? It was an excellent performance 
Jeff. 
Jeff: Look I don't know what you mean. 
Jarod: (He holds a videocassette up.) Are you going to make me enhance the image 
so that I can see your face? 
Jeff: (He looks back, realises he's been found out, and drops his bike. He 
removes his backpack and sits on a park bench.) Do you know what it's like not 
being able to sleep? 
Jarod: You'd be surprised. 
Jeff: I watched a man beg for his life. He begged to see his wife and kids again 
and I, I….. I didn't help him. 
Jarod: I know Jon Florence got infected, I know his body's in the submarine and 
I know that you helped Garber doctor this tape but what I can't figure out is 
why? (He sits beside Jeff.) 
Jeff: Because it was my fault that's why. I was working late like Jon and Dr 
Garber. I saw Jon coming into the slammer and he - he looked so frightened. The 
Decon shower lost pressure and it is my job to make sure that it doesn't. That 
is my job Dr Reilly. And then Garber went ballistic and he blamed me for Jon's 
contamination. I have never seen a virus do what it did to him, or so quickly. 
Jarod: And that's why you won't go past level two any more. 
Jeff: Jon, he begged me to get his wife and kids and, and Garber….Garber told me 
to keep it quiet, he told me that the authorities would have to be called and 
they would shut down the facility and more lives would be lost because of my 
error. 
Jarod: Jon Florence did not die because of you or the decon shower. He died 
because Walter Garber murdered him.
(Jeff looks surprised.)

Jarod's Apartment
(Jarod is holding a cockroach with a pair of tweezers and drops some colourless 
liquid on the roach. He collects the liquid that runs off the roach in a 
laboratory glass that already contains a reddish liquid. He then moves to the 
bed and lies down. He holds the beaker in one hand and the phone in the other.)

Jarod: Hello, Butcher Bob? I would like to order a dozen pig livers please. Yes. 
A dozen.
(Jarod places Ben's glass piano into a box addressed to the "Chicago 
Philharmonic". At RIDA he looks around to see that no one is looking, then opens 
a cabinet to reveal four pressure dials and levers. He begins shutting them 
down. In the lab he uses the equipment to take a photo of the virus.) Say 
cheese. (He presses a button and there's a flash as the picture is taken.) 
(He takes a drop of sulphuric acid and burns holes in a black plastic air hose. 
Back in his apartment he uses a knife to remove a sticky substance from at least 
one of the roach hotels and scrapes it into a glass. Then he sits in front of 
his laptop wearing glasses and stereotyped "professor-type" clothes. He speaks 
to the camera eye clipped to the top of the laptop.) 
Jarod: Good morning class. Today's lesson takes us into the fascinating world 
of…cockroaches.
(Later still Jarod is back in his normal clothes and on the phone.) 
Jarod: Walter. 
Walter: Yes. 
Jarod: It's Jarod. I've made a very interesting discovery that I think you 
should check out. 
Walter: Well what have you got? 
Jarod: Well it's still too early to be sure, but I think I found a vaccine for 
Mutaba. 
Walter: I'll meet you in the lab in an hour Jarod. 
Jarod: Perfect. (He hangs up, smiling.)

R.I.D.A. 
(Jarod is in full protective clothing in the lab. He's looking into the 
microscope when Walter enters, also in gear.) 
Walter: What have you got? (Jarod steps aside and Walter looks into the 
microscope. He sees the virus that looks like a "9".) Where'd you get the 
sample? 
Jarod: From this liver. (Jarod raises a container and slides back the blue cloth 
covering it.) 
Walter: My God man it's an airborne virus! (He moves suddenly and his air hose 
breaks.) 
Jarod: Walter, your air hose. 
Walter: (He suddenly sees what has happened as is frightened.) Sound the alarm! 
(Jarod pushes the alarm button.) Help me! Help me! (They hurry out and Walter 
steps up under the decon shower but nothing happens.) There's a pressure failure 
in the decon line. 
Jarod: You'd better get into the slammer sir.
(Walter presses the sequence of numbers into the panel. He steps through when 
the door opens to find the room empty.) 
Walter: Where is everybody? Where are the doctors?
(Jarod appears on the viewing platform above. There is a glass ceiling between 
them and his words are muffled slightly.) 
Jarod: There's nobody here Sir, I sent them all home. 
Walter: Jarod, you've killed me! 
Jarod: Oh relax Walter. I told you I made a little discovery. (He raises a 
syringe.) It's a derivative cross between your Karangi virus and the Red Valley 
strain. An antivirus, it shuts your virus down. 
Walter: Give it to me please. 
Jarod: I can't. 
Walter: Jarod please, help me! 
Jarod: Like you helped Jon Florence? By exposing him to a level five without any 
cure? 
Walter: Who the Hell are you? 
Jarod: Well I sure as hell am not Florence Nightingale, but then again….neither 
are you. How long Walter? How long before Jon Florence started to show symptoms? 
How long before the internal bleeding started? How long before his brain tissue 
started to leak into his ears? How long before his internal organs started to 
liquefy? How long Walter? 
Walter: Give me that syringe. 
Jarod: Why? Jon Florence never had this option, why should you? 
Walter: Jarod it was an accident. 
Jarod: He knew he was going to die and I bet the last thing he wanted to do was 
just to see his family one more time, to say goodbye to his wife and to his 
child. But you couldn't give him that peace could you Walter? Because then the 
truth would come out about how you were trying to play God with all these viral 
experiments. You took down Florence's life and you ruined his family's as well. 
That is no accident. 
Walter: Alright, I did it, I admit it, I killed him! The research was very 
valuable. Please, give me the vaccine. 
Jarod: Alright Walter, but I will warn you: It's only sugar water. 
Walter: Sugar water? 
Jarod: I don't know how to make a vaccine. You see, I'm not really a virologist. 
The truth is, this place gives me the creeps. 
Walter: What? 
Jarod: You can check out any time you like but you can never leave. 
Walter: No! Don't! Don't leave me! Jarod! Jarod! Come back here! Jarod! Help! 
Help!
(Jarod ignores him and walks out of sight. He enters the tape archive where Jeff 
stands watching a monitor attached to the Slammer.) 
Jeff: Aren't you going to tell him you didn't really infect him? 
Jarod: Nah. Why don't you do it? (He ejects a videocassette from the recorder.) 
In forty-eight hours, after the police get this. (He smiles and leaves with the 
cassette.)

Jarod's Apartment
(Sam kicks the door in and he, Parker and another sweeper come in with guns 
raised.)
Sam: What is that smell? 
Parker: I can't smell. (She turns to the other sweeper.) Go left. ( She 
instructs Sam.) You take that room.
(While the two men are checking the other rooms Parker notices a message 
flashing on a laptop. It says "Press any key". She does so and Jarod appears on 
the screen with his fingers steepled, in his "professor" outfit.) 
Jarod: Good morning class. Today's lesson takes us into the fascinating world of 
cockroaches.
(The sweepers return.)
Sam: Nothing. He's gone. 
Parker: But not forgotten. (She picks up one of the cardboard roach hotels with 
a sticky note attached. It reads: "The Centre". Two rubber bugs fall out and 
Parker tosses the box.) 
Jarod:…….(Jarod raises one of the boxes on screen.) This is a bug motel. When 
the hormones off a roach's body, which is the wet stuff you just walked through, 
(Parker and the two sweepers all look to the puddle on the floor just inside the 
door, then back to Jarod.) combines with the sticky stuff inside of the box, 
which you are standing in, it forms a bond which is stronger than epoxy (They 
all look down.). Welcome to the world's largest bug motel. 
Parker: (She bends her knees, realises she's stuck.) You son of a bitch. 
Jarod: Enjoy your stay. Class dismissed.
(The screen goes blank.)
Sam: I'm stuck.
(Parker shoves Sam backwards onto the bed where he lays, his shoes still stuck 
to the floor. She looks overhead as Ben begins his terrible trumpet playing, a 
disgruntled neighbour bangs on the floor, and a dog barks.)

Refuge
(Sydney enters what looks like a quiet men's club with a bar. He's carrying a 
box. He sits at the bar and the waiter sets a serviette printed with "The 
Refuge" down before placing a drink on top. The waiter is Jarod.) 
Jarod: Chivas on the rocks. One ice cube. Clever way of contacting me Sydney. No 
one at the Centre would have ever known what this meant. (He raises another 
serviette stamped with "The Refuge".) 
Sydney: I had to see you face to face. 
Jarod: Did Miss Parker take the bait? 
Sydney: Presumably. I have to ask you for something. 
Jarod: You're in no position to ask me for anything. 
Sydney: Not even your forgiveness? 
Jarod: (There's a pause.) What? 
Sydney: For keeping you in the Centre, for the lies all these years. (He hands 
Jarod the box.) Did you send me this? Jarod: No I did not. 
Sydney: (He smiles slightly.) Parker did, with your name on it. Jarod: What is 
it? 
Sydney: Reminders. Issues I must take up with….myself, God, and with you. (He 
opens the box and watches as Jarod looks at the note, then the newspaper 
clippings.) Jarod: It's too late. 
Sydney: I come to you with an olive branch. 
Jarod: All right. You want my forgiveness? (Sydney nods.) Then tell me what 
happened to my Mum and Dad. Sydney: I can't. I don't know the truth. 
Jarod: Then you and the Centre will never get me back. And I can't forgive you 
Sydney - I can't forgive myself. (Jarod leaves. Sydney takes the box, closes it, 
and folds his hands over the top. He sits quietly, looking at the bar.)

Ben's Apartment
(Ben answers the phone.) 
Ben: Ben Hansell.
Philharmonic: Mr Hansell this is the Chicago Philharmonic. We received the 
extraordinary glass sculpture you made and we'd like to set up a time for you to 
meet with our merchandise coordinator…….

The Florence Home
(Jarod hands Jon's ring to his wife.) 
Wife: Thank you, for everything. Where will you go now? 
Jarod: I'm starting a new job.

(A woman opens her front door to find Jarod dressed in orange overalls and 
carrying bug exterminator gear.) 
Jarod: You've got roaches?


Closing Credits
 

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