28 January, 96 days to go

Well, Adytum was pretty much a bust. It's a safe enclave, so-called, in the midst of the vast wilderness of stark ruins called the Boneyard. The people there weren't hostile, exactly, but they weren't friendly either. From what I was able to gather, they've been having problems with a local gang, the Blades. The coincidence of that name, the Blades, with my nom de voyage, made me wonder if that was why the Adytumites were so guarded in their reactions toward me. Nah... They were watching me suspiciously before I said my name was "Blade." In any case, they made it clear that I would be welcome if, and only if, I did something to help them with their gang problem. Sounds good. But how do I do I pull it off?

Day 56

29 January, 95 days to go

I have a sense that all is not as advertised. I get a bad feeling at Adytum, and something tells me the Blades aren't the evil characters Jon Zimmerman, at Adytum, claim they are. I did some exploring, wandering around Blades' hangout, then heading east... where I nearly got scragged by some big, orange nightmares that I'm pretty sure are vault-kin to the Deathclaw Harold told me about. East of that was a warehouse occupied byheavily armed folks with some killer-cool hardware and weapons. Most of the stuff was too expensive for my tastes, but it's good to know they're there. I was able to pick up six fragmentation grenades and several plasma grenades, as well as some ammo. I double-timed it back past the Deathclaws. A pack was out hunting and I almost didn't make it, even with the grenades to help. Took some damage... and decided to stay with the Blades for a day or two until I recovered. I don't think I'm going to pursue the thing with Zimmerman's vendetta.

Day 58

31 January, 93 days to go

Today I found another group of survivors, a kind of vault on the Outside. They call themselves the Followers of the Apocalypse, and they're a group of people, mostly pretty young, who came here from somewhere further south and settled down in the Boneyard ruins. The Followers do seem to have a hopeful outlook on life, which is more than I have sometimes. They're also not entirely sweetness and light, from what I've been able to gather, they hate the Children of the Cathedral with a black passion, and they're not afraid to fight them if they have to. They keep talking about the time when they will have to fight the Children and their "dark god." The leader of the Followers is a capable-looking woman named Nicole. She told me a lot about her group, and about the Children as well. They see the Children as evil, as a threat to everyone. Their leader, Morpheus, seems to have been a member of the Rippers before he was "enlightened" be the "dark god." There's talk about how people who don't share the Children's vision tend to disappear. Chilling stuff. I've seen the Children before in my travels; there was a hospital in the Hub. The Children I met always gave me the cold shivers when I met them, them and their robotic, glassy-eyed interjections about peace and unity. I'm not sure how much I believe of Nicole's version of things, but it's clear that I'm going to have to check the Children out sometime soon. If half of what I've heard is true, they could be as great a threat to the vault as a lack of fresh water. But that lack of fresh water is my major problem right now, not religious fanatics in robes handing out flowers on street corners. I told Nicole I'd help her, and find out what I could about the COC, but I'm going to have to find that water chip first. One good piece of news, though. Nicole told me I could make free use of the Follower base. In a locker there, I found some pills which I gather are called Rad-X. Those should protect me from the radiation I'm likely to encounter at The Glow.

Day 70