The Running Man
by Stephen King
Contents
…Minus 001 and COUNTING… Now the jet cruised across the canal
Overview
Ben Richards uses his final moments to turn the hijacked jet into a weapon against Dan Killian and the Games Network. The plane’s low approach throws Harding into panic and destroys the mediated spectacle of the Free-Vees, replacing it with direct, unavoidable terror.
The chapter completes Richards’s revenge arc: dying and already stripped of family and future, Richards reaches Killian himself and forces the man behind the game to face him in person.
Summary
The wounded Ben Richards succeeds in guiding the hijacked Lockheed TriStar down over Harding. The plane roars so low over the city that pedestrians flee into doorways, windows shatter, street debris whirls in its wake, and Free-Vees across the area turn to white interference.
As the jet skims the rooftops, its descent becomes unmistakably deliberate. The aircraft narrowly misses buildings, including the Glamour Column Store, while the city below reacts in terror and confusion.
Inside the Games Network building, Dan Killian looks up from his desk as the city view in his wall-to-wall window disappears behind the incoming jet. In the last instant, Killian sees Richards at the controls, bloodied, grinning, and giving him the finger before impact becomes inevitable.
Who Appears
- Ben RichardsMortally wounded Runner who pilots the hijacked jet into the Games Network in final revenge.
- Dan KillianGames Network executive who realizes too late that Richards has aimed the jet at him.