…Minus 075 and COUNTING… When he woke up it was just after 4

Ben Richards wakes in the Brant Hotel just after 4 P.M. and realizes the hunt has already been underway for about three hours. The thought frightens him, but Richards follows the game’s rules: Richards loads a fresh tape, hides his face with a pillowcase, and records himself reading the Ten Commandments for ten minutes.

Richards must mail the tape clips to the Network, even though the hotel envelopes and postal markings could expose Richards’s location. Richards distrusts the process but decides defaulting is not an option, so Richards drops the envelopes into the out-of-town mail slot and returns to the room.

Back in the room, Richards tries to decide how to survive. Richards recognizes that his first instinct, like that of most contestants, has been to hide rather than run. The Brant Hotel offers temporary cover, but Richards concludes the Hunters will expect a fugitive to make a den and may already have clues from the desk clerk, bellboy, or strangers who saw Richards earlier.

Richards then examines the weakness of John G. Springer, the false identity Molie provided. Richards reasons that the Hunters will pressure everyone connected to Richards in Harding, and someone may eventually reveal Molie’s work. If the Hunters find Molie and force out the Springer alias, the trail could lead quickly through the jetport records to Richards’s flight to New York.

Richards imagines the Hunters already closing around the hotel, replacing staff, filling elevators, climbing fire escapes, and preparing to film Richards’s death for the audience. The panic breaks Richards’s indecision. Knowing Richards does not know the East Coast well but must leave immediately, Richards decides that Boston will be the first destination.