On reaping day, which is also his sixteenth birthday, Haymitch Abernathy wakes in the Seam to his brother Sid’s excitement and his own dread. He wants to finish his work early so he can spend the afternoon with Lenore Dove, but his mother reminds him he still has chores. As Haymitch heads through the mist to the woods, he reflects on the second Quarter Quell, which will double District 12’s tributes and make the day even more dangerous.

Haymitch slips under the fence to work for Hattie Meeney at her illegal still. He helps carry cracked corn, stir mash, and chop wood while Hattie avoids drawing attention from Capitol patrols. As a birthday gift, Hattie gives Haymitch a pint of white liquor and lets him leave early. On the way to Lenore Dove, Haymitch thinks about his dead father’s reputation for possible rebellion and about Clerk Carmine’s distrust of him, which makes his relationship with Lenore Dove harder.

In the Meadow, Haymitch finds Lenore Dove playing her accordion and singing a rebellious song about theft, power, and unjust laws. Haymitch remembers first meeting her in the woods years earlier and recalls how her intelligence, music, and willingness to challenge authority drew him to her. Lenore Dove and Haymitch kiss, discuss the reaping, and argue about whether terrible systems must continue just because they always have. Lenore Dove then gives Haymitch a beautiful metal flint striker made with Tam Amber’s help, telling Haymitch that the snake and bird in its design are survivors. Both of them are frightened by the day ahead, and their private moment ends when Clerk Carmine calls Lenore Dove away to get ready.

Back home, Haymitch dresses for the ceremony, receives underwear and a pocketknife from his mother, and gets a piece of flint from Sid after Lenore Dove has already told Sid what Haymitch would need. Haymitch tests the striker, and his mother threads it onto a leather lace so he can wear it. Before the reaping, Haymitch goes into town, where the square is crowded with Peacekeepers and propaganda. He checks in, sells Hattie’s liquor to Asterid March at the apothecary, receives a chamomile sprig for luck, buys gumdrops for Lenore Dove, and joins the boys’ pen while calculating how his tesserae and the Quarter Quell have sharply worsened his odds.

The ceremony begins with the anthem, the Treaty of Treason, and the arrival of Capitol escort Drusilla Sickle. Drusilla draws Louella McCoy and then Maysilee Donner as the girls’ tributes, provoking anger and shock in the crowd. For the boys, Drusilla draws Wyatt Callow and then Woodbine Chance. Haymitch is relieved that neither he nor Lenore Dove has been chosen, but that relief turns to horror when Woodbine tries to flee. As some people instinctively block the Peacekeepers, a shot comes from the Justice Building rooftop, and Woodbine is killed before he can escape.