Mockingjay begins several months after the events of Catching Fire. Seventeen-year-old Katniss Everdeen wanders through the ruins of her old home in District 12. The entire district has been leveled in a firebombing attack by the Capitol. Katniss’s best friend from District 12, Gale Hawthorne, watches her from a nearby hovercraft, communicating via earpiece. Appearing in her old district puts Katniss at risk of being spotted by the Capitol, but she insisted on coming to see the destruction for herself.

Katniss struggles to remember the events that led to the bombing. She is suffering from the lingering effects of a concussion sustained during the Quarter Quell and the repercussions of the near-constant trauma she has suffered since the 74th Hunger Games. To ground herself, she makes a list of truths she knows. She competed in the Hunger Games and escaped; President Coriolanus Snow and the Capitol hate her; her friend Peeta Mellark has been imprisoned by the Capitol and is likely dead.

Katniss blames herself for the destruction of District 12. During the Quarter Quell, she shot an arrow into the force field surrounding the arena, allowing rebel forces to rescue her and the remaining competitors.