Maysilee emerges from behind a tree just after Panache attacks Haymitch and kills Panache with a poisoned dart. Haymitch, shaken by the realization that he has just killed two tributes in self-defense, agrees to an alliance with Maysilee, who immediately proves useful by taking a dagger from the dead District 4 girl and stitching Haymitch’s wounds with a stolen first-aid kit. As they move away from the hedge and watch the hovercraft recover the bodies, Haymitch also sees how badly Maysilee has been burned and beaten during the Games, which changes how he thinks about the girl he once knew back home.

Once Haymitch is treated, the two pool their food and share the last of Haymitch’s grape juice from his treasured glass. Their conversation turns practical and grim: Maysilee says the arena is malfunctioning, and neither of them knows how many tributes remain. During the anthem, they count the dead and learn that the Careers have been devastated, District 3 has been wiped out, and only ten tributes are left alive, including just two Careers. The count forces Haymitch to face the scale of the slaughter, while Maysilee reveals that Panache was her second kill.

A sponsor gift then arrives in the form of hot bean-and-ham soup, which Haymitch recognizes as comfort from Mags. Sharing the meal steadies both tributes, and they decide a fire may be worth the risk if it helps other Newcomers find them. Before sleeping, Haymitch finally gives words to the trust that has grown between them, and Maysilee agrees to be his "sister," turning their alliance into an emotional bond that feels like family.

At dawn on the fifth day, Haymitch lets Maysilee sleep while he keeps watch and recommits himself to reaching the arena’s northern edge and, beyond it, the hidden generator. He does not tell Maysilee his true goal because he fears the Gamemakers are watching, but he steers their planning northward anyway. Together they improvise a rain catcher from Maysilee’s tarp and Haymitch’s glass, then search the ambush site and find the Careers’ hidden supplies, including food, gear, medicine, and a blowtorch. After a small breakfast, they set out, pass the blueberry bushes where Lou Lou once found Haymitch, and stop while Maysilee restocks the poison for her darts using the deadly berries.

As they travel, Haymitch and Maysilee avoid several lingering arena hazards left by earlier disasters and eventually reach the hedge again. Haymitch explains that the maze twists people around and proposes cutting straight through it instead of trying to solve it. When both tributes slash into the hedge together, they discover that it is far more dangerous than it first appeared: the holly berries burst free as ladybug-like creatures, fasten themselves to their skin, swell to the size of acorns, and begin exploding, splattering Haymitch with his own blood.