Katniss ends up not being able to speak temporarily because of what Peeta did to her. She’s required to wear a special collar and is asked to lie still. Prim stays by her older sister’s side to make sure that she’s going to be fine. Plutarch, Haymitch, and Beetee join the two of them to explain what happened to Peeta. Beetee and Plutarch explain that Peeta has been “hijacked”: injected with tracker jacker poison to trigger an increased feeling of fear and paranoia. It’s a mental torture designed to break Peeta and make him forget about his feelings for Katniss and make him want to kill her. They admit that they’re unsure if they can still bring back to old Peeta, as the effects might be irreversible. Plutarch tells Katniss that Snow and the Capitol have already done measures to retaliate. Portia, Peeta’s stylist from the games, has already been killed.

Katniss returns back to her quarters with her sister. Once Prim leaves, she finds herself being asked to go back to Special Defense to meet up with Gale and Beetee. They show her the new weapons developed for the war. Katniss feels as if these weapons are inhumane. Haymitch arrives and tells Katniss that medics are going to try a new technique to bring back the old Peeta: by bringing in a neutral acquaintance of the two of them from District 12 to trigger memories other than fear. This acquaintance is a friendly girl named Delly. Katniss thinks that Peeta won’t be able to associate Delly with her. Katniss, Haymitch, and Plutarch watch from a one-sided window as Delly enters the room where Peeta is tied to a bed. Delly finds it difficult to talk to Peeta. Suddenly, he remembers all about the destruction of District 12 and start blaming Katniss for it. He calls her a mutt (a genetic creation that has the voice of a human but the appearance of a terrifying animal) Katniss gets upset by this, as she thinks that Peeta no longer sees her as a person. She demands the rebels to give her something war-like to do to distract herself from this. Plutarch tells her that she can be assigned to District 2.