After Mitchell’s death, Peeta is horrified by what he has done and insists that the squad kill him or at least give him a nightlock pill before he hurts anyone else. Finnick and Jackson reject the idea, and Gale promises to kill Peeta if the Capitol captures him again. Katniss thinks through how convenient Peeta’s death would be for the squad and how much Snow would enjoy forcing that choice on her, then refuses to let Peeta be discarded because the mission still needs him.

To regroup, the squad searches the luxury apartment for food while keeping watch. Guided by Messalla’s knowledge of Capitol homes, they uncover hidden supplies and eat scavenged canned goods and cookies. Peeta quietly gives Katniss a can of lamb stew, recalling a happier memory from their first Games. While they eat, a Capitol broadcast appears: Snow declares the star squad dead and belittles Katniss as a symbol, but Beetee hijacks the signal so Coin can deliver a eulogy that turns Katniss into an even more powerful martyr for the rebellion before Snow regains control and threatens to display her body.

Knowing the Capitol will soon discover they survived, Katniss studies the Holo with Jackson and realizes the streets ahead are thick with pods. The group eliminates every other option and decides to travel underground through the Capitol’s tunnel system. Before leaving, they erase signs of their stay. Peeta again begs to be left behind with a poison pill, but Katniss forces the issue and makes him come in restraints. The squad squeezes through a maintenance shaft into another apartment, then descends into the tunnels.

Below ground, Castor explains that Pollux once worked in these passages as an Avox, which reveals why he is so shaken. Peeta briefly sounds like his old self when he tells Pollux that this history makes him the squad’s most valuable asset. That proves true: Pollux guides them through the maze, avoids cameras, trains, hazards, and timed sewer surges, and helps them make far better progress than they could above ground. Near dawn the squad rests in a machine room, with Pollux too unsettled to sleep.

During Katniss’s watch, she studies the Holo with Pollux, feeds Peeta, and asks about how he distinguishes altered memories from real ones. Peeta explains that the tracker-jacker-tainted memories feel unnaturally intense and unstable, which gives Katniss hope that he can keep sorting truth from lies. When Katniss gently touches him and tells him that protecting each other is real, Peeta accepts the reassurance and falls asleep. But as the squad prepares to move again, Katniss hears a strange hissing in the tunnels that resolves into one repeated word: her name.