This can be split into many types. The main ones being the 'scientific apocalypse' and the 'magical apocalypse'. The former has a known cause and later on, a cure. However, the latter is just an excuse to introduce a zombie slaying fantasy.
In fact, I don't see the appeal of a Magical Apocalypse if you don't at least make the creatures it makes something other than zombies. Just take inspiration from Resident Evil as that game has a ton of fun introducing new Sci-Fi super viruses.
You don't even need to make the story all about zombies if you don't want to. An apocalypse is only considered as such if it destroys the current society of whatever world you write, and writing zombies into the story isn't a requirement by any means. If you are going to introduce them like your characters have never seen The Walking Dead before, just do something different in your story.
Zombie infestation is the most relevant fictional apocalypse right now considering there's now a corona virus travelling through the air. A lot of people are being hospitalised and people are panicking in a calm way rather than losing their shit like every other apocalypse movie ever. Some are even taking things in stride and sitting at home.
However, disease is not the only factor that can cause large scale panic. As even Devilman Crybaby showed that a nuclear war is all this world needs for it to turn into a deserted wasteland.
The post-apocalypse is also trendy these days to show what happened after the fact but those stories usually centre around surviving in such a world or horrors rather than actually showing us people banding together to reform society...
Some Miyuzaki films inspire hope in those watching his movies as there are those set in worlds that had already reformed after a massive civilisation destroying disaster. The way his characters live there aren't free of burdens but the story beats are a lot more hopeful considering the things that had went on before the movie starts.
Anyway, if you aren't going to do something more creative than a zombie slaying survival story using an apocalypse then I suggest not using it. There are just too many well-written zombie stories that bad novels with zombies in them have become a staple in Webnovel culture, just look at Apocalypse Meltdown and you'll understand what I mean...
Ignoring the fact that the main character has a system and goes back in time, what really made me want to face palm was the lack of 'horror' the zombies made whenever they were introduced.
Zombies aren't supposed to be otherworldly creatures you can kill without a second thought just because you don't know them. If your character is a heartless 'badass' with no feelings for humanity, then it won't matter what he does.
Action heroes who can remain stoic in front of zombies and don't care about their existence usually get reflected into the readers. If your own main character doesn't care about the zombies invading, then why the heck would readers care?
If your main character can kill zombies like eating breakfast, then why try pretending that there is even a 'survival' aspect to the story? Sure, finding food is important, but there is only so much convenience store food they can steal before it becomes redundant. Who cares about reading about random characters struggling for food?
The main character in Apocalypse Meltdown was an uninteresting mess, which resulted in the entire story becoming the same thing. There seriously isn't a point in adding zombies if you aren't going to treat them like the horrific monsters they are.
Don't just say 'oh, there was a tragic scene of a baby zombie the MC has to kill'. Make it so every zombie inspires that same disgust in the main character every time they see them because fear isn't the only emotions zombies evoke.
There was this 'King of the Apocalypse' Manhwa which was many times better than Apocalypse Meltdown, yet the reason that also kinda sucked was because it also tried to mix action adventure with zombies rather than playing it as a tragedy.
My main gripe with these kind of stories is there is usually 'baggage' at the side in the form of a family member or love interest. Games like The Last Of Us and The Walking Dead make the people you gotta take care of those who can also contribute back.
This doesn't seem to be the case when there is a zombie slaying badass around because they end up as 'things that need protection' rather than anyone who can make a clear narrative impact.
Even the King of Apocalypse tried giving the sister character some urgencies and powers, but you can't really see much of an 'equals' dynamic going on when all she does is what he says without any independent thoughts unless it's detrimental...
Either way, don't add a zombie slaying badass to a post-apocalypse story unless you are begging for harsh criticisms. Such power fantasy characters are meant for ACTUAL fantasies where they belong. Is there any reason not to do that?
Unless you have a better reason than the rule of cool, it's better to focus more on making monsters have a horizontal power system if you really want to add action adventure tropes instead of a vertical one where people are levelling up. A good example of a 'horizontal power system' is in Hunter X Hunter where powers aren't normally in 'levels'.
Or an even simpler example of a horizontal power system is in Pokemon. The 'pocket monsters' you collect have type advantages and disadvantages as well as specific weaknesses. The same strategy should never be used twice but it can be retrofitted to suite whatever scenario you want. Compared to the average RPG format, this is a lot better.
By far the biggest post-apocalypse story even to this day has to be Attack on Titan though. The zombies are replaced with horrific beast-like giants that eat human flesh and have driven humanity to live isolated in walls (no spoilers here please).
This kind of set up is the perfect example of how to handle an apocalypse story. Rather than using it as a setting for some paper thin character of a brooding zombie-slaying-badass, the story depicts the cruelty of war through the apocalypse itself.
The cruelty of Titans who see humans as nothing but meat has been shown to be similar to what humans do to animals on a regular basis. When they lead people to fight titans, it always ends with their side also getting injured by these monsters.
The story has purpose, the characters are deliberate, and there's an ever growing perspective as the main character grows from an adolescent knowing nothing of war to someone who just might be able to save the world and end the apocalypse.
An apocalypse can also be the narrative centre of a hero's journey this way, but it's best to write these in moderation unless you actually thought of a good plot that isn't just a copy of old movies.
There is a lot to play around with...
Anyway, thanks for reading and requests Analysis blogs at your leisure. See you guys later~!