The Quarter Quell or the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games have begun. Katniss isn't sure what she needs to do, because she is reeling from the shock of seeing Cinna beaten by the Peacekeepers. She realizes she's on a metal plate between strips of land leading to the Cornucopia. Between the plates and land is water, which the tributes need to swim through to reach the land strip. She swims to the land strip and is one of the first to reach the Cornucopia, where she finds a bow and arrows.

As she is taking her weapons, she is approached by Finnick Odair who shows her a gold bangle that has flames engraved on it. This bangle is just like the one Haymitch was wearing at the Training Center. It is a symbol to Katniss that Finnick is to be trusted and will be an ally to her and Peeta. Together they gather as many weapons as they can carry.

Katniss notices Peeta still standing on his metal plate, because he can't swim. Finnick retrieves him, since he thinks the "pregnant" Katniss shouldn't tow her "husband" through the water. Finnick goes into the water one more time to bring Mags of District 4 to shore. This is the alliance Katniss and Peeta are going to rely on to get them through the beginning of the Games.

They leave the Cornucopia and enter a jungle like region of the arena. They are looking for drinkable water and a place to spend the night. They reach the end of the tree line and Katniss sees there is a force field beyond at the top of a hill, but before she can warn the others Peeta uses his knife to cut some vines. His knife touches the force field and he is thrown into Finnick and Mags. Katniss runs to his unconscious body, which exhibits no signs of life.

Peeta is not responding to Katniss calling his name, so Finnick takes over by administering CPR. This brings Peeta back to life. Finnick noticed Katniss was warning them of the force field just as Peeta came into contact with it. She is unwilling to tell him the truth of how she knew it was there, because she doesn't want the Gamemakers to know Beetee and Wiress told her how to detect a force field. Instead she tells him her reconstructed ear allows her to hear things other people can't hear.

They keep on walking in search of water, but find none, so they decide to make camp for the night. They camp close to the force field for protection against attacking tributes. Katniss goes back into the jungle in search of water. She has already seen from a tree top the whole arena. It is a circle with the force field in the center, as far as she can see there is no evident sources of water. She does find a rodent like creature, which she kills for food. She notices it has a wet snout, so she knows water is available she just needs to find it.

They hear eight cannon shots and know eight tributes are dead. Then after dark a gift arrives by parachute, it is a spile, which is used as a faucet to drain liquid from a tree. They put it in the tree the rodent was found in and water trickles from the spile.

A few hours later they hear twelve bongs sounding, but they don't know why the bongs are sounding. After sleeping a while Katniss is on watch as a fog rolls in towards them, but it seems unnatural. She breaks out in blisters as she warns the others about the fog.

She wakes them up and they start to run away from the fog. Finnick is carrying Mags and Katniss is helping Peeta run. He is still feeling the effects from the force field hit earlier in the day, so he is not as quick as he would normally be. Then the fog starts to have another effect on the group, as it begins to take a toll on their nervous systems. Peeta's face muscles are affected and he has a difficulty moving his legs. Katniss notices her arms are out of her control, as they begin to twitch. Katniss must carry Mags, so Finnick can carry Peeta, but Katniss is not able to carry Mags for long and Finnick can't carry both Mags and Peeta. Mags sacrifices herself by running into the fog.

The three of them eventually make it to the salt water, which they swam in that morning. The salt water leeches out the poison from their bodies and restores them.

While they rest on the beach, Peeta notices large orange monkeys in the trees. It is while he is out trying to syphon water from a tree, Katniss notices the monkeys have grown in number and seem aggressive.

She calls Peeta back, but as he looks to see what is the matter the monkeys attack them. The three of them fight back with all the energy they have, but it doesn't seem to be enough. The monkeys, which are mutants called mutts, have seized an opportunity to kill Peeta. They are thwarted by the appearance of a morphling from District 6 who steps in front of Peeta. She puts out her arms as if to hug the monkey as its fangs penetrate her chest.

Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with Finnick and Mags. The alliance with Finnick is Haymitch's idea and Mags is from Finnick's district. The four of them try to find a way to survive the night in the arena, but Mags sacrifices herself to a poisonous fog to save the rest of the group. Her unselfish act does not go unnoticed by Katniss, who also feels indebted to Finnick after he saves Peeta's life. Life in the arena is going to a challenge, which the three of them will have to face as a team.