The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition/Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is the third chapter of Book One of the Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand by Stephen King. It contains the first appearances of Joseph Robert Brentwood and several other minor characters, and the first offscreen appearance of Larry Underwood, as well as references to several minor characters. It is also the first appearance of the song "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" after the epigram to Book One. It is the chapter in which Captain Trips begins to spread throughout Arnette after Charles Campion arrived.

Summary
The morning after the events of Chapter 1, Norm Bruett wakes up with a headache. He yells at his two boys, Luke and Bobby, and then heads into the kitchen, where he shuts off the radio, which is playing "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" There is a note from his wife Lila, who says their friend Sally Hodges is paying her a dollar to babysit for the day. As he cooks his breakfast, he gives a phlegmy sneeze.

At Hapscomb's Texaco, Hap's cousin Joe Bob Brentwood of the Texas State Patrol stops by secretly to tell Hap and Vic Palfrey the state and federal health departments both looked over Charles Campion's body, and they may be looking to quarantine everyone who was at the Texaco the night before. As Joe Bob is leaving, Hap sneezes, and Joe Bob tells him to watch out for that cold. Vic says he also woke up with a headache, cough and sneeze, and he suggests they might have caught something from Campion. Joe Bob suggests Hap close up for the day, and Hap agrees.

At the Hodges house, Lila is watching soap operas and fighting back a slight cough she has had all day. She hears a loud cough from the youngest Hodges, Baby Cheryl, who is turning purple. Lila swats her on the back to help Baby Cheryl cough up more phlegm than Lila has ever seen from a baby, and then Baby Cheryl goes back to sleep.