The Long Walk

As the rain pours down, Garraty is freezing. His pace slows, and he receives a warning. Stebbins and Garraty discuss how exhausted they are. They watch Olson, who’s struggling. They encounter a steep hill, and Garraty’s high school class is there to cheer him on.

Garraty tries to talk to Olson, who clearly has mentally deteriorated and warns Garraty that God’s garden is full of weeds. Olson wanders toward the soldiers’ half-track and climbs it. He grabs a gun and throws it off the half-track. He’s shot in the abdomen, and the boys watch in horror as he tries to hold in his own intestines. Abraham vomits. Garraty cries, and McVries pulls him up.

McVries tells Garraty that Scramm’s condition has worsened and laments that their deaths will be trivial. Garraty dozes as he walks.

They enter Oldtown around midnight. A color guard is waiting for them on the turnpike. The boys have planned a salute of raspberries in response. Scramm is consumed by fever. The Major leads the soldiers’ salute. The 40 remaining boys give a pitiful display of resistance, an attempt at defiance that just makes them sad.

Garraty tries to resist the urge to defecate, but his bowels give way, and he finds himself squatting in front of the crowd.