Stephen King: The Long Walk: Reimagined

Part I: The Start Chapter 1 In a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian, single government led by the Major, there exists an annual competition known as the Long Walk. 100 boys across the country are chosen to participate, and the task is simple: every boy will walk along one long route, walk as long as they can. If they fall below 3mph, they get a warning. After 3 warnings, they get one last chance and if they fall below speed again, they get their ticket. Every hour, you lose 1 warning. The last Walker remaining is declared the winner, and they get infinite wealth, a wish after winning, and whatever they want for the rest of their life. There are other rules like no interfering with other Walkers, but it’s pretty straightforward. Our main Walker this year is Raymond “Ray Garraty”, from Maine. Before the competition, he meets other Walkers like Peter McVries, Pearson, and David “Davey” Chase. He also wonders about the elusive Oliver Daaz, who joins quiet and doesn’t speak to anyone, even when Garraty tries to start conversation. The Major arrives to give the rundown on the competition and give everyone their numbers. The Walk finally starts, where Garraty is introduced to Thomas “Tomahawk” Arlen from Omaha. Everyone has reasons to be walking (Chase was forced by his father, another boy, Ratner, hoped to impress a crush that rejected him), and Arlen is walking to support his mother and baby brother. Chapter 2 The Walk truly begins when a boy named Curley falls under speed due to anxiety and is shot by the soldiers patrolling with them all, revealing what “getting your ticket” actually means. We also meet Gary Barkovitch, who introduces himself by claiming he’s here “to dance on everyone else’s graves” and being a complete douche. When a boy named Brendan Tails, who is alone after his best friend wasn’t picked to walk, tries to befriend Barkovitch, he is cussed at and called a gay slur. Tails makes friends with Pearson and another Walker, Jules. Part II: Walking Along The Path Chapter 3 Overtime, the Walk takes a toll on everyone. A boy goes mad and lets himself get run over by a half track, the short tempered tough Ellison Ford yells that he will outlast everyone, and Arlen starts eating and drinking more because of anxiety. Barkovitch is ostracized when he provokes another Walker, a boy named Rank, to attack him, which leads to Rank’s death. Though Ratner has seen all these gruesome deaths, he keeps being optimistic and “seeing the good”, and still believes that the girl who rejected him will embrace him at the finish line. Barkovitch reveals to Ford that he “hid something up his ass”, but is further shunned by him out of disgust. Garraty and McVries becomes very close with each other, Chase and Arlen, and they cement this when Garraty saves McVries from attacking the soldiers and being killed. Chapter 4 At one point, Chase falls over and faints, getting 3 warnings, but is saved by Garraty and McVries when he hears another boy getting shot. Daaz continues walking alone but speaks to Garraty at some point, telling him that he’s seen shadowy figures behind and in front of him and believes that he’s “becoming a gawdamn loony.” Jules becomes delirious and, though Tails tries to stop him, attempts to run off into the forest and is shot down. Pearson comforts him by giving treats he brought from home. Problems arise throughout: Chase suffers from the blazing heat; Arlen becomes semi-catatonic, barely talking, just walking and eating; Garraty has a panic attack and just wants to see his mother in Freeport; McVries almost gets in a fight with Ford; Pearson twists his ankle and is almost killed while (gruesomely) fixing it. Arlen becomes more delusional and cusses Garraty when he tries to help, which makes him feel less sorry. Chapter 5 Garraty talks with Daaz once more, who says he saw a boy stop walking and not get shot, just able to lie down and rest. It’s clear it’s a delusion, but Daaz still believes he can do the same and falls in his face, breaking his nose and having to walk in pain for a while. A steep hill during one of the nights results in several deaths, including a Walker falling down the hill and almost hitting Garraty and McVries. Pearson grows closer with most of the Walkers and becomes generally liked, meanwhile Garraty and McVries grow closer as they talk about their lives before the Walk. Ford manipulates another Walker into walking off the path to his death, though he does so in secret and becomes more confident that he will win. Daaz walks in tears (mixed with his dried blood, grim) thinking he’s seen his mother get shot in the crowd and believes he has nothing left to live for, so he deliberately lies down, half hoping he is killed and half hoping his sight of the other boy was real. Daaz gets his ticket. Chapter 6 Barkovitch continues taunting the other Walkers’ deaths and tells a camera that he doesn’t really care about winning, but it gains no attention from the other Walkers as to not fuel his twisted delusions. Pearson admits to Tails that he hopes to be more optimistic and helpful with him, but he’s very tired and doesn’t know how much longer he can walk. Ratner keeps being hopeful and talking with Arlen, Ford attempts to manipulate Pearson but he doesn’t let him and walks away, ignoring him completely, even when he threatens to fight him. Chapter 7 During sunset, Arlen becomes mad and starts cussing out the Major to the soldiers and complaining that he’s hungry. He gets so mad that he attempts to hit one of the soldiers, but is shot in the stomach! Arlen begs Garraty to help him, claiming he can’t “be the other guy”, but Garraty can’t do anything. The soldiers let Arlen bleed out to send a point to not try and attack the half tracks, much to the Walkers’ pleas. After Arlen’s death, Ratner becomes more disillusioned. He gets more nervous, is no longer optimistic, and becomes more cynical, just waiting for his death. Pearson wants to accept his fate, but Tails, not wanting to walk alone again, convinces him to keep going, for him. McVries comforts Garraty over Arlen’s death, since even though he knew it would happen, it’s the first time a close friend of theirs got his ticket. Chase nearly gets his ticket after almost fainting again, and thinks that his body is finally giving out. Barkovitch stays silent after another Walker admits he’s tired of walking, blames Barkovitch entirely, and commits suicide via getting his ticket. Chapter 8 McVries tells Garraty that he’s tired. He knows he’s tired right now, but he doesn’t want to leave Garraty. He admits he’s had a much better time than he would’ve if he never met Garraty (it’s implied he might be “gay for him”, but not confirmed). Pearson admits his leg is almost completely gone, but says he’s still walking for Tails. Tails, realizing that Pearson is miserable, says that he’s fine with Pearson walking off, into the way of the carbines. Pearson thanks Tails for being his friend and sits down, finally having a rest. The carbines go off in the distance. Chapter 9 Ratner, enraged at the Walk, takes off his glasses and smashes them on the ground, which is bad because he’s allergic to one of the types of food concentrate, and now can’t tell which is which. Ford tries his manipulation tactic on another Walker, but he responds by trying to fight him, which leads to his death, similar to Rank. However, unlike Rank, no one seems to care about this guys death, because they’re so desensitized and depressed due to the Walk. Tails meets Garraty properly through Chase and is still sad about Pearson. Garraty, McVries and Chase all befriend him and add him to their little group. The group makes a pact for the winner to care for the families of the others, especially Arlen’s. Barkovitch overhears their pact and scoffs at it, claiming it’s a delusional fantasy that any of them will win. Chapter 10 Ratner grows more unstable. Even though he’s partly suicidal, he still believes “his girl” will be somewhere to watch him win. Ford yells at Ratner, telling him that the girl never liked him, because he’s a loser, and that she never will. Ratner doesn’t speak for a while. Tails talks with McVries and admits he’s had intrusive thoughts about running through the woods to meet with his friend, Gavin, on the outside, who was rejected from the Walk so they couldn’t participate together. Tails wants to accomplish what Jules tried to do and failed at. McVries is able to stop him from running off though. While complaining about the heat, Ratner turns to one of the half tracks and starts shouting nonsense. “Do the Major a favour! You’re so loyal to him? Shoot me! Shoot me right in the fuckin’ head! Do it! Do it do it, shoot me now!” The soldiers oblige and shoot Ratner in the head. Chapter 11 Ratner’s death causes the soldiers to be executed by the Major for not following orders correctly. During the night, Garraty sees his mother in the crowd and tries to run and hug her, but is held back by McVries and Chase. Later, a boy next to Barkovitch slows down too much and is shot. But the bullet goes clean through his head and into Barkovitch’s foot, which starts causing him a great deal of pain. Chase gets a pebble in his shoe but is too stubborn and tired to stop and take it out. Part III: Day Of Reckoning Chapter 12 On the 3rd day of the Walk, everything goes wrong. There’s about 25 Walkers left. Ford begins hanging back, a quiet observer of the madness unfolding. Chase is walking with Garraty, being half carried because of the pebble, when he suddenly stops walking. He tells Garraty that he’s got a cramp in his leg that only hurts when he moves. Garraty tries to get him to walk a bit further, but Chase says he’s fine with how long he’s lasted and is ready to die. Garraty reluctantly keeps walking, and seconds before he’s shot, Chase attempts to run, but the pain is too much and he falls to his knees. Then he gets his ticket. Tails, sad about Chase’s death, yells at Barkovitch and blames him, saying that Rank’s death was “the start of the shitty parts of this shitty competition!” Barkovitch tries to say something but can’t, only stays silent, dumbfounded. Later, out of nowhere, Barkovitch begins madly complaining about his foot again, and when told to shut up, begins maniacally laughing as he reveals that the thing he “shoved up his ass” long ago was a pocket knife. He then slits his own throat and stabs a nearby Walker, and is left to bleed out. Garraty and McVries talk about how long they’ve lasted and the genuine chance they have at winning, they’re 2 of only 6 Walkers left. Tails catches up with them and is glad that he outlasted Barkovitch and that he’s made lots of friends. He tells the two that he cut his wrists real bad when he tripped a while back. He thanks them for being his friends and asks them one favour: “can you say hi to Gavin for me when you win?” After agreeing, Garraty and McVries look away as Tails lies on his back, flipping off the carbines as his warnings pile up, and the shots are fired. Part IV: Collapse Chapter 13 The final 5: 2 random Walkers (named Dell and Jameson), Ford, McVries, and Garraty. Ford talks to Garraty. He tells them there’s no point in continuing to walk, since he’s no longer walking, he’s just postponing his death. Every step is another second alive, he’s trying to cling onto that feeling before it’s taken away from him. That there’s no point, because Ford is going to win. Garraty doesn’t believe him. Dell goes down. “He gave up. The feeling of being alive isn’t worth it when there’s so much pain.” Suddenly, Garraty is tired. McVries gives him a pep talk, Ford is an idiot, a smug, cocky idiot and he shouldn’t listen to him. Jameson collapses, begging for someone to save him. He trips Garraty before being shot dead, giving Garraty a warning. The top 3. Garraty talks with McVries. There’s no point in walking anymore. Ford isn’t going to stop, there’s no way he can be stopped. McVries convinces him to walk just a little longer. Chapter 14 A little longer later, Ford falls over. He starts foaming, convulsing, the soldiers put him out of his misery. It’s just Garraty and McVries. They both stay close, sing songs, spend their last moments together as great friends. Garraty doesn’t want the win, neither does McVries. Garraty begins seeing a weird shadow figure in the crowd. Then on the road. The face is blurry but it could be anyone. Arlen, Chase, Tails, even Daaz. As Garraty is still looking at the figure, the carbines go off. McVries is lying in the road, dead. He sacrificed himself. As the Major asks for Garraty’s wish, he moves past him. Garraty starts to see McVries in the figure. He keeps walking towards it. He even starts to run...