…Minus 090 and COUNTING… The group Richards had come in with

After further eliminations, Ben Richards’s original group has been reduced to four, and the overall applicant pool has shrunk by about sixty percent. The remaining men wait in a smaller room, eat bland sandwiches, and are eventually moved by elevator to fifth-floor quarters with a common room, communal bathroom, sleep area, and cafeteria access.

Richards notices a pay phone in the hall and asks the guard, Charlie Grady, for money to call Sheila. Grady initially mocks Richards’s story about a sick child, but Richards’s anger and desperation unsettle him. Grady grudgingly lends Richards two New Quarters while threatening him if he tells anyone else.

Richards calls the hall phone at his building, fearing a hostile neighbor will sabotage the call. An unfamiliar voice answers, gossips cruelly about Sheila, and says she is out while Cathy can be heard crying. Richards forces the person to wait long enough for Sheila to return.

When Sheila comes on the line, Richards learns Cathy’s fever has eased but her breathing sounds worse, and Sheila fears pneumonia. Sheila admits she has turned two tricks that morning to buy medicine for Cathy. Richards insists the medicine is useless, urges Sheila not to go out again, and tells her he believes he has nearly made it into a Games show, where he may receive an advance.

The call is cut off when Richards cannot pay for more time, interrupting his attempt to tell Sheila he loves her. Furious and helpless, Richards throws the receiver and returns to the quarters with the thought that someone has to pay.