The morning dawned bright and clear, with the chipper chirping of the early birds. Everyone was a little stiff from the day before, so the pace was slow and easy. No one complained about this though, as it was a perfect opportunity to just soak everything in. The horizon was a pale pink streak poised just above a jagged row of mountain rock and deciduous trees. It was these trees that concealed a steep verdant valley far below, like leaves littering the forest floor.

The day before they had spent all of their time ascending the mountain slope, but now they would be winding from mountain to mountain through various passes, before dipping briefly into the valley trails below. They were still far from that point though, and had a lot of ground to cover. Still, they had time.

It was work for Kathy, though. She always liked to be on good terms with her clients and didn’t think that was going very well. Today, she resolved, would be different. They would like her, she would make them. Donning a determined expression, Kathy looked for someone to befriend.

She spoke first to a young man who looked to be about her age. He looked reasonably athletic, and always seemed to want to lead the pack. While talking to him, Kathy learned that his name was Alex, and he was a very recent hire at the company. He liked outdoorsy things, though he didn’t indulge himself in them often. They continued to talk for several hours about superfluous things, and camping gear. As a whole, Kathy thought things went pretty well.

As the day wore on temperatures began to rise. It wasn’t yet summer, but the balmy cool of the morning gave way to a sweltering heat. Still, the group trudged along, complaining intermittently as they received constant reminders from Kathy to drink plenty of water. She didn’t need anyone falling out on her watch. The park’s budget didn’t need that either.

As evening fell, they arrived at the next camping site. It looked very similar to the one the day before, wooden platforms for the tents and the trail nearby. The main difference was that the path happened to skirt right by the cliff’s edge.

As they were preparing their tents Kathy noticed that Alex wasn’t looking very well. His face was red and sweat streamed down like he was still under the hot sun.

“Are you OK?” Kathy asked him, concerned.

“I’ll be fine.” He said weakly. “I’m just not feeling the best right now. Maybe it’s the heat getting to me. I’m just going to go lie down.”

With that, he vanished into his tent. Kathy frowned. That didn’t make sense. The sun had already gone down, and the temperature had been declining for awhile. Besides, it was Kathy’s job to know the signs of heat exhaustion, and those weren’t it. Quickly, she decided to check in on the others. She was surprised to find that several others looked the same. When asked about this they all gave the same response. It must be the heat. That didn’t sit right with Kathy, but she suggested that they get some rest. She decided to sleep on it too, hoping that it was just a weird bug that would work its way out of their system by the morning.

Halfway through the night Kathy was awoken to a very loud retching sound. Quickly leaving her tent, she found Alex bent over some nearby

“Are you okay?” She asked him, keeping her distance. Vomit made her queasy.

“I’ll...be alright.” Alex insisted in labored breaths before retching again.

“Are you sure?” She responded, somewhat more persistently “Because you clearly don't look okay.”

“I...will be fine.”

Feeling helpless and uneasy and wanting to remove herself from the situation, Kathy decided to go for a walk. Just a little ways down the trail she was astonished to see Dr. Forisch by himself, seated on a rock.

“What are you doing here so late, all by yourself?” Kathy asked him.

The doctor jumped a little, as though he had been awoken from a stupor. “I needed some time to be alone and collect my thoughts.” He replied, a sheepish smile on his face. “Why are you here?”

Kathy sighed, “Honestly, the same reason you are.”

The doctor started to get up, “Well then, don’t let me disturb you.”

Kathy held up a hand to stop him. “Wait a moment, you said that you’re always learning, do you have any idea what’s going on with the other hikers?”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess you didn’t notice, but several of the campers have fallen sick. They seem to be running a fever and vomiting. Do you know what might be causing that?”

“Hmm...” He thought. “It could be heat exhaustion.”

“I don’t think so. I made sure that everyone was drinking enough water. Besides, they didn’t start falling sick until long after things had started cooling off.”

“Maybe it was something in the water.”

“You think they might’ve been poisoned?”

“Tell me, why are you not sick?”

“What do you mean, why should I be sick?”

“Well, you drank the water just like the rest of them.”

“What does that have to do with anything… unless...” Kathy stood there for a moment shocked. “You poisoned the water!”

“Poison’s not really the right word for it. I did find the time to… tamper with everyone’s water while they slept, but that’s beside the point. All of my previous studies have shown that there should be a preliminary reaction, yet you and several others here have shown no symptoms. I would like to know why.”

“So, you’re using us as a science experiment?... That’s insane!”

Dr. Forisch looked Kathy dead in the eyes, smiling faintly as he did so. “Did I ever claim to be sane?”

“I’m going to make sure you end up behind bars for this, you can’t just poison people! What if someone dies?”

“Yes, what if someone does die?” The doctor said thoughtfully.

“Is that a threat?”

Dr. Forisch smiled broadly. “Perhaps...”

Kathy turned to run back toward the camp. She needed to get away from this madman and fast. She had barely taken two steps, though, before she felt a searing pain in her back. She fell under an onslaught of furious stabbing. Writhing in agony, she locked eyes with the cold merciless eyes of her assailant whose every strike was surgical, calculated, and ultimately, lethal.