The Last One

"You're Not Dreaming"

Milo laid in Sam's bed staring off at a picture of him and Sam together at a summer camp festival. "Where did you go?" he asked the picture before a massive headache rushed over him. He cried out in pain before his nose began to bleed and he fell into an unconscious vision.

"Milo? I know you're there! Come one out, you little monster." his mother laughed as she looked around the house for him. Milo ran up behind her and hopped on her back, "Got you!" he laughed. "Ah!" she cried as she turned around and tickled him. "Now, I've got you." she laughed. 

"Milo, wake up!" someone shouted into his ear. 

Milo opened his eyes as he sat up and wiped the blood off his face with a Kleenex on the desk next to Sam's bed. He held his head and then looked around the dark room. 

"Am I awake?" he asked Sam who sat next to him on the bed. 

"You're not dreaming." he replied before leaning in close. "You should check the basement." he whispered before Milo looked over at the empty space. 

Milo closed his eyes, "I must be hallucinating still." he told himself. 

The rain was still pouring down hard but Milo didn't care, he just wanted everything back to the way it was. But, how was it before? Milo stopped and thought to himself, "What did I even do before I woke up? Who even is Sam?" Milo closed his eyes and tried to remember, "Sam is my best friend? We went to school together...I think. Where did I go to school?" he asked himself as another splitting headache occurred. He cried out in pain as he leaned off the bed and threw up into Sam's trash can. 

"Aren't you tired of wondering what is in that box?" Sam asked as he stood by Milo. 

Milo looked up to him and whimpered, "Why are you here? Why are you haunting me?" 

Tears again poured from Milo's eyes as he screamed, "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!" Milo curled into a ball on the floor as water covered him from the rain. 

He was cold and alone.

"I'm going crazy. I'm crazy." Milo told himself as he sat up before walking home to grab the crowbar and the mallet. 

He walked back down to Sam's leaky basement where water was slowly pooling. 

He violented smashied the wall with the mallet. Slowly it cracked and fell apart. The hole grew much bigger and Milo grabbed the box which was heavy. 

"What is in you that is so important?" he growled as he pulled the key from his back pocket then ran over to his flashlight which he set on the shelf nearby. 

He slid the key into the slot and then unlocked the box. 

What he found inside made him scream and throw the box across the room, breaking it against the wall. 

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" he screamed at the empty box. 

He went back to the small room and stuck his head in along with the flashlight to look for something else but was met with an empty room. He growled and left the basement. 

"This is just great! No answers just questions. Why was that box there?" he said through his teeth. "I thought it would've had something in it." he cried as he laid down in Sam's bed. "I'm so tired. I just need to sleep for a while." he whispered to himself. 

"Are you sure you checked the basement?" Sam whispered in his ear. 

"I checked the box. There was nothing there." he replied as his vision blurred and Sam laid down next to him. 

"Then why are you still here? You haven't even moved." Sam whispered.

"Because...I found nothing." Milo said in exhaustion. 

"You never even left the room. Wake up! You're dreaming!" Sam shouted causing Milo's eyes to open and see that the room was lit up by the sun. 

Drops of water fell from the cracked ceiling and onto the floor. 

Milo sat up and rubbed his head which slightly ached. 

"Was that all just a dream? I thought it was real." he said to himself. 

He got out of Sam's bed and looked around the room. He sighed before walking home to grab the mallet then he walked back to Sam's house. 

"There has to be something in there." he said hopeful to himself as he grabbed the flashlight from his backpack then made his way down to the flooded basement. 

He stepped into the ankle deep water that was cold like ice. He walked over to the hole in the wall where he saw the box still sitting in the small room. 

"There better be something inside you this time." he told the box as he began smashing the wall with the mallet. It took him 30 minutes to smash through the wall.

Finally, he managed to get the hole big enough to get the box out. He pulled the dusty box from its home. He pulled the key from his back pocket as he walked over to the flashlight. 

"This is it. The moment of truth. Please, let there be answers inside you." he begged the box as he unlocked it again. 

He opened the box and found a pile of photographs, small audio tapes, and a few VHS tapes. 

"What?" he asked as he looked through the photographs. 

They were all of him. It was like someone was watching him always. The photographs were taken from a distance, behind trees, bushes, across the street, and across the lawn of his house. He was confused as to why these would be here, in Sam's house. 

"Were they stalking me?" he asked as he flipped through each photograph. One after the other were suspicious and vulgar. "Who are these people?" he questioned the photographs as he remembered Sam's entire family. 

He closed his eyes, "I have to be dreaming. Wake up. Wake up!" he cried. He looked at the tape recordings, "I have to listen to these. I have to know why they were following me." he told himself before running from the basement and to his house. 

He used Anne's tape recorder to listen to a tape. He popped one in and clicked the play button, "He is out again. He always goes out. Such a handful. I guess this is what I signed up for. Allista, they are going to find all of us sooner or later. I had to get rid of a few 'trackers' but how many more do you think will come? It is only a matter of time before more come. We can't fight them forever. I am worried about him-about us. You know what they will do to him once they find him. Can we really risk it just for his sake? I know he is important. The simulations were too real. I even got confused when you put me inside them. Pulling him out of those, is that safe? Are any of us safe? What do we do when he wakes up? No one will be there to watch over him. I want to stay. I know I can't but he needs someone to guide him. Perry is going to be gone soon. So are you. We have to protect him. I want to protect him...for Sam's sake."

Milo put in another tape, "He doesn't remember anymore, Allista. He forgot who Sam was today. Sam is very upset. I tried to explain to him how important it is that he gives Milo space and time to himself. His memories are becoming unstable. I heard about the dog, I'm sorry. I know you are trying to fix him. How many subjects do you have left? Will you perfect the next one? I have faith in you, I believe you can perfect him. You have to! He is the only hope for our future generations. He hasn't noticed me yet. He is so precious. I wish you could do the same for my child. At least they would have each other."

Milo stood there and then stopped the recording. He walked back down stairs leaving behind the tape recorder. He laid down on the road, his brown hair falling over his face, and his frail mind becoming torn at the seams. 

"What am I?" he whispered.