The rules are plain for the eyes to see.

One male from each of the fifty states must walk, or die. Walk at a steady three mph constantoy. If you drop below that, you get a warning. Do it again or don't speed up? You get a second warning. Do it once more? You get your “ticket”.

If you were the last standing, you’d gain incomprehensible riches, pull your family out of poverty, and be granted a wish of your choosing.

Peter sat down next to Raymond Garratt, the boy he had just met at the starting area of the walk. The other young man was about his age, which was nice in a companionship way. They talked quietly, commenting on everyone they could see. An extremely toned blonde man, Stebbins, who had basically no fat on him, just muscle. Hank Olsen, a short asian man snacking on a clementine and occasionally saying something brash, negative, or cocky. An optimistic scrawny man, Arthur Baker with a rasary around his neck. There was another short man, sharpening a pencil and jotting in a notebook, Richard Harkness, he looked like a sweetheart. And there were a few others.

Pete was excited, exited to take this opportunity… to maybe win, to maybe end the suffering of thousands of kids who dealt with what he did growing up…