He's an idiot.

He didn't even want to do this, really. Just when they were signing up and said "Hey, Hank, aren't you going to try, too?" he did, because if he didn't he'd be different, and he can't stand being different. He can't stand being alone. He just wants to fit in, and to do that he had to sign up for the Walk.

When he got picked he couldn't back out, of course. Not with everyone cheering him on, looking at him with a sort of awe that nobody's ever looked at plain old Hank Olson with before. If people did look at him before, it was maybe with a sort of contempt – oh, there's Hank Olson pretending he's tough again, there's skinny, freckled Hank Olson thinking he can be cool, there's Hank Olson that will never amount to anything.

He wanted to take the April 31st backout. He did. But he couldn't, he couldn't and then on May 1st he was sitting there, waiting for his death.

He met people and acted the way he had to, because he was Hank Olson, and he wasn't going to go down without a fight, because if there's something Hank Olson is, it's stubborn. Art Baker, Ray Garraty, and Peter McVries don't stand a chance.

But then they get on the road and it's all too real. He's panicked, he doesn't know what to do, but he keeps his cool, he keeps being Hank Olson, he keeps being the tough one. He holds on to this as much as he can, but it slips away, it slips away and he doesn't know what to do, so he burrows himself in deeper and deeper and soon he's not talking to any of them, just walking walking walking.

He doesn't understand people, never has. He doesn't know why Collie Parker swears every other word. He doesn't know why the kid in the purple pants doesn't talk to anyone but Ray Garraty. He doesn't know why they all hate Gary Barkovitch – sure, he's annoying, and a little stupid to gain three warnings right off the bat, but the Rank thing? Barkovitch was just making it easier for the rest of them to win.

Not that Hank Olson expects to win. Maybe he had that sliver of hope at the beginning, but now it's all gone, and he's just walking and watching and walking walking walking.

Nobody's tried to talk to him in a while, and he doesn't care. He's locked himself in a place where there's nothing but the road, nothing but the road and he's just walking. He can't feel his feet anymore – they used to hurt, his feet used to hurt, his back used to hurt, his legs used to hurt, but that's all gone now.

And then Garraty comes up and ruins it all, and then the pain's back, he's shaken back into reality and he's still walking. He decides to end it, he was never going to win anyway. Let someone like Collie Parker or Art Baker win, he's never good enough for anything, let alone something like this.

That's the only thing that's in his mind when they shoot him. He's dimly aware that his guts are falling out, there's that little, sane part in the back of his head screaming 'You are dying! Your guts just fell through your fingers! For Chrissake, react!'

He realizes this, and he is in pain but for some reason it doesn't register. He's just stumbling along, still walking, trying to keep his insides from falling out. Eventually it all catches up to him and he falls.

"I DID IT WRONG!"