Chapter 23

Gale and Katniss confer with each other that they have limited time before the Capitol discovers them again. They ask Cresside where they are and she confirmed that they’re in downtown, a place full of civilians. They use the clothes in the apartment to disguise themselves so they can walk in the streets without being recognized. Cressida leads the team to a fur shop owned by a woman named Tigris, whom Katniss recognizes as a former stylist for the Games. Tigris refused to help them despite Cressida mentioning Plutarch. In a bold move, Katniss shows her face to Tigris, prompting the older woman to lead them to an underground spot hidden beneath her shop. The next day, Katniss starts fretting over the deaths that she has caused so far. She admits to everybody that what she said after Boggs’ death was actually a lie. They all tell her that they all knew but still decided to go along with her. After pulling it together, they started planning how to get to Snow’s house from the small shop. Katniss thinks that she should be used as bait to bring Snow out into the open.

Tigris has them come out temporarily from their hiding place for a little snack. They watch a broadcast of a Capitol TV program featuring them. The program identified Katniss and those who are with her and trying to get civilians to turn them in. Once they’re back in their hiding place, Katniss overhears Gale and Peeta argue about who Katniss loves more. Gale ends the argument by saying that Katniss should make her choice based on the one who she thinks she can’t survive without.

Notes:
Gale made a good point about Katniss choosing the person she couldn’t live without. Despite the history that he shares with her, deep inside, he knows that Peeta is the guiding light that Katniss needs in her life.

Chapter 24

Katniss gets hurt with Gale’s comments, realizing that there’s truth to his words. She tells herself that she doesn’t need either of them. The next day, they watch another TV broadcast about how the Capitol seems to be changing tactics. Civilians flee to the streets of the Capitol. They find out that a young man was murdered because he resembled Peeta. The team can no longer stay with Tigris. The next morning, Tigris helps them put on disguises and spill into the streets just like the other refugees. The five of them split into groups as they blended in along with the crowd. Everything was fine until shots were fired. Several civilians and some children die. Katniss and Gale continue going forward and step into a scene wherein the rebels are in full combat against the forces of the Capitol. As the two of them continued on, the road started to split in half, separating the two of them. Katniss almost falls into a crevasse and sees Gale being trapped in front of a locked door. Katniss shoots at the door and it opens, seeing Gale say something to her but not quite able to decipher it. He gets snatched by Peacekeepers.

Katniss runs then realizes that Gale was asking Katniss to shoot him to avoid being tortured by the Peacekeepers. She’s still undiscovered and continues on. She finds herself in front of President Snow’s palace in the downtown area of the Capitol. Imprisoned children surround his refuge and she realizes that Snow kept them there to keep himself safe from attacks. Katniss sees charity balloons descending from the sky towards the children—in a cruel twist of fate, it turns out that these balloons are actually bombs designed to kill the children. Medics from District 13 hurry towards the children. One of the medics is Prim. Katniss runs desperately towards her sister and locks eyes with Prim before more bombs detonated.

Notes:
Notice how most people think it is more honorable to die rather than experience being tortured by the Peacekeepers.

Chapter 25

Katniss finds it difficult to determine how she really feels. She feels as if her body is on fire. Dead people want to take her with them and she wants to come with them, but something painful is holding her back. She returns back to reality and realizes that she can still recover—but her sister, Prim, cannot. She gets a visit from President Coin who reiterates her promise of letting Katniss be the one who kills Snow. She finds out the Coin is in charge now and that Snow is finally in custody. The remaining team members, along with Gale and Peeta, are all alive. Katniss and her mother are reunited and are placed in Snow’s mansion. People don’t pay that much attention to her, giving her the freedom to go wherever she wants.

One day, while Katniss is wondering around the palace, she comes across a room full of roses. She realizes that this is where President Snow is being held. The guards won’t let her see Snow, but Commander Paylor gives her permission to do so. Katniss is about to pick up a rose for Snow to wear when she kills him when he suddenly speaks up. He apologizes about the bombs that killed the children and Prim. He explained to her that those bombs didn’t come from his side. She realizes that the weaponry that Gale designed ended up killing her own sister. Snow tells her that this was Coin’s plan all along: to manipulate the two of them so she could rise to power. Katniss doesn’t believe it to be real, but Snow insists that it is.

Notes:
Katniss finally realizes that there’s truth to her feeling about not trusting President Coin. It felt more insulting that she had to hear it from President Snow’s mouth.