The Running Man
by Stephen King
Contents
…Minus 042 and COUNTING… The day was very bright (the constan
Overview
At the Camden roadblock, Amelia Williams tries to save herself by revealing Ben Richards’s hostage threat, but the police prepare to shoot anyway. Richards forces a breakout, then disables two pursuing cruisers, killing or maiming the officers and worsening Amelia’s terror.
The chapter confirms that the authorities value killing Richards over protecting an upper-class hostage, forcing Amelia to confront the violence behind the system she trusted. Richards escapes the immediate trap but is wounded and pushed toward the next desperate stop.
Summary
In bright daylight at the Camden roadblock, Amelia Williams opens the car door and calmly identifies herself to the troopers. Amelia says Ben Richards is holding her hostage and will kill Amelia unless the police allow passage. Richards notices an unspoken signal between the troopers and realizes that Amelia’s status will not protect either of them.
Richards orders Amelia to drive just as the troopers drop into firing positions. Richards forces Amelia’s foot onto the accelerator despite the pain in Richards’s injured ankle, and the car bursts between the police vehicles. Shots hit the car, the windshield shatters, and another bullet damages the trunk, sending the vehicle fishtailing.
Richards makes Amelia take the wheel and pull over, while Amelia repeats in shock that the police shot at them. As sirens approach, Richards gets out despite his injuries, falls, and positions himself on the roadside with his pistol. When the first pursuing cruiser crests the rise, Richards shoots out a tire, causing it to crash violently into a tree.
A second cruiser follows, and Richards uses several shots to hit one of its tires. The cruiser spins, rolls, and then explodes, forcing Richards to drop to the ground as shrapnel flies. Richards notices blood spreading on his shirt and struggles back to the air car, wounded and exhausted.
Amelia has not fled; she stares at the burning wreckage, horrified that Richards killed the troopers. Richards insists the police tried to kill both of them, but Amelia denies that they meant to kill Amelia. Richards orders Amelia to keep driving, and the shock strips away Amelia’s composed upper-class manner as they continue five miles to a roadside store and air station.
Who Appears
- Ben RichardsFugitive contestant; forces a roadblock escape, destroys pursuing cruisers, and is wounded.
- Amelia WilliamsHostage driver; expects police protection but is shocked when troopers shoot at the car.
- Camden troopersRoadblock officers; try to kill Richards despite Amelia’s hostage warning and pursue him.