Suspense.
A helpless man and woman fall into a trap from which there is no escape but death.
Inferno.
Written by Peter Fernandez.
Lester, did you see that sign?
Which one, dear?
The last one in front of that gas station we just passed.
No, missed it.
What did it say?
It suggested that we check our oil, water and gas because it's over 50 miles to the next
station.
Relax, honey.
We've got enough gas for at least twice that distance.
Well, you know best, dear.
You tired, Sheila?
Yes, and warm.
Well, I'm afraid I can't turn the air conditioner any higher.
That desert out there must be 130 in that sunlight.
130?
Just imagine.
Yeah, that's real desert, all right.
Remember in school, the history book?
Our forefathers crossing that and without air conditioning.
Two miles an hour behind a couple of oxen and not even a road.
I don't know how they did it.
There, I snapped a good picture of that clump of cactus we just passed.
You better save some film, honey.
Before.
We might as well get pictures of everything.
Not every year that you get transferred clear across the country to California.
When we stop for the picnic lunch that you had that restaurant makeup, I'm going to find
us something real colorful.
Maybe around those mazes out there.
You'll want some shots of those, won't you?
All right, Les.
Oh, you see, this is making me so drowsy.
I think I'll take a little nap.
Good idea, hon.
I'll wake you when I find a good spot to have our picnic.
What?
What was that, Lester?
For goodness sakes, where are we?
I don't know.
Just saw this old dirt road leading off the highway to these hills.
Old mining road, probably.
Thought we could follow it a bit.
It's about time for lunch.
I promise you.
Be careful, dear.
I promised you something special for our picnic.
But how far are we from the highway?
Five miles, maybe.
There, up ahead there.
Under that big rock formation.
There's good shade there.
Oh, why, it's beautiful.
We'll be there in a couple of minutes, honey.
Won't give us all.
Solid rock.
Yeah, that's all we got.
Three weeks and nothing but your crazy talk that we're going to strike at rich.
Candy, it's right around here, a hundred years ago,
that the four-leaf clover mine was covered over in a slide.
That's your story, Bates.
I was a fool to stick this with every cent I got.
Now I'm through.
Now listen to me again.
I'll listen long enough, I tell you.
We're low on grub.
Ain't even a shell for the gun if we used to see even a jack whatever.
I'm going back to camp, take my things and get out of here.
Will you shut up and listen?
Huh, why?
Don't you hear that?
Yeah.
Yeah, what is it?
It's a car, that's what it is.
A car all the way up here.
Oh, who would be fool enough to...
Hey, hey, there, there it is.
Stopping right over there by them rocks.
Get down, get your head down.
Yeah, yeah, but I've seen it.
Just hope they ain't seen you.
What difference does that make?
I'll get my stuff and hitch a ride out of here.
Wait now, I got an idea better than that.
Huh?
Well, what do you mean?
Take another look, Andy.
Careful, look.
Careful.
Yeah?
That's a fancy car.
New.
Costs a lot of money.
Now look, Bates, it's too blame hot for chit chat.
What you thinking?
I'm thinking if them folks are stupid enough
to come pleasure cruising up to a place like this,
they deserve to lose that car.
You mean take it?
Sure.
That and anything else we can get our hands on.
You know, Bates, for the first time since you talked me into coming up here,
I see how we can make a strike after all.
What a start, Lester.
Sure beats the state park back in Greenville for a picnic.
That was a good lunch.
Now about those pictures.
Fine.
Now you want to take one of me against this rock?
Oh no, Lut, I couldn't get any of the scenery.
Oh look, over there.
Where?
Yeah, with all those hills in the background.
See that long stretch of desert?
We'll take turns.
I'll get a nice shot of you, and then you can take one of me in the same setting.
Oh, out there?
Honey, that's out in the sun.
No, I think here in the shade where it's not so hot.
Oh, it'll only take a few minutes,
and then we can get back in the car and cool off.
Come on, dear, we'll never be able to get shots like this again.
Well, okay.
But let's make it fast out in that sun, huh?
Come on.
Well, that's the end of this roll, honey.
Now let's get back to the car before we melt.
What's the matter, Sheila?
The sun.
I had no idea how...
how hot it...
Sheila! Sheila!
Sheila!
It's painful tonight.
If I don't carry you back to the car...
Oh...
Oh, Lester, I...
What happened?
You passed out.
I was afraid of something like this.
We should have stayed by the car in the shade.
I'll be all right now, dear.
You can put me down.
Oh, no.
Here.
You sit here in the car.
There.
Oh, there's heat.
I'll switch on the air conditioner. I sit right there.
I'll come around to the driver's seat.
We'll be all right with the air conditioner going.
Here we are.
As soon as you're feeling better, we'll get out of here.
It's not working.
Oh, of course. I've got to start the engine...
for the air conditioner to work. I always forget that.
That's funny.
What's funny, Lester?
I thought I'd left the keys in the ignition, but...
I probably slipped them into my pocket without thinking.
No.
Are they on the seat there?
Oh, well...
I don't see them.
I'm not sitting on them.
Neither am I.
Maybe you dropped them out there.
I'd better go look.
Don't be alarmed, Sheila.
Just keep your fingers crossed, honey, and hope that I can spot those keys.
Here they are, Gandhi.
I just grabbed them out of the car while them fools were taking pictures.
What? Is this all?
A bunch of keys?
Be careful, Gandhi, so they don't spot you.
Do you see where that sun's reaching now?
That rock overhang ain't going to be shaving that car for long.
They're going to be right out in the sun.
So?
So, without these keys, they can't get away.
They've got to stay in the sun.
Them folks is going to roast, Gandhi.
Roast.
When they're dead.
At least they're within 50-50.
That's right.
So, come on.
Enough of us to do to wait for that sun to kill them.
Let's get back to camp.
My canteen's empty and I'm thirsty.
No, the keys are not there.
Unless you... What are we going to do?
Do? I don't know.
The heat.
Sheila, we've got to get out of here.
Maybe you could start the car without the keys.
Let me think.
There is a way.
Crossing some wires. I've read about car thieves doing it all the time.
But what wires? Where?
I don't know how.
Your hand is shaking.
Don't worry, darling. We'll be all right.
It's too hot to spend any time off in that sun.
I'd never make it.
So the only thing I can figure is that we'll wait until nightfall.
Then I'll hike the five or six miles back to the highway and get help.
We'll go together.
No.
No, you'll be safer here.
The only thing is...
What, dear?
How are we going to last until that sun goes down?
We'll try, Lester.
Well, just try.
The sun's already hitting part of the car.
It's getting so hot in here.
Honey, I'm afraid we'll have to get under the car.
It'll give us some shade and there'll be some air.
It's our only hope, Sheila, to last out until nightfall.
Now, come on, honey.
Wait a minute.
We still have a bottle of soda pop there from our picnic.
I'd better bring it along.
Good.
Now, come on, Sheila.
We've got to hold out until sunset.
Lester?
Hmm?
Oh, I guess I dozed off.
The sun's gone. It's getting dark.
Yeah.
And that breeze, it's cooler.
You feel it?
Now, I'll...
I'll try to make the highway.
Wait. Wait until you're feeling stronger.
Come on, at least we can get out from under this car now.
Thank goodness.
And once I'm on my way, I...
Oh, Lester, you almost fell.
I'm okay.
I've just got to get help.
We never last to another day.
I'm going now.
Wait. Here.
Here, there's a drop left in this pop bottle. It's for you.
No. No, you drink that, Sheila.
I've had most of it already.
Now, please, darling.
All right.
Thanks.
Now, you stay right here.
I'll be back before morning.
Be careful.
I love you, and I don't want anything to happen to you.
I love you, too, Sheila.
Please don't worry.
What's that?
What's what, dear?
There's something over there.
Where do I get this flashlight on?
There.
Hey.
Howdy, mister.
Oh, we thought there was no one around here for miles.
That's what I was thinking.
With a big fancy automobile, too.
Well, well, well.
Where'd you come from?
Up there. Up in the hills.
Where you from, mister? Where you heading?
Well, the plain fact is that right now we're stuck.
Yeah, hm?
We can't get our car started.
So I'm going to hike to the highway to get some help.
That's what you're planning to do, huh?
Thought so.
Yeah, you couldn't ever make it, mister, not in the shape you're in.
Your hands shaking like that.
Ain't hardly able to stand.
I've got to.
Maybe.
But you listen to me now.
I got the burrow here.
When I'm tired, I ride.
And when he's tired, I walk.
I could get to the highway for you.
You'd do that for us?
Why not?
I'm on my way to get water myself.
I'll make it worth your while.
Money?
Keep it, mister.
I'll be glad to do a simple act of charity.
Now, you just sit right there.
Bother you.
Don't go wandering off and get yourselves lost.
I'll be back.
Just trust me, friends.
Just trust old Bess.
Oh, a miracle.
That's what he is.
I agree.
We'll be safe now.
Come on, Sheila.
We'll sit in the car.
Try to get some rest.
Candice.
What?
Oh.
Yeah, baby.
He was going to leave for help.
I stopped him.
They're going to wait for me now.
Wait?
Wait till doomsday, huh?
That's right.
Might as well stretch out here for a while.
Imagine any fool getting caught up here, nothing to drink.
Yeah.
Just imagine.
Gandy, bring me a dip of full water from the goatskin.
Just thinking about them folks gives me a powerful sense.
Yeah.
Look at that moon, Sheila.
Uh-huh.
Almost as bright as daylight.
Mm-hmm.
But cooler.
Much cooler.
We must be thankful for that.
What time is it?
Uh, quarter past 10.
He's been gone for almost an hour and a half.
Could he have reached the highway yet, do you think?
Six miles?
No, not even near it.
Even riding the burrow.
I wonder how far he is.
Well, that should be easy enough to find out.
In this moonlight, with this elevation,
I should be able to spot him.
See now.
Hmm.
See him?
No.
Well, there are shadows.
But those rocks way out there.
If he's moving, we should be able to...
That's strange.
What do you mean?
I wonder if we haven't been fools.
The way he looked at us and at the car.
Hmm?
Almost as if...
She's like he's not out there.
But he went in that direction.
He could have circled around behind these rocks.
Right now.
He could be waiting until morning in that sun again and...
In the end, for us.
He seems such a harmless old man.
Ha, harmless?
To kill us, he would need a gun or a knife, not out here.
Just to trick us.
If he's done now.
Then you'll have to try to make the highway after all?
No, I can't.
Why not?
If that's his plan, to stick around until dawn,
to watch us die and then take everything, he's a killer.
And I can't leave you alone here.
Sheila.
Yes, dear?
Look, you see where I've got the flashlight pointing?
Uh-huh.
That's a print from his animal in that alkaline dust.
And then, over here, see? Another.
Yes.
If we follow those prints, maybe we can find him.
If he is hanging around here, then he's got water.
And we've got to get to him before sunrise.
Let's go.
Shh.
What was that?
I don't know. It could have been an animal.
That burrow of his.
He must have a camp around here.
Lester, look.
Between those boulders.
Isn't that a tent?
Yes.
And beside it, it's to that pole.
The burrow.
I see something else, too.
Where?
Hanging from that point of rock.
Yeah.
Yeah, a goatskin.
There's only one thing carried in something like that out here.
Water.
Sure.
And all that right now, he's sleeping in that tent.
Sleeping, waiting for that sun to come up and kill us.
Honey, you stay here.
I've got to try to sneak that goatskin of water out of there.
Let me help. It might be heavy.
No, no.
We'd make too much noise together.
Here.
You hold the flashlight, but keep it off.
Be careful. He might have a gun. He might have a knife.
Wait here, darling.
So far, so good.
Steady, fella, steady.
Just a few more feet.
Now.
It's almost filled.
And heavy.
If I can just get it off this pinion.
Now.
What's that?
Gandy, Gandy, wake up.
Hurry, master.
Hey, Mr. Staff.
Stop him, Gandy.
Go ahead, Sheila.
Start back for the car. Hurry.
Oh, will you don't, mister?
I can't.
Let go of me.
Hold him, Gandy.
Let go of my husband.
I can't. I can't.
All right, we got him now.
What's that?
Water.
Water, that's what it is.
He dropped our water bag.
Well, pick it up. Pick it up, quick.
Yeah, yeah, I'm trying.
It's too late.
Look at it.
Empty.
It's empty.
Empty. It's empty.
You knocked it out of my arms.
Are you all right, Les?
Yes, but does it matter?
There's no water.
No water.
No water for any of us.
No water?
He's right, mates.
We've got to get more water before sunrise,
or we'll all die here.
Us as well as him.
You don't have to tell me.
Quick, now.
Unhitch the baron and pack our gear.
We'll take the car just like I planned.
Have you still got the keys for it?
I got them. Don't you worry about that.
Let's get moving.
I'm coming, Bates. I'm coming.
Did you hear that?
They took the keys.
Yes.
Let's get back to the car.
But you can't start it.
That's true, but at least we can try to prevent them
from taking it.
Come on.
It's getting light.
Can't you see them yet?
No, but they'll be coming.
They'll be following that old mine road.
Look, coming around that pile of rock.
Yeah.
Now, remember, sit right there in the car
no matter what happens.
You and the missus, get away from that car.
We won't move from here.
You gonna make us wait till that sun kills you?
That's what you're gonna have to do.
That sun's most up already.
How long can you and the missus last with no water?
Eh?
How long?
A few hours is all.
How long can you and your friend wait for us?
You don't have any water either.
He's right, Pete.
We can't wait around much.
Shut up, Candy.
Look out, Master.
Is this shotgun, mister?
Now, you and the missus, get away from that car.
Or I'll kill you right now.
Either you shoot us, or we die of heat and thirst.
Right here.
The shooting might be a lot easier for us.
He's got you there, Bates, ain't he?
Shut up.
Well?
What's the matter?
Why don't you shoot?
I'll tell you why, mister.
Because he ain't got no shells for that gun.
I told you to shut up.
That shotgun isn't loaded?
Even so, you ain't getting away from here.
Neither are you.
Just think about that.
We got the animal.
We got the burrow here.
And it's six miles out to the highway.
Animal or not, you can't make it with no water while that sun is up.
Now, if you don't move out of the way,
we're gonna throw you out of the way.
There's two of us.
And me and Candy, it's gonna...
And there's two of us.
Stay in the car, Sheila.
No, they're old men, and together maybe we can hold them off.
Come on, Candy. Let's take that car now.
I was willing to string along when this looked easy.
It ain't easy, no, Lord.
I said it is.
We got the car now. We can leave them here.
We can't get the car.
Yes, we can.
Now, listen.
We gotta get out some water or we're gonna die with them.
Give me those ignition keys.
So you can leave us here without water?
We're gonna last through the day.
I know that.
Them keys ain't gonna last any good.
Give them to him, Bates.
Listen, mister.
Now, listen.
Will you get some water to us up here?
Give me the keys.
You gotta promise.
Give them to me.
I guess we gotta trust you anyway.
Here you are.
Thanks.
Get in, honey.
Yes.
So we're gonna be waiting.
We're gonna be waiting right here, mister.
Don't forget us now.
Why not?
You can sit in that sun and roast.
No, mister, please!
You couldn't do that.
Yes, I could.
Mister.
Leave it up there.
Forgetting us.
That'd be murder, that's what it'd be.
Mister, please!
Mister!
In just a moment we'll return for the concluding act of suspense.
There it is, Lester.
There's the highway.
I see it.
Thank goodness.
Oh, thank goodness.
Well, darling, we were heading west,
but you've turned us back toward the town.
Oh, thank goodness.
But you've turned us back toward the town.
You know we can't leave them there
without sending someone to help them.
No, dear.
Of course we can't.
Not us.
We lost the whole day and night up there, but...
Anyway, at least you got some good pictures.
Just in case we never get a chance
to cross this section of the country again.
Lester, dear, if we ever have to go this way again,
let's not.
Suspense.
You've been listening to Inferno,
written for suspense by Peter Fernandez.
In a moment, the names of our players
and the word about next week's story of suspense.
Heard in tonight's story were Ellen McCray as Sheeda,
Richard Holland as Lester,
Mandel Kramer as Bates,
and Robert Dryden as Gandhi.
Listen again next week when we return with
Night Man by Lucille Fletcher,
another tale well calculated to keep you in.
Suspense.