Marvel: Starting with Iron Man in the Apocalypse

A violent dizziness, like a rapidly spinning top, churned through every nerve in Tony Stark's body. The shrill screams of space being violently torn apart still lingered deep in his eardrums, while his body experienced alternating sensations of near-dissociation—weightlessness and g-force. He felt as if he had been thrown into a mad washing machine, endlessly tumbling with fragments of shattered spacetime.

After an unknown amount of time—perhaps a moment, perhaps eternity—that nauseating chaos finally came to an end.

boom!

With a dull thud, accompanied by the protest of his bones, Tony crashed heavily onto the hard, rough ground. Dust billowed up instantly, choking him and causing him to cough violently. He lay on the ground, greedily inhaling the air, which, despite its indescribable stench of decay and rust, was far better than the agonizing, piercing feeling he had just experienced.

"Jarvis?" he called out instinctively, his voice hoarse. There was no response. The screen of the wrist device was completely black, and the ever-calm, reliable voice was gone from his ears. An unprecedented sense of isolation gripped him.

He struggled to lift his head, and the sight that came into view made him catch his breath.

He stood in the middle of a city street. Or rather, in the ruins of a city street. The asphalt was cracked, and overgrown weeds stubbornly peeked out from the gaps. Abandoned cars, like metal tombs, rusted and blocking the road, some even crashed together, retaining their final posture after the disaster. Most of the windows of the buildings on both sides were broken, dark and empty, like countless pairs of vacant eyes. The walls were covered with stains and graffiti of unknown meaning. Sunlight filtered weakly through thin, hazy clouds, casting a bleak, yellowish-gray hue over this desolate scene.

Dead silence.

Apart from the mournful howl of the wind whistling through the empty buildings and the occasional metallic creaking from somewhere, the world was eerily quiet. It was a chilling silence that devoured all life.

"Cough... Looks like we're 'lucky' to have stumbled upon a 'good' place." A familiar voice, tinged with suppressed pain, came from the side.

Tony whirled around and saw Chen Haotian lying a few meters away, trying to sit up with one hand on the ground. His face was even more pale than in the hospital room, with a trace of blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that the uncontrolled journey had caused him considerable backlash. But his eyes sharply scanned his surroundings, as wary as a wounded but still dangerous cheetah.

"This is what you called 'the myriad realms'?" Tony propped himself up, feeling aches all over his body. He looked around, his tone filled with doubt and a hint of barely perceptible fear. "An... abandoned junkyard?"

"Scrapped?" Chen Haotian chuckled, the laughter aggravating his injuries and causing him to cough twice. "You're too optimistic, Tony. Look closely, listen carefully."

Tony frowned, forcing himself to calm down, and used his keen observation skills to re-examine the situation. He noticed that the abandoned vehicles were empty, but some doors were open, and dark brown, dried stains were visible on the driver's seats. The convenience store window on the corner was broken, its shelves overturned, and its goods looted. Further away, on the exterior wall of a building, huge, hastily spray-painted words read: "Warning! Quarantine Zone!"

The faint smell of decay in the air seemed to have grown stronger.

Just then, a slow, dragging sound of footsteps, mixed with a low, muffled sound as if the throat was blocked, came from the other end of the street.

Tony and Chen Haotian both looked over alertly at the same time.

Several figures staggered out from the shadow of a dilapidated building. Their movements were extremely uncoordinated; their joints seemed rusted, and their steps were stiff and slow. Their clothes were tattered, covered in dirt and dark spots. Most disturbingly, their skin was an unhealthy, ashen color, with festering wounds visible in some areas.

But what really made Tony's heart clench was their eyes—empty, lifeless, devoid of any of the brilliance that intelligent beings should possess, only a pure and primal longing for…for something.

"What are those? Refugees? Survivors?" Tony lowered his voice, instinctively sensing something was wrong. The state of these "people" was too abnormal.

"Survivors?" Chen Haotian had barely managed to stand up, his body slightly tense, his eyes icy. "No, they are the 'mainstream' of this world. We are the intruders." He took a deep breath of the foul air and slowly uttered two words: "Zombies."

"Zombies?" Tony was taken aback. He'd only ever heard that word in some cheap B-movies. "You mean...the living dead? You're kidding, right?"

His questions were quickly answered.

The staggering figures seemed to have caught the scent of living beings; their previously slow movements suddenly quickened, and their hoarse cries became more urgent. They turned and surrounded Tony and Chen Haotian. As they drew closer, Tony could see more clearly the rotting flesh on their faces, their exposed teeth, and their empty eye sockets filled only with hunger.

A chilling coldness crept up Tony's spine. Common sense told him it was impossible, but the scene before him and the pervasive atmosphere of death were relentlessly shattering his perception.

"Looks like your scientific worldview needs an update, genius." Chen Haotian forced a smile that wasn't really funny, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings for usable weapons or a way out. "Welcome to the world of The Walking Dead, experience a post-apocalyptic survival reality show."

One of the "zombies" had closed to within ten meters. It might have once been a man in a suit, but now its tie hung askew around its neck, and half of its face was missing, revealing its pale cheekbone. It stretched out its withered arm, let out a desperate roar, and lunged forward!

Tony instinctively took a step back and casually pried a piece of rusted metal water pipe from the hood of a nearby abandoned car. The tentacle was cold and rough, a far cry from the high-tech armor he usually piloted.

"Keep your distance! Attack their heads! That's their weak point!" Chen Haotian urged, picking up a piece of jagged cement and keeping his eyes fixed on another approaching zombie.

Tony gripped the hose tightly, his stomach churning as he watched the rotting face, reeking of decay and death, draw closer. But years of experience teetering on the edge of danger allowed him to suppress his unease. In the instant the zombie lunged, he dodged its clumsy grab, then with all his might, slammed the metal hose down on its temple!

"Bang!"

A muffled thud, accompanied by the faint sound of bones cracking. The zombie's head snapped to one side, its body swayed, and it collapsed to the ground, twitching twice before falling still.

Tony, panting heavily, stared at the "thing" lying on the ground, his arm trembling slightly from the exertion. This wasn't the fighting style he was familiar with; there was no Jarvis's aid in calculations, no precise strikes from energy weapons, only the most primal and savage violence.

"Well done, newbie graduated." Chen Haotian also smashed a nearby female zombie with a cement block, his tone still carrying his unique, infuriating teasing, but his tense body lines showed that he was not careless either.

Several other zombies were still approaching, their hoarse cries echoing clearly through the deathly silent street.

Tony tossed away the filthy hose, feeling a sticky residue on his palms. He looked around the post-apocalyptic ruins; in the distance, more staggering figures, drawn by the commotion, were slowly gathering.

"What do we do now?" He looked at Chen Haotian, his tone complicated. Despite his doubts and anger, in this completely unfamiliar and dangerous environment, this mysterious "brother" who had dragged him into this mess seemed to be the only possible source of information and... a temporary ally.

Chen Haotian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and pointed to a relatively intact five-story building across the street. The sign on the building was crooked, but the words "Discount Supermarket" could be vaguely made out.

"Let's find a place to hold our ground and get a clear picture of the situation." His voice regained its composure. "This 'reality show' has only just begun, and I don't want to be killed off in the first episode. Keep up, don't fall behind, and don't get caught by those 'things'."

After saying that, he didn't wait for Tony's response and quickly moved towards the supermarket. Although his movements were somewhat sluggish due to his injury, they still showed a calculated efficiency.

Tony glanced at the motionless "zombie" on the ground, then at the increasing number of gray figures around him. He gritted his teeth, suppressed the countless questions surging in his mind, and quickly followed Chen Haotian's back.

The ruins of the city spread behind them; under the gray-yellow sky, deathly silence and low growls intertwined, creating a picture of despair. The end of the world had arrived.