A checkpoint in the quarantaine zone.
Boston is the capital city of Massachusetts and is where Ellie was born and subsequently lived before meeting Joel. It is currently a Quarantine Zone under the control of FEDRA and the military.
History
After the cordyceps brain infection outbreak around late September 2013, Boston transformed from a heavily populated, bustling city into a military controlled Quarantine Zone. Under martial law, the city is littered with checkpoints and soldiers. Military personnel carry scanners to check for infection, and the military's infection protocol makes soldiers execute any infected individual on the spot. The authorities deal with distributing rations to the populace, as long as they have the appropriate ration cards. Half-ration weeks are declared whenever there are shortages, sometimes for multiple weeks in a row. Able-bodied civilians are conscripted into work details, both inside and outside the walls. Therefore, drafting notices are handed out to individuals every 6 months.
Although Firefly attacks occur frequently, Boston appears to be a lot more stable than other cities, some of which had devolved into total warzones. Boston currently doesn't experience riots, and the local Fireflies are becoming defeated due to the military cracking down on them.
Events of Left Behind
Surprisingly, the city is actually well-supplied with electricity though it is unknown how they managed to maintain so much. Riley revealed that the military secretly had lots of power but kept it for their own use or conserved it, much like with rations, proving this by going into the shopping mall and having Ellie flip the circuit breakers back to restore power to the lights in the shops.
Events of The Last of Us
In the events of The Last of Us, Boston is shown to have transformed into a heavily controlled military Quarantine Zone. When the infection spread across the country, the U.S. military created this zone to secure themselves from the infected. Joel traveled all the way from Texas to Boston during the twenty years after his daughter died.[1] Ellie was born in the Boston Quarantine zone; after the death of her mother, Anna, she was looked after by Anna's close friend and leader of the Fireflies, Marlene.[2]
By the year 2033, it is one of the last intact Quarantine Zones left in the entire country. While other zones were overrun by infected or abandoned by the military following uprisings by civilians, the Boston zone did not suffer the same fate. This may be due to the extremely tight security measures employed by the military and an abnormally heavy level of fortification even for a Quarantine Zone. These measures include concrete walls that are 30 or more feet high with searchlight-equipped guard towers, a large "No Man's Land" which stretches a considerable distance from the walls that is routinely patrolled by soldiers, [3] a strict 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM curfew (though some residents ignore it), summary execution of anyone who is found to be infected, and an aggressive and fairly successful crackdown on the Fireflies.
Despite the heavy military presence, a black market has emerged, where one can buy drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods using ration cards and bullets as currency. Tess and Joel ran most of the smuggling into and out of Boston, and gained a formidable reputation among the smugglers and the inhabitants in the Boston QZ for their ruthless attitude towards those that cross them.
Layout
There appears to be two main areas within the city. The first is the upper level, particularly "Areas 1,3 and 4",[4] generally where the checkpoints are located and most of the apartment building where people, like Tess and Joel, reside. The ration lines are also located in these areas. At the checkpoints, there are several soldiers guarding them, as well as people regularly checking in at them to access other parts of the city or to start and end a days shift.[5] People that live in these areas seem to avoid the black market and the smuggling trade, either because of the military being so close to them or because they actually don't want to associate with such an unlawful lifestyle. Despite most people here being well behaved, some can be hostile towards others.[6] The Fireflies seem to attack these areas most often, likely because of the high military presence.[7] Inside some of the buildings, there are tunnels underneath them, which smugglers use to get outside the wall and cross illegally to another area of the city, even if it is a more dangerous route. [8]
The other area is the slums, formally called "Area 5", [9] typically away from military surveillance. It houses a wharf, an "old warehouse" and the center of the black market community.[10] This freedom enables the citizens to engage in illegal deals, such as drugs,[11] poker and even boxing matches[12]; betting their ration cards as a way to gain more, thus gain more food and have an easier life in the zone. The lack of military presence also means the residents are more aggressive, many being rude and some even threatening passerbys that they don't recognize. [13] Robert typically hides here, formerly in "Area 2",[14] retreating to the warehouse and wharf when under threat. Although there typically aren't soldiers there, the sound of gunfire prompts them to check the area, such as when Tess and Joel kill several smugglers in the area.[15]
Furthermore, there were areas within and around the zone that had since been abandoned (such as the shopping mall) or overrun with infected (such as downtown Boston). It was in the mall where Ellie and her friend Riley were bitten. Ellie survived and learned of her immunity whereas Riley succumbed to the bite. [16] Marlene would later request Joel and Tess to take Ellie outside the QZ and rendezvous with a Firefly group at the Capitol Building. [17]
Known Inhabitants
- Donovan
- Ellie (Formerly)
- Joel (Formerly)
- Liz
- Malick (Slums)
- Mark
- Marlene (Formerly)
- Maryanne
- Ramirez (Deceased)
- Riley Abel (Formerly)
- Robert (Slums, now deceased)
- Ronnie
- Terrence (Slums)
- Tess (Formerly, deceased)
- Tino
- Trevor
- Boston PA Woman (Presumably)
- Multiple FEDRA agents
- Multiple FEDRA soldiers
- Multiple unnamed Fireflies (Formerly)
- Many unnamed survivors/civilians
Gallery
Videos
References
- ↑ See link
- ↑ Note from Mom
- ↑ They typically take 15 minutes to change shifts
- ↑ Boston Q.Z. Map
- ↑ Several workers return from duty here, and one complains of the ration line being closed.
- ↑ one resisdent talks angrily at Joel though his deters him.
- ↑ See the start of the chapter
- ↑ Joel and Tess have their own personal hideout under one building
- ↑ Boston Q.Z. Map
- ↑ The Slums
- ↑ Tess is offered some by Terrence
- ↑ Joel witnesses two people boxing in a makeshift arena when passing through
- ↑ one was initially aggressive to Joel when he didn't know his face
- ↑ Boston Q.Z. Map
- ↑ See chapter
- ↑ See the DLC
- ↑ The Outskirts