Decide what kind of apocalyptic story it is: before the world ended, while the world ended, or after the world ended.
Decide why the world ended and how: plague, nuclear war, aliens contact, etc.
Decide how your character(s) survived the apocalypse (e.g. immune). If you don't, you'll leave major holes in your story. If you're writing a story placed before or during the apocalypse, you can use a character's survival method to your advantage by making it the story line.
Set it at a specific year or time period. If you're going to write about it in the past, then make it obvious your story isn't true.
Write an ending early on in your process. Decide how and where your characters end up, either alive or dead, so you can thread a story leading up to this.
Make the plot believable, even if the premise isn't. The main story line, as in any story, must be interesting and sensible to readers. Gaps in logic detract from a story's quality.
When you're done, all plots and subplots will be tied off. Leave the readers with a certain sense of closure (for a single book) or an urge to know more (for a series of books). Be sure to read through and edit your work.
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