The day I entered the dreaded ZombieLand
Tale of Zack, a digital marketer by profession who is sent on a lonely mission inside ZombieLand…
Zack drove that day early in the morning and recounts his approach to the ZombieLand…
AT THE GATES OF THE ZOMBIELAND …
I was sent there to set up posts for civilization.
When I and my other survivor friend approached zombie land, we were more scared by the emptiness of the place than from the prospect of encountering a zombie.
No checks when we entered the town.
No jams.
Earlier there used to be policemen looking at commuters with suspicious dutiful looks…
To catch thieves, violators, peddlers, traffickers & suspicious stolen vehicles.
Usually entry points were clogged with busy people like us, bustling through different lanes.
Those were the days …
But, today, there was an uneasy silence & void.
The gates were open but unwelcome.
Were there more people like us who had been messaged to rendezvous today?
We had driven empty roads on the way to this place. In our own cars of course.
No incidents or sightings on the way thankfully.
We met at the entrance of zombie land.
This other guy had waved his hand to join in.
I was careful and kept my hands clenched in the pocket and just nodded from a distance.
Just in case.
We moved ahead. Side by side.
We didn’t see anyone else.
It felt like ages ever since I came to this place.
For one, because it was difficult to recognize the empty lanes & walls. I had never noticed them before because I used to be so busy avoiding the crowd, watching where I was going, or lost about the work at hand.
The place looked new.
We started seeing the zombie warning posters on the walls.
“Should we expect a zombie at the entrance?” I feared.
We were cautious.
We moved close together. But not so close either.
The first crossing arrived.
“Were we both destined for the same rendezvous point?” I was wondering.
As I looked over the horizon, the view from the crossing, distracted me for a moment.
The view was breath-taking & scary — a wide deserted expanse of structures.
Dead…
…of any human activity…
As if no human had disturbed this place for 10 years.
My other survivor friend whose name I forgot to ask, took a right turn to find the rendezvous coordinates he had been given.
He waved me good luck and zoomed off confidently.
He seemed extra confident.
Suspicious!
As I took a left, I could distinctly hear sounds of my movements.
I felt like I was walking on dry leaves in a jungle. Alone now.
Attracting attention of zombies hidden somewhere.
So, I sharpened my gaze at everything. To be doubly sure.
I could see some insides through the locked glass doors.
I slowed down & stretched my neck to peek through glasses to reassure there was nothing.
Everything looked safely empty.
“Don’t go near any doors” was the instruction.
“Find your destination fast and get to work” I mumbled.
There was no time to waste.
I must hurry.
As I passed lanes, I saw rubble everywhere. Neatly distributed rubble.
Now I just swooshed past structures, ignoring repeating scenery.
Cautiously I stepped towards my rendezvous point, settled-in. Got ready to set up the post.
The sun was bright outside by now.
The first day in office after COVID19 lockdown had just begun.
As I started setting up the first Facebook post of the day, I was finding it hard to ignore the ordeal I just went through.
Was it real or was I just high? Was I dreaming?…
I pinched myself & I raised my head from behind my desk to be sure.
Just then I noticed a hand approaching me from the side …
