The Long Walk

As they walk through Caribou, Percy’s mother desperately tries to find her son, and again is wrestled away by police; this time, she’s shoved into a police cruiser. Garraty tells the other boys that the state line is about 330 miles away. The boys grow less enamored of the Major. Another boy is shot, but Garraty reflects that he’s too tired to care.

Pearson develops a limp. The boys talk about sex and how girls are more attracted to them now that they’re doing something dangerous. Half-dozing as he walks, Garraty thinks of his mother, his girlfriend, and a childhood friend named Jimmy Owens, with whom he looked at pictures of naked women. Garraty receives two warnings.

The boys approach a large, steep hill. Through the grapevine, Garraty’s group hears rumors about this hill in previous years’ competitions. McVries motivates Olson to walk a little more quickly. Larson sits, receives three warnings, and is shot. Another boy is shot. A farmer and his family watch the procession.

Toland faints and is shot. Garraty feels faint. Olson has started praying. Garraty and Stebbins, who have seen the end of previous Walks, discuss their experiences. Stebbins’s father is in the Squads, so he had a front-row seat. He describes, in graphic detail, seeing the two final survivors of the Walk trying to make it to the finish line. The winner collapsed next to the dead second-place boy and tried to talk to him. Another boy is shot, leaving 90 Walkers.

Garraty takes inventory of his tired body and tries to give himself a pep talk. The boys share stories about misadventures back home, each telling a “tall story.” They grow a little sad when discussing their girlfriends. The group walks past a young couple that has fallen asleep on a bench.

Around 11pm that night, they learn that the thunderstorm washed away a small bridge, so the Walk will be briefly paused. Barkovitch gets in a fist fight with a boy named Rank. Rank receives three warnings and is shot; Barkovitch maintains that it wasn’t his fault, arguing that Rank violated Rule 8 by swinging first. The other boys’ disdain for Barkovitch grows.

The soldiers have repaired the bridge, and a group of spectators cheers for Garraty, telling him that they’ve bet on him. Garraty tells McVries that he doesn’t think he’ll win; McVries likewise doesn’t think he’ll win; he was confident in himself physically but now believes that the Walk is more about mental toughness than physical stamina.

Garraty considers slipping into the woods under the cover of nightfall, but Olson reminds him that the soldiers use monitoring gear to keep track of each Walker. Garraty misses his girlfriend. The Walkers pass more people who are cheering for Garraty, which embarrasses him.

Ahead of Garraty’s group, someone starts screaming in the dark and makes a break for the woods. The boy is shot. Stebbins laughs, and Garraty angrily reflects that Stebbins is as bad as Barkovitch. Olson struggles. A boy in a trench coat collapses in front of them, and McVries has to pull Garraty away from him.

By 3:30am, 24 boys have been shot. Disoriented and exhausted, Garraty finds that he has stumbled into another group of Walkers. He remembers attending the funeral of a boy in his neighborhood, Freaky D’Allessio, who was killed in a car crash. Before the Walk, Freaky was the only dead person that Garraty saw.

At 3:45am, Garraty receives a warning and slaps himself awake. A dog starts to chase the Walkers, and the soldiers raise their guns as if they’re going to shoot it for interfering.

The boys feel slightly better as the sun rises. Baker regales them with tales of betting on the Walk as a student. Garraty and McVries make each other laugh until they’re deliriously hysterical, and both receive a warning. Garraty regains his focus, telling himself that he’s really in this alone. A group of waitresses cheers them on, and the boys flirt back.

The Walkers tell jokes at the Major’s expense, and when they notice the soldiers watching them, McVries yells at them. He suddenly charges the half-track and receives three warnings. Garraty pulls him away. McVries realizes that Garraty just saved his life but maintains that the Walk can have no real winner: “[E]verybody loses” (111).

The Major arrives at 5:30am. Some of the boys, including Garraty, cheer when they see him, but others look angry or rebellious. They’re still 108 miles from Freeport. The boys trade insults about their home states.

Garraty misses his girlfriend, Jan, who has “turned into a life-symbol” (115). He tries to focus on his memories of her as Harkness develops a foot cramp and struggles to keep pace. Harkness forces himself to go faster despite not wearing shoes. Garraty reflects that Harkness is a part of his group; they’re connected.