There's nothing like the silence.

Alone in his arms, Lafayette was happy. It was all alright, even though the gunshots raged just over the hill to the east. George was asleep, as usual, but Lafayette lied awake. If he tuned out the ringing of the shots, the entire forest was completely quiet, and he could exist by himself. George kept him safe while he drifted off to this other world.

Not a bird could be heard at this late hour of darkness, and animals of the undergrowth had fled from the nearby fighting. The leaves were not stirred by any stray breeze, the trees stood steady.

And then something shifted.

Lafayette didn't have any time to react.

The bullet hit his chest.

It burrowed into his heart.

No pulse.

No breathing.

No sound from his lips.

George cried out, but to Lafayette there was nothing.

The blood dripped from his mouth.

No noise.

Six more gunshots and no more sounds.

There's nothing like silence.