I had two major weaknesses, Movies and Books. I loved them both, I used to boast about how many I had seen and read. Hundreds of movies, countless books. I used to be able to walk into any video store and tell you about ever last one. Any library and pull out the best. It was this very weakness that lead to my ultimate demise. Some may call it fate some may call it cause and effect. I call it being **** from the get go.

It was a regular afternoon in the post apocalyptic world. Grey skies, bleak cold air, and a sun that never seemed to come out anymore. In all fairness it was like this before Epic in October, it was Canada after all. I lived in what could be considered a small city. There were roughly thirty thousand people before Epic started to ravage our population. Best estimate after epic would be around fifteen thousand, probably less. Due to the declining population a lot of the stores and shops that used to line the main road were now closed, or abandoned, or quarantined. Somehow, though, life continued as normal.

It was just a week away from Halloween and I had decided to watch every scary movie available between now and then. I always liked the holidays; they always brought people together even if it was to kill and maim each other in gruesome horror movies. It was this reason why I went to my favorite movie rental store, and this reason why I met the child.

The inside of the store was probably just as bleak, if not more, than the outside. The walls, roof and racks were all painted the same drab grey. Most likely to make the movies seem more vivid and appealing. The floor was a plain black and white checkerboard pattern and the man behind the counter suited his environment perfectly. He was a slender man in his sixties, he looked like he had spent his entire life in the same spot, and the counter was worn from his repetitive movements. His glasses were thicker than some of the movie cases, making me think that he had spent all of his time too close to the television. His name was Frank.

"Hey Frank." I said dismissively as I walked by. Frank never talked, but I had guessed his name years ago by the now faded name tag. It was all business for Frank. I assumed that Frank had once been an enthusiastic young employee, waiting for his chance to make the world a better place. As I browsed through the aisles for something worth watching I daydreamed about Frank as a young man. What his hopes and dreams were, how he had become who he was by a series of unfortunate events that were beyond his control. Just another ruined life by that thing called fate.

As I think about it now if I had been paying more attention I probably would have heard the door open, and seen the old woman come in, followed by the small child. Or maybe not. I don't like thinking about 'What If' situations they always lead to regret and resentment. As it turned out I did not see the woman or the child, at least not until I stepped on her foot.

The scream that this woman let out was incredible. I had never heard such a blood cuddling thing in my life, how something as simple as stepping on a foot could induce the most horrifying scream in almost all of history was beyond me. I quickly apologized and tried to offer assistance to the woman, but then I saw the lesions.

They were all over her face like some sort of twisted version of a facial. The flesh was peeling back from her face as if it were trying to run away from the infection in her blood. By now the infection was most likely causing her so much pain that when I stepped on her foot she reacted to it all. By the looks of her clothes she had been some sort of New-Aged Hippie before Epic started; her hair was long and black despite the obvious age in her hands and eyes. Her neck was covered in hundreds of necklaces; gold, silver, plastic, metal, new, old, it didn't seem to matter. The only common theme was religion. They were all of some religious background or dogma.

"You know what I am don't you?" whispered the old woman. It came suddenly from her mouth, and I was shocked by it. I don't remember why but I had thought for sure that this woman would never speak again especially not to me. I guess its just one of those assumptions that you make every day.

"You know. I know you know and you know why."

Great, I thought to myself, now she thinks she’s in some sort of Abbot and Costello skit and I'm the punch line. Next she'll be asking me who's on first. She was right though, I knew just as Frank knew, even though he would never say so. She was a Serfs, one of those who claimed to see the future. Most of them were content to just let the future happen and see if they were right. Most of them were harmless nuts who followed the same practice, look but don't touch. 'Most of them' isn't all of them, and this one was on a mission.

"You will be touched today. I will die and you will be touched. That will be the way of it." She was rambling, or mumbling or both; I wasn't really paying attention any more. I was staring at the child that was with her. How could she talk about death in front of her?

"Look lady, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I do know what I want and that's to rent some movies and go home." I said firmly trying to ignore her rantings about the end of Epic and how she was the only one on earth who could do it. I went to the counter with my selections and started to pay when I felt a weight on my foot. The crazy old bat had attached herself to my ankle.

I did what any sane, calm, and rational person would do when someone infected with a disease ravaging the world attaches them self to your leg. I freaked out.

"Get off me you crazy old bat. What the hell do you want from me? Why are you touching me?" I continued to scream at her, but it wasn't working, so I started kicking my leg at her and it still didn't work, her grip seemed to tighten. So I stopped doing anything and stared at her. She just stared blankly off into the distance. Then I realised that she was dead and not staring off anywhere.

Just to be sure I reached down and poked her in the eye a couple of times. It was the only place on her face I felt I wouldn't be covered in infected rotting flesh if I touched. There was no reaction. I asked Frank to get me a stick or a broom or something to pry her hands off of my ankle with.

After we had moved the body outside, that is Frank and I moved the body, I tried to decide what would happen with the little girl. She was most likely infected with Epic so no hospital or social service would touch her not that they were any better than the street. The shelter would probably take her but those places are always filled with the worst kind of scum. I definitely didn't want her coming back with me to my place, but it seemed that it was the only option at least until I could contact the cops or someone who gave a damn. They usually weren't the same person.

She was a small child. Nothing about her seemed to reflect an age group, her skin as smooth and firm, and the colour of ebony. Her hair was straight and silky and as white as snow. She was roughly 4 feet tall and as thin as a twig. The contradictions between her heritages were evident all over her face, large lips, small nose, blue eyes, white hair, and black skin. She was a contradiction, but she looked healthy just hungry.

"So uhh, what’s your name little girl?" I said with a fumbling realisation that I had most likely cause her grandmother to die only minutes before. Somehow this didn't seem to phase her she just smiled and looked at me. Her smile was like that of pure knowledge; it scared me a little, like a skeleton. Not that skeletons are pure knowledge but they scare me a little. I didn't like the way she stared at me so I tried not to look at her much.

"So, uhh, you're going to have to come with me for a while until I can figure out what to do with you. I just live down the street." She was still smiling at me when I had finished. I still don't understand why so few people talked to me Frank, This little girl, the postman. In all fairness the Postman was a jackass though.

The little girl didn't answer me, nor did she ever speak to me, she did however follow me back to my place.