American Zombie Detective

Just as everyone was gathering the firewood and burning the two brown bear carcasses, Qin Jin glanced at the five members of the Tong family, who were bound like dumplings, and beckoned to Sheriff Harvey to the side:

"These people are very likely already infected!" Qin Jin's voice was low, his expression grave, clearly indicating that something had happened.

"They have wounds from the monster's claws and blood splattered on their bodies; they must not be released!"

Sheriff Harvey's face darkened. Having watched so many zombie movies, he was well aware of the connections involved. Even before Qin Jin could continue, he had already presented his plan:

"I've seen shows like 'The Walking Dead' and 'Resident Evil,' so I know what this means! Don't worry, I'll gag them, wrap their hands, and then take them back and lock them up! I absolutely won't let them leave!"

Once it's proven that something is contagious, the American people are quite vigilant.

"Okay!" Qin Jin patted his shoulder:

"I heard what you asked them. I'm going to go back the way I came and check all the corpses killed by the monsters along the way. You stay here and keep watch—make sure the corpses are completely burned, and don't let these people escape! I'll call you if you need anything!"

Sheriff Harvey immediately agreed. He couldn't be happier to completely eliminate the threat.

Qin Jin called out to Alessa, and the little girl had already picked up her teddy bear and was hugging it in her arms. She quietly walked to his side.

Ignoring the hustle and bustle and the stench of burning in the ravine, the two quickly disappeared into the dark, dense forest where the Tong family had fled.

Without the burden of a large group, the two moved at an astonishing speed.

The sights along the way confirmed Tong Shouyi's words and revealed the horror of the rampant carnage caused by the bears.

They hadn't gone far when they discovered the first mangled corpse. It was a gunman from the Five Glory Hall, his upper body almost completely torn apart, his internal organs dragged far out, a large part of his neck bitten off, his head tilted to one side, his eyes wide open in death.

The flesh at the wound site had an unnatural, grayish-brown color.

"Tsk." Qin Jin didn't hesitate at all.

He drew his kukri, stepped forward, and swiftly brought the knife down!

"Snap!"

He cleanly and decisively severed the broken head, splitting it in half.

Then, with a few more precise cuts, the corpse's limbs were severed at the joints, turning a potentially reanimated corpse into an immobile and untearable "flesh stick."

They continued onward, and similar scenes repeated themselves:

Disemboweled, skulls smashed, faces gnawed beyond recognition...

Qin Jin followed the same method with each corpse. The two moved silently and efficiently through the forest littered with corpses, like the most ruthless cleaners.

The pervasive stench of blood and death in the air seemed to have no effect on them.

Of course, the two would occasionally stop to find their way. The lingering smell of blood in the air was their best compass. They could find their way with just a sniff and then continue on their way.

Following the scent of corpses and blood, they tracked them all the way to the vicinity of the huge rock where the Tong family had been ambushed by the corpse bear.

The battle scars were even more evident here, with corpses strewn everywhere, stretching from the direction of the boulder all the way towards California Highway 1. Just as Qin Jin was about to go down to inspect the vehicles—

A series of intermittent sobbing sounds, mixed with some kind of faint noise, came from the cracks in the rocks on the side of the boulder.

The sound was very soft, but it was clearly audible to Qin Jin and Alessa's exceptional hearing.

Qin Jin gestured for Alessa to stay put and keep watch, while he gripped his knife and silently approached the crevice in the rock.

He carefully parted the vines with the tip of his knife, and a strong stench of decay hit him.

By the dim light filtering in from outside, Qin Jin witnessed a nauseating scene:

Two small, furry creatures lay on the ground, their bodies stiff and twitching slightly. They were small, likely bear cubs, but their fur had fallen away, revealing rotting flesh. Their grayish-white eyes gleamed lifelessly in the darkness, futilely opening and closing as they whimpered—

These are two bear cubs infected with the zombie virus and turning into zombies!

Without hesitation, he thrust out the kukri with lightning speed!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

It precisely pierced the skulls of the two zombie bear cubs, ending their tragic and twisted "rebirth".

Just as Qin Jin sheathed his sword and prepared to leave the crevice, the wailing sound rang out again!

It was weaker and more helpless than before, but it didn't come from the two bear cub corpses on the ground; instead, it came from a deeper and narrower corner of the crevice in the rock!

Qin Jin looked intently and saw a small, furry figure trembling slightly in a crevice in the rock. It was another, even smaller bear cub, which looked smaller than the two that had been killed.

At this moment, the weak bear cub's eyes were filled with pure terror and the will to survive, and its little nose twitched as it let out a weak, mournful cry.

Most importantly, Qin Jin's keen senses told him that this bear cub didn't have the scent of a zombie! It was alive! Healthy!

Aresa had somehow joined in, crouching down and staring intently at the trembling bear cub with her grey-blue eyes.

A few seconds later, she suddenly reached out her little hand and cautiously reached into that corner.

The little bear cub huddled up in fear, letting out even louder whimpers.

Aresa's movements were unusually gentle; she accurately reached into the crevice and pulled the furry little creature out.

The little bear cub kicked its four short legs in the air a few times in vain, letting out helpless cries.

Aresa held it in her arms. The little bear seemed to sense a strange, cold aura emanating from the person holding it, or perhaps extreme exhaustion and fear made it give up struggling. It whimpered twice and buried its little head in Aresa's arms, trembling slightly, no longer resisting.

Alessa looked at the little one in her arms, then looked at Qin Jin and said clearly in Chinese, "Okay, can we raise this little rascal?"

Qin Jin instinctively wanted to correct her wording, but immediately realized... cough, this time she was right, wasn't she just a brat!

Why doesn't this work?

Qin Jin had been considering getting a dog. As a zombie who needed to disguise himself as an ordinary person for a long time, it was necessary to buy food every day, but they hardly ate the food they bought. Just throwing it away would definitely arouse suspicion.

Small towns in Texas are full of stray cats, dogs, and wild animals, which is much more convenient than in cities.

So, Qin Jin originally planned to get a dog to keep, and this thing... should be more useful than a dog, right?

Faced with Alessa's plea, Qin Jin nodded easily: "Okay, but... we'll need to move to a bigger house later!"

Aresa looked down at the docile little ball of fur in her arms, then at Qin Jin, and softly hummed in agreement.

She carefully adjusted the little bear cub to a more comfortable position, letting it lie on her arm as she held the teddy bear.

With this little incident, the subsequent cleanup work didn't seem so monotonous anymore.

Qin Jin first went down to the roadside and found the car that the Tong family had brought.

Cars whizzed past along California's Highway 1. Fortunately, everyone had been killed in the woods and was not visible from the highway. As for the vehicles, their obvious gangster aura made ordinary people afraid to even consider anything else.

Qin Jin checked each vehicle and successfully found the cash that Tong Shouyi had brought. Sure enough, there was $50,000 prepared to pay Johnny, and another $100,000 in cash, all of which Qin Jin put into a bag.

He took out his phone and dialed Sheriff Harvey's number:

"Have someone drive from town along California Highway 1, and when you see cars on the side of the road, start going uphill. There are more than ten bodies here, and they're all going to be burned! I'll hitch a ride back to town and then come over from there."

After giving their explanations, Qin Jin and Alessa easily flagged down a passing vehicle and returned to the town.

Alessa bought milk and baby bottles, warmed them, and started feeding the bear cubs, while Qin Jin stuffed the cash from his bag into the Dodge car.

I also drank a bottle of blood with Alessa to replenish our energy.

Afterwards, the two went up the mountain again and headed towards the ravine filled with corpses!

Qin Jin asked Alessa to stay, but she refused. Feeding the bear cubs was one thing, but since feeding the bear cubs would mean leaving Qin Jin, she preferred not to. So the bear cubs could only be temporarily cared for at a motel.

With a two-hundred-dollar tip and Sheriff Harvey's name attached, everything went smoothly.

Now that the Tong family has been arrested and the zombie bear has been dealt with, all that's left is Luke Lee, who has turned into a jumping zombie!