"I felt silly the first few times I went to work, but I got used to it. Slowly." Black latex and matching platform boots were a lot for anyone to get used to.

"It seems that way," she says, another small worry-line forming. She wonders how things will progress with the End of the World without her.

"If not, they need to refer us to someone to register complaints with." Inside the back pocket of her jeans shorts was her ancient, taped-together copy of "Sense and Sensibility." If she loses it, she'll be far more than upset.