Sunrise on the Reaping

Haymitch turns to see Maysilee holding a blowgun attached to a braided necklace. He thanks her, and they resolve to stick together. Maysilee bandages Haymitch’s wounds from the ambush, and they share some of Haymitch’s food. The night’s death count reveals that only eight Newcomers and two Careers remain.

A parachute arrives carrying a pot of beam and ham hock soup. They eat and prepare to sleep in shifts. Haymitch asks Maysilee if she remembers what Ampert asked her when she made his token. Maysilee repeats, “I’ll be your sister” (115).

In the morning, Haymitch and Maysilee set out for the hedge again, planning to cut their way through to the other side. As they begin hacking away, they are suddenly swarmed by ladybug mutts which latch onto their skin and begin sucking their blood.

Haymitch and Maysilee run screaming out of the hedge, ripping the ladybugs off of themselves. Exhausted by blood loss, they sit down as a heavy rain starts to fall. Maysilee says that they are now “blood kin,” and wonders sadly if Merrilee will “still be a twin” (121) after her death. Haymitch reflects on how the trauma of the Games inevitably sends “white liquor and depression, broken families and violence and suicide” (121) rippling through entire districts.

The cannon fires twice, announcing two new deaths. Realizing that they are low on food, Haymitch and Maysilee set off for the Cornucopia, but are interrupted when they discover the scene of a mutt attack. Three Newcomers lie in agony after being ambushed by porcupine mutts with poisonous quills. Despite Haymitch and Maysilee’s best efforts, all three die shortly afterward. As they leave the scene, Maysilee says that either she or Haymitch has to win so that they can “refuse to play [the] game” (124).

The nightly report announces the deaths of Ringina and Autumn, as well as the three ambushed tributes. Only five tributes remain. The only other Newcomer left standing is Wellie from District 6. Haymitch and Maysilee resolve to find her the following day. As they prepare for bed, Maysilee sings a song about a ladybug whose house has caught on fire. This gives Haymitch an idea of how to get through the hedge maze.

The following morning, a sponsor delivers cornbread, buttermilk, and peaches. Haymitch wonders why the Gamemakers haven’t killed him yet. Maysilee arranges an elaborate picnic spread with their supplies, joking, “thought I’d kick the day off with a poster” (126). Haymitch knows that the picnic is a tactic, meant to show the Capitol audience that they are civilized.

Haymitch suggests that they head north. His true reasoning is his desire to find and destroy the generator, but he covers it by saying that Wellie likely stayed far away from the mountain. Maysilee disagrees, pushing him until he admits that he wants to return to the hedge. She reluctantly agrees, and they set off toward the hedge. Along the way, they are attacked by Silka and Maritte, the remaining Careers. During the ensuing fight, Haymitch stumbles into a clearing, where three Gamemakers are crouching over an open hatch. The Gamemakers order them to retreat, but Maysilee touches her blowgun and remarks that the Gamemakers must be “pretty expendable” to the Capitol.

The Gamemakers scramble for the ladder inside the hatch. Maritte throws her trident, killing one of them. Maysilee kills the second Gamemaker with a blowdart, and the third falls through the hatch and cracks her skull on the concrete floor. A hovercraft appears almost instantly, dropping tear gas bombs into the clearing and sending everyone scattering. Once they are out of danger, Maysilee turns on Haymitch, angrily asking why he didn’t assist her in attacking the Gamemakers. Haymitch admits that he is “brainwashed or cowardly” (128).

Maysilee and Haymitch make up and continue to the hedge. Once there, Haymitch pulls out a blowtorch, and he and Maysilee burn a path through the leaves, incinerating the ladybug mutts along the way. They reach the edge of the arena, stopping before a sheer cliff edge. Looking over the edge, Haymitch sees the generator 100 feet below, surrounded by sharp rocks. Defeated, he tells Maysilee that “this is the end of the road” (130).

With the generator inaccessible, Haymitch decides to die outside of the arena as a final act of resistance. He says goodbye to Maysilee, who walks back into the hedge. Haymitch throws a pebble over the side of the cliff and is surprised when it bounces back over the edge. He deduces that the generator is protected against projectiles by a reflective force field. Suddenly, Maysilee begins to scream. Haymitch runs back through the hedge to find her being attacked by waterbirds with knife-like beaks. He is unable to stop one of them from piercing Maysilee’s throat. Haymitch holds Maysilee’s hand as she dies. She does not beg or plead, maintaining her dignity until the end. Haymitch takes one of her necklaces and her blowgun as the hovercraft arrives to collect her body.

Haymitch thinks about the young Gamemakers whom Maritte and Maysilee killed, wondering who they left behind and how the Capitol will spin their deaths. The anthem sounds, and Maritte’s face is displayed in the sky alongside Maysilee’s. Haymitch is sure that they were targeted for killing the Gamemakers, while he and Silka were spared because they did not participate.

As the sun sets, Haymitch finds Wellie hiding in a tree, starved and dehydrated. He shares his food and water with her, and a sponsor parachute drops with vanilla pudding and chocolate candies. Wellie eats a piece and falls asleep. As Haymitch starts to doze off, he hears crying from the base of the tree and realizes it’s coming from Silka. Despite his disdain for her, he is sure that “Silka has plenty to cry about, too” (135). He tosses down some chocolate candies, thinking to himself that this scene would make a perfect poster for district unity.