Ride the Nightmare by Richard Matheson Page A

flood through her body like a cold slime.
    Then she saw a hitching rise to his chest and heard a faint, liquid groaning in his throat. Catching her breath, she put Connie down.
    “Mommy.”
    “I have to help Daddy, sweetheart.”
    Connie turned and looked down at her father. Her breath seemed to stop. She stood motionless, lips parted, staring at him. Helen kneeled beside him quickly and ran a trembling hand over his cheek.
    “Chris?” she murmured.
    He didn’t move. Helen looked around and saw a bottle of water on the table. She pushed up and started for it. Connie caught onto her.
    “I have to get some water,” Helen told her, “Daddy needs—”
    “Mommy, don’t—”
    “
Stand by Daddy
,” Helen told her. “Be my brave girl now.” She backed off slowly, raising her hand as Connie started after her. “Just stay there,” she said. She glanced across her shoulder at Adam who was pressing a handkerchief against Steve’s shoulder.
    “Your slip,” he said.
    Helen twitched and stared at him.
    “Your
slip
,” he repeated. He started to turn and she drew back. Connie made a frightened sound.
    “All right, all right,” Helen said. Shivering, she turned away and bent over. Drawing up her skirt, she pulled quickly at her half slip until it fell around her ankles. She stepped out of it and picked it up. Adam grabbed it from her outstretched fingers and, turning back, started tearing it into strips. Quickly, Helen moved to the table and picked up the bottle of water. She carried it back to Chris and kneeled beside him again. Opening the bottle, she pulled a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and poured some water over it. She began patting it against Chris’s temples and cheeks.
    “That’ll hold it,” she heard Adam say behind her.
    “No, it’s still bleeding too much.” Steve sounded a little frightened. “I gotta have a doctor, Adam.”
    “Damn it, use your head!” snapped Adam, “We’ve wasted enough time. We have money now. We’ve got to clear out.”
    “You wouldn’t be so damn sure if it was you,” said Steve. There was almost a whining in his voice now.
    “Look you want a doctor, go get one. I’m going to Mexico.”
    Helen glanced across her shoulder and saw the two men looking at each other.
    “What about—?” She saw Steve’s head jerk slightly toward her and she felt a sudden, cold depression in her stomach.
    “There’s no room,” said Adam, flatly.
    Helen stared at him, her heartbeat suddenly jolting. She couldn’t take her eyes off Adam’s expressionless face. When he turned to look at her, she kept gaping at him.
    “No,” she whispered. She couldn’t hear herself. She reached out and pulled Connie against her. “No, please.” Her fingers clamped on Connie’s arm. “
Please
.”
    Steve groaned. “I’ve gotta have a doctor,” he muttered.
    “Later,” said Adam, his eyes on Helen. He reached into his coat pocket. Helen felt a scream rising in her throat. The room seemed to wheel around her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    “No, not later!”
    It was as if Steve’s voice came from miles away. Cringing back, Connie tight against her, Helen looked dumbly at him, at the pistol he was pointing at Adam’s back.
    Adam looked around. “What are you—?” He stared at Steve incredulously.
    “Get your hand out of your pocket,” Steve told him.
    “Are you out of your mind?”
    “I’m getting a doctor.”
    “Sure you’ll get a doctor—but later!” said Adam, “We have to get out of here! Don’t you understand? We’ve been—”
    “I want him now!” Steve’s chest rose and fell unsteadily. He blinked and leaned back dizzily against the chair. “Don’t move,” he ordered, “Don’t move or I’ll—”
    “You’re a fool,” Adam said.
    Steve pressed his lips together and tried to push himself up. His legs vibrated beneath the weight and he fell back with a muffled grunt.
    He glanced at Helen. “Get over here,” he said.
    “What do you want?”
    “Get over