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.

Transcript

Desperate escape from the heat

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

Warning signs at the quarry

Speaker 1 0:58

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

Josh's mysterious infection begins

Speaker 1 1:44

. 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

Government cover-up revealed

Speaker 1 2:49

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

The horror becomes personal

Speaker 1 4:04

. 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-world clean water mission

Speaker 1 4:52

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 .