From A Whisper To A Scream
Tami/Coach/Matt/Julie/Grandma/Tyra/Landry/Buddy, Post-Season One, PG13, 1540 words, Title from Grey's Anatomy

It starts with an earthquake

Summer. Hot. So very hot. Even if it was West Texas, this heat wasn't normal. And you wouldn't dare go outside if you didn't have to. Not this week. Dillon was a ghost town. You could hear a pin drop or talk in a whisper and hear every word clearly if you were outside. Everyone was looking to either get away or stay inside their cool houses. The heat wasn't a place anyone wanted to be in.

Then the ground started to rumble. It was as if the Panthers were jumping up and down as they prepared for a game. Instead of only being contained in the locker room, it was felt through the whole town (and not figuratively speaking either as it usually was).

Some didn't want to believe it, but Dillon experienced its very first earthquake. While it didn't last long it sure packed its punch. Tami's wedding photo (as well as every other picture) on the mantel fell, leaving its frame completely useless. It could always be replaced. Matt wasn't so lucky. A few football trophies from the bed stand fell on top on him while he slept, leaving a few black and blue marks across his face, as well as a busted lip. An ice pack would do the trick.

But that was the least of their problems.

The power was out, and the water mains were busted. And once reality hit, people began to panic.

"This is really stupid," Tyra exclaimed to Landry as she tried to put her back porch in order again.

"How? We just got hit by an earthquake. This doesn't happen... well it doesn't happen."

"I know that! It's just… people act like the world is ending because a few things fell out of place or the power isn't on. Seriously, someone tried to steal the bottled water I had in my hand while I was at the gas station. No really, I'm not kidding."

"I believe you. Some people are just weird like that. Don't worry about it."

"I hate this town." Tyra shoves a chair back in its place with force.

--

"What'd mean there was an earthquake?"

"I mean, there was an earthquake, honey. Yes, an actual earthquake. That's what I'm saying to you."

Coach rubbed his hand over his face as he sat at his desk in his new office at TMU. How the hell did an earthquake hit Dillon?

"Well, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. The house is a mess and the power is out, but I'm fine. Don't come home, please."

"Get Julie to help you clean. I don't want you doing it all by yourself. You're pregnant."

"Oh, I'm pregnant? So, that's why my stomach is so big these days, and I get so cranky and tired all the time. Thank you sweetheart, I had no idea." She laughed.

"Stop laughing, this isn't funny."

"Oh honey, will you calm down. It's not the end of the world. You just go back to doing what you're doing, and I'll call you later after everything here gets settled, okay?"

--

"Whoa! What happen to your face?" Julie asked as she walked into Matt's house, which was a complete mess. There were things everywhere. Magazines, pictures, broken glass from tea cups. It was no wonder Matt called her for help.

"Oh, some of my trophies fell on me while I was sleeping. It's no big deal. I'm fine." Matt said, as if getting his face bruised happened to him all the time. Julie could tell he was trying a tough jock approach, and sadly, it wasn't working very well.

"Well, if you say so," she answered sarcastically.

"What? You don't believe me." He moved closer and closer towards her. And before she knew it, he was kissing her. She backed away quickly.

"How 'bout we clean this place up before we do anything else."

He nodded his head in disapproval and started cleaning as Grandma took a nap in her room. The heat building up in the small house was almost unbearable to stand. Almost immediately, they were soaked in sweat, and about an hour later, the house was back to normal. They sat down outside on Matt's front porch, trying to breathe in any cool air they could find, and hoping a breeze would come and cool them off. But with it only being mid-afternoon, they had another few hours before the night would kill the heat. And with the water still not running, a shower was completely out of the question.

"My house is a lot cooler probably. Wanna go over there until it starts getting dark out, bring Grandma with us?"

"Yeah, let me go wake her up."

Matt quickly got up and walked inside his house. A few minutes later, he was back outside again, helping Grandma walk down the steps.

They walked towards the Taylor house, looking around at everyone cleaning up the mess that's been made. They noticed that not a lot of damage was caused by the quake, which left them wondering just why people were going crazy. Sure the inside of their houses were probably a mess, but it wasn't like their house collapsed.

"Some people just like to cause trouble, that's what I always say, right Matthew?" Grandma told them both.

"Yeah, Grandma, that's what you say."

"I sure hope the power comes back on soon. I'm gonna miss my show."

--

They arrived at the Taylor house a few minutes later, Tami lying on the couch with a bag of ice over her face. Maybe instead of her husband coming home, she would go over there with Julie for a few days, let everything here get settled first. It's not like anyone needed her here anyway. She heard the sound of the door open and tried her hardest to get herself up, but being 8 months pregnant didn't help anything.

"Mom… you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Tami yelled out. After struggling to get her feet off the couch, she was able to get up and greet Julie, and Matt, and Grandma.

"Oh, Mrs. Taylor, how are you? Oh, look at you," Grandma shouted as her walked towards her.

"Hello Mrs. Saracen." She shot Julie a look as she hugged Matt's grandmother. Matt saw it and tried to get Grandma away for a second.

"Come on Grandma, let's just you something to drink."

Julie stared at her mother.

"What was I supposed to do, leave them in that house all day?"

"Well honey, you could have told me you were coming. This house is just as hot as theirs –"

"No, it already feels better in here. Trust me on that."

"If you say so." She took a look at Matt.

"Matt, there's some bottled water in the freezer."

She again looked at Julie.

"Well, they might as well stay for dinner. Just next time, please tell me before hand."

"Yeah, I will." Julie rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen, as someone began knocking on the door.

"Don't you rolls your eyes at me, missy. Now who is this!?"

Tami walked to the door and found Buddy standing in front of her. What the hell did he want?

"Buddy, so good to see you," she said in a sarcastic tone, hoping he'd turn around and walk away.

"Hey Tami. How are you? Everything alright?"

"Yep, we're doing alright. What brings you to the neighborhood?"

"Well, just thought I stop by, see how you were doing. The power should be back on in an hour or two."

"Great. How about the water?"

"They're replacing some of the broken pipes but that should be done by tomorrow. It wasn't as bad as they originally thought. But we have a bigger problem."

"We do?" Tami wasn't sure what Buddy was getting at. The power was about to come back on, the water would be on by morning, what else was there to worry about. But more importantly, what was wrong that concerned her?

"It's about the football field. The stadium took a lot of damage. And well…"

"Well what?" This didn't sound very good. By now both Matt and Julie were standing behind Tami wondering what was going on.

"The stands need to be replaced. The visitors completely collapsed and the home stands are about to do the same. The field goals posts fell over, our scoreboard was destroyed. The whole place is a mess. The board trying to decide what to do. We might have to play somewhere else if this doesn't get fixed in time."

Matt and Julie stared at each other and then again at Buddy. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. How did this happen? And what's going to happen if they have to play somewhere else? It'll be a nightmare.

All of a sudden the screams and the panic make sense. Dillon's world was centered on that football field. And none of them could imagine what life would be like if they couldn't be there on Friday nights, if they had to be somewhere else instead. It felt like a knife stabbing them all in the heart.

Maybe the world was really ending.