The 4th Subject

Chapter 12: He's Here

Sam and I ran back to the house to grab a few things. I grabbed my charger, pocket knife, travel first aid kit, and a few other small things. I also grabbed a thicker jacket and put some leggings on under my jeans in case I got cold.

I sat down for a moment and just processed not only what we were about to do, but everything we've gone through. Everything I've gone through. It was a lot. And it would just get worse.

Sam opened the door and swung on the doorframe. "You ready?"

"No," I muttered, grabbing my bag and standing. "Let's go."

We drove back to the studio and went into the armory where Matt and Woods were standing with CJ.

We began filming and discussing our feelings about what we were gonna do. I once again was only half listening. It was like I still couldn't process anything. Only three words uttered by Sam brought me back to reality.

"I got snacks."

Matt and I gasped in unison.

"You got snacks?" Matt asked in excitement.

"Yes!" I cried softly.

"Yeah," Sam said as Woods chuckled.

"What's so funny, Woods?" I pondered.

"You've been staring at the ground, lost in thought this whole time, and Sam said she had snacks, and you just..." he then looked up with exaggerated wonder in his eyes. We all shared a laugh before getting back into the mission.

After we had some more discussion and found Woods a camera, we finally got started. We went out back to see the van, or as I liked to call it, the MegaVan. Sam was carrying a large box of snacks, and she wasn't the only one. Half of my backpack held snacks I could munch on if my anxiety went up. Or if I was hungry.

"I've actually never been in this," Sam admitted, "I didn't get to go in this last time."

"The last time I was in a large white van was about five months ago." I said, not really realizing what I was saying. Everyone turned to me with confused and slightly concerned faces.

"My family owns a 15 seater transit. It's basically a large white van. Calm yourselves."

"It's a van," Matt said in response to Sam.

"Oh," she mumbled, disappointed.

"Im just kidding, it's the best van you've ever seen." He opened the back door, then said "we're not going in this way," and shut it.

Matt opened the side door and Sam climbed in, setting the box of snacks down. Matt then suggested that she and Woods should park on the street. They came back from doing just that and I pulled the door back open with a chuckle.

"What?" Matt asked.

"I was going to make a joke about having candy in here." I said through my soft laughter.

The others climbed in and Woods got comfortable. Matt told him no shoes on the bed, but we decided it be better for him to keep them on, seeing as he'd be on the roof later. After we got ourselves situated, we did one round of the studio. We made a couple jokes about this guy parachuting in, but decided against that as being legitimate.

Matt parked the van and turned his seat around. Woods did the same with his seat and Matt set up the table. We had talked more about what was going down tonight.

"Woods, how do you feel about being on the roof by yourself?" Matt questioned.

"Why can't one of us go with him?" I asked. "There are four of us, after all." I was greeted by silence. "Y'all didn't think of that, did you?"