The Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin with Katniss still reeling from seeing Cinna beaten just before launch. She forces herself to focus, studies the arena, and realizes the tributes are arranged around a circular Cornucopia with narrow land spokes between stretches of saltwater. When the gong sounds, Katniss swims hard to the Cornucopia, reaches it quickly, and seizes a golden bow and arrows because she knows a weapon is her best chance of surviving the opening bloodbath.

Katniss immediately faces Finnick Odair, who has a trident and net. She nearly shoots him, but Finnick reveals a gold bangle from Haymitch, signaling that Haymitch wants Katniss to trust him. Katniss accepts the alliance just in time for Finnick to kill the male tribute from District 5 and warn her against Districts 1 and 2. Working together, Katniss and Finnick defend opposite sides of the Cornucopia, Katniss wounds Gloss in the leg, and Brutus is driven back when Katniss shoots his belt and releases a burst of purple liquid.

Katniss then sees Peeta still stranded on his plate and heads for him, but Finnick insists on retrieving Peeta while Katniss provides cover. Finnick jokingly invokes Peeta and Katniss's false pregnancy to keep Katniss from overexerting herself, then swims out and brings Peeta safely back. Mags also joins them, and Finnick explains that the belts are flotation devices, which helps explain how some weaker swimmers are surviving. The group arms itself and flees the Cornucopia for the inland jungle before the Career pack can pursue.

As they climb through the hot, wet jungle, Katniss studies the strange terrain and realizes how different this arena is from anything she knows. From a tree, she looks back and sees the bloody fighting still continuing around the Cornucopia, which destroys any hope that the victors' public solidarity would prevent slaughter inside the arena. Because Finnick is so dangerous, Katniss decides she may need to kill him before he betrays them, but when she comes down she finds Finnick equally alert and suspicious. Their mutual standoff confirms that both understand the alliance is fragile, while Peeta stands out as unusually decent compared with the others.

Peeta breaks the tension by pushing the group onward to find freshwater and shelter before nightfall. Katniss, Finnick, Peeta, and Mags continue uphill, assuming they are nearing a ridge, but Katniss suddenly recognizes the shimmer of a hidden force field like the one Beetee and Wiress demonstrated in training. She warns too late: Peeta swings his knife into the barrier, is hurled backward by the shock, and lies motionless. When Katniss reaches him, she finds no breath and no heartbeat, ending the chapter with Peeta apparently dead.