I think I’m getting the hang of this.

These tattooed guys are part of some kind of blacksmith guild. They have more guns and ammo than they know what to do with. One of them has really taken me under his wing. Guy by the name of Saul Fore. Apparently we’re heading up north, to the edge of this desert valley they call the Mo-Javi. We’re going to do some trading with Abundance, a farming community.

I’m feeling pretty good. The blacksmiths gave me some cold coffee and crackers as hard as brick, but it’s better than nothing. We’ve been walking across the desert for a day now. This would be a lot easier if we had animals to pull the wagons, but I haven’t seen any animals or bugs since I got kicked out of that last town.

We were walking down a decrepit highway, mostly picked clean of cars, when I asked Saul Fore how this all happened. He was confused at first, but eventually realized that I was dead serious. He explained a great war that swept across the valley, a horrible biological super-weapon, a tyrant named General Kass from the ARE, mushroom clouds rising from the valley’s edge, and mutants that came afterwards.

I didn’t realize things had gotten so bad.

-Joe Junkman