This paper discusses how two different stories (In Richard Preston's novel, The Hot Zone and Director Wolfgang Petersen's film, Outbreak) describe the terrifyingly deadly Ebola virus threatens to wipe out humanity. Although the two works share many similarities, I found the most interesting and note-worthy theme to be the compassion and dedication of the men and women of the USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases). In a plot overview, The Hot Zone, (a true story), and Outbreak, (a dramatization loosely based on The Hot Zone), appear to be different.