Chapter 20

Katniss hears another bomb go off and rushes to Boggs’ side. He demands for his Holo and Katniss runs off and finds it. One of their team members, Homes, tries desperately to save Boggs. Katniss gives the Holo to Boggs and he gives it officially to Katniss. More bombs go off and they retreat. Making things worse, Peeta has a breakdown and tries to attack Katniss once again. Mitchell, another one of their team members, struggles with Peeta. Peeta, setting off a net full of lethal spikes, pushes him into another pod. A wave of dark gunk descends upon them, leaving them no choice but to take refuge inside one of the houses. Boggs reminds Katniss to take the Holo and continue on. He tells her to not trust anyone and that she should kill Peeta—until he took his last breath. Finnick and Castor announce that they aren’t safe inside the house and that they’re now being watched by the Capitol.

Jackson demands Katniss to hand over the Holo to her and they fight. Katniss makes up a mission, that President Coin secretly ordered her to kill President Snow herself. Cressida sides with Katniss and ever makes up a reason why Peeta was sent there: to serve as their guide. Gale also sides with Katniss until Jackson came around and decides to help them out. Katniss thinks that there are still a lot of hidden traps that they aren’t aware of and that the only way they can continue is if they retrace their steps. They leave the house that they’re staying at and found an apartment a few blocks away. More bombs go off and they turn to the television to seek answers. The broadcast showed what happened to them and even named some of those who are with them. The house that they were staying at were bombed and it was shown that they were all killed during the attack. The whole team worries that people from District 13 might believe the news. Peeta suddenly speaks out and tell them that they should kill him.

Notes:
Katniss is running out of people to trust. Peeta realizes that he’s another weapon sent by the Capitol to make sure that Katniss gets eliminated.

Chapter 21

Peeta insists that he can’t be trusted because he caused Mitchell’s death. He wants to die rather than get back into the hands of President Snow again. The others convince him that it’s all in his head and that everything is going to be fine. They tell him that they won’t let Snow take him. Peeta requests to get his own supply of nightlock pills like the other soldiers. They regroup and the other start looking for food. They watch another Capitol broadcast about how the whole team, along with Katniss, has died. President Snow appears and starts ragging on about the team. The broadcast gets hijacked by those from District 13. President Coin appeared and tells everyone that despite her death, Katniss is still the Mockingjay of the revolution. The broadcast returns back to Snow and ends.

They realize that their time is limited before the Capitol realizes that they haven’t actually died. Katniss regrets telling everyone about the lie, as she thinks that this has put everybody in a much more dangerous position than before. Their only option is to head underground and venture out towards the Capitol. Messalla leads them underground and they’re lucky that they have Pollux with them—he served as an underground guide for the Capitol before becoming an Avox. Katniss and Peeta have a brief conversation while she was helping him eat, and she realizes that he’s coming back little by little. While they were venturing in the tunnels, they hear a stranger noise. Katniss recognizes it as her name being said on a constant loop.

Notes:
The two presidents are using Katniss’ “death” to their own chosen advantage. This makes things harder for the team as there’s so much left for them to do.

Chapter 22

Katniss realizes that the noise is actually coming from a Capitol weapon, most likely mutts. Peeta freaks out and tells Katniss to run because something is out to get her. Katniss asks the others to leave her, but they’re determined to stick by her. The group run through the tunnel and hear people being attacked. She smells roses and asks others if they can smell it, too—but it turns out she’s the only one who can do so. They arrive at a central area called the Transfer and Katniss leads them through the pods that they already know about. Messalla accidentally triggers one and dies. Peet pushes them onward and encounter a group of Peacekeepers that they were able to evade successfully, as mutts have attacked the Peacekeepers before heading towards them. With Pollux’s help, they were able to surface through the sewers. They find out that Leeg 1 and Jackson sacrificed themselves in order to let the team continue on.

Pollux, Peeta, Cressida, and a seriously injured Gale make it through. Katniss is horrified as she witnessed Finnick getting attacked by the mutts. Other members of their team are also gone. Katniss uses the Holo to destroy the area beneath them. Peeta freaks out again and Katniss kisses him hard to calm him down. Their group keeps climbing until they find themselves inside an apartment with an old woman inside. However, before the old woman could say anything, Katniss kills her.

Notes:
More sacrifices are made for Katniss’ sake.