I hate this bug.
Come on, Casey. You have to love its simplicity. It's one-billionth our size and it's beating us.
So, what do you wanna do — take it to dinner?
No.
What, then?
Kill it.
Sam Daniels
Dustin Hoffman · 20 quotes
Casey Schuler
Kevin Spacey · 7 quotes
Robby Keough
Rene Russo · 5 quotes
Col. Sam Daniels
Dustin Hoffman · 4 quotes
Gen. Donald McClintock
Donald Sutherland · 4 quotes
Maj. Salt
Cuba Gooding Jr. · 4 quotes
Gen. Billy Ford
Morgan Freeman · 3 quotes
Most scenes together: Sam Daniels & Casey Schuler (5), Sam Daniels & Robby Keough (4), Sam Daniels & Maj. Salt (4)
Outbreak quotes
Page 1 of 2I think a state-sanctioned divorce signed by both parties is strong evidence that something is off.
Chief of Staff
Now, as I understand it, you want to firebomb the town of Cedar Creek, California, population 2600, 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.
Chief of Staff
[He pulls out a small booklet from his back pocket.]
This... Constitution of the United States... I've read it cover to cover. I don't find anything in it about vaporizing 2600 American citizens, but it does say — several times — that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process.
Chief of Staff
So, a couple of things before "Cleansweep" is even considered: One, unanimous, unwavering support for the president on this one and I mean public. You're gonna stand there shoulder to shoulder with him - he goes down, you go down. Second, I want an army of experts sighting hundreds of thousands of lab experiments, telling any idiot with a camera, that there was no other way! You got that? Hmm? No person of this government is going to go sneaking off to the Washington post telling how "they were the sold voice of opposition". If there is a voice of opposition out there, I want him in here now!
Chief of Staff
[Throws a wad of photos on the table.]
Those are the citizens of Cedar Creek, go ahead take a look at them - these are not statistics ladies and gentlemen - they're flesh and blood! I want you to burn those images into your memories, because they should haunt you until the day you die!
You could have stopped this outbreak before it mutated, but you didn't.
We couldn't.
We?
We.
We?
We! That's all you need to know.
. . .
Robby's infected.
Sorry.
Is "we" sorry, too?
. . .
Who is "we"? "We" includes you, Sam. Unless you resigned from the Army in the last week. You don't just do research and it ends there, Sam. We have to defend ourselves against the other maniacs who are developing biological weapons.
Donny... these people are Americans.
2600 dead or dying Americans. If that bug gets out of there, Billy, 260 million Americans'll be dead or dying. Those people are casualties of war, Billy. I would give 'em all a medal if I could, but they are casualties of war.
Nobody puts me under arrest. Nobody.
[Col. Briggs stops him, drawing his pistol.]
Colonel Briggs. What a wonderful moment this must be for you.
[Briggs grins.]
With all due respect, Col. Daniels, if you do not follow us to Travis Air Force Base, I will blow you out of the sky!
General, with all due respect, **** you, sir.
[showing them the progression of the virus on a computer]
Okay, sirs, here we go. These pictures were taken over a period of eight hours. Normal, healthy kidney cells before they met the virus. 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 here, and here. Continually multiplying.
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.
Sirs, the numbers are correct. I wish to God they weren't. One goes in, millions come out. Every cell is dead. Now we see them individually, searching for the next victim until there's nothing left to kill.
Mark this day, Salt. We could spend our whole careers waiting to see a new virus.
I hate this bug.
Come on, Casey. You have to love its simplicity. It's one-billionth our size and it's beating us.
So, what do you wanna do — take it to dinner?
Sam
No.
What, then?
Sam
Kill it.
You want me to fly you out to sea... drop you onto a freighter? Sir, with all due respect, that is idiotic.
Idiotic? Lemme ask you a question. Are we fugitives from the law?
Right.
Idiocy is our only option.
. . .
Just don't get negative on me.
Affirmative.
. . .
That's it! Thank you, Mrs.— what's her name?
Pananides!
Thank you, ma'am.
What happened, Casey?
Oh, nothing — I just got a sudden case of the willies. [...] I hate them willies. They ought to call 'em the "Sams", don't you think?
I know what I told you, but now I'm telling you, we're facing a new strain.
What?
It spreads like flu.
Impossible.
Fine! Go to the hospital, check it out yourself. Go without a mask, you'll see more clearly.
Nobody gets sick within 24 hours, we're in the clear!
This doesn't sound like you.
What?
Imagining the best-case scenario.
Why not? I still think there's hope for us.
Sir, I sent you the fax six hours ago...
Sam, I am not going to issue an alert.
Sam
I don't wanna bust up your party, sir, but you gotta issue an alert.
You said it was contained!
Sam
I said containment was probable. You should be monitoring the airports, you gotta...
Sam! Do you remember 1989?
Sam
Yeah.
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
Yeah, I was wrong.
You were wrong.
Sam
Uh-huh.
What about 1992? Lassa fever?
Sam
I was wrong. Yup.
Wrong again. But you're right about this?
Sam
No, I could be wrong about this...
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 **** budget.
Sam
Forget Ebola. Forget Lassa. This bug kills so fast, Billy. You could be dead in...
Keep your voice down. Now, that is exactly my point, Sam.
Sam
What?
It is the very lethality of this virus which is working for us here. These unfortunate people don't live long enough to spread the goddamn thing around. So you're right, it is contained.
Sam
I hope so.
What have I ever done to make your life miserable, sir?
You got up this morning, didn't you?
What're you gonna be doing at CDC?
Working BL-4. Same as you.
My job.
Well, I like to think of it as my job.