The Running Man
by Stephen King
Contents
…Minus 030 and COUNTING… It was McCone who broke the deadlock
Overview
McCone admits Amelia has not confessed, confirming that Richards’s bluff still holds for the moment. The Network’s plan shifts from immediate execution to delay: McCone will wait for Canogyn to expose the truth, while Richards presses forward toward the plane.
The exchange becomes a battle of nerves in which both men expose and counter bluffs. Richards recognizes that the Network cannot safely shoot down the jet over populated areas, keeping his narrow leverage alive.
Summary
McCone breaks the standoff by laughing and admitting that Amelia has not broken. Amelia still insists that the bulge in Ben Richards’s pocket is Black Irish, and McCone cannot use S.A.P. on her because it would leave a detectable trace. Instead, the Network is waiting for Canogyn from New York, though McCone says it will arrive too late to stop Richards.
McCone tries to reason out Richards’s bluff, suggesting the explosive is really in Amelia’s missing handbag, not in Richards’s pocket. Richards refuses to engage the theory and dares McCone to shoot him if McCone is certain. McCone declines, claiming the government is humane and unwilling to gamble with human life, while Richards realizes McCone is trying to stall and hypnotize him with talk until the drug arrives.
Richards interrupts and insists that even if Amelia is injected, Amelia will repeat the same story: the explosive is on Richards. Richards walks past McCone toward the stairs, warning that his gun trigger is already nearly pulled, forcing McCone to hold back. McCone then reveals the Network’s backup threat: once Richards is airborne, they will claim Richards panicked and shoot the plane down with a ground-to-air missile.
Richards calls that threat a bluff because the plane will fly low over populated areas while carrying fuel and the supposed explosive, making the risk too public and destructive. McCone admits the missile threat is only a bluff for now and says the Network will wait for Canogyn before acting. As Richards leaves, McCone remains convinced Richards is bluffing, while Richards quietly says, “Soon,” and grins.
Who Appears
- Ben RichardsMaintains his explosive bluff, resists McCone’s stalling, and heads toward the plane.
- McConeNetwork official who probes Richards’s bluff, delays for Canogyn, and admits the missile threat is temporary.
- AmeliaOffstage captive whose refusal to break keeps Richards’s bluff alive.