Maybe these images were in his mind, for he was tired after all and the heat was getting to him. Peering over at his seemingly parched wife, he was about to mention it but said nothing as he noticed how the heat got to her too. Besides, what would she think he started a conversation about dead people?

Their pet Weimaraner, named Duke going by his silver collar tag, was still in the back with its head out of the window, feeling the warm air brush against its short silver-grey fur. The warm air in fact was probably making the car hotter inside than it would if it was closed, but no one realised. Meanwhile, Angie was becoming more and more daunted of the repetitive view of sand and road outside her window. The only interesting thing to watch was the lavender-grey mountains in the broad distance as they’d appeared almost translucent themselves.

“We’ll pull over soon,” David eventually said. "I say you need a drink of something.”

She didn’t answer but nodded agreeably. The couple had been travelling for roughly two and a half hours now, maybe even three, since they had left their old empty house. Since coming onto the highway it was nothing but miles upon miles of the same terrain, and there had not been one sight of Fatuus, the town in which even her husband was feeling less and less motivated to get to. There was also no sign of Joey.

   The calescent azure car then decelerated considerably, until eventually stopping after a small un-steered roll. David felt no need to park to the side and risk getting stuck in the uneven sand, as there were no vehicles around and they could see at least a mile in each direction. He’d have gone for shade too but there simply wasn’t anything around here to cover them. Going by what they had already travelled, it was easily assumable that there wasn’t anything ahead either.

“I suppose we could always get out and see the sights,” he laughed. Angie looked blankly away from the window and hit him gently, before waving herself with a half unfolded map to cool herself.

The stocky man took it off her and got out. The heat... Well, he was struck by the intensity immediately. It had surprised him. The wind was stale and everything around was very still, causing him to become a little wary. Angie continued to watch the mountains obsessively as he opened the backdoor. Their dazed dog jumped out with this with wet ghostly eyes, which quickly vaporised and therefore went unnoticed.

“Keep an eye on Duke, Angie,” he said concerned at her obsessive staring. “With the colour of his coat that you've over-cleaned we’ll probably lose him out here.”

David scrambled through the three boxes sitting on the backseats. All of them said 'Fragile - Handle With Care!' in red ink but none of the contents were breakable. He succeeded in finding what he was looking for - a cooler he‘d packed containing bottles of water. The travelling duo were very lightly packed, and their luggage was mainly just clothes and food they’d bought the day before.

Finally leaving her obliviousness, the woman was about to join him outside, but her sandals were no match for the harsh heat of the road. She gave out a squeal before hopping back into the vehicle.

“What’s the matter, love?” he asked playfully and happy that she finally was back with it. She hopped over to the driver’s seat and looked up around towards him as he came back around, then gave her the coldest bottle.
“How much longer until we’re there, hun?” she asked in return more seriously.
“Well, going by the map,” He got out his map from his back of his jeans and observed it. “Going by this… well, let‘s see…”
“Well?”
“Well, well…” he repeated.
“What is it?”
“Interesting,” he continued. “Highway 66 does not lead to any town named Fatuus on here,” He looked shocked. “I bought this map yesterday, and read it there and then, and once again on our desk back home. You know, when we bought home that stupid calendar.” He looked around. “That sign at the railroads a few hours ago said this is the right place. We haven’t detoured or had another sign telling us to turn off.”
“I’m sure I would have noticed,” she answered dryly, obviously referring to the repetitive view.
“Fucking hell,” he murmured. “Well, this damn thing must not be highway 66 then, but another highway all together. I’ve done a wrong turn.”
“You haven’t done a wrong turn, hun,” she smiled sitting out the car a little more. “It’s been a straight road since the train passed. We may as well carry on now until we find a turn off. I’m sure our dog needs some shade. I know I do.”
A thought came to David’s mine. “Where is Duke anyway?”
“Oh, what a name,” she smiled again, finishing her bottle. “He’s just sniffing at something behind us. He was a hunting dog after all, so probably found some nasty road kill.”
“Maybe,” he mumbled with a peer around. Then he thought: ‘Aren’t too many vehicles to kill anything, let alone there being nothing alive here anyway. No lizards, no birds. In fact, there isn’t anything… all that typical stuff. Not that I‘ve seen.’

    Dave started to wonder about the images he was seeing earlier again. The man hanging lifeless in the desert air lingered in his mind for at least a minute or so. He forced himself to stop thinking about it, and took a few steps back. There was Duke, not too far away. Its front was curiously sniffing and scratching at something just off the road, but what David couldn’t see as it sloped. Maybe there was road kill after all.

“Come to think of it,” he said. “I wonder how Joey’s doing. I wonder if he had already left.”

Why this thought came to him he didn't know. Angie didn’t reply and sat back and closed her eyes. After calling back Duke, who whimpered as he got back in the car, they starting off again on the deviant highway. But at the side of the road, which the dog had been at just seconds ago, a faint voice cried out very faintly before ceasing.
   David yawned charily. Then he rubbed the sweat from his forehead with one aching hand as the other loosely held the sticky leather steering wheel. Everything beyond the windshield had abnormal heat raising in all directions, causing the hallucinated shapes of things he'd rather not see. The last hallucination he was grasped by was a translucent man, along side a child, appearing to be hanging dead from nothing. This was the one which disturbed him the most, and he attempted to focus solely on the road aiming to forget it.
HIGHWAY 66
Chapter III: The Body