A/N: What happened after Ben Richards walked away at the end of the 1987 movie "The Running Man"?

Symbiosis

Ben Richards stretched out in his hammock under the shade of a few palm trees. The ropes creaked but held his weight as he was rocked gently by the breeze that came from the ocean. Now this was a vacation worthy of a winner of the TV show "The Running Man", he thought. But it really wasn't winning so much as upending; he had made his way through the various stalkers thrown at him and he came out on top.

Damon Killian, the person responsible for the television show, wasn't the man responsible for framing him as the "Butcher of Bakersfield, but he took advantage of the situation and made Ben the human prey of the game in the pursuit of higher television ratings. A game that was designed to be a glorified public execution in the form of entertainment with the carrot of possible freedom dangled in front of the participants. The game itself was rigged; so-called winners were found to be dead anyway instead of enjoying their freedom and Killian WAS responsible for that. And when he threw his friends Laughlin and Weiss into the game to go back on his word after Ben agreed to participate in order to spare them, he was playing not only to survive but to get even.

Even Amber Mendez was tossed into the game as prey, when all she did was be a human shield while Ben tried to flee the zone by plane. She was discovered as she obtained video recordings exonerating Ben; she became a runner as well and eventually helped Ben to overcome the game to confront and expose Killian. Ben looked over from his hammock and watched as she searched the beach for interesting shells and driftwood. Subzero, Buzzsaw, Dynamo, and Fireball all met their ends as the two made their way to the center of the game where an underground resistance faction had set up headquarters.

When a retired stalker by the name of Captain Freedom told Killian he refused to come out of retirement from his position as a game commentator, Killian fired the man and ejected him from the ICS property. Killian's staff then used digital mapping to recreate Freedom and had his likeness kill a simulated Richards and Mendez in a fake death match. When Ben and Amber showed up back in front of the studio audience with the resistance showing the actual footage of the Bakersfield incident, the crowd turned on Killian and his trickery before Ben used the game's own mechanisms to end Killian's life.

That was two months ago. Ben never tried to get reinstated with the police force; he had left the Los Angeles area completely and used a connection to find an island that provided most of his needs. Most of their needs, he thought happily. Amber had come along, now sharing Ben's contempt for the society that depended on televised gladiator games to provide the populace with bread and circuses. A small boat lay hidden on shore should they require anything that the island couldn't provide. Fake 'Radioactive Contamination' signs dotted the various beaches.

"What else could we possibly ask for?" Amber asked as she padded up towards Ben, carefully sitting on the hammock without tipping it over.

"I don't know - bigger coconuts?" Ben asked in return as he held out his, its bounty of coconut water emptied.

Amber took the proffered shell and looked inside of it, tsking her pity in a baby voice. "Ah, is Ben's coconut all out? What is it good for now? I know!" She giggled and threw the shell easily at him. He caught it with no problem, but the action caused the hammock to sway and it dumped both on the sand below, Amber conveniently on top of Ben. "I'll get you another one" she smiled as she lay nose to nose with Ben.

"The coconut can wait" Ben smiled back as he kissed her, his gesture being returned in kind. Just how long Ben would have postponed the coconut was rendered moot when someone very loudly cleared his throat with an "Ah hum."

Ben tossed Amber to one side as he rolled to all fours and looked toward the source and saw a sight more imposing that even his impressive frame. Leaning against one of the trees supporting the hammock was Captain Freedom, in an outfit that was best described as jungle biker. Ben quickly looked around for a rock, club or maybe a tank to defend himself.

"Don't bother Richards, I'm still retired. Doesn't mean I lost my power to sneak up on people, does it?" Even though he was retired, the ten-time champion stalker of 'The Running Man' still commanded respect just from his size and the way he carried himself. Ben was only slightly shorter than the man, but it felt like the difference in height was much greater. "If I wanted you dead your body would already be a bloated corpse. Relax."

"What are you doing here?" Amber asked.

"Do you know this man?" Ben asked, not recognizing him.

"That's Captain Freedom. He's a legend on 'The Running Man'; he retired as a stalker a few years ago. Remember, the one in the fake video?"

"Sorry," Ben apologized to the man "I didn't watch the show; I was only in it. Thanks for killing us there at the end."

"Don't sweat it; the show went downhill after I left. Mind if I pull up a seat?" he said as he bear-hugged a fallen tree trunk and shifted it over with a thud. "Call me Ron" he said as he dusted his hands and sat down on the impromptu bench. "I didn't have anything to do with that fake crap. I wouldn't go into the game so Killian had a fake me kill off fake you's. The guy's an asshole."

"Was an asshole" Ben corrected. "Now he's just a stain on a wall."

"Good point. It was hard enough working with him when you're a stalker; in the studio it was a lot worse."

"Now that we're all best friends and everything, what are you doing here? You didn't answer the question" Amber asked again.

"No, I didn't. Any idea what's it's like out there after that last show?" Ron asked the two.

"Are you kidding? We came out here and haven't been back. To hell with Cadre and their whole region" Ben snarled.

"To hell is a good way of saying it. Without their blood and guts to keep them entertained, the population is getting restless. They don't trust ICS, and for the first time in a while they are starting to realize just how bad off many of them are. We've had some protests, pickets and even talk of a general strike. It's almost like a pot ready to boil. I saw the unedited tape, so I know you didn't fire on those food rioters in Bakersfield. I think we're in for a lot worse than that soon. Your underground movement helped start something, but they're not in control of where it's going."

"So? It's not my problem. I tried doing right when I was a cop, but it didn't matter." Ben was a captain at the time, but even rank didn't help when superiors issued orders that others were willing to follow.

Amber added "I'm just a musician. Am I supposed to write a song that makes everyone happy? It's impossible. What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know" Ron admitted as he shifted on the log and leaned his back against an upright tree. "But right now you two and I are the three most recognized people on television. We've got some influence right now, probably more than we'll ever have again. I'm Captain Freedom because I love people - I'm tough with them for their own good. Not everyone, because there are other Killians out there or even worse; but I want this region to stand for something the people can be proud of, so they can have pride in themselves and respect others. It may be too much to expect, but is it too much to ask for?"

"I want those things too; that's what being a cop was to me. But what can we do?"

"The nation broke down into commercial regions when the government collapsed; you know that the military and companies merged to become the de facto governments. There is a big gap between the upper class and the masses; the middle class disappeared completely decades ago. Do you know why they haven't rebuilt the area after the earthquake?" The Running Man was played in 400 square blocks of rubble left behind by a great earthquake to hit the Los Angeles area.

"So they could use it for the show" Amber answered.

"It seems that way, but the truth is that it's that way because Cadre and the government can't afford to fix it. They're involved in trade wars with the other regions, and budgets are stressed. Killian used to brag about being one of the stars of the budget and how valuable the show was to Cadre; it just gave a boost to his egomania is all. It may sound impossible, but what if we could come up with some game or something that the different regions could play against each other instead of fighting. If we could commercialize it they might go for it, and at the same time make some changes that will help those people that struggle to even have food."

"So you want us to save the planet? Good luck, I'll stay right here" Ben said as he shook his head "right under this tree or in my hut."

"Let me fill you in on a few things, Richards. You've just finished off a wonderful coconut drink. How'd you get the coconut open?" Ron asked.

"Machete. The wonder tool of the survivalist."

"And when that one breaks?"

"I'll use my backup."

"And when that one rusts?"

"Then I'll hop in my boat and paddle over to our neighbor island to get a few more."

"What if society collapses and they don't make them anymore? What are you going to do then? You're not completely independent. What if Mendez here has appendicitis? No society, no medical treatment. You may not want to be in it, but you're still going to rely on it sometime. Is that worth fighting for?" Ron stared straight at Ben.

Fidgeting, Ben looked at Amber. He didn't want to leave here, but he didn't want to lose her either. "Great. Fine. I'll need society sometime. But damn it, what can I do?"

"What can we do?" Amber added.

"I've got some ideas I'd like to hammer out, and we've not going to get interrupted here while we make a plan. We all have connections of some type, and I've got an idea. Long before the collapse, people used to gain solidarity though professional sports so much that it was not only a business but an industry in itself. We can come up with a game that's backed by the regions around the world, to compete against each other in place of actual conflict. A team from New York could play a team against Los Angeles, and Denver could play against Moscow. It would be in a smaller arena with a crowd, but televised for everyone to watch. They would have to skate around a track and score points somehow to win. Full contact, bruises and injuries to satisfy the crowd and give them that 'Us vs. Them' feeling. I call it 'Rolling Smash'. Get the people involved and we can get things working again. It won't have death, but it will have bravery and honor."

"Put a ball in it; better make it metal, and have goals to score in. Call it 'Roller Smash' or something like that" Ben suggested.

"I like the way you think, Richards" Ron smiled. "Maybe you need society, and society needs you. Real symbiosis."

"Or parasitic" Amber injected.

"Same thing as much as I care. It will be the hardest thing you've ever done, you won't get credit for it, and it may not work out in our lifetime or even at all but we've got to give it a try for everyone's sake" Ron said as he stretched out on top of the log. "Maybe we'll call it 'Rollerball'; I kinda like the sound of that one, but we can discuss it later. Now what tree do I have to knock over to get one of those coconuts?"

The End

A/N: Why yes, this does seem to lead into another movie...

I saw the stories in this category didn't have anything to do with the 1987 movie "The Running Man", so I dropped one in. I have an idea for an epilogue for the "Rollerball" movie too that I might get around to eventually.

(2 weeks pass) Okay, I got around to it; it's in the list waiting to be posted now.