After the reaping ceremony, Peacekeepers escort Katniss and Peeta to the Justice Building for the traditional farewell visits. Alone in a lavish room, Katniss prepares herself to stay composed for the cameras. When Prim and Katniss's mother arrive, Katniss immediately shifts into planning for their survival: she orders Prim not to take tesserae, explains how they can live on goat products and her mother's apothecary work, and reminds them that Gale will help with herbs and game. Katniss then confronts her mother about the period after her father's death, demanding a promise that Katniss's mother will not retreat again and leave Prim helpless.

Prim asks Katniss to try to come home, and Katniss swears that she will. After they are taken away, Peeta's father unexpectedly visits Katniss, brings her cookies, and promises to watch over Prim and make sure she is fed, which eases some of Katniss's fear. Madge then arrives with a gold bird pin and insists that Katniss wear it as the district token allowed in the arena. Katniss accepts the gift and begins to realize that Madge may care for her more deeply than she had understood.

Gale is Katniss's final visitor. He focuses on survival, urging Katniss to get or make a bow because it is her best weapon, and he tries to reframe the Games as a form of hunting that matches her strengths. Katniss resists the comparison because the targets are people, but Gale grimly suggests that survival may depend on suppressing that distinction. As Peacekeepers drag him away, Katniss panics about her family's future, and Gale promises they will not starve before being cut off mid-sentence.

At the station, Katniss deliberately hides her emotions from the cameras, while Peeta openly appears to have been crying. On the high-speed train to the Capitol, Katniss is struck by the luxury of her compartment and the abundance of hot water, clothing, and food. Before supper, she examines Madge's pin and recognizes it as a mockingjay. Katniss recalls how jabberjays were engineered by the Capitol to spy during the rebellion, how they unexpectedly bred with mockingbirds after being abandoned, and how mockingjays became linked in her mind to her father, whose singing once drew them to answer him. Wearing the pin makes Katniss feel protected and connected to home.

At dinner, Effie Trinket fusses over manners while Katniss and Peeta gorge themselves on rich food, partly because they are hungry and partly because Katniss wants to gain strength before the Games. They then watch a broadcast of the reapings from across Panem and begin to assess the other tributes, including several who stand out as dangerous or vulnerable. Katniss is especially haunted by a young girl from District 11 who resembles Prim and has no volunteer to save her. When the recap reaches District 12, the group sees Katniss volunteer, the crowd's silent salute, and Haymitch's drunken collapse. Effie reminds Katniss and Peeta that Haymitch, despite being drunk, is crucial because he must mentor them and secure sponsors; almost immediately, Haymitch stumbles in, vomits on the carpet, and confirms how unreliable their lifeline appears.