gistfile1.txt

$ python2.7                                                                                                                                         2 ↵
Python 2.7.13 (default, Aug  7 2017, 19:25:44)
[GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 8.1.0 (clang-802.0.42)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> s = b"somechars"
>>> type(s)
<type 'str'>
>>> c = s[3]
>>> type(c)
<type 'str'>
>>>