Adron.

I decided we should spend the rest of the day there, and then set out tomorrow to search for a water source. We had our water bottle, so the need was not urgent, but it would be good to find a place where we could stock up. Besides, my hands needed to heal a bit more before we engaged in combat; the bat would only help me so far if I couldn't hold it properly. I was really glad the pain was gone though. It was a killer. We spent the rest of the day in an on-and off silence, talking occasionally, but not really discussing much of importance, and it was late-afternoon when the girl came wondering up to the wall. Jolissa and I both crouched down low when she appeared, but she seemed kind of out of it, walking around distantly and suddenly stopping for no reason. She had a small axe in her hand. I couldn't remember what district she was from, but she had black hair, olive skin and grey eyes. I knew that people who looked like her they came from one of the poorer districts but I couldn't figure out which one.

"That's Islara. She's from District 12." Whispers Jolissa beside me.

Great. I really hope I don't have to fight her, because names really mess up my ability to kill. The District 12 guy was definitely easier than Tiden. Tiden haunted me, and the other guy didn't as much.

She walked right up to the metal wall, and trace her finger in a circle on one part of it. Then she turned and stood there for a while, and then wandered back into the trees.

I decided not going to go after her. She wasn't attacking us, and my hands were a disablement to me. Once she's well gone, I turned to Jolissa.

"Please don't tell me any more names." I told her, letting an edge of annoyance creep into my voice.

"Why not?" She asked, looking a bit put out.

"Because I said so." I snapped. She huffed, and started off.

"Look, you're not in charge here-"

"Here?" I Interrupted. "Yes, Jolissa Kennedy, I am."

She hated it when I used her middle name. "We're not at home, which means one of us has to be in charge, and that's me. Unless you want to lead us in here?"

"I'm just saying I'd appreciate it if you explained to me why you're telling my not to do stuff. And don't abuse you power." She said back, all riled up now.

"Whatever. Just don't do it." I snapped, and move over to the other side of the branch. I know I started this argument, but now I knew she was going to go on one of her long, boring rants explaining everything to me. I usually got frustrated and had to leave before she's done.

To my surprise, however, she just sniffed and turned back to the supplies.

We didn't talk for the rest of the evening. She left me to my thoughts, which were not good. I kept remembering Tiden's body crumple in my hands, and his blood seep over my fist. I had washed it off now, but my hand still felt itchy, and I wanted to wash it again and again, to try and get this blood of my hands. I knew I couldn't; the guy was dead, along with the District 12 guy, and there was nothing I could do to change that. I had to set my teeth and live with it. I kept telling myself that, but I couldn't believe it, and I needed something to do. It was just getting dark when something happened.

The moon was in the sky, so it wasn't completely dark, and the last rays of sunlight were just setting in the east- which told me we headed south-east this morning to get here- when a clanging noise got my attention. It was coming from the metal wall, and as I watched, holes opened up all along it- just a few inches above the surface of the water. They deeply contrasted with the rest of the silver wall bleached in the moonlight. They just stayed there; open for a few seconds and then a steady stream of black started pouring out of the holes.

At first I thought it was some kind of black liquid, but as I look longer, I realized it's dozens of fish, all about the length of my foot, long and thin. They were squirming and writhing, flopping into the water and spreading out into it; making it seem like a sea of black was slowly making its way towards us. The fish were jumping and flopping in the water, stirring it up like a kind of frenzy.

Jolissa stood and picked up the spear and climbed down a long, flat root that goes to about to about 4 feet from the water. It was fairly easy to climb up and down on; we couldn't make our way up on it because the mud was too soft and deep in that area (not like the sticky quicksand stuff, but still dangerous) She slid down, using the spear as a walking stick and peered at the water. She squinted and peered closer, though she was careful to cling onto a strong plant that's holding onto the root. I grab my club and walk over to the edge, cautious.

"You know what they are?" I asked.

"No. I can't tell-there's too many of them, they move too fast and they're too black." She said shortly. I remember we're supposed to be mad at one another.

She stood up.

"I'm going to try and spear one." She told me, and jabbed her spear into the water before I could tell her that's a very bad idea.

I lunged forward, knowing that with the amount of force she put into her thrust her spear won't stop until it hits something solid. There was nothing solid in that area for meters. She was tipping over, caught by her thrust, and was tumbling into the water below, her feet clinging to the root she was standing on; her hand clutching the spear tightly. I was not going to make it in time- but then, thankfully, the spear hit something solid a few feet beneath the water- perhaps a root, perhaps just the buildup of the mass of bodies, and Jolissa was left hanging there, clinging onto the spear , her balance completely over the water. She tried to draw back, but her hands only slip a couple of inches down the shaft, and she was closer to falling into the water. The creatures below were in a frenzy, writhing and jumping up, and still more were coming,spreading out past us into the Arena. I heard a scream; a terrible, distant scream coming from the east and a few seconds later a cannon sounds. Right. I needed to get Jolissa out now. I slid down to her, unsure of how I was going to do this. There was nowhere really for me to grip that would hold both my weight and hers. I examined the club in my hands.

"Jolissa, if I hit you with enough force with that dislodge you and bring you back up?" I asked.

"Adron. I don't want to speak right now. I'm –whatever, yes it will work." She snapped at me, her voice filled with fear.

"This might hurt a bit." I informed her, and positioned myself at her side. I put both hands on the club, and swung it at a 45 degree angle. It caught on her left hip, which was what I was hoping for. The noise her hip and her lips made weren't quite what I would have liked, but she shot back and up. I lunged forward and caught her before she slid off the other side.

She was curled over, groaning and clutching her hip. I swiveled round; the spear was now falling against the tree; slowly sliding down the slippery root. I reached out and caught it before it gets lost in the water. There was about five of the slippery creatures on the end, but I couldn't identify them. They were definitely not fish- that much I could make out, but I guess Jolissa would have to tell me the rest.

"Are you ok?" I asked, turning back to her.

"I think you broke my hip." She complained loudly.

"And saved your life. C'mon, give me a bit of slack here."

"Are you sure there was no other way?" She muttered.

"Not that I could think of in that time. C'mon, let's head back up."

She nodded, and I helped her stand. She could still use her left leg, and her hip didn't look that bad. Maybe I just bruised it or something. She sat down and exposed her hip. There's a nasty bruise beginning to form, but as she poked it gingerly, she relaxed.

"It's not broken. It's just badly bruised." She said and turned back to me.

"So, did you get the spear?" She said, her attention captured by the new information.

"Yes." I told her rolling my eyes, and handing it over. She's an odd child- once she knows there's new information to be had, she just goes for it, no matter what.

She grabbed, it, and pulls one of the creatures up to her face. She stared at it for a few seconds, her eyes getting wider. Then she drops it and turned to the side, a disgusted expression on her face.

"So, what are they?" I asked.

"Hang on. I need to- ugh, I really hate these things." She said. She shaked her head, as if trying to expel them from her mind.

"What are they?" I asked again.

Just then however, the anthem starts trumpeting through the arena, and we turned our heads towards the sky. Despite the leafy canopy, there is enough space for us to see the faces of the tributes that have died today. They go through in order of District, and the first face that pops up is the girl from 3. It then moves onto Tiden, from four. Next was the girl from 5; the boy from 6; both the girl and the boy from 7; the boy from 9; the boy from 11- and then Islara's face pops up on the screen, followed by her companion from her District- who had been my other kill in the bloodbath.

Islara must have been the one who had screamed when the black creatures swarmed into the forest. I glanced down at the teeming creatures in the water; they were still pouring out of the sides and into the water.

They must be filling up the whole Arena with those things, I thought. The anthem stops playing, and it's all quiet again.

"So, what are they?" I repeated.

"Leech- mutts." Said Jolissa, pulling a grossed-out face.

"…and what are leeches?" I asked. I had never heard of them before.

"Right. We don't get them in District 8. It's too dry. They usually live in still-water, and only grow up to 2 inches long. The have little suckers for mouths." She picked up a leech with two fingers and showed me a gaping hole that's really slimy. It had rows of tiny teeth lining the edges, and as I looked, I make out two little eyes glittering at me.

"And they usually latch onto an animal and suck its blood."

"Wait, this happens in the wild?" I asked.

She nods.

"Yup. These ones though, are obviously much bigger than normal Leeches, and they have teeth that look like they're for biting. My guess it they'd eat you alive if you go in the water."

I looked back at the water at my feet, a new distaste for these vile creatures growing in my throat. I really hoped they went away soon, otherwise we'd have to make our way up the trees and across then to find water.

"Do you think they're edible?" I asked, looking doubtfully at the small, slimy little bodies stuck on the spear.

"No." Said Jolissa. "Well, maybe, but I'd rather not risk it."

She started pulling them off the end of the spear and tossing the back into the water.

I crawled into my sleeping bag, and Jolissa did the same with her own.

"I'll keep watch first." I told her. She nodded, and yawned.

"Do you think people will be able to reach us in this?" She asked.

"No, but we don't want to sleep through them going away." I told her. She nodded again, and turned to her right side, snuggling into the mossiest area and closing her eyes.

I stared out into the night, my eyes fixed on the holes in the wall. They eventually stopped pouring out the leech-mutts, but I didn't keep my eyes off them the entire time it was my watch. A body keeps crumpling in my grasp again and again.