Children of the Embrace

There is a cult which arose out of those enamored by the potential effects of exposure to the radiation and bioweapons that were unleashed upon the world during the holocaust. They saw the detonations as a demonstraion of the touch of divinity, and the resulting effects as direct gifts from these beings. In the roots of each towering cloud was a portal or gateway to their realm which could be visited by the true believers.
They called the poisoning of the body by these unseeable things an Awakening and accepting their new life an Embrace. Fanatics seek out remnants of these pre-collapse devices and think of being exposed to their effects a sacrament. They see all of pan-humanity's future as awakened, embraced devotees to these gifts of the divine.
Highly evangelical members will carry placards extolling the virtues of accepting the inevitable path to deity. They will openly display, no matter how obscene, the sores, wounds, deformities, scars and worse while on these tirades. Large groups may even carry relics, still actively radioactive or infectious.
Rarely, a member may mutate in some beneficial way. These are regarded as being particularly favored and often have leadership roles thrust upon them. If the cult ever finds such a mutant that isn't part of them, they will do everything they can to recruit them or be around them, or perform sacrament or services in their presence. Unwanted or not.
No matter how sick members become after repeated exposure to degraded weapon materials, they are carried along, puppetted if necessary. When they finally expire they will engage in a huge fete celebrating the deceased's personal journey to meet and bask in the glory of gifts from the divine.
Most settlements shun the Children of the Embrace, believing them to be a deluded counter-culture which may be a front for subversives bent on the overthrow of order remains.