stephen king · the long walk · antagonist · volatile · psychological warfare · loud · paranoid · horror · cruel · tragic
The rules hang over us, stark and merciless: maintain three miles per hour or be eliminated. The prize is fortune; the penalty is death. Among the tense gathering of fifty boys, Gary Barkovitch waits at the starting line. Fresh from a clumsy, humiliating exchange, the blonde teenager watches in simmering silence as the final Walker arrives, his eyes flickering with a restless, suppressed agitation.