Katniss runs toward screams she thinks are Prim’s, only to discover that a jabberjay is imitating her sister’s voice. She kills the bird, but Finnick soon hears another scream he recognizes as Annie Cresta’s and runs after it in panic. Katniss follows, shoots down that jabberjay as well, and is shaken further when Finnick suggests the birds may be repeating screams the Capitol recorded during real torture. When Gale’s voice begins, Finnick physically drags Katniss away toward the beach.

At the edge of the jungle, Katniss and Finnick slam into an invisible barrier that seals off the four-to-five-o’clock wedge. Peeta, Johanna, and Beetee are just outside it and cannot get through. As the hour continues, jabberjays gather in the trees and bombard Katniss and Finnick with the voices of their loved ones, breaking their resistance. When the attack finally ends, Peeta comforts Katniss and argues that Prim and the others must still be alive because the Capitol would need them for the final-eight interviews. Beetee confirms that voices could be altered, while Johanna bitterly says the Capitol would not risk killing Prim and provoking rebellion, then reveals that no one she loves is left to use against her.

Once the group regains itself, Johanna fetches water and Katniss’s arrows, Beetee resumes working with his wire, and Finnick goes into the water. Peeta explains that Annie Cresta is the unstable District 4 victor Mags volunteered to save, and Katniss realizes Annie is the person Finnick truly loves. A cannon sounds, and the group watches a hovercraft retrieve the torn-apart remains of a tribute from the six-to-seven-o’clock section. They update their leaf map, labeling the jabberjay sector and the unknown deadly area as “beast,” and the evening anthem confirms that eight tributes have died so far in this arena. A parachute from District 3 delivers rolls, which they divide before moving to a safer beach after the giant wave recedes.

During first watch, Katniss and Peeta talk alone. Peeta says Haymitch must have promised both of them survival and insists Katniss must be the one to live because she still has family and a future, while he would have no life without her. To drive the point home, Peeta opens his mockingjay token and shows Katniss a locket containing pictures of Prim, her mother, and Gale. The gift makes clear that Peeta intends to give up his own life so Katniss can return to the people waiting for her.

Katniss finally tells Peeta that she needs him, and this time her kiss is not an act for the audience but a genuine expression of desire and attachment. Their intimacy is interrupted by the midnight lightning strike and Finnick waking from his nightmares. Before Katniss sleeps, Peeta puts the locket around her neck and briefly invokes their staged baby for the cameras, signaling that the performance aspect of the Games still matters. As Katniss falls asleep, she imagines a future with no Capitol and no Hunger Games, where Peeta’s child could live safely.