It's only then that Garraty and McVries learn the horrible truth - Stebbins is the Major's illegitimate son. With no mercy, the soldiers shoot to kill anyone who fails and all must fail eventually - except one.Īs they enter the fourth day and the final miles of this particular walk, there are seven left, then three - Garraty, McVries and a loner, named Stebbins, who has shown no signs of weakening. Others go mad with the knowledge that there's no way out and from the thought of those who have already fallen. Many fall victim to leg cramps, hurting feet or simply the inability to continue moving at the pace of four miles per hour. Through the heat of the days, the chill of the nights and the worst rainstorm Mother Nature can dream up, the boys walk, falling off one by one. Though he vows he won't help again, it's McVries who keeps Garraty from running into the crowd to his girlfriend, Jan, a move that would have ended in Garraty's death.
When McVries is almost eliminated early on, it's Garraty who intervenes and McVries later returns the favor. Garraty soon connects with several of the boys, including McVries. The Major oversees the beginning and end of the walk and puts in appearances at several points along the way. The final warning is the ticket - death at the hands of the soldiers who guard the walkers. Thirty seconds later comes a second warning and then a third. When a walker falls below that speed, he is warned. All must walk at least four miles per hour. The walk is completed when only one walker remains. He's one of a hundred boys, none older than eighteen, who are walking for the Prize - everything his heart desires. Garraty, watching a guard eat c-rations, thinks again that it's real, that he's really here, and that he's actually among the field of walkers, but for the first time, the thought carries weight. Garraty is wearing a fatigue jacket against the spring chill. Garraty's mother asks why the guard doesn't return the card and - not for the first time - says she doesn't like it. Raymond Davis Garraty arrives in a guarded parking lot with his mother in a blue Ford that looks like "a small tired dog after a hard run." The guard retrieves Garraty's information and permits them to enter.
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