How do you end a zombie apocalypse story?

[Rikun]

The zombie apocalypse is one of the most popular post-apocalyptic scenarios in pop culture today. A viral outbreak happens, the world is populated with the infected/undead, and the entire narrative follows how a group of survivors grasp the tragedy of their new world. Walking Dead, the Last of Us, Crossed etc...this is a scenario that's become so ubiquitous that even the CDC has a protocol in case an undead outbreak occurs. However, there's one thing that's always bothered me about the zombie apocalypse and any given series/movie that uses it:

How do you end it?

Yes, the survivors get through the immediate narrative of the movie, but then what? Zombies still roam the Earth and aren't going away, society has descended into anarchy, and the world is still irrevocably screwed. Our protagonists survive horror after horror, slowly lose their morality for survival, and are forever scarred and for what: To live the rest of their lives in a barren wasteland with no hope in sight? While many zombie fans say that an inevitably horrible world and the depravity of humanity is the entire point of the apocalypse, is that really all there is?

Is it too corny for a zombie apocalypse to have a cure or a way to return to normal? Is there a way to inject a shining light in a world of the undead, or is all zombie fiction destined to end with a screwed up world and desperation for survival? I don't know if I'm the only one to think this, but I find it very difficult to care about characters doing horrible things to survive when you know that it will never get better and their survival is ultimately meaningless.

(P.S: if there are zombie apocalypse stories that are noticeably brighter than what I've described, I'd love to know about them. Closest I can think of is Warm Bodies.)

 

[gsf1200]

You end it with hope. The hope that your children will have a better world, amd their children will have an even better world.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The zombie inevitably die of starvation or exposure after a few weeks.

If you went on holiday when it started, it might be over when you come back.

 

[DefunctTheory]

World War Z (The Book) has a pretty bright ending, considering how down right nasty everything gets.

Spoiler

The America's (Not just the US) and Russia fight back and retake their respective continents. Europe, which doesn't seem to have had as good of a time as the US did, fights back and is cleansed with America's help. The world is retaken, for the most part, though things get a little scary in Russia (Because the Soviets can't win without becoming the USSR, it seems).

I like how they ended it. I also like the ending of The Last of Us.

Spoiler

Saving the world isn't even a goal Joel honestly considers. He just wants to survive, and ultimately may have doomed everyone.

EDIT: As for the comment regarding people doing horrible things and becoming less sympathetic, I do understand. That's why I liked The Last of Us - I think they did a pretty good job of it, by presenting a totally selfish, but ultimately understandable goal in opposition to the altruistic goal.

EDIT2: Is anyone curious about how Ender's Game, the movie, will deal with the fact that the main character is a high functioning sociopath, the kind of person t6hats hard as hell to give two shits about?

 

[HardkorSB]

A zombie apocalypse story should never be about the zombies. A world full of zombies is just the setting (sometimes they're used as a metaphor for something, like in Romero's movies).
The human characters are the most important thing. If you don't have good human characters, you don't have a good zombie apocalypse story. The characters must be relatable and/or likable.
What I would do is I would pick 1-3 main characters (number depending on the length and type of story) and give them arcs, obstacles they must overcome, conflicts they must settle, things they must learn to become better people, stuff like that. The end of their arcs can be the end of their adventures or just the end of one in a series of many (depending on what you're going for).
You don't need to get rid of zombies. Zombieland didn't and it had a very uplifting happy ending.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

EDIT2: Is anyone curious about how Ender's Game, the movie, will deal with the fact that the main character is a high functioning sociopath, the kind of person t6hats hard as hell to give two shits about?

But...but he isn't. Ender is completely racked with guilt when he finds out that the whole thing was real and he had actually completely annihilated the buggers. The rest of the Speaker for the Dead book series shows him trying to make up for destroying the buggers.

The high functioning sociopath character was his brother Peter, who while important, is not the main character. He's the character that Ender is always afraid of becoming.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

"And that little boy who nobody liked grew up to be... Roy Cohn!"

I'd fund such a book.

 

[Vausch]

Well, we can look at the best examples.

Upbeat yet uncertain: Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead. The movies end with a (relatively) happy note, but the characters still live in a zombie infested world. They might find safety but they might not, it's left up to chance (or sequels).

Downer: Dawn of the Dead (original unfilmed ending and implied credits scene in remake), I Am Legend (book). All dead. Our hero(es) die, no question or ambiguity, they're dead after surviving for as long as they did. They have come to realise that they don't have a chance now or that if they do make it out, they're just going to spend their lives hiding forever.

Realistic: World War Z (book). The human population is dramatically reduced, but we are surviving thanks to an understanding of the zombies and what went wrong during the apocalypse itself. Sure, billions died and are still shambling corpses and another outbreak is possible, but we're better prepared and know what we're dealing with immediately.

 

[Belaam]

Unless the zombies are alive and infested, they should fall apart at the same speed corpses would rot into immobility. So I'd say everyone just finds a place and food supply to hole up until the last one is too decayed to be dangerous. Or, until ravens eat the rotting zombies, become zombie ravens, and infect everyone above ground.