Bill Hapscomb

Bill "Hap" Hapscomb is a supporting character who first appears in Chapter 1 of the Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand by Stephen King. He is the proprietor of Hapscomb's Texaco outside Arnette, Texas, the place where Charles Campion crashes his car, ending the Flight of the Campions.

Story Arc
Although a 9th-grade dropout, as the owner of Hapscomb's Texaco, Bill Hapscomb is one of the few residents of Arnette, Texas who has a relatively comfortable source of income. His choice of businesses is ironic, given he once saw a gas station explosion in Mexico.

Many nights, his less fortunate buddies Stu Redman, Norm Bruett, Tommy Wannamaker, Hank Carmichael and Vic Palfrey hang out at his Texaco, drinking beers and shooting the breeze. He is something of a loudmouthed fool, but most of his friends defer to him out of respect for being in his place of business, all except Vic, who is retired and will often try to explain to him why he is wrong when he so often is.

On the evening of June 16, 1990, he is having another bullshitting session when Stu sees an old Chevy about to crash into his pumps. Stu shuts them off in time, and Hap's first thought is for his insurance, which he feels blessed his wife Mary insist he get.

When he sees the seriously ill driver of the car spill out of the car, however, Hap and Tommy carry the man into the gas station and call an ambulance to take him to nearby Braintree. When he asks, they do not tell him his wife and daughter are already dead. Hap rides in the ambulance with the man, who dies minutes later, and Hap checks his wallet to learn he is Charles D. Campion. (Chapter 1)

The next day, his cousin Joe Bob Brentwood, a Texas State Patrol officer, stops by to warn Hap there may be a quarantine of everyone who came in contact with Campion. Joe Bob makes Hap swear to secrecy as his source. As Joe Bob leaves, Hap sneezes, and Joe Bob at first thinks it's a cold, until Vic suggests it may be what killed Campion and his family. (Chapter 3)

Complete and Uncut Edition

 * Chapter 1 - first appearance; witnesses Charles Campion crashing into his Texaco
 * Chapter 3 - learns from Joe Bob Brentwood about possible quarantine; shows first symptoms of Captain Trips