How It All Goes Down
- For the second time, Katniss hears an announcement that the Games are beginning. She knows she has 60 seconds to stay still and evaluate her surroundings. Then she can get going.
- She's super worried and upset about Cinna, but she forces herself to stay focused.
- She scopes out the arena. This part is water-based, and the Cornucopia, which is where the supplies and weapons are, is equally far away from all the tributes. To get to it, she'll have to swim.
- Katniss and the others have to be constantly aware of possible death traps and dangers. The water looks safe, but is it?
- The 60 seconds are up. Katniss throws herself into the water and swims desperately to the Cornucopia. She makes it there super fast and snags the perfect weapon: a bow.
- The next person there is Finnick, who has his own favorite weapons: a trident and a net.
- Katniss nearly kills him before Finnick reminds her that they are allies. He shows her a bracelet that Effie got for Haymitch.
- Katniss interprets this as a sign from Haymitch and is annoyed, because she didn't want any allies. Already, though, she can tell she's going to need them.
- Finnick then saves Katniss' life, killing one of the tributes from 5. He lets Katniss know that the tributes from 1 and 2 are liars.
- Katniss and Finnick evaluate the Cornucopia. It only has weapons, not food or other supplies, so they move on. Katniss wants to get to Peeta, because he can't swim. She then has to make a choice to trust Finnick when he offers to go get Peeta.
- Katniss calculates that four other tributes – Gloss, Cashmere, Enobaria, and Brutus – have made it through the water to get weapons.
- Mags, the old lady Katniss originally thought of as an ally, has begun to swim on her own. Finnick brings Peeta to shore then goes back to help Mags.
- They are a small, unlikely group of allies.
- Katniss sees that Beetee is still alive. She isn't ready to become allies with him or Wiress yet.
- So, after divvying up the weapons, the four of them move away from the Cornucopia.
- Katniss realizes they are in a kind of tropical woods. They hike up and up, through thick jungle.
- She stops and observes the Cornucopia. The Games have already started in earnest and several people are dead. She thinks about how she and Peeta don't really have any allies. Can they truly trust Finnick?
- She thinks about dropping him right then and there, but he's onto her and is ready. They acknowledge that all of the tributes, deep down, have the capability of being ruthless killers, except for Peeta. They are at a stalemate and Peeta interrupts. They can't stay where they are.
- They keep hiking, looking for some source of fresh water.
- Then they reach some kind of shimmery barrier. Just in time, Katniss realizes that she's seen it before: it's a force field, the kind that rebounds.
- Before she can let the others know, Peeta launches into it. The field throws him back into the others and knocks him out completely. It seems like he's not even breathing.