Chapter 7

Katniss, Gale, and Boggs arrive at District 8, along with other soldiers, camera crew, and medical workers. They meet up with Commander Paylor, the woman in charge of overseeing the condition of District 8. They visit the hospital where all casualties and those injured by the bombing are gathered. People start recognizing Katniss and start lighting up and feeling better just with her presence alone. Katniss goes around and comforts people—realizing that she is indeed powerful. She’s powerful in a sense that she has the authority over people. After their visit, they regroup outside the hospital and Boggs gets a warning that an attack is coming towards District 8.

They all run and Katniss gets hit. Plutarch and Harmitch inform them about where they should hide, as they don’t want the Capitol to find out that Katniss is there. Gale tries to protect Katniss as they head towards a warehouse for protection. Katniss realizes that the bombs are aimed at the hospital. Katniss and Gale decide to go out and protect the hospital. They shoot at the bombers but could only do so much. During the whole commotion, the camera crew films them. Gale and Cresside pull Katniss away to stop her from doing anything else. Cresside tells them that President Snow made a telecast saying that the bombing was done to send out a message to the revolutionaries. Katniss makes a plea to the citizens of Panem and feels the power coursing throughout her body.

Notes:
This is the Capitol’s way of saying that Katniss can always run and hide, but they will always find a way to terrorize her.

Chapter 8

Boggs and Gale take Katniss back to the hovercraft, where she collapses upon finding out that everyone in the hospital has died. She wakes up in District 13 at the medical area with her mother. She goes to the Command for a scheduled meeting in a wheelchair. Upon arriving, she sees the whole camera crew who tells her she did a great job. She realizes that one of the cameramen, Pollux, is actually an Avox—turned into a mute as punishment from the Capitol. President Coin announces that the propos was aired twenty times since they came back from the bombings. They all watch the propos.

Everyone is thrilled with the propos. It was shown all over Panem, save for the Capitol. Coin showed signs that she was fine with putting Katniss in great danger, given the satisfactory results of the first commercial. Plutarch and Fulvia are concocting an idea about the next propos that will air alongside the first one that they’ve finished. The next one will be similar with Katniss being inside the arena. Gale takes her back to the hospital where she awake with Haymitch sitting on her bedside. He warns her that the consequences could be dire if she keeps her earpiece off during missions. During the evening meal, Peeta and Caesar are shown on television. Katniss is shocked by how bad Peeta looks since he last appeared on air. It seems as if he’s been badly abused and forced to speak directly to Katniss via the interview. He tells her to think twice about trusting the rebels and what this war might mean for the rest of them. Finnick and Katniss start making plans and realizes that they can’t let the revolutionaries know that she has seen the interview, as this will make them realize that she now has a reason to distrust them.

Notes:
Despite her status as the Mockingjay, Katniss is still expected to follow all the orders given to her.

Chapter 9

Katniss starts to wonder if everyone around her, including Gale, is telling her the truth. She picks a fight with him for interacting too much with President Coin. Despite their constant arguments, they’re forced to spend more time with each other, as they have to return to District 12 to film another propos. Plutarch tells them that things are going well as two more districts have taken their side. During their return to District 12, Katniss and Gale find it difficult to film in the ruins of their old homes. They take a lunch break and stumbles upon a Mockingjay. Katniss sings with the bird in order to demonstrate to Pollux how they work. She sings a song called “The Hanging Tree”, something that her father taught her to sing as a child. She gets annoyed when she realizes that the cameras on her, turning her private moment into something to their advantage.

Upon returning to District 13, Katniss sleeps through the rest of the day and finds Boggs telling her that there’s an unscheduled Command meeting that she needs to attend. During the meeting. Finnick explains that Beetee has developed new technology that allows them to gain access to the Capitol’s television broadcast system. They watched a part of another interview of Peeta, now looking worse than ever. He’s still pleading for a ceasefire and now, gives a direct warning for Katniss: They’re all in grave danger.

On their way back from break, Katniss and Gale come across a spot where they used to hunt together. She feels as if they no longer need each other anymore and that they’ve grown too far apart. They do more stuff to film for the propos. Gale accompanies Katniss to the house that she used to live in to gather some medical ingredients for her mother to use back in District 13. The two of them kiss.

Notes:
Katniss is reminded of the privacy that she wants to regain to desperately. People have been using her most intimate moments to get what they want, making it difficult for her to act.