When Nora had three pints of blood, she disconnected Rafferty, swabbed his arm with rubbing alcohol, and gathered up her gear.

Rafferty started coming around. Already feeling the loss of blood, Rafferty has never been this weak or helpless before. He could barely moan.

Mad Dog walked Nora to her car, while Lester stayed behind.

Nora said, "Call me if there's any problem."

Mad Dog said, "How much do you think you can get from him?"

Nora had no idea. "I don't want to kill him." Then, remembering, she said, "Oh, feed him. Give him orange juice."

"We didn't plan on him eating."

"He can't give blood if he's dead." Nora indicated Lester. "And don't let Lester bother him."

Mad Dog said, "I won't."

Nora was dubious, but still she drove off in her car.

Inside the drying house, drained of strength, Rafferty was very tightly bound to the cot. His eyes were taped with gauze. He heard a truck driving off.

A moment later, with his plastic baseball bat, Lester came and sat on the bunk beside Rafferty. He ripped the adhesive tape from Rafferty's mouth, then leaned over and made a slurping sound in Rafferty's ear.

"You're gonna die here, dickhead," he whispered.

Rafferty said, "Eat shit and die!"

Angered, Lester punched Rafferty's head with the bat.

"We want Jeremiah Quint's money." He punched Rafferty again, even angrier. "Where is it?"

Rafferty said hoarsely, "I don't have it!"

Lester started beating Rafferty about the head and shoulders with the plastic bat. But soon Lester had lost control and was viciously attacking Rafferty with the fungo bat.

Rafferty, his nose bleeding, the blood streaming over his face, reeling from the pain, was desperate. His guts churned with hatred and disgust.

"I don't have it!"

Lester was outraged. He smacked Rafferty's head with the bat's butt end. Rafferty couldn't speak. Lester smacked Rafferty again and again.

"Where's the fucking money!"

Lester went berserk with the plastic bat. Rafferty gasped from the shock. His face was badly beaten. Blood from his nose smeared even the mattress.

"Eat shit and die!" Lester cried.

Lester threw away the plastic bat, grabbed Rafferty's throat with one hand and held his knife's blade against Rafferty's throat with the other hand. He whispered now with deadly passion.

"I'm gonna cut your throat, because I want to."

Mad Dog grabbed his son's knife hand and took the knife away.

"Mad Dog!" Lester threatened.

Mad Dog said, "No! I said no more!

Once Lester backed down, Mad Dog yanked his son outside.

Lester started his truck, while Mad Dog stood beside it.

Mad Dog said, "You're going down to get some more food. He's gotta eat."

Lester said, "Why bother?"

"Because we need his blood."

"Why should we help Nora? What do we get outa it?"

"Tomo’s father saved my life in prison. He carried me outa that stinking laundry room. I owe him."

Frustrated, Lester drove away.

Mad Dog watched his son drive off.

Once again inside Mad Dog approached Rafferty.

Gasping, Rafferty said, "I have to use the bathroom. Please! Let me use the bathroom.

Mad Dog said absently, "Yeah, yeah -- "

Rafferty was in agony. "Diarrhea."

Mad Dog said, "Goddam!

"I got diarrhea -- " Rafferty whispered.

Mad Dog was disgusted. "Not on my bunk!"

Mad Dog untied Rafferty’s legs, then pulled him erect. He took Rafferty by the collar and pushed him outside.

Holding his knife at Rafferty's throat, Mad Dog pushed him towards the portajohn. Rafferty stumbled, in great agony, bleeding and beaten, suffering from his great loss of blood. At the portajohn, Mad Dog untied Rafferty's hands and shoved Rafferty inside and slammed the door after him.

Inside the portajohn Rafferty ripped the gauze off his eyes. Looking around for a weapon, he spotted the toilet paper holder. It was just a coathanger wire twisted to hold a roll of toilet paper. Rafferty unwound it, then wrapped it around his hand until both pointed ends became prongs. These ends he twisted into a single sharp prong with a sturdy hilt.

Mad Dog said, "Aren't you finished yet?"

Rafferty took several deep breaths, stood poised, ready to lunge when the door opened. He gripped the wire prong tightly and waited.

When Mad Dog yanked open the door, Rafferty came out with the wire in his fist. First Rafferty jabbed Mad Dog's eye to blind him.

Mad Dog's reflexes saved him, but the wire caught a fold of skin in the web of his eye, and blood spurted everywhere. Rafferty jabbed Mad Dog again, the wire broke through skin and went into the soft fleshy hollow of Mad Dog's throat just above the breastbone, puncturing his jugular.

Blood started shooting out of Mad Dog's mouth and from the hole in his throat. He started gagging loudly on his own blood. He fell back, then down. He died slowly, painfully.

Rafferty watched him die. Too weak to move, he collapsed on the ground, where he passed out.

Alice Taylor walked in Sheriff Hartman’s private office.

Hartman perked up. "Alice?"

"I just heard about Rafferty. Any leads?"

Hartman sighed there were none. "Wanna take her up?"

Alice was already out the door, and the startled Sheriff hustled to catch up with her.

Rafferty awoke at twilight on the ground near Mad Dog's corpse, the bloodied wire prong still wrapped around his hand. He yanked it off and dropped it on the ground. Incredibly weakened, he staggered into the drying house.

Rafferty took up a water jug and drank some. He heard the sound of a approaching helicopter and so he stood by the open door of drying house. The Sheriff's helicopter zoomed overhead and flew away from the drying house.

Rafferty stumbled outside, tried waving after the helicopter. But the helicopter kept on going.

Rafferty was desperate. He could barely stand up. Too much blood had been taken from him.

Rafferty looked out across the valley and saw a red plume of dust from Lester's approaching truck and the helicopter rapidly receding. His heart fell.

Rafferty rummaged through Mad Dog's pockets and found a book of matches. Rafferty staggered into the drying house. He found and spilled a can of kerosene all over the floor. He used the book of matches to set afire a marijuana stalk. A giant flame shot up instantly. Then the room that was filled with marijuana stalks exploded into flame.

Rafferty barely escaped from the drying house. Within seconds, the drying house was ablaze.

Lester was in his truck roaring up the road towards the drying house when he saw the flames shooting up from the drying house. He sped up. He was screaming incoherently.

Rafferty grabbed Mad Dog's fungo bat and the wire prong and hid in the bushes behind the portajohn. He was wild eyed and desperate.

Lester Rahler raced from his truck towards the drying house just before it exploded into a blazing bonfire, which sent him reeling.

Lester saw his father's corpse in the dirt and ran to it. He cradled his dead father and wept.

Rafferty was lying in fear in the brush behind the portajohn.

Outraged and with murderous eyes, Lester took his shotgun from his truck and stalked after Rafferty. Lester shotgunned the bushes.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

Lester blasted a hole in the portajohn which then collapsed.

"I'll track you down and kill you!"

As the portajohn collapsed, Rafferty hid his face in the dirt, too weak to fight. He peered around remains of the portajohn and watched Lester reloading. Then they both heard the sound of the helicopter returning.