The Long Walk

Informationen zum Autor Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman Klappentext Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping...with the winner being awarded "The Prize"--anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line--the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you're given a warning. Three warnings and you're out of the game--permanently.The Long Walk Chapter 1 “Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars. George, who are our first contestants? George . . . ? Are you there, George?” —Groucho Marx You Bet Your Life An old blue Ford pulled into the guarded parking lot that morning, looking like a small, tired dog after a hard run. One of the guards, an expressionless young man in a khaki uniform and a Sam Browne belt, asked to see the blue plastic ID card. The boy in the back seat handed it to his mother. His mother handed it to the guard. The guard took it to a computer terminal that looked strange and out of place in the rural stillness. The computer terminal ate the card and flashed this on its screen: GARRATY RAYMOND DAVIS RD 1 POWNAL MAINE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY ID NUMBER 49-801-89 OK-OK-OK The guard punched another button and all of this disappeared, leaving the terminal screen smooth and green and blank again. He waved them forward. “Don’t they give the card back?” Mrs. Garraty asked. “Don’t they—” “No, Mom,” Garraty said patiently. “Well, I don’t like it,” she said, pulling forward into an empty space. She had been saying it ever since they set out in the dark of two in the morning. She had been moaning it, actually. “Don’t worry,” he said without hearing himself. He was occupied with looking and with his own confusion of anticipation and fear. He was out of the car almost before the engine’s last asthmatic wheeze—a tall, well-built boy wearing a faded army fatigue jacket against the eight o’clock spring chill. His mother was also tall, but too thin. Her breasts were almost nonexistent: token nubs. Her eyes were wandering and unsure, somehow shocked. Her face was an invalid’s face. Her iron-colored hair had gone awry under the complication of clips that was supposed to hold it in place. Her dress hung badly on her body as if she had recently lost a lot of weight. “Ray,” she said in that whispery conspirator’s voice that he had come to dread. “Ray, listen—” He ducked his head and pretended to tuck in his shirt. One of the guards was eating C rations from a can and reading a comic book. Garraty watched the guard eating and reading and thought for the ten thousandth time: It’s all real. And now, at last, the thought began to swing some weight. “There’s still time to change your mind—” The fear and anticipation cranked up a notch. “No, there’s no time for that,” he said. “The backout date was yesterday.” Still in that low conspirator’s voice that he hated: “They’d understand, I know they would. The Major—” “The Major would—” Garraty began, and saw his mother wince. “You know what the Major would do, Mom.” Another car had finished the small ritual at the gate and had parked. A boy with dark hair got out. His parents followed and for a moment the three of them stood in conference like worried baseball players. He, like some of the oth...

Product details

• Authors: Richard Bachman, Stephen King
• Publisher: Pocket Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 19.04.2016
• EAN: 9781501143823
• ISBN: 978-1-5011-4382-3
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 107 mm x 191 mm x 20 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature