Zombie Apocalypse: A Zica Adventure.

Pippa and I had barricaded ourselves in our third floor apartment. The sofa, a book case and a chest of drawer had all been piled up against the front door… just in case.

We sat in absolute silence only broken by the occasional growl outside.

“Please let this be a nightmare,” I prayed silently.

When I got up this morning, life was … well… ordinary. I overslept and missed my early morning yoga class but had enough time to grab a coffee to go before I started my day at work. If you told me that in less than 24 hours I would be caught up in an extra ordinary event … an apocalypse no less… I would have shown you the way to the local psychiatric center.

But, here I am right in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse with my best friend Pippa.

It’s been fifteen hours since the news reported a strange video uploaded by some hikers from somewhere north of the city. A creature had been spotted in the woods – a ghastly towering female with sunken hollow eyes and deadly pale skin which seems to be falling apart along with chunks of flesh. Definitely what you would call a zombie if you believed in such things.

“Too early for Halloween I say!” laughed one of my colleague as we watched the news coverage over lunch.

“A hoax?” asked another.

I was of the opinion that it was some major publicity stunt perhaps for some upcoming movie. I remember thinking what realistic makeup the actor had on, I could almost smell the flesh rotting away!!

Little did I know that my life was about to change forever.

By twilight, the city would be overrun with zombies. It no longer was a joke or a hoax or a publicity stunt. It was an honest to goodness zombie apocalypse!

While the public tried to get away from the city, Pippa and I headed home... I mean with traffic at a standstill and the entire city fleeing towards the same general direction it was obvious that’s where the zombies were headed too... It felt way safer to run the opposite direction to where the zombies were headed even if it meant heading inside the city rather than outside.

We made it in one piece to our apartment... which by then was completely abandoned... and barricaded ourselves. Outside the city was in chaos. The cacophony of honking vehicles were soon replaced by gut wrenching screams. It was around midnight that an eerie silence had fallen over broken only by the occasional sinister growls of the undead.

I wanted to peep out of the window and see outside but I did not want to risk being detected. I had no idea how the zombies tracked humans and it wasn't the time to try and find out. Sitting in the darkest corner of the room seemed to be working fine… for now... But we could not live in the apartment forever. We had to get out!

The only sensible plan we could think of was to drive as far as possible from this wretched place and find human habitation not yet attacked by the zombies. We decided to put the plan in action at first light. Not that zombies were like vampires, you know creatures of the night and all that, but the light of the day made us braver… marginally braver may be, but braver no less.

At day break, Pippa and I slowly creeped out of our apartment. My heart was thumping so loud that I was sure the zombies could hear them. We froze even at the slightest creak. After, what seemed like eternity, we made it to my Tata Zica parked just outside the building without attracting any unwanted attention.

The little hatchback looked unhurt from the outside. It still seemed to exude a confident and agile stance as it did on day one. We quickly got into the car and to our relief the Revotorq engine effortlessly purred to life. I had filled up the tank just yesterday and the Zica’s superior fuel economy I knew that it was enough to get us as far as possible from this city of the undead.

Pippa suggested we stick to the country roads and avoid the highways. The highways would probably be blocked by cars anyway. The roads would be bumpy no doubt and I had just learnt to drive but I wasn’t worried about that. My Zica came with advanced dual path suspension and gear shift recommendation features that would undoubtedly enable an effective drive.

I plugged in my smartphone and switched on the Turn-by-Turn navigation app. Luckily it was still working and I know I would need it as we drove into the unknown labyrinth of the country side. I wish I could take advantage of the immersive surround-sound music with 8 speakers. But now was not that time.

We cautiously started our journey. Pippa was right, the country roads were almost deserted. We had a few run in with a lone zombie or two who would appear out of nowhere causing me to swerve severely but my Zica’s trusty electric power assisted steering (EPAS) system were a great help in negotiating those tight spots and maintain control of the car at all times.

We were almost at the end of the city limits when out of nowhere a horde of zombies descended upon us. I accelerated and sent a few flying through the air as they collided with the car. The Zica’s strong body structure absorbed most of the impact energy but how long could we keep going?

We had almost outrun the horde when out of nowhere a zombie appeared in front of us. It was my boss! Instinctively I took a sharp turn to avoid hitting him…Zombie or not I could not possible run over someone I know… But that was my biggest mistake. I hit a tree as I swerved which immediately activated the dual front airbags.

The last thing I remember was Pippa’s scream as a dozen zombies dropped on our windshield…

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#IndiMarathon #tatazica #tatazicamarathon #fantastico #impact #peppy #music  #navigation 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

All Zica features (in bold italics) included in the story are courtesy of  the Official Website