What if zombies aren't dead?
A collaborative speculative fiction, online, forkable, episodic, novelike experience.
What happens when fiction becomes democratic? When readers vote on faction decisions? When AI helps organize the writing for the apocalypse? When GitHub becomes the medium AND the message?
This is finding out.
Welcome to collaborative fiction! This is a zombie story where readers vote on what happens next. Every Monday, we publish a new episode based on YOUR collective decisions. No coding knowledge needed - just read, vote, and watch your choices shape the story!
✨ Jump Right In: Vote on Martha Chen's fate below, then read Episode 001 to catch up!
Current Vote: Martha Chen's First Day Back: A Post-Zombie's Dilemma
Martha Chen died three weeks ago. Yesterday, the Shepherds brought her back. She remembers dying... and eating people. Now she's asking "What am I?" Your vote decides her fate:
- 1️⃣ MERCY KILLERS - End her suffering with compassionate death
- 2️⃣ SHEPHERDS - Help her integrate as a post-zombie
- 3️⃣ HOPEFUL - Study her case to improve resurrection
- 4️⃣ PURE - She's no longer human, exile her
Start with → Episode 001: Patient Zero Returns
Super Easy: Press . key → Get familiar editor → Write your story!
Full How-To Guide ← No coding knowledge needed!
The zombies can be brought back. But they come back wrong.
Not wrong enough to kill. Not right enough to trust. They remember dying. They remember eating. They remember both sides.
Now we're four factions fighting over the future of consciousness itself.
"We've been there. Death is better."
- Led by post-zombies who know what it's like
- Believe killing zombies is compassion
- Remember the hunger, want to end it for others
"Everyone deserves resurrection, even if you come back broken"
- Post-zombies who want to save ALL zombies
- Believe coming back wrong is better than not coming back
- Building conversion infrastructure
"My daughter is in there somewhere"
- Rare humans who want to save zombies
- Usually have loved ones who turned
- Developing better resurrection techniques
"Humanity means never having died"
- Traditional survival faction
- Humans only, no post-zombies allowed
- See resurrection as abomination
- New episode every Monday via commit
- Community votes Thursday-Sunday
- AI assists with faction consequences
- Story branches based on decisions
- Weekly faction decision polls
- Character fate votes
- Resource allocation choices
- Territory control decisions
- Submit character backstories
- Write faction propaganda
- Create scene alternatives
- Add world details
- Faction power levels
- Character status (human/zombie/post)
- Territory control maps
- Death/resurrection counts
main- The canonical timeline based on vote winsmercy-path- What if Mercy Killers won every vote?shepherd-path- What if Shepherds dominated?pure-path- What if humans stayed "pure"?chaos-path- Randomized decisions
/episodes
/season-1
001-patient-zero-returns.md
002-the-choice.md
003-[TBD based on vote]
/factions
/mercy-killers
manifesto.md
characters.md
/shepherds
/hopeful
/pure
/votes
/week-001
results.json
alternatives.md
/world
territories.md
resurrection-process.md
post-zombie-symptoms.md
- Respect the Dead: Post-zombies are people too (maybe)
- Vote Once: One GitHub account = one vote
- Stay in Character: Faction propaganda should fit the world
- Yes, And: Build on others' contributions
- Content Warnings: Tag appropriately for violence/horror
Each week, factions face a decision:
## Week 003 Decision
A horde of 100 zombies approaches the settlement. Among them, the Shepherds recognize former residents.
### Vote Options:
1. 🔴 **Mercy Kill** - End them before they suffer more (Mercy Killers)
2. 🟢 **Mass Conversion** - Try to bring them all back (Shepherds)
3. 🔵 **Selective Rescue** - Save only the recognized ones (Hopeful)
4. ⚫ **Defensive Purge** - Eliminate all threats (Pure)
Vote by reacting to the corresponding emoji in Issue #003The AI helps by:
- Calculating faction consequences
- Maintaining world consistency
- Generating NPC responses
- Writing transition scenes
- Tracking butterfly effects
The AI never:
- Overrides community votes
- Changes established canon
- Kills named characters without votes
- Resolves major conflicts alone
The serial continues as long as:
- Minimum 10 unique voters per week
- At least 2 factions remain viable
- The world hasn't ended (completely)
- Someone still wants to know what happens next
Core narrative: CC BY-SA 4.0
- Share and adapt freely
- Credit "Post-Dead Community"
- Share derivatives under same license
Character submissions: Contributors retain rights but grant serial use
- Week 0: World-building workshop (community creates initial state)
- Week 1: First episode drops, first vote opens
- Week 2: Results implemented, consequences revealed
- Ongoing: Weekly episodes as long as community engages
Not "can we cure death?" but "should we?"
Not "who survives?" but "what does survival mean when you've already died once?"
Death is not the end. That's the problem.
This project is designed for collaborative writing at conventions and online communities. Perfect for:
- Writers who want to experiment with democratic fiction
- Sci-fi fans interested in new storytelling formats
- Anyone who's thought "I wish I could influence that story"
🚀 Quick Start (5 minutes):
- Star the repository to follow updates
- Read Episode 001 to understand the world
- Check current Issues for active votes
- React with emoji to cast your vote
- Watch your choice shape the next episode
📝 For Contributors:
- Fork → Write → Pull Request
- No commitment required - contribute when inspired
- All writing styles welcome (we love diverse voices)
- Share the repository link
- Vote on weekly decisions
- Submit character backstories, faction propaganda, or scene alternatives
- Help build a living, breathing world
This is an experiment in having fun with storytelling.
We're not trying to write the next great American novel or create some perfect literary work. We're just seeing what happens when a bunch of people get together and collaboratively tell a zombie story using GitHub as our playground.
It's about the joy of:
- Voting on what happens next and seeing your choice matter
- Writing characters and watching other people bring them to life
- Discovering story directions you never would have thought of alone
- Playing with the medium itself as part of the message
Of course, if someone wants to turn this into a book, podcast, game, or whatever - go for it! That's what forkable means.
This is also an exploration of how to properly use AI in the creation of stories that leaves the human imagination clear to readers.
Squeamish about AI in creative writing? Try this and see if it works for you.
Why not let AI entertain us while we tell it what to do with the extreme precision only speculative fiction writers with a literary bent can achieve? We have superpowers. The world should see them.
Here, AI serves as:
- Continuity manager (tracking character details, timeline consistency)
- Research assistant (world-building support, reference checking)
- Technical facilitator (GitHub management, formatting, organization)
- Community helper (managing votes, updating story based on decisions)
AI never overwrites human creativity, changes contributor voices, or makes story decisions. It amplifies human imagination rather than replacing it.
Current Status: Ready to see what happens!
⭐ Star to follow the apocalypse
🗳️ Vote on faction decisions (Issues tab)
📝 Write your contribution (Pull Requests)
🧟 Embrace the post-dead future
The dead are waiting. The story needs you.