It was late — pretty damn late by the fact the glow of the clock on the dashboard was the only thing illuminating the interior of the truck. It was a twenty hour drive over to the base, but it dragged. It felt more like several days had passed in the course of an afternoon. Why jet was out of the option was of the business of their commanding officer, so they decided it better to just keep to their orders. They mused it was because the trucks needed to get there somehow and they were one of the unlucky fuckers. Of course, Jack and Gabe had agreed it would be quicker to hoof it the whole way there without stopping for the night. They felt stupid making the decision now. Gabe fell asleep against the passenger window hours ago, arms crossed defensively over his chest as he dozed off for a little bit of rest. He'd been up since then with the silence between them comfortable, but… empty.
The radio was playing some late night talk show with some music quietly playing in the background. Nothing he really recognized, but then again — they'd been passing through states for hours. "Welcome back." Gabe snapped out of a daze with Jack's gentle voice through the silence bringing him back to the land of the living. The noise he gave was something between a grunt and a scoff while he rubbed at his eyes. "How far we got?" Gabe stared ahead at the road at the endless expanse of highway before them.
He could see the gears turning in the blond's head, looking down at the odometer then brushing it off with a shrug. "An hour or two." Jack gestured with one hand on the wheel before the other folded back over it. Bullshit. Gabe could see the words on the bright green signs as they passed with the headlights shining off of them. "Or twelve." He corrected, stretching his legs out with his arms up over his head. His fingers grazed over the roof, leaning back with a yawn. "How long was I out?" He murmured, rubbing his neck from the way he'd wound up falling asleep. He could see the way a smile curled onto Jack's lips, "An hour or two." His tone was largely more sarcastic now. He looked tired — anyone would be tired after driving for this long.
The silence set in again. The both of them absently listened to the radio as another song came on. It was nothing Gabe was a fan of, but it was keeping Jack awake at least. There were only a few other cars on the road the way it was. There wasn't much there to keep him up and alert. After a moment, he felt sort of guilty for falling asleep. His thoughts turned over in his head and he sighed, knowing that the silence was his fault. Things had been weird between the two of them for weeks now. It wasn't from one specific event, but a compound of everything that had been compounding over months and months in the Soldier Enhancement Program. The closest of friends were growing more and more distant from each other and everyone else. He felt like shit over it, but the words to mend a situation like this weren't easy to come by. So, he thought of the least he could do.
"Pull over. Let me drive for awhile."