You seem to be fairly interesting in pursuing animation, which is very admirable, so don't let people's low scores and, sometimes, harsh words discourage you. Of course, you wont produce top quality animation from the get-go but just making and submitting an animation is a tremendous accomplishment. If you are serious about animation this is what I would suggest working on:
Voice Acting: It sounded like you were just reading a book aloud. Voice Acting is like Acting in that you have to put yourself in the situation of the character. If someone was going to break down my door to steal my food and kill me, possible my son, I doubt I would be so calm... and monotone. c:
Writing: "Cliche" was a good word to use but just because something is cliche doesn't mean it can't be interesting or profound. I found that I felt no emotional investment or attachment to these characters, mainly because I knew next to nothing about them, their situation, or their environment. All I knew was that they were survivors of a nuclear apocalypse that scavenged for food, occasionally killing someone when necessary. That story is cliche but who they are, or could be, and the implications of who they are has on their environment, can be all kinds of interesting.
Illustration: Who couldn't do with improving their artistic ability, from Egoraptor to Spazkid to Oney. It all comes with practice. Spazkid and Oney have some animation tutorials with some damn useful tips, I personally recommend the ones on Shading and Lip Syncing, if you're interested.
Keep it up. You are a lot farther than most that want to get into animation just by having something on Newgrounds. Good luck.