Did we just get a license to kill? 
- — Carmen King
Star-Spangled War Stories Featuring G.I. Zombie #8 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled War Stories Featuring G.I. Zombie (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2015. It was published on March 25, 2015.
Synopsis for "The Final Countdown"
Agent Carmen King fully expects to die, as the little van she hopped into after breaking her cover has been stopped by armed guards. Accommodatingly, the hippie driving the van offers to go out with a bang, kicking into reverse. Anticipating a turn behind them, he makes it in the wrong direction, and the van nearly plummets off a cliff. Thanks to quick thinking, Carmen saves both her own life and the driver's by leaping out at the last moment, and they hide as the guards assume that they died in the crash.
In the meantime, G.I. Zombie and Gravedigger are en route in a private jet. Gravedigger explains that they can't move in on the facility in San Francisco until they know what's going on inside it. Jared assumes that it is filled with weapons - and bombs prepared to unleash the same zombie virus that hit Tennessee. Gravedigger admits that it would be nice to know all that Agent King saw - but they expect that she may not have survived whatever she faced on her last transmission.
Elsewhere, Cat, the girl who had befriended Carmen and brought her in to the terrorist organization is now jailed by Mr. Forrest, who isn't sure if he can trust her. Regardless of her responsibility, he feels she's a liability and shoots her through the head.
Carmen, meanwhile, manages to intercept the team sent to confirm her death, and threatens one of the men until he radios back to affirm it. This frees her to meet Jared and Gravedigger on the nearby shore, as they arrive in a chopper. Hurriedly, she explains that the facility is like the Rinaldi Spa in Utah, which housed weapons, people, and underground living quarters. She expects that a getaway boat to the Ecuador location will be waiting, should this facility be compromised as well. Given how quick they were to nuke the Utah facility when it was compromised, she suggests that they storm this one as soon as possible, before the same happens here.
Jared and Carmen fight their way into the facility, seeking Forrest. Jarred makes his way to the control room alone, hoping to stop the inevitable missile launch laden with the viral payload. He is surprised, though, when he discovers that Forrest is in fact Jeff Kennedy - a man he had once known. Rather than hear his convoluted origin story, Jared shoots his assistant. Kennedy explains that he has already set the launch sequence for the second gas-bomb - the formula for which was derived from Jared himself. Jared ignores him and demands to know how to stop the launch. Incredulous, Kennedy notes that Jared won't kill him. He is surprised when his ear gets shot off by Carmen instead. He screams in pain as Carmen determines that the main power supply and trigger for the bomb are down a floor. She then beats Kennedy to the floor, until she hears his phone ringing. Answering it, Jared recognizes the voice on the other end as belonging to a man named Leo - whom he also knows from his past. He assures Leo that he's going to come for him.
Everyone on the squad puts in their ear plugs to protect them from the EMP that will disable the bomb for an extra five minutes, regardless of its trigger complexity. As the pulse goes off, everyone not wearing ear-plugs experiences eardrum rupture. After rendezvousing with Gravedigger, Jared and Carmen find that he has ensured that the bomb will be disabled, and thanks them both for their work, commenting that they make a great team.
Afterwards, Jared explains that a few years ago, he'd been on a crew he trusted, but lost an arm while in a tight spot. His team members Leo Conroy and Jeff Kennedy went missing after the mission, and he suspects they took his arm with them to develop the gas they have. Carmen assures him that their crimes aren't his fault. He disagrees. An entire city in Tennessee died because of him - not to mention all of those who were nuked in Utah. Carmen suggests he focus on what he's thankful for, and he admits that he's thankful for the sunset, the company of a beautiful woman like her, and takeout. However, he has something to admit about his certain appetites...
Appearing in "The Final Countdown"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Carmen King
- Gravedigger
Villains:
- Eileen (Dies)
- "Forrest" (Jeff Kennedy)
- Leo Conroy
Other Characters:
- Cat (Dies)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Trivia
- The cat whom Gravedigger references is a nod to the internet phenomenon known as Grumpy Cat.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Star-Spangled War Stories Featuring G.I. Zombie series
- Images from Star-Spangled War Stories Featuring G.I. Zombie Vol 1 8