(Chapter 6) Day 38 - Terrible ‘survivors’ encountered

Some of my greatest fears seem to have been realised today, there were survivors but not as I'd hoped to find them. These people have been mutated, presumably by their proximity to what appears to be nuclear radiation, though I have not yet found evidence of an atomic weapon being deployed. Something else also seems to have catastrophically accelerated their rate of natural evolution, and they did not have time to adapt correctly.

What we're left with are humanoid creatures, standing anywhere between 3 feet and 15 feet tall with alternating groupings of claws, flightless wings, strange eyes, extra limbs and extra-sensory capability. I have had to be very careful moving through this town over the last week or so, as the ones with the latter abilities seem to be incredibly hostile, even to their own kind. It appears whatever accelerated their growth seems to have had the opposite effect on their brains, reducing them to a primal state. They live to hunt and kill, evolving as they do so, each becoming more fearsome than the last. Could this have been intentional?

Terrifyingly, they have also developed a use for tools. They have built rudimentary shelters for themselves and what appears to be their families, a mate and offspring, using whatever materials they can scavenge. Some of these are barely more than piles of rock and stone, some carved and some natural, while others are half-decent constructions of pilfered wood and nails. They steer clear of the buildings of concrete and brick that are still standing, though why I have not been able to figure out yet. An odd superstition appears to have developed around the 'old world' that remains behind, something that bears further investigation.

While some of these abominations appear to be going it alone, others have begun to develop into...tribes? That's the best way to describe it from what I've been able to observe. Groups have congregated with one another, building small villages, gathering resources, developing hierarchies with the strongest at the top. I've even seen two tribes go to war, with what I can only assume is the 'soldier' class or maybe the 'males' of one group being utterly destroyed with crude weapons or bare hands and claws, and the surviving tribe being folded into the victor's. Interesting how history tends to repeat itself in these circumstances, no matter what happens I've always noticed the same situations.

I am, however, reaching the first of many rendezvous sites I have to scout. I hope that there are survivors there I can observe...