…Minus 047 and COUNTING… He spied a pile of cast-off insulati

After Elton Parrakis drives away as a decoy, Ben Richards finds a cellar hole in the abandoned Development and climbs down into it. Richards beats a pile of discarded insulation to drive out rats, then wraps himself in it for warmth and slips into an exhausted half-sleep.

Richards wakes in the cold night with no sirens nearby and checks his injuries. The bleeding from Richards's arm has stopped, though a bullet has torn away flesh above the elbow, and Richards realizes that his ankle is likely broken and should be splinted.

When Richards wakes again, Richards remembers a critical rule of the game: Richards must mail two tape clips before noon so they can reach the Games Building by airtime. Because Bradley is likely captured or fleeing, Elton never gave Richards the Cleveland contact, and Richards can barely walk, the deadline turns Richards's hiding place into a trap.

Richards weighs three bad choices: remain hidden and lose the prize money while the hunt continues; mail the tapes to Boston and risk interception and location tracing; or mail them directly to the Games Building and risk being recognized. Richards blames Mrs. Parrakis's betrayal for leaving Richards without safe contacts and with almost no workable options.

At dawn, Richards abandons the cellar, buries the useless head bandage in the insulation, and finds a board to use as a crutch. Though the abandoned Development seems like an ideal hiding place, Richards knows the game requires motion, so Richards sets off painfully toward the woods north of the deserted Super Mall.