Intro
Some Chronicler writings (from the book)
ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE
“How did the world end? Some Stalkersand other braggarts say they know whathappened. That a great plague swept theworld and killed everyone. That the bossesof the Old Age fired their weapons of massdestruction at each other and drownedthe world in flames. That the gods amongthe stars, the Ancients’ overlords, hadenough of mankind’s hubris and decidedto end it all in fire and brimstone. Maybeit’s true, maybe it’s just lies and tall tales.The truth is, no one knows for sure. Exceptmaybe the Elder. And he refuses to talkabout it. We learned as children not toask, he would curse and rave at us everytime the subject came up. But I’ve heardhim mumble in his sleep. He said that theAncients ended themselves.
ABOUT THE ELDER
“Do you remember what it was like beforethe Elder got sick? He used to walkaround in the Ark and talk. Talk and helpus with anything we needed. During thedays, it was school time and he taught thePeople to read and count. At night, we’dsit around the fires and listen to storiesabout the Old Age. The Elder said hehadn’t seen it with his own eyes, but thathe had read books and seen moving imagesthat showed what a fantastic timeit must have been. When the Elder gotsick, all that stopped. Maybe it’s the Rotthat finally got to him. Maybe he’s justold. I don’t care which. I just want to sitin his lap again, to hear him talk aboutthe green fields, the blue lakes and thegreat cities full of people.”
ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE PEOPLE
“Did you ever think about where we comefrom? About the source of our mutantpowers? The People have lived in the Arkas long as we can remember, everyoneknows that. But before then? Are we bornhere, or have we come here from somewhereelse? The only one with answers isthe Elder. And he always refused to tellus. ‘Don’t look back,’ he’d say. ‘The pastholds nothing but death and destruction.Look ahead. Build a new and better world.’Now he’s on his deathbed, they say. Nowwe might never know. Unless the answer is in Eden.”
ABOUT THE BARREN PEOPLE
“Our days are numbered. The People aredoomed to wither and die. We’re not likethe wild mutts or the Zone-Ghouls thatseem to multiply every day. Not like theAncients, who filled the world to the brimwith their offspring before the end. Wemutants cannot breed. We are barren. Nochildren are born in the Ark. You knowthat, you say, everyone knows that. Sure.But there is hope. We must go into theZone, seek contact with others. They saythere are other Peoples out there, that wecan join to grow stronger. What if we areonly barren to each other? What if thereare artifacts that can help us? Listen tome. If we just stay here in the Ark, we willperish. We have no choice. We must go into the Zone. We must search for others.”
ABOUT MEN & WOMEN
“No children are born in the Ark. So what?I think that’s a good thing. During the OldAge, men were in charge and women hadto take care of the children, did you knowthat? Not any more. Now I call the shots.”
ABOUT THE GRUB
“The Elder always took care of us. Protectedus, comforted us, gave us grub.There was a stockpile of canned grub, andhe knew how to grow more right out of theground. Now the stockpile is almost gone,and nothing is growing. Grub is scarceand what little there is, is controlled andrationed by the Bosses. Soon there won’tbe any grub left. Then we’ll starve – unlesswe learn how to grow grub or kill beastsand eat them, like the Ancients did.”
ABOUT BURNING THE DEAD
“Why do we burn the dead? Why not justthrow the corpses into the Zone or burythem in the ground like they did duringthe Old Age? Because we have alwaysdone so. It’s the People’s way, like theElder taught us when we were children.When our bodies burn we rise to the skywith the smoke, back to the other worldfrom whence we came. So said the Elder.Do I believe it? I don’t know. It doesn’tmatter. We have to do something withall the corpses. We can’t have them lyingstinking in the Ark.”
ABOUT ZONE-GHOULS
“There are many dangers out in the Zone,but trust me, the Zone-Ghouls are theworst. They are wretched creatures of theRot, spawned by the Zone itself. They areskinny and short like children, but don’t befooled – they hunger for mutant flesh anddon’t have an ounce of humanity left inthem! Thankfully, there are ways to avoidthem. First of all, only move through theZone during daytime. The Zone-Ghoulscan’t stand the sunlight, not even throughthe smog – that’s why they all dress inhoods and wrap up their heads and handswith cloth. Some say the Zone-Ghoulsaren’t even living beings at all, that theyare evil spirits from the Old Age. But Iknow better. I know they can bleed, I knowthey can die. My advice – bring a scraprifle and never let them get close. If yousee one Zone-Ghoul, you can be sure thereare at least two more nearby.”
ABOUT OTHER ARKS
“Some nights, when the smog lifts, you cansee faint lights at the horizon. Have youseen them? Some say they are just a mirageor some Zone phenomenon best leftalone, but I don’t think so. I’m sure thereis something over there. Something important.I once walked as far as I could inthat direction, before the grub ran out orthe Rot got me. I didn’t make it all the way,but pretty far. Do you know what I saw?Other mutants, just like us. Believe it ifyou want, but I’m sure there is anotherArk out there. We are not alone.”
ABOUT THE ROT
“So, you want me to take you into theZone? You think you have what it takes?You have no idea what it’s like out there.No idea. Let me tell you about the Rot,and we’ll see if you still want to go afterthat. The good kind of Rot is the kindyou can see. Green sludge floating on astill pond. If you get it on your body, itwill seep into your wounds, your mouthand eyes. It will slowly break you down.The bad kind of Rot is invisible. You won’tknow it’s there until your bones and musclesache. If you go too close to the hotspot,your hair will fall off. You puke blood. Ifyou don’t get away quickly, you’re donefor. How do I survive in the Zone, you ask?I know where to go, and where not to go.I know what water to drink, what food toeat. And I know how to endure pain. TheRot hurts more than you could imagine.Are you still sure you want to go?”
ABOUT THE ENCLAVES
“When the world ended, not all peopledied. We are proof of that. They say somepeople fled the Apocalypse. They dugdeep underground, dove to the bottom ofthe ocean or left the Earth to build floatingcities in the sky. These sanctuarieswere called enclaves. But the Apocalypsedidn’t let people get away that easily.They say a great war broke out betweenthe enclaves, that the last people triedtheir hardest to annihilate each other.Mighty weapon-strikes crushed undergroundenclaves and felled others fromthe sky in a rain of fire. How the warended? Who knows? Maybe it’s still going on?”
