A/N: I do not own Avengers.
A few hours later, the Avengers were close to completing the cure for the zombie virus. "Well, Bruce, I'm glad this…strange thing happened once you got infected," Tony said, "and that you didn't get straight-up zombified like everyone else. Having your help let us get this done a few hours ahead of schedule. The quicker we get this done, the fewer people we'll have to cure."
"I'm just kinda glad that my…condition came in handy for something other than smashing," Bruce said.
Natasha grabbed the vials filled with the cure and placed the in the lab's centrifuge. "Just have to wait for this to finish and then we'll be all set."
"I'll head up to the landing pad for a few minutes," Tony said. "See what things are looking like outside. Call me when things are all set down here."
"Will do," Steve said.
"I think I'll come too," Bruce said. "I could use a bit of fresh air."
The two headed up a few floors to the landing pad, where the Quinjet was still parked. Below, the city looked much as it had when the team arrived a few hours prior. The only difference was the silence. Previously the sound of sirens speeding around the city had been audible; now the only noise was the faint crackle of fires far below, and the whistle of the cold wind helping to spread the flames.
"With any luck, it won't look like this much longer," Tony said. "How long will the cure take to take effect, Bruce?"
"The process should begin immediately once a person's exposed to the cure," Bruce said. "And it should reach everyone pretty fast since we're releasing it as a gas into the atmosphere."
"I never would've thought of that. Good thing you were here to help us."
Suddenly, the two heard a low rumbling coming from the sky. "What's that?" Bruce asked.
"Sounds like it's coming from behind us," Tony said. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., you hear that? What's causing it?"
"There appears to be a helicopter falling from the sky towards the tower," F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.
"A helicopter?"
"What about a helicopter?" Bruce asked.
"Stay here. I'll be right back." Tony activated his helmet and flew from the landing pad up the side of the tower until he was slightly above it. A few seconds later, he flew back down. "C'mon, we've gotta get down to the lower floors now. There's a helicopter falling right for the tower. The pilot probably got infected and it fully took effect once the chopper was already in the air. Given its trajectory, all the lower floors should remain stable."
"Should? Or will?"
"Should is all I can promise right now. Just…don't panic, remember? You need to stay calm, and we need to get moving."
"Right, right."
The two headed for the stairs at the far side of the tower, but were a second too late. The front of the helicopter crashed through the wall, sending Tony and Bruce flying backwards. They sat up to see the zombified pilot crawling free of the windshield, which it had become lodged in during the crash. "Oh no," Bruce said. "Tony, it's blocking the stairs!"
"Hang on, I'll burn us a hole through the floor," Tony said. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., get my hand lasers online."
"Lasers were damaged in the blast, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.
"We got a problem," Tony said. "Lasers are offline. I can't burn us a way down. We'll have to get over to the hole the chopper made in the floor."
The zombie pilot tumbled to the floor and abruptly stood up. He screeched and then ran at Tony and Bruce. "Get back," Tony said. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., shield."
Part of the nanotech armor on Tony's back dissolved to create a large shield attached to his right hand. He shoved it at the zombie, throwing him to the side. But the zombie got up again far faster than a normal human and quickly attacked once more.
"Tony…," Bruce said.
"Just stay calm!" Tony shoved the shield at the zombie again, but this time he shoved back against Tony even harder, pushing him backwards across the room.
"I think I'm starting to freak out."
"You're gonna be fine, man. Stay calm; I'll have this guy taken care of in a second here." Tony shoved back on the zombie again, but the zombie suddenly leapt over the shield at him. Tony raised the shield to try to ward off the attack, but was slightly too late. The zombie pinned him to the floor and tore at his helmet, trying to rip it off.
Suddenly, Bruce grabbed the zombie to try to pull him off Tony, but the creature was too strong. He unnaturally twisted his head to face Bruce and growled at him, then threw him across the room before turning back to Tony. Bruce flew into the wall and fell to the floor.
Meanwhile, Tony took advantage of the distraction to modify his shield into a large blade. As the zombie turned back to him, he stabbed the zombie through the chest with the blade. The zombie screeched in pain and renewed his attack. Tony held him at arm's length with the blade and then flew towards the landing pad. He hovered next to the Quinjet and then flung the zombie off the blade. He fell off the landing pad, hissing and screaming as he plummeted down the side of the tower.
"Bruce, you okay in there?" Tony said.
The only reply he heard was a loud roar.
Tony turned around to see that in Bruce's place was a zombified Hulk. His skin was grey-green and his eyes were blank.
"Bruce…," Tony said. He retracted his blade so that his armor fully covered his body again. "Just…try to calm down, buddy."
The zombie Hulk gave a feral roar that sounded faintly like, "SMAAAASH!" and charged at Tony.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please R&R and stay tuned for Chapter 4!