The 4th Subject

Chapter 40: August 6th, 2003

"Stop looking at me," Matt said as he walked down the hall in Blue Base.

"This guy's just walking around with his back out." Sam said with a giggle.

We had come back to the studio so Matt could put on some real clothes and we could plan our next steps. We needed VHS player but according to Matt, didn't have one here. Makes sense, but inconvenient.

After Matt came out in a D.A.R.E. shirt, we made our plan. There had to be VHS players at the thrift stores in our area, so that would be our first move. I pulled out my compass app and figured out where the southeast lot would be.

"Southeast should be right...about...here..." I said, adjusting my body to face in that direction.

"You're kidding right?" Matt asked.

"Isn't that where we found the Mountaineer?" I questioned. We all gave each other nervous glances.

Minutes later, we got into Woods's car once again and headed out to Goodwill. Matt teased Woods throughout the drive. And honestly, none of us minded. We missed this.

We checked a couple of the nearby Goodwills and Salvation Army's, but to no avail. Had plenty of laughs and cracked lots of jokes, but the mission to find a VHS player was fruitless.

"Why am I the only one having fun here?" Matt cried, shaking Sam's seat.

"I'm just worried we won't find a VHS player," Woods muttered.

"Then we order one online and wait," I said.

"Exactly," Matt piped up, "every time we follow one of these things it gets us into more trouble, so, I'm ok either way."

"True," I mumbled in response.

We eventually decided to get lunch. Matt wanted everyone to try something new, much to Sam's disappointment. The original plan was In-N-Out, but McDonald's was closer. We ordered five random items, five random drinks, a chicken sandwich for Sam and a cinnamon roll for Matt. After we got our food, we went back to the studio to chow down. Then we were back on the road.

The last Goodwill we went to gave us the same results as the others. Not a single VCR. We were all kind of losing hope.

"If we were in Florida, we'd have one," I muttered as we sped down the highway.

"Why?" Matt asked. "Does your family still have one?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

"Well, let's all go to Florida," Sam said sarcastically.

"Wait, I think my aunt lives around here," Woods said, his eyes scanning the nearby signs.

"Why does that matter?" Sam asked. "Does she have a VCR?"

"I think so," Woods replied.

"I mean, is she..." I started. "Is she close?"

"Yeah."

"Would she mind us barging into her house?"

"She'd be very happy to see me," Woods said.

"Let's go see your aunt." Matt piped up.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to Marlene's house. Woods, Matt and I went in to grab the VCR.

"Woodland!" She cried as we entered. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Hey, Aunt Marlene. Good to see you, too." Woods waved his arm to Matt and I. "This is my boss, Matthias, and one of my coworkers, Sarah."

"Oh, I've seen the videos, Woods."