It took a while but Bekka and Doug got into a groove once Doug started locking on to the tasks at hand. This also helped calm Bekka down a little, not that she would admit she was stressed.
Doug was using the little green lip light on his microphone to see the map and cross referencing the GPS, he was able to keep a fairly good location fix.
As darkness closed in, Allyson slowed down some. This let Bekka, who had already transitioned to her goggles, catch up lost ground. Finally, Allyson had to concede to the darkness.
“Viking six, Scarlet three eight.” Angelique’s voice came over the radio.
“Viking six” was Doug’s short reply.
“Three eight, requesting lead swap and refueling point.”
“Copy three eight, coming up on your right for lead swap.”
As Bekka came up beside the truck, Doug could see Allyson and Angelique in the cab of the truck, focusing on their driving. He looked back down at his map. There were several preselected waypoints to choose from for their refueling stop. Bekka wanted to top off the tanks around the halfway point to keep at least a hundred miles of flat out full throttle available when they get to Kara’s location. This would be an easy thing for Allyson in the truck, they had much bigger fuel capacity compared to Bekka’s Subaru.
Doug looked over at Bekka.
“Waypoint six is in three miles, Scenic overlook on the right. That work?”
“Yup. Let them know. Oh, and remind them to pull up shielding your side, that’s where the fuel filler is.”
Doug was back on the radio. Three Eight, Waypoint six in two miles, on the right. Upon arrival, take up line abreast position, offset to the right.”
“Copy” Came Angelique’s reply.
Doug looked back at Bekka.
“Bekka, I’m sorry I was out of it when we started. It was just…I overloaded and didn’t know where to start.”
Bekka could tell he was sincerely sorry. She also felt a little guilty snapping at him like she did, but he needed it.
“Doug, I know. It takes time and experience to go into combat mode at the flip of a switch. I was hoping I could snap you out of it and get you on task.”
Moments later, the sign for the overlook came into view. More than just a wide spot in the road like most of them, this overlook was a small turnout leading to a round parking lot, like a cul-de-sac. Bekka pulled in and made a U-turn, so the Subaru was facing the way back to the road.
Allyson pulled the truck in beside the Subaru. Everyone got out. A couple of cans of fuel went into the Subaru. While Bekka and Allyson talked about road conditions and illumination levels, Doug and Angelique compared notes on the map and route. One of the things they were especially attentive for was any possible points to scavenge fuel on the way back.
Fuel, stretch, pee, and night vision goggles and such adjusted, they were quickly back on the road, Bekka in the lead and setting the pace.