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Summary: Chapters 19 & 20

Chapter 19

Haymitch is crestfallen to discover the arena was only damaged, not destroyed. Feeling miserable and defeated, he curls up on a branch and thinks about Lenore Dove’s name poem. 

Morning comes and Haymitch notices a faint humming, guessing it is from the generator that Beetee mentioned is just outside the arena. He considers the explosive sunflower he still has around his neck and decides to try to escape the arena and destroy the generator. He walks to the edge of the forest and comes to a tall hedge, littered with holly berries, that comes to a point like a V and stretches as far as he can see in both directions. He tries to navigate through the hedge but gets lost in the maze. He is about to hack his way out when a rabbit appears and Haymitch follows it out. However, he walks right into the Careers. He fights two of them off and soon finds himself face-to-face with Panache, who quickly disarms him. Panache is just about to go in for the kill when a dart pierces his throat. 

Chapter 20

Maysilee killed Panache with a poison dart, and the two agree to work together. They hear three cannon fires, and Haymitch is distressed by the thought that he killed two people, even though it was in self-defense. Maysilee realizes that Haymitch is bleeding and helps him using a first aid kit she attributes to a dead Career. They decide to combine their food and Haymitch, remembering Maysilee’s earlier insistence on cutlery, surprises her with the wine glass of grape juice.

The anthem plays and the two learn that there are ten tributes left: two Careers and eight Newcomers. A parachute lands, carrying a container of bean and ham stock soup. Haymitch knows this is Mags trying to reassure them that they are not alone. The two decide to risk a fire as long as one of them is always keeping watch, and they share a heartfelt moment of camaraderie in which Haymitch refers to Maysilee as his sister, before he falls asleep. 

He wakes after a few hours to relieve Maysilee and decides he needs to get through the shrubbery so he can destroy the generator. He tries to make a rain catcher with the tarp while Maysilee sleeps. She laughs at his pitiful attempt the next morning and they make a better one together using a piece of the wine glass. Maysilee wants to look for supplies in the Cornucopia or find the other Newcomers, but Haymitch insists he has a feeling about going north. First, however, they decide to hunt for the Careers’ packs, which they probably stored nearby before attacking Haymitch. Haymitch can tell that Maysilee knows he is up to something, but he doesn’t know how to tell her without drawing suspicion. They locate and absorb the Careers’ supplies, including a blowtorch, and return to the maze. They then decide to cut through instead of taking the paths but the holly berries (which are actually ladybugs) swarm and attach themselves to their flesh.

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