Boston
Boston, Massachusetts is the first region after the time skip and the city where Ellie grew up. You play The Quarantine Zone and The Outskirts here, and Left Behind's flashbacks with Riley take place in the same city. FEDRA holds the North End as one of the last working quarantine zones in the country.
- Type
- Region
- Region
- Boston
Good to know
- Main chapters here: The Quarantine Zone (Beyond the Wall, The Slums, The Cargo) and The Outskirts (Outside, Downtown, Museum, The Capitol Building).
- The Quarantine Zone holds 11 collectibles and The Outskirts holds 13.
- Left Behind's Mallrats and Fun and Games are set at the Liberty Gardens mall and hold two collectibles each.
- Factions you meet: FEDRA soldiers, the Fireflies, smugglers and the infected.
- The QZ has walls at least 30 feet high, searchlight towers, a patrolled no man's land and a 6 PM to 6 AM curfew.
- Landmarks include the Boston slums, Mission Hill Pier, the Goldstone Building, State Street Subway Station, the Freedom Museum and the Massachusetts State House.
Life in the zone
Rations are handed out against ration cards, with half-ration weeks when supplies run short. Adults can be drafted into work details, and soldiers scan people for infection and shoot anyone who tests positive. Captured Fireflies are executed in public. Joel and Tess run much of the smuggling in and out of the city from an apartment in the upper areas.
Two halves of the zone
The upper areas, numbered 1, 3 and 4 on military maps, hold the checkpoints, apartments and ration lines. Area 5, the slums, sits away from most patrols and has a wharf, a warehouse and the black market, where people bet ration cards on fights and poker. Tunnels under some buildings let smugglers slip past the wall.
Outside the wall
Downtown Boston was bombed early in the outbreak and is now overrun. Marlene hires Joel and Tess to walk Ellie across it to a Firefly group waiting at the Capitol Building, in exchange for the weapons Robert sold to the Fireflies.
- Main storyThe main story of The Last of Us Part I follows Joel, a smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone, as he escorts Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the Cordyceps infection, across the United States to the Fireflies. It runs 12 chapters, from Austin on the night of the outbreak in 2013 to the spring of 2034.
- Left BehindLeft Behind is the prequel story bundled with The Last of Us Part I, played entirely as Ellie. It cuts between July 2033 in Boston, when her best friend Riley turns up and takes her to an abandoned mall, and a winter shopping mall in Colorado where Ellie searches for medical supplies for Joel.
- MallratsMallrats is the second chapter of Left Behind and the first full flashback: Ellie and Riley dodge a patrol in Boston, cross the rooftops and slip into the abandoned Liberty Gardens mall. It is a calm, story-driven chapter with Halloween masks, a brick-throwing contest that unlocks a trophy, and a breaker switch that brings the mall's lights back.
The Quarantine ZoneThe Quarantine Zone starts the story proper 20 years after the outbreak, inside Boston's military-run zone in August 2033. As Joel, now a smuggler, you and his partner Tess slip outside the wall to track down Robert, a dealer who owes them guns, and end up taking a new job from the Fireflies.- The OutskirtsThe Outskirts takes Joel, Tess and Ellie out of the Boston quarantine zone and across the ruined city toward the capitol building, where Fireflies are meant to collect Ellie. It is where you meet clickers and learn to slip past them with thrown bricks and bottles, on a route through downtown, the Goldstone Building and a history museum.
- Fun and GamesFun and Games is the fourth chapter of Left Behind and the busiest one for trophies: Ellie and Riley ride a carousel, wreck a photo booth, play pretend in Raja's Arcade and hold a water gun fight inside Liberty Gardens. Along the way Riley finally explains why she brought Ellie to the mall.
- Escape from Liberty GardensEscape from Liberty Gardens is the final chapter of Left Behind: Ellie and Riley run from a horde of runners through the Boston mall, climbing scaffolding to find a way out. It has no collectibles, and finishing it unlocks the gold trophy Don't Go.
- 2x4The 2x4 is a plank of lumber and the most common melee weapon in the game, especially in Boston and Pittsburgh. It reaches farther than your fists, stuns a human with one hit and lasts four swings before it breaks.
- 9mm pistolThe 9mm pistol is Joel's first gun in The Last of Us Part I, picked up from his and Tess's hideout in The Quarantine Zone before they go after Robert. It fires fast, has the most ammo around and stays useful all game as a cheap backup to your heavier guns.
- BrickBricks are throwables you pick up from the ground to distract or stun enemies. Throw one to the side to pull a patrol away, or straight at someone to stagger them for a follow-up hit.
- Lead pipeThe lead pipe is the toughest breakable melee weapon in the game, lasting nine hits. Joel can first pick one up in The Outskirts while clearing infected on his own, and another lies where Ellie drops it after hitting Bill in Lincoln.
- Molotov cocktailThe Molotov cocktail is a crafted firebomb made from alcohol and a rag, the same ingredients as a health kit. One hit kills almost any enemy outright, and the pool of fire it leaves kills anyone who walks through it.
- RevolverThe revolver hits harder than the 9mm but fires slower, and it is the pistol Joel draws in scripted scenes. You pick it up in The Outskirts from a dead soldier in downtown Boston, next to his field ops log.
- Boston Q.Z. MapThe Boston Q.Z. Map is the first artifact in the game and you cannot miss it: it is already inside Joel's backpack when you pick the bag up off a table in the smuggling tunnel during Beyond the Wall.
- Davidson's Firefly PendantDavidson's Firefly pendant lies underwater in a stone rotunda in The Capitol Building section of The Outskirts. It belonged to Melinda Davidson and is easy to swim past.
- Docks NoteThe Docks Note is a gripe from one of Robert's smugglers, lying in the big warehouse at Mission Hill Pier where a fishing boat hangs over the loading bay. Look on the right side, against the railing behind a blue trash bin.
- Drafting NoticeThe Drafting Notice is a FEDRA work order lying in a heap of papers in the Boston slums. After the bus where Malick confronts Joel, walk straight on between a vendor's stall on the left and a canopy on the right; the notice is on the ground at the corner.
- Evacuation LeafletThe Evacuation Leaflet is an old FEDRA warning on the right-hand pavement in downtown Boston. Once you climb the collapsed street and Tess and Ellie start talking about the bombing, look by the base of a traffic light a car has hit.
- Field Ops LogThe Field Ops Log is a soldier's patrol record inside the Goldstone Building, the tilted skyscraper downtown. Climb the stairwell toward the fifth floor; it lies beside the second dead soldier, along with a couple of 9mm rounds.
- Firefly MapThe Firefly Map is a note on a dead Firefly in the subway station downtown, on the stairs between the two escalators. It is the body to the right of the one carrying a Molotov cocktail.
- Firefly OrdersFirefly Orders is a note on a dead Firefly at the bottom of the stairs you take after the cutscene in The Capitol Building section. Look to the right and behind you at the foot of the steps.
- Glueck's Firefly PendantGlueck's Firefly pendant hangs from a tree branch in the Beyond the Wall section of The Quarantine Zone, so you have to knock it down. It belonged to Ben Glueck.
- Jiang's Firefly PendantJiang's Firefly pendant rests on a shelf in a flooded room in The Capitol Building section of The Outskirts. It belonged to Shiyao Jiang, and getting there means a short swim.
- Kiper's Firefly PendantKiper's Firefly pendant sits inside a display case in the Museum section of The Outskirts. It belonged to Michael Kiper, and you reach it by edging along a narrow ledge.
- Kitchen noteThe Kitchen note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC flashback chapter Fun and Games, set in a Boston mall. Ellie finds it on the counter in the kitchen of the mall's restaurant while she and Riley explore.
- Lenz's Firefly PendantLenz's Firefly pendant dangles from a tree on the terrace outside the Goldstone Building in the Downtown section of The Outskirts. It belonged to Joseph Lenz and must be knocked down.
- Liu's Firefly PendantLiu's Firefly pendant is on the body of a dead Firefly in The Cargo section of The Quarantine Zone, right after Ellie joins Joel and Tess. It belonged to Philip Liu.
- Medical PamphletThe Medical Pamphlet is a CDC leaflet inside the truck blocking your path outside the museum. Push an object against the truck to climb over, then look back: the opening is on the right side and the pamphlet is to its left.
- Military PamphletThe Military Pamphlet is a FEDRA handout on the stages of infection, and it comes free with Joel's backpack, which you lift off a table in the smuggling tunnel early in Beyond the Wall.
- No Pun Intended: Volume TooNo Pun Intended: Volume Too is Ellie's second Will Livingston pun book. In the main game it is an automatic artifact in her backpack at the start of Lakeside Resort. In Left Behind, Riley gives it to her during the flashback chapter Fun and Games.
- Note to BrotherNote to Brother is a handwritten letter on a table upstairs in the spore-filled building of Beyond the Wall. After the first infected fight, climb the stairs, turn left before the hole in the wall and open the closed door; the note sits in the next room.
- Note to DerekThe Note to Derek is a scrap in a drawer behind the register of the first shop on the left in the subway room full of clickers. It holds the combination for a safe close by.
- Patrol Routes MapThe Patrol Routes Map is a marked-up FEDRA map on the floor at the bottom of the elevator shaft early in The Outskirts. Step off the elevator, turn right and check the litter between the water tanks and a pallet against the fence.
- Shipping ManifestThe Shipping Manifest is a sailor's note at the Mission Hill Pier docks. After you vault the wall down among Robert's patrolling men, go right to the railing above the water; it lies by a fishing net behind a blue trash bin.
- Smuggler NoteThe Smuggler Note is on the dead smuggler Ellie takes her flashlight from, in the flooded subway near the Capitol. After swimming under the debris and the train, look to the left of the tunnel.
- Tess's ListTess's List is the notepad where Tess tracks her and Joel's smuggled goods, and it sits on the side table next to a gas lantern in the apartment where Joel napped, at the very start of The Outskirts.
- Vigil's Firefly PendantVigil's Firefly pendant is the first Firefly pendant in The Quarantine Zone, lying on the floor of a bedroom in the Beyond the Wall section. It belonged to David Michael Vigil, and you only get one chance at it.
- Wanted posterThe Wanted poster is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC flashback chapter Mallrats, set in Boston. It lies on a table in an apartment Ellie and Riley pass through on their way to the mall.
- Wanted PosterThe Wanted Poster is a FEDRA notice pinned to a bulletin board in the Boston slums. Past the bus where Malick stops Joel, head straight to the fence where a man and woman stand talking; the poster hangs on the board to their left.
- Warehouse KeyThe Warehouse Key unlocks the back door of the S&B Co. repair shop on the way to the docks. After Joel and Tess drop through a hole in a fence toward the wharf, four of Robert's smugglers appear; whoever you take down last drops it.
- Warning noteThe Warning note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC flashback chapter Mallrats, set in Boston. It sits on a table in the room next to the circuit breakers Riley has Ellie flip to bring the mall's power back.
- Boston slumsThe Boston slums, marked Area 5 on military maps, are the poor district of the Boston quarantine zone where the smugglers run an open black market. You walk through them in The Slums section of The Quarantine Zone while hunting the smuggler Robert.
- Freedom Museum of BostonThe Freedom Museum of Boston is a history museum about the American Revolutionary War that Joel, Tess and Ellie cut through in the Museum section of The Outskirts. A wave of infected chases them inside, and you fight clickers and runners through its exhibits.
- Liberty GardensLiberty Gardens is an abandoned two-level mall in Boston where Ellie and Riley spend a night together in Left Behind's flashback chapters. You explore it in Mallrats and Fun and Games, and it gives the final chapter, Escape from Liberty Gardens, its name.
- Massachusetts State HouseThe Massachusetts State House, usually called the Capitol Building in the game, is where Marlene sends Joel and Tess to hand Ellie to a waiting Firefly group. It is the goal of The Outskirts and gives the chapter's last section its name.
- Mission Hill PierMission Hill Pier is the wharf in the Boston slums where the smuggler Robert runs his trade. Joel and Tess fight through Robert's men here at the end of The Slums section of The Quarantine Zone, then chase him through the area.
- Quarantine zoneQuarantine zones are the walled, military-run safe areas FEDRA set up across the United States after martial law was declared. Most have since fallen to infection, revolt or abandonment. Boston's North End zone is the one you live in and play through at the start of Part I, and you pass the dead zones of Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City later.
- Raja's ArcadeRaja's Arcade is the arcade inside Boston's Liberty Gardens mall that Ellie and Riley visit in Left Behind. Ellie has always wanted to play the fighting game The Turning, and the arcade is the setting for one of the DLC's best-known scenes.
- State Street Subway StationState Street Subway Station is an abandoned, infected-filled Boston subway stop that Joel, Tess and Ellie pass through in the Downtown section of The Outskirts. The Firefly map artifact lies here next to a dead Firefly on the stairs just inside.
- The Goldstone BuildingThe Goldstone Building is a damaged downtown Boston skyscraper that Joel, Tess and Ellie climb through in the Downtown section of The Outskirts, because a chasm blocks the street. It is packed with infected, including stalkers, runners and clickers.
- ClickerClickers are blind stage three infected that find you by the clicking sound they make. Their grab kills instantly unless you carry a shiv and have the Shiv Master upgrade, so most players deal with them quietly or with fire.
- FEDRAFEDRA, the Federal Disaster Response Agency, is the military government that runs the Boston quarantine zone. Its soldiers are the best-equipped enemies in the first chapters, and you fight them while smuggling Ellie out of Boston.
- FirefliesThe Fireflies are the militia fighting FEDRA's rule and searching for a cure, led by Marlene. Their slogan, look for the light, is painted across the ruins, and their deal with Joel and Tess to smuggle Ellie out of Boston starts the story.
- InfectedThe Infected are people taken over by a mutant Cordyceps fungus, and they are the main threat between every human fight in The Last of Us Part I. In Part I and Left Behind you meet four stages: runners, stalkers, clickers and bloaters, each harder to kill than the last.
- RunnerRunners are stage one infected, people turned within the last couple of days. They still see, move fast and swarm in packs, so the danger is numbers rather than any single runner.
- SmugglersSmugglers move people, guns and contraband past FEDRA in the Boston quarantine zone. Joel and Tess are smugglers themselves, and the rival crew of Robert, an arms dealer, is the first group of humans you fight in The Quarantine Zone.
- Corporal "Dickhead"Corporal "Dickhead" is the nickname Ellie and Riley give a FEDRA officer at the Boston military boarding school. He is only talked about in Left Behind, as the man who took their water guns away.
- Ellie WilliamsEllie Williams is the 14-year-old girl Joel is hired to smuggle out of Boston, and your companion for most of The Last of Us Part I. She was bitten weeks earlier and never turned, so the Fireflies believe her immunity could lead to a vaccine. You play as her in the winter chapter and in the Left Behind DLC.
- Joel MillerJoel Miller is the man you play for almost all of The Last of Us Part I. A hardened smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone, he takes a job escorting 14-year-old Ellie out of the city, and the drop-off turns into a year-long trip across the country to find the Fireflies.
- MalickMalick is a tough in the Boston slums who tries to block Joel's path in The Quarantine Zone. Tess knows him and sends him back to his seat with a single word.
- MarkMark is a Boston quarantine zone resident who is only talked about. In The Quarantine Zone, Joel can overhear Ronnie telling a friend that soldiers caught Mark using fake ration cards.
- MarleneMarlene is the leader of the Fireflies, the militia fighting the military in the quarantine zones. Wounded in Boston, she hires Joel and Tess to smuggle Ellie out of the city in The Quarantine Zone, and you meet her again at the Fireflies' hospital in Salt Lake City near the end of the game.
- RamirezRamirez is a FEDRA patrol soldier who catches Joel, Tess and Ellie just outside the Boston wall. The ambush happens in the Outside section of The Outskirts, and it is the moment Ellie's infection scan becomes a problem.
- Riley AbelRiley Abel is Ellie's best friend from the military school in the Boston quarantine zone and the co-star of the Left Behind DLC. She appears in the Liberty Gardens flashback chapters Mallrats, Fun and Games and Escape from Liberty Gardens, and Ellie brings her up during the main story.
- RobertRobert is an arms dealer and smuggler boss in the Boston quarantine zone, and the man Joel and Tess hunt down in The Quarantine Zone. He owed them a cache of guns, sold it to the Fireflies instead and sent men to attack Tess, so the pair go after him at his warehouse on the docks.
- RonnieRonnie is a short-tempered Boston quarantine zone resident Joel passes near a checkpoint in The Quarantine Zone. If you stop to listen, he is gossiping about his friend Mark, and he snaps at Joel for staring.
- TerranceTerrance is a black market trader in the Boston slums who tries to sell Tess something as she and Joel head to Robert's warehouse in The Quarantine Zone.
- Tess ServopoulosTess Servopoulos is Joel's smuggling partner in the Boston quarantine zone and your companion through the first two chapters after the prologue. She is the one who talks Joel into taking Marlene's job, and she escorts Ellie with him across downtown Boston toward the Capitol Building.
- WarrenWarren is a Firefly fighter and friend of Marlene whom you see captured by FEDRA soldiers in The Quarantine Zone, under a bridge along the Boston waterfront.
- Winston AsherSergeant Winston Asher is a FEDRA soldier who once kept a camp and a horse in Boston's Liberty Gardens mall. In Left Behind, Ellie and Riley find his empty camp in Mallrats, and his notes show how he saw the two girls.
Related places
- Region
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a former quarantine zone now run by hunters who ambush anyone passing through. Joel and Ellie spend two chapters here, Pittsburgh and The Suburbs, and meet the brothers Henry and Sam. Expect heavy human combat and the largest pile of collectibles in the game.
- Region
Lincoln
Lincoln is a small Massachusetts town a few miles from Boston and the setting of Bill's Town, the fourth chapter. Joel and Ellie come here to call in a favor from Bill, a paranoid survivor who has rigged the whole town with traps, because they need a working vehicle.
- Region
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah is the last stop on Joel and Ellie's search for the Fireflies. It is an abandoned quarantine zone where the Fireflies hold Saint Mary's Hospital, and you play the Bus Depot and The Firefly Lab chapters here in spring 2034.
- Region
Boulder
Boulder, Colorado is where Joel and Ellie search the University of Eastern Colorado for the Fireflies in The University chapter. Left Behind's present-day story picks up nearby at the Colorado Mountain Plaza mall, so this region covers both the campus and the mall.