After the War

"Your name?"

"Benjamin Jolliffe."

The building wasn't one of those cold, modern, all concrete ones. It was modern, but it was... Warm. The outer walls were covered with wooden planks, and the inside was painted in fresh colours. It smelt good, almost like home.
The welcome desk lady was young, with chocolate brown hair, warm chestnut eyes, a white blouse, and a small reassuring smile.
She looked into the computer register, comparing it with the ID, and nodded.

"Benjamin Jolliffe... You were allowed here by the court psychological service, is that it?"

On the other side of the desk, the shaggy haired, dark blue eyed, small and skinny young man assented.

"Yes." He let out in his low-toned voice.

She smiled, giving him his ID back.

"You'll like it here, I'm sure you will. There, Anita over there will guide you to your room and make you visit."

Ben turned towards the direction the girl had indicated, and saw another woman approaching him. This one was blond, and she invited him to follow her.

The building looked nothing like a hospital or some mad house. Sometimes, one of the hallway walls would be painted bright light green, or turqoise blue. They crossed the paths of a few women who didn't look like they were staff - obviously they were patients - and they looked at Ben with eyes full of surprise slash disgust slash fear. Wait, was Ben the only male in the establishment? His stomach knotted at the idea and he clutched his luggage harder.

Ben followed the woman up a flight of stairs, and they ended up in clear, luminous hallways, with doors in line. On every door was a number, and Ben assumed they were bedrooms.
Anita led him through a blue hallway, which was round the corner from the white one they had came out on from the staircase.

She stopped in front of room 56, digging through her pocket for the keys.

"How many rooms are there?" Ben asked tentatively.

"300. We have 293 residing patients at the moment, you're our 294th, but it won't be long before we fill our disponibility. Sadly, this kind of thing doesn't just stop happening." She smiled downwards, casting an encouraging look at Ben.

"I'm sure you'll do fine here. You're not the only guy, there are other men too... I think you're the fifth."

Ben sighed in relief.

"Oh, I was worrying, cause all the women we went past were looking at me like... Like I was gonna jump on them or something." Ben laughed nervously as Anita opened the door.

"Yes, we sometimes have some trouble with some women here towards the men we have, there were a few insults and even physical violence but that stopped. We won't let it happen again, don't worry. First contact is hard, but you'll see - they get adapted quickly."

They stepped in the room. A simpled bed, a desk and a chair, a little table, another chair, two small cupboards, a clothes cupboard near the bed with a full lenght mirror, and a door.

"Also if you have stuff that aren't clothes or desk stuff, you have drawers under the bed, and here is the bathroom."

Anita opened the door, revealing a white-tiled room, with a shower, a sink, a small corner cupboard, toilets, and a mirror-covered bathroom cabinet above the sink.

"If you want to take a bath there's a room with five separate bathes down the stairs... But there's a waiting line, you have to signal yourself."

They came back into the bedroom and Anita opened one of the small cupboards near the table.

"This is a mini-fridge where you can store personal meals. There's a public kitchen at street level where you can cook or heat things. One rule : no alcohol."

Ben nodded.

"I had figured that out."

"Well good, now let's show you the cafetaria because it's time to eat."

"Alright" Ben muttered, looking back at the room.

It wouldn't be as bad as he imagined it.