During the apartment blackout, Beetee explains the sabotage plan in full. A giant water reservoir sits beneath the arena surface, and if Haymitch and Ampert can reach it through a mutt portal and blow a hole in the tank, the released water should flood the hidden control level and disable the arena. Beetee says the explosives are being designed to be safe until fully assembled, and Haymitch realizes his flint striker may be crucial for lighting the fuse.

Beetee also makes clear that Ampert was reaped to punish Beetee, and Beetee asks Haymitch not to let Ampert suffer. That forces Haymitch to confront how dangerous the mission is and how unlikely Ampert is to survive anyway. After the power returns, Haymitch lies awake weighing the impossible task against the dignity of striking back at the Capitol in Lenore Dove’s name.

The next morning, District 12 settles on a cover story for Lou Lou: they will pretend she is the injured but mentally altered Louella. Wiress and Mags suspect Lou Lou has an audio implant that lets the Capitol monitor conversations and direct her behavior, so the group treats her like a human jabberjay and avoids telling her anything important. In training, Haymitch and Ampert work to expand the anti-Career alliance, with Beetee insisting that District 9 is especially important.

Haymitch approaches District 9 during shelter training, but Panache interrupts by threatening them and smashing the sunflower token of a girl named Kerna. Maysilee repairs the broken token with improvised glue, and Haymitch uses the moment to connect with Kerna and the others instead of pressuring them. By lunch, District 9 joins the Newcomers, and Ampert has also brought in District 11, leaving the Careers allied only with District 5 while the Gamemakers begin recalculating the balance of power.

Before the private sessions, Haymitch decides his best cover is to act selfish, bitter, and focused only on winning, so the Capitol will not suspect the sabotage plot. In front of Head Gamemaker Faustina Gripper, Haymitch bluntly says Louella is dead, Lou Lou is a body double, and his alliance exists to keep him alive long enough to win. The Peacekeepers take his flint striker token for inspection afterward, which endangers his role in Beetee’s plan, and that night Haymitch learns his strategy has not earned respect: the Gamemakers give him a score of one.