—Do you know what a Quarter Quell means? —the female tribute asks in a hushed voice.

He nods.

Every twenty-five years, the Capitol adds a special punishment to the Hunger Games. This year, they have doubled the number of tributes.

—Forty-eight instead of twenty-four —she whispers—. It’s like two Games in one.

Haymitch doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to do the math to understand.

This isn’t a competition. It’s an execution.

The train speeds toward the Capitol, and with every mile, he gets closer to death.

Third Part: Training for Death

The Capitol is an open wound of light and excess. As soon as Haymitch steps off the train, the noise hits him like a wave: screams, cameras, hands reaching out for a spectacle. Because that’s what they are. A distraction. A story to be consumed and forgotten.

They are taken to the Training Center, where the tributes of the Fiftieth Quarter Quell begin preparing for the massacre. Haymitch observes the others. Forty-seven people, most of them better fed, healthier, and better trained than he is.

—If you don’t have muscles, use your brain —his mentor tells him, a man worn down by time and alcohol.