The Fifth Quarter (Stephen King)
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"The Fifth Quarter" is a short story written by Stephen King and originally published in Cavalier and later in his short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Most recently, it made its way onto film as an episode of the TNT miniseries Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. In the notes for this story, King remarks "Bachman again or maybe George Stark" a reference to his pseudonym Richard Bachman whose "relationship" with him was the basis of the character George Stark for the novel The Dark Half.
The story follows "Jerry Tarkanian," (probably a pseudonym, referring to the famous basketball coach) a crook looking to avenge the death of his friend Barney who died at the hands of his own accomplices after taking part in an armoured car heist. Unknown to them, Barney managed to get to Tarkanian before he died and told him of the heist and of the map divided amongst his killers that reveals the location of the stolen money. At the start of the story, Tarkanian has tracked down two of the men, Keenan and Sarge, who are about to make a deal between themselves and manages to hold them at gun-point, forcing them to give him their sections of the map. However, things go wrong when the third man, Jagger, appears during the confrontation and attacks them both, in the firefight that follows Sarge is killed, but contributes to Jaggers downfall when his body obstructs his path, letting Tarkanian get the advantage and finish him. Despite not having Jaggers part of the map, he now has enough to recover the money. The story ends with Tarkanian leaving the scene, knowing that in the aftermath of this shootout that his debt to his friend has been paid and he himself now has a lot to be careful for.
In the hour-long film version for the TNT miniseries, the story evolves slightly differently. Barney manages to tell Tarkanian (named Willie in the episode) about the heist and the four map segments, giving Tarkanian his segment before his death. Tarkanian proceeds to Keenan's, and then Sarge's, homes and injures both, taking their maps. Jagger appears at Keenan's house shortly after Tarkanian's departure. Jagger then arrives at the Sarge's home and finishes off Sarge. The body, like in the story, tripped the aggressive Jagger, allowing Tarkanian to make his fatal shot. He retrieves the fourth and final piece of the map and returns home at dawn. Police arrive at his home shortly after, prompting him to give his wife the now-completed map. Tarkanian is taken into custody and the wife is left with the map. After some troubles, she succeeds at "decoding" the mysterious map and recovers the money.
The hour-long film version stars Jeremy Sisto as Willie, and Samantha Mathis as his wife Karen.
