Haymitch and Maysilee barely escape the northern hedge after the exploding ladybug mutts fasten onto their skin and drain their blood. Following Maysilee's orders, they pluck the bugs off each other one by one, strip down to check for hidden attackers, and end up weak, shaking, and half-dressed. They share water, jerky, and olives, then use a sudden rainstorm to wash themselves and their clothes and to refill their water jugs with the tarps.

As they recover, Haymitch and Maysilee joke that they are now blood kin, and their talk turns serious as they discuss their siblings, Merrilee and Sid, and the lasting damage the Hunger Games do to families and whole districts. When two cannons sound, they realize more tributes have died, but their own food supply is down to sardines, olives, and two potatoes, so they decide to risk the trip back toward the Cornucopia for supplies.

On the way south, Maysilee hears strange cries, and the pair investigate after an agonized male scream suggests one of the remaining Newcomer boys is in trouble. Hidden above a clearing, they find Buck and Chicory already dying and Hull badly wounded by a giant mutant porcupine whose metallic quills can be launched like projectiles. Haymitch and Maysilee improvise with doubled tarps as shields, and Haymitch throws his ax, but wounding the mutt only reveals how dangerous it is when it shakes loose volleys of poisoned quills.

After a cannon sounds, Haymitch changes tactics and uses olives to lure the mutt away from the clearing. He and Maysilee rush in, but Buck and Chicory are already dead, and Hull cannot swallow enough antidote to survive. After Hull dies as well, they take the antidote themselves as a precaution, close the boys' eyes, straighten their bodies for the hovercraft, and gather the dead tributes' supplies along with their own.

Exhausted and grieving, Haymitch and Maysilee hide in katniss and agree that one of them must win in order to become a victor who humiliates the Capitol instead of serving its script. They seal the promise with a pinkie swear, eat salvaged beans and trail mix, and note that only five tributes remain: Haymitch, Maysilee, Silka, Maritte, and Wellie. Maysilee takes first watch while Haymitch sleeps, but her childhood ladybug song triggers a chain of thoughts that leads Haymitch to a breakthrough: he suddenly knows how to get through the hedge maze.