In the crypt of the Red Immortals near Bucharest, Romania, a band of Hydra agents traps a female vampire and threatens to drive a stake through her heart unless she reveals the whereabouts of the one they seek. Suddenly a hero clad in red, white, and black appears and the Hydra minions try to capture him for Dr. Geist; the Captain (Steve Rogers, recently stripped of his role as Captain America) has been hunting for Geist. The Captain easily beats the masked madmen, prevents the vampire from preying on them, and prepares to interrogate them to find Geist….
Later The Cap meets with Nick Fury to lay out all the evidence that he has collected over the years of a Hydra scheme to achieve immortality. Fury reminds him that many other scientists—Pym, Richards, T’Challa, Strange—have reached dead ends attempting to verify this. Cap is still worried about having been injected with the Lazarus Formula during the War (seen in issue #1) and wants to know the enemy’s ultimate goal. Fury tells him that he cannot commit SHIELD resources to Cap’s quest—but covertly gives him a list of new Hydra labs. Fury trusts Cap’s judgment….
At a Hydra Base, Dr. Geist unveils the fruits of his millennia-spanning research to his superior, Baron Strucker: a huge and handsome warrior known as Der Unsterblich (the Immortal). The Ubermensch displays his powers by single-handedly slaughtering a team of Hydra agents and zombies ordered to kill him. While a success, Unsterblich is not their ultimate goal, which is creating, not an army of supermen, but a race of gods. For further research they need more of Captain America’s blood, and Strucker already has a plan in the works….
Cap works his way down the list, cleaning out Hydra bases and moving closer to Geist’s secret lab until he finally reaches a front company in New Jersey. He smashes down the door to find only one person there: Trude Lohn. His former ally, killed in issue #2, has been raised into a grotesque zombie form to deliver a message to Cap. Hydra wants two pints of Cap’s blood—or they will use the Lazarus Formula to raise all the dead in Arlington National Cemetery, an act of psychological terrorism which will traumatize America. Cap agrees to a meeting…
...after putting Trude out of her misery. He arrives at the Cemetery with the Falcon and Nick Fury. As they get into position, Cap is seized from behind by Der Unsterblich, as Hydra troops open fire on Falcon and Fury. Cap fights back but finds himself unable to hurt the Hydra superman. Stunned from the beating, Cap is easy prey for a gloating Dr. Geist who produces an enormous hypo, planning to take three quarts of the hero’s blood, leaving him just conscious enough to see the tragedy that will ensue. As the dead begin to dig their way out of their graves, Geist informs Cap that the news media has been notified and this horror will be the most documented event in history. But Cap disagrees…because Doctor Strange has cast an impenetrable shadow spell over the area that will prevent anyone outside of its range, witnessing what goes on here. Then the Avengers assemble and the fight is on. A single blow from Thor kills Der Unsterblich, and Cap tries to arrest Geist. The mad scientist however had obtained some of Cap’s blood and this was the only goal he had. Boasting of Hydra’s inevitable victory, Geist jets off into the night, with a promise that he will someday come looking for Captain America….