[i][u]Julius Charlton - the epidemic hits[/u][/i]

[i]He had read it in the news.  He had heard people talking about it everywhere, all the time.  Fearful, tearful.  He had even [i]seen[/i] it on TV.  As had everyone else.

And yet... it had never occurred to him that it might kill him too.  When others began to bar themselves inside their homes, although such methods had not proven effective, and people simply dropped dead in the street, he carried on as if life all around him was the same.  The library was a good place to be, quiet and without the panic that struck the streets.  He could walk in and peruse the collection, leaf through the newest literary works, some more base fiction or an academic journal; whatever the case, he would leave with several of his favourites tucked into his rucksack.  At least there was never a queue for the self-checkout terminals now.  In fact there were very few staff left.  One was asleep, so few customers were there in the library.

He went up to her and bent to get a good look at her face.  Not asleep then.  A shame, this one had never tried to strike up conversation with him, thus not ruining the best aspect of a library: silence. [/i]

[i][u]Present Day[/u][/i]

In the past months, Julius had come to appreciate the presence of light.  He imagined it was somewhat like homo sapiens and their forebears before civilisation introduced itself; light gave hope of a successful hunt and the night predators would sink away letting the people roam the land.  Of course, his appreciation was nothing quite so base.  For Julius it was the ability to immerse himself in more knowledge.  Once he had assessed the impact the epidemic was clearly going to have, or by that point already had, he had decided that the best place to make his temporary home was, in fact, the library.

He had theorised that there would be a brief period when humanity regressed to being nomads; split apart by distance from most anyone they knew and untrusting of those they came across in this new world.  Of course, Julius judged suspicion and erring on the side of caution to be the most intelligent attitude to have as vulture groups had formed.  He had watched from the library as individuals and smaller groups had been absorbed, or eradicated, by others who had often armed themselves.  Sympathising for the defeated, Julius took comfort in the fact that such short-termism would eventually force the vultures to destroy themselves with the absence of sufficient prey and then they would become the prey of those who had followed more civilised, modern methods of cooperation.

A few groups had ventured to the library but each time he had made himself scarce, always careful to spread signs of habitation around in a manner which might indicate the passing of humans rather than the residence of them.  So far he had been successful and no one had stayed for long, most often taking small victuals for themselves.  No matter; there were plenty of resources to be found in the nearby area and he had hidden a decent reserve in the medicinal journals section.

Until recently he had judged it unsafe to attempt contact with others until the radio which he had maintained carefully had suddenly sparked into life with a intermittently clear message.  Through the static he had made out that a group, which seemed peaceful, had formed itself and he had managed to work out the location from repetitions of the message.  Before he met them, however, he would need to gather some supplies and the Mall was the best place to do so.

If the human race was being reduced to near-Neanderthals then it would be best to come bearing gifts.  If they were friendly then his standing would be given a boost.  If they were not then he might not get riddled with bullets.  Win-win.