The huge gates loomed over Miss Pauling as she drove underneath them; the task of collecting the next of the nine mercenaries given to he by the Administrator stuck in her mind.
The dark grey clouds overhead removed any features that might have made the hospital a pleasant place to visit. Separating the complex from the rest of the world was a wall over eight feet high topped with a mess of barbed wire. Beyond the walls was a whole load of nothing. A forest of pines stretched for miles with no sign of human presence. Unless you could fly, the only way in and out was a badly maintained single lane dirt road that brought it's travellers to the next town of a few hundred souls.
There was not a single vehicle parked outside, making the building look even more abandoned and foreboding than was first evident. Miss Pauling parked her red car at a crooked angle near to the doors of the building before emerging, smirking at the disorder of her parked car compared to the modern and orderly building before making her way inside. The room she entered was blindingly white, the fluorescent lights covering the ceiling made it so even the shadows looked clean. A waiting area was situated in one corner, comprised of a white sofa and a plastic fern in a white china pot. The room was so clean that it made Miss Pauling feel uncomfortable. A huge wooden desk dominated the far end of the room, a receptionist sat behind it, staring at a computer screen and filing her nails.
Miss Pauling made her way towards the bored looking woman and introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Miss Pauling. I'm here to see one of your... patients."
The woman looked up at her, hardly any expression on her face. "Oh yes. We've been expecting you." She pressed a button underneath the desk. "Someone will be here shortly to show you where he is. You can take a seat over there if you like." She gestured towards the white sofa before returning to the task of filing her nails and staring at the computer screen.
Miss Pauling hadn't been waiting long when a man wearing a blue nurse uniform appeared. "Hey there, you can follow me."
She stood up and followed the nurse out of a doorway to the side of the room.
"I'm surprised someone actually came for him, I feel a bit sorry for him honestly. He hasn't had any visitors since he arrived. I think I might be the only one that cares for the poor guy. The rest of the staff avoid any contact with him, as if he wasn't really there." The compassion that the nurse showed made Miss Pauling wonder how bad the man she'd been sent to see really was. Would he even be worth her time?
"How long has he been here?" Miss Pauling enquired.
"About a year now, not much improvement though. I think whatever 'cures' the doctors are using are bullshit, 'cuse my French."
"Oh yes?"
"He was completely depressed, understandably, when he arrived, hardly taking and not really eating. After he'd been through several rounds of whatever the docs were doing to him, he'd stopped talking altogether and wouldn't even look at anyone that came by to see how he was doing. I found out that he likes to show his feelings through art, so at least that's one way of working out what's going on under that mask… You'll see what I mean, this is his room."
He drew to a stop by a door indistinguishable from any of the others, unlocked it and stepped aside to let Miss Pauling enter.
Not entirely sure of what exactly to expect from the room, she peered around the door before entering. What was previously a white room was covered with cartoonish paintings and murals. A kind of candy-land was painted across the walls and floor. Rainbows stretched from one corner of the room to the other, lollipops sticking out of bright green grass and unicorns jumping across meadows of candyfloss with a background of a clear blue sky. What made it all stand out more was the areas that has been coated with paints of yellow, orange and red. It was obvious what they were supposed to be, in places the flames looked so real that they lit up the candy-land behind them. The lollipops and unicorns glowing in the light.
In the centre of the floor was the source of the flames, they stretched out across the room from underneath where a man was sitting. The man seemed captivated at something, staring off into the world he had created. The patient wore a jumpsuit the same colour as the nurse's uniform, but what made him stand out was the gas mask covering his face.
As Miss Pauling closed the door, the man looked up at her but didn't react.
She cleared her throat, "Good evening. I'm not sure if anyone told you that I was coming to see you."
She was met with silence from the masked man, who was still looking at her, his head slightly tilted. After a few seconds, the man shook his head. Miss Pauling hadn't planned for this eventuality, she'd done her background research but hadn't intended on having no response at all. It was looking like she needed to try a different approach.
She sat down in front of him. "Did you paint these?" She gestured at the artwork on the walls around her.
The patient nodded.
"They look lovely," she smiled. "You like fire, I take it."
The man nodded again.
"You see, I was sent here to find you. My boss has an offer for you. A job." Miss Pauling couldn't tell whether the man looked interested or not. "They're looking for the best of the best, the smartest, the most efficient and the most ruthless. And you're one of them. There'll be fire, lots of it. Hot meals..." She looked around the room, noticing a significant lack of facilities, "a bed and friends to stick by your side."
The man had put his hands together, in what she interpreted as joy.
"As a bonus, it'd get you out of this place." The masked man nodded eagerly.
She reached into the bag she had brought in with her. Inside was a folder with 'Pyro' stamped in red on the front. "This is for you, assuming you accept my offer."
The man took it, looking through its content before closing it and looking at her expectantly.
"We prefer titles over names, is Pyro fine with you?"
Pyro nodded, stood up and offered a hand to Miss Pauling.
Miss Pauling accepted the hand and stood up, dusting herself off, "Then let's get you out of this place."