Quote:
Originally Posted by Manabi
I'm looking for a short story. It was set in a future where the USSR and the USA fended off actual wars with each other by having an Olympic-style war game every so many years. The catch there is the games are actual war, the participants are killing and being killed. These games take place in a large arena and are broadcast on TV complete with commentators. The story follows a young man chosen to be in the war game for the USA. He's brainwashed into being an efficient killer and ends up winning the game for the USA in a come-from-behind victory.
After the win he's deprogrammed and sent home. He's now a national hero and, quite literally, above the law. He can walk into stores and take whatever he wants. The government will come in afterwards and reimburse the store owners for what he took. After a while of being feted he grows bored. The story ends with him going into the next door neighbor's house and heading upstairs to their daughter's bedroom. As she starts screaming, the story ends with "The war had come home for the Joneses."
I may have some details incorrect. It may have not been explicitly the USSR and USA, but it was obviously meant to be them. And I'm pretty certain I have the family name wrong in the ending quote. I'd like to reread the story sometime and check out the author's other fiction.
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The Survivor by Walter F Moudy
ISFDB page here.
The story is available
to read here.
(I hope that's a legal blog post.)