How is it possible that they had never seen that car on the bridge before?

Question

In the movie The Colony (2013), there is a scene when 3 men travel from one colony to another because they've lost contact with each other.

On the way there, the men come across a car with bodies in it, stuck on a bridge. They approach it cautiously, and are surprised at what they see.

A little while later, they come to an old helicopter and take refuge. They radio back to the base that they're in the helicopter waiting out the night. Note: I recall they specifically say "the helicopter" and not "a helicopter", as if they've been there before.

My question is this; if they were familiar with the route from one colony to the other, and the location of the helicopter, how is it possible that they had never seen that car on the bridge before? Or is that a plot hole that has no explanation?

Answer 1

Considering they have a pact with the other station, the route should be familiar to them. Briggs really confirms that saying "the helicopter" when talking through the radio with his base.

They approach the car with caution because the body outside the car: a man with a gun in his hand and a bullet in the head (he killed himself). Briggs looked inside the car and saw a woman and a kid dead in the same way (probably a family). The surprise could be because they didn't expect to find these bodies there, only an empty car. This family should be "survivors" from the other station which reached that place but couldn't walk anymore (e.g. too tired, no food, no water, no shelter).