February 20, 2078

In the short time that I've been with Tatiana she seems to be trying to make up for… what happened but problem is she has a lot to learn. For starters she's never used a gun in her life, can't accurately tell when danger is nearby and is mostly well dead weight. Take for example yesterday when we were raiding a Super Duper Mart. There were some RadRoaches around and she ran off. I spent the rest of the day searching for her around the Mart. She's dead weight.

So I've decided to teach her how to use a weapon tomorrow.

February 21, 2078

I drove off road today and built a little firing range for her to practice on. After a quick breakfast of some Blanco Mac & Cheese and some water we got up to start. I let her borrow my 10mm for practice.

"Okay Tatiana, you've never used a weapon in your life so I'm going to teach you how to use one, got it?" I told her.

"Yeah I got it, watch me be a badass at this!" she said then she accidentally pressed the trigger and the force of the gun made it fly backwards and hit her head. I got a cloth out of my bag and started to clean the blood that was coming out of her nose with it.

"Ah see you got to be more careful with Tatiana, it's not a toy." I told her while I watched her clean herself.

"I see that now" she mumbled through cloth.

Then when the blood was all gone we were ready to try again. This time I saw she was keeping her fingers away from the trigger.

"Now hold the gun tight and keep it as still as you can, got it? Yeah like that now make sure the safety isn't on… it's that little thing by the back you got it? Keep one finger resting by the trigger and move your foot a little back. Look down the front of the gun and there you go!" I told her as I watched right behind her.

"Great! When can we start shooting stuff?" she asked excitedly.

"You see those Nuka- Cola bottles over there by the table? I've set 10 of them. That's what you'll be practicing on. Now use everything I just taught you and try to hit one of the bottles. Remember it's your first time so I don't expect you to hit anything" I said nervously.

She held the gun up high and looked down the sight intently. After a moment or two she fired and I saw the bullet explode out of the barrel. She missed and the bullet went flying off until I couldn't see it. She looked disappointed.

"Aw I really thought I was going to hit it" she said with a small frown.

"It's all right; remember it was your first time. Ready to try again?" I asked her. The frown disappeared on the spot.

"Yeah ok here I go" she said.

She did the same actions again but this time she looked more focused. Almost a minute passed and then she pulled the trigger. It hit the bottle on target and shards of broken glass went flying everywhere.

"You did it!" I said amazed.

"Hell yeah!" she yelled and she came forward and hugged me. It only lasted for a second or two before she pulled away. She saw my bewildered look.

"Oh umm sorry I just thought that you know-well" she started to say.

"No it's all fine really, just I wasn't expecting that" I cleared my throat. "Alright let's try the other bottles now."

We practiced for the rest of the day and I taught her other things such as how to reload and keeping your gun clean. By the end of our lesson she had destroyed all of the bottles and some other items I had put her to shoot. I decided to have a little celebration by getting out some boxes of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes for us to eat.

"Oh yeah, I love these!" she said happily as she took a bite.

"I've never tried them" I told her. I took a Snack Cake and bit into it. It tasted a bit creamy but was delicious, I quickly took another bite.

We sat there eating for a while not saying a word while I built a fire. Then Tatiana gulped down what she was eating.

"Where are you from?" she asked me.

I wondered for a moment whether it was safe to tell her but I decided to tell her.

"I'm from Vault 69 down in Texas." I told her.

"Oh how is it in the Vault?"

"Well it's really grey and full of people."

"Any family members there?"

"Umm no they err…. ( I still couldn't remember my parents) they're umm dead." I told her.

"Oh I'm sorry." she said and she didn't talk for a while then: "How did they die… if you don't mind?"

"They well uh died in a car crash." I said quickly.

"I'm so sorry. Are you fine or…?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah I'm fine it was sad but I'm all good now… so your parents died in the fires?" I asked her uncomfortably.

"Yes… the sirens were ringing and everyone in town was running to the bunker beneath the town hall and my parents… they didn't get in on time…" she said "I saw them smile at me one last time and then they were gone…" I saw her eyes watering.

I looked over her figure. She looked to be in her 20s, had large brown hair that laid on her shoulders, was rather curvy and looked a little fat in the chest area. Hard to believe anyone so innocent looking could have gone through so much.

"I hope they're happy and in peace now Tatiana."

"So do I." she said.

After a while we finished the Cakes and she went to the car to sleep inside. I was lying on the floor looking up at the sky. I couldn't see anything because of how polluted the sky was. I was thinking of how horrible it would be to see your parents die in front of your own eyes. I couldn't decide which was worse, not remembering your parents or seeing them die in front of your own eyes. Then I saw a single star appear in the sky.

"Wow" I said.

I went to sleep a while later.