Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

US Marines, New Zealand, and Australian soldiers train for a bayonet assault. Source: DVIDS. Photo by Lance Corporal Mark Stroud. This does not imply or constitute endorsement by DoW

Staff Sergeant Ryan Harmon had his platoon formed up and ready faster than almost anyone else on base.

When the first Marines started turning on their own, Ryan didn’t hesitate. He put down Corporal Hayes with three clean rounds, then kept fighting.

He was still fighting when he finally got a sat phone call through to his father.

“Dad… it’s bad here. Real bad. They’re inside the wire.”

Tom’s voice came back rock-steady over the sound of a roaring engine. “I’m coming for your sister right now. You hold what you can, son.”

Ryan looked at the six Marines left alive in the armory with him. Good men. Young men. He thought about Lauren, who he still hadn’t been able to reach.

He racked a fresh magazine into his M4.

Last time he’d done close-quarters drill, he’d thought the bayonet was silly. He’d almost laughed at the idea.

Until he looked at what was outside the armory.

“Fix bayonets, Marines.”

Memphis, Tennessee

Matt Harmon was reading Where the Wild Things Are to his four-year-old when the power flickered and the screaming started outside.

His wife Jen rushed into the living room, the baby on her hip. “Matt, what’s happening?”

He looked out the window and saw their neighbor tearing into another man on the front lawn. Blood shone wet under the streetlight.

“Upstairs,” Matt said, voice tight. “Now.”

He locked the front door, then the back. Grabbed the aluminum baseball bat from the hall closet. The girls were crying. Jen was trying to keep them quiet while barricading the bedroom door.

The pounding on the front door started moments later. Then the windows. Then the wet, snarling sounds that no longer sounded human.

Matt stood at the top of the stairs, bat in hand, listening to his family crying behind him.

He thought about calling his dad. Thought about Ryan. Thought about how he was supposed to be the safe one — the teacher, the father, the guy who never went to war.

The front door gave way with a crash.

Matt Harmon raised the bat and walked down the stairs.

Bougie Apocalypse Universe

Sometimes we step outside the main story to explore other corners of the same world. This one is pure zombie horror — grimmer and meaner than the core series.

One thing you can count on, though: The Cough is real, and the zombies are everywhere.

#BougieApocalypse #TheCough #ZombieHorror

Next chapter of the main Bougie Apocalypse story drops June 10, 2026 → Start Here & Full Reading Order

Bougie Apocalypse

Brothers