Why You Should Never Swim in That Abandoned Quarry

A spine-chilling tale of government experiments at an abandoned quarry reveals how contaminated water can harbor terrifying secrets. What begins as a desperate attempt to escape the heat leads to encounters with mysterious organisms, government cover-ups, and a horrifying transformation that threatens to spread beyond control.

• Heat wave drives roommates to seek relief at a forbidden local quarry despite warning signs
• Strange observations at the quarry: no birds, warm water with oily film, metallic taste
• Josh develops mysterious symptoms after swimming - headaches, welts, and movement under his skin
• Government agents in black suits arrive at the hospital and Josh disappears completely
• Protagonist discovers "Project Clearwater" - biological weapons testing using aquatic delivery systems
• Infection spreads to the protagonist who begins to know classified information
• Warning that similar testing sites exist across the country
• Real-world connection to water contamination affecting millions worldwide

Join Team Water this August as we aim to raise $40 million to provide 2 million people with access to clean water across six continents. Every dollar gives one person access to clean water for a year, and $20 provides decades of access. Donate at teamwater.org because water connects us all and everyone deserves access to clean water.

Chapters

• 0:00 Desperate escape from the heat
• 0:58 Warning signs at the quarry
• 1:44 Josh's mysterious infection begins
• 2:49 Government cover-up revealed
• 4:04 The horror becomes personal
• 4:52 Real-world clean water mission

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It's not just the heat that'll kill you. Last month our AC went out during that insane heat wave you know the one, the one where it felt like the sun parked itself directly over the Midwest. The house we rent turned into a sauna and my roommates and I were desperate for somewhere to cool off. That's when someone suggested the quarry. It was the worst idea we ever had. There's this abandoned limestone quarry at the edge of town. Every small town has a place like it, the spot with a million stories attached. It's surrounded by an eight-foot chain-link fence with no trespassing signs every 20 feet, but there's always holes cut in the fence where people sneak through. People have always said not to swim there. The official story was liability. The mining company didn't want to get sued when some drunk teenager drowned in the deep water. But there were other stories, whispered rumors about people getting sick after swimming there, about strange fish found dead in the creek downstream and about how the water sometimes glowed faintly at night. Most of us just figured it was small-town paranoia, a rich mining company covering their ass, spreading ghost stories to keep people away so they wouldn't have to pay the settlements when someone inevitably got hurt. But we were wrong. When we got there we had to squeeze through a gap. Someone had cut in the chain-link fence. The warning signs were faded but still readable Danger, deep water and no swimming. Violators will be prosecuted.

Speaker 1: 1:10

I noticed things immediately beyond the fence there were no birds, not a single one, even though the surrounding woods were full of them. The water was unnaturally warm, despite it being spring-fed, and it had this weird oily film on top. My phone had lost signal the moment we stepped near the water's edge. I was ready to just sweat it out in the car, but Josh, he always had to be the tough guy. He laughed and plugged his nose and cannonballed right in the murky water. He came up coughing, said the water tasted metallic and the smell was like bleach mixed with something rotting. When he climbed out he sliced his foot on something sharp under the surface, something that looked suspiciously like metal debris, not natural rock. But that's when things got weird.

Speaker 1: 1:46

That night Josh started complaining about severe headaches and by morning his skin was covered in angry red welts. But it wasn't just a rash. We could see tiny movement under the skin. It feels like they're communicating with each other. Josh said his voice eerily calm. I knew something was wrong. I figured he had a fever and must be getting delusional from an infection.

Speaker 1: 2:04

We rushed him to the ER. The intake nurse took one look at him and her face went white. She lowered her voice and said that, quarry, there were some government contracts in the 1970s, something about chemical weapons testing. But the records are all classified. Within an hour of Josh being admitted, they showed up Three men in identical black suits, no badges. No hospital black suits, no badges, no hospital IDs, just government-issued earpieces and equipment that looked more military than medical. They cleared out the entire wing, moved the other patients and reassigned the staff.

Speaker 1: 2:34

Josh's condition got worse rapidly. The movements under his skin became more violent and more coordinated. Worse was, he started talking about things he shouldn't know Biological weapon delivery systems, aquatic dispersal methods, classified project names. They've been testing for decades, he whispered when I snuck in to see him. I can see all the data. Now we're not the first.

Speaker 1: 2:50

The next morning Josh was gone Not discharged, but gone. His room was stripped and sanitized and according to the hospital's computer system, he hadn't been there at all. The staff I'd spoken to the day before acted like they'd never even seen me, and when I mentioned Josh's name they just stared at me blankly. I tried calling Josh's family. His parents said they'd never had a son named Josh. When I tried to show them pictures on my phone, the images came up corrupted. That's when I started digging. I found declassified documents from 1978 mentioning Project Clearwater biological weapons testing using aquatic delivery systems. The test site coordinates matched with the quarry exactly. I discovered missing persons, reports going back decades, all people who had swam there. All cases closed with no explanation. The quarry wasn't just used for industrial dumping. It was a testing ground and it still is.

Speaker 1: 3:34

The itching started three days ago. At first it was just under my fingernails, but now it's spreading to my arms following specific patterns, like they were organized. The movements are subtle but deliberate, following the same organized patterns I saw in Josh's skin. Sometimes I catch myself knowing things I shouldn't, things like chemical formulas or biological terms I've never studied. I understand now what's happening. The organisms in that water aren't just parasites. They're data collectors, living surveillance systems that gather information and transmit it back to something. I've noticed new cameras around the quarry and they weren't there before. Federal-style warning signs with official government formatting Local police patrol in the area constantly now. But they're not keeping people out, they're monitoring who goes in the water is still there and there's still running tests. I think I'm becoming part of the experiment now. The itching is getting stronger and I can feel them learning from me, cataloging everything I know. I tried to warn people online, but my posts keep getting deleted. My internet history shows sites I've never visited. Someone's watching me If you're listening to this. Stay away from the abandoned quarries all of them because if my research is right, there are dozens of these testing sites across the country and they're all still active. The movements under my skin are getting more aggressive. Sometimes I hear them whispering coordinates, locations of other sites. I think they want me to go there. I think they want me to help them spread.

Speaker 1: 4:48

This story is fictional, but the horrors of contaminated water are very real. I'm Megan, the voice behind the scary stories from the Haunted Grove, and while I love sharing scary stories like this one with you, water contamination isn't just a horror story. It's a life-threatening reality for millions of people around the world every single day. Water connects us all. It's essential for life everywhere, for everyone.

Speaker 1: 5:08

The characters in this story made a choice to swim in the contaminated water, but there are countless people who don't get that choice because they don't even have access to clean, safe water. That's why I'm proud to be part of Team Water, the biggest creator crowdfunding campaign ever. Through the month of August, we have a goal of raising $40 million and to partner with local communities in over six continents to build solutions to open access to clean, life-saving water to 2 million people. Be part of the team and help us reach our goal by going to teamwaterorg right now to donate. Every dollar gives one person access to clean water for a year, and $20 will give them access for decades. Let's make history and do some good, because water connects us all and everyone deserves access to clean water.