At dawn, Haymitch wakes exhausted and grieving, with Silka gone from their uneasy truce. Black smudges on his fingers make him realize that Maysilee's token necklace was modified, just as Beetee hinted, and he secretly unwraps it under the tarp to confirm it contains a hidden blasting cap and fuse. Because the generator is unreachable, Haymitch decides his last possible sabotage target is the Cornucopia, and he imagines luring Silka there, destroying both her and the Capitol's symbol while giving Wellie a chance to outlive him.

Before any attack, Haymitch focuses on keeping Wellie alive. Wellie wakes terrified of being abandoned again, so Haymitch carries her down from the tree, tries to make her comfortable, and realizes the rain has left too little dry fuel to bake the last potato. To protect her while he searches, Haymitch gives Wellie Maysilee's loaded blowgun and tells her Maysilee believed she could be a good victor because she never stopped being a Newcomer. Haymitch then hides Wellie behind wild grapevines and goes hunting for dry wood.

While searching, Haymitch receives a sponsor basket containing milk in a pitcher that matches the one he saw in Plutarch's library. The gift forces Haymitch into a panic: it might be help from allies, but he increasingly believes it is a message from Snow and that the milk is poisoned. Haymitch concludes that Snow has trapped him into choosing between poisoning Wellie, seeming to neglect her, or drinking the milk himself. Just as Haymitch prepares to accept that fate, a cannon sounds, and he runs back toward Wellie's hiding place.

Haymitch finds Silka standing over Wellie's decapitated body, holding Wellie's severed head. The poisoned dart from the blowgun hangs harmlessly from Silka's sleeve, proving Wellie tried to defend herself. Silka says she had to kill Wellie and Haymitch to get back to her people and honor the Capitol, but Haymitch answers that everyone has people and decides that neither of them will leave as victor. Their axe fight is savage and closely matched at first, but Silka's training eventually tells: she slashes Haymitch's gut open and disarms him. Haymitch blindly stabs backward with his knife, gouges out one of Silka's eyes, and staggers away toward the holly hedge and canyon.

Silka follows Haymitch out to the cliff despite the danger and throws her axe at him. Haymitch collapses, the axe sails over him into the canyon, and the force field sends it spinning back into Silka's head, killing her. Mortally wounded, Haymitch realizes he still has the blasting cap, fuse, explosive, and tinder, so he abandons the Cornucopia plan and makes one final bomb. Using the Capitol card and candy wrappers to start a flame, Haymitch ignores the Gamemakers' shouted orders, lights the shortened fuse, and throws the sunflower bomb into the canyon, hoping the explosion will strike the force field. With Lenore Dove's flint striker tucked against his heart, Haymitch feels the blast shake the earth and dies believing his last act was defiance, not surrender.