The Outskirts

"The Outskirts"
Game	The Last of Us Part I
Chapter no.	3
Date(s)	August 3–4, 2033
Location(s)	Boston, Massachusetts
Playable character(s)	Joel Miller
Collectibles
Artifacts	9
Firefly pendants	4
Training manuals	0
Comics	0
Chronology
← Previous	"The Quarantine Zone"
Next →	"Bill's Town"

"The Outskirts" is the third chapter of The Last of Us Part I. The player takes control of Joel Miller.

Characters

Main and supporting

• Joel Miller (playable)
• Ellie Williams
• Tess Servopoulos

Enemies

• FEDRA
• Infected
  • Clickers
  • Runners

Minor

• Ramirez
• Waters (deceased)
• Private Atwater (deceased)
• Private Shah (deceased)
• Private Coolidge (deceased)
• Fireflies

Mentioned

• Marlene
• Bill
• Donovan
• Joseph Lenz
• Stalker
• Derek
• Michael Kiper
• Melinda Davidson
• Frank
• Shiyao Jiang

Plot

Outside

Joel, Tess, and Ellie head outside the wall to begin their journey to the capitol building. The two wonder who Ellie is, Tess theorizing that she is "some big-wig's daughter". They proceed through the underground tunnels under the apartment building, reaching a ladder that leads to just outside the wall. Tess has Joel go first to make sure everything is clear. They notice a patrol in the distance but proceed anyway. Ellie briefly remarks that this is her first time outside the wall. The three proceed through a truck only for Joel to be surprised by soldiers who detain the trio.

One soldier orders her subordinate to scan the three for traces of infection while she radios to command. Tess tries to bribe them but is told to shut up. A nervous Ellie attacks a soldier as he scans her, stabbing him in the leg. She tries to attack again but is knocked down, the soldier preparing to shoot her. Luckily, Joel reacts in time, tackling the soldier to the ground. As the two struggle, Tess shoots the other, the latter having been distracted by her comrade's conflict. After a brief struggle, Joel wrestles the soldier's gun away and kills him.

As the three catch their breath, Tess notices the scanner that soldier had been using is bleeping. Upon checking it, it reveals that Ellie is infected. Joel and Tess round on her to explain, but Ellie claims the bite mark on her arm has been present for three weeks, despite the infection typically turning the victim into a runner within two days at most.

Joel doesn't believe it, claiming that Marlene set them up. Before they can act on this, more soldiers show up, so the three must flee the area. They sneak past several soldiers in the trenches but are met with another patrol. Knowing that there are too many to fight off, they escape the wall perimeter through the sewers as the soldiers are called back.

Downtown

With time to think, Joel and Tess discuss their options. Ellie explains that her immunity could lead to a cure. Joel is against completing the mission while Tess seems hopeful at the thought of a cure. Joel tries to dissuade her from the mission, reminding her of the infected and hostile survivors. Tess understands but is reluctant to change her mind. Tess and Ellie begin to walk to the Capitol Building, leaving Joel to follow.

They proceed through downtown Boston and reach a large chasm, which forces the three to enter the partially-collapsed Goldstone Building.

As they pass through the unstable building, they encounter a number of infected, including clickers. Tess explains what they are to Ellie while Joel forces the door open. Once through, Joel is tackled to the ground by a clicker but is saved by Tess, who shoots it dead.

They push on, finding a patrol of soldiers that had come through the same building but were killed by stalkers. They climb a wall, evading clickers by throwing bricks and bottles to distract the creatures. They reach the other end of the building but are met with a large group of runners; Joel must eliminate several of them so that the group can pass safely. Once done, Tess commends Joel but he shrugs her off. They make it to a subway station, finding dead Fireflies and a Molotov cocktail. They find a note that tells them they aren't the group they should be meeting. After bypassing several infected, they exit to the streets.

Museum

A wave of infected chase Joel, Tess, and Ellie into a building. It turns out to be a museum still containing a number of exhibits. Tess and Ellie crawl through an opening that collapses, leaving Joel alone as clickers appear. He makes his way through the museum to find a runner attacking a door. Inside he finds Tess and Ellie in trouble, as a number of infected are attacking the two. After a short fight with numerous infected, they finally clear the area of infected and continue to the roof.

The Capitol Building

Joel, Tess, and Ellie reach the Capitol building, but find a dead Firefly near the perimeter. As they enter the building, they find that all the Fireflies have been killed by the military, and Joel and Tess argue about what to do next. Tess frantically searches one of the corpses for a map or directions to the lab that Ellie was going to. Joel argues that they are taking this too far, that they should just go home. Tess then reveals that she was bitten. She shows Joel her wound and remarks that it is already worse than Ellie's, although she was only bitten an hour ago, while Ellie's is three weeks old. Tess asks Joel to take Ellie to Tommy because he will know where the Firefly lab is located. Joel protests, but Tess asks him to do it for her. She says, "There's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me." Before Joel can answer, the military shows up and Tess sacrifices herself to give Joel and Ellie some time to escape into the subway station outside the Capitol Building. They pass through the subway, encountering several flooded sections before leaving Boston behind for good.

Walkthrough

Main article: The Outskirts/Walkthrough

Collectibles

"The Outskirts" contains the following thirteen collectibles:

#	Name	Type	Section	Location
1	Tess' list	Artifact	"Outside"	On the table with the lamp back in the room Joel was sleeping in, as soon as the chapter starts.
2	Patrol routes map	Artifact	"Outside"	On the floor to the right of the room at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
3	Evacuation leaflet	Artifact	"Downtown"	On the right pavement of the road you are walking up when Ellie and Tess talk about the bombing.
4	Joseph Lenz	Firefly pendant	"Downtown"	After looking at the Capitol building and climbing through the rubble, it is suspended from the tree furthest from the chasm. It needs to be shot or hit with a brick or bottle in order to get it down.
5	Field ops log	Artifact	"Downtown"	On the stairway with the second dead soldier.
6	Firefly map	Artifact	"Downtown"	On the flight of stairs between the 2 escalators with the dead Firefly, to the right of the one with the Molotov cocktail.
7	Note to Derek	Artifact	"Downtown"	In a drawer behind the register of the first shop on the left in the room with the horde of clickers.
8	Medical pamphlet	Artifact	"Museum"	In the truck that blocks the path, requiring an object to be pushed against it to be climbed over. Once on the other side, the opening is on the right side of the truck whilst looking back at it. The pamphlet is left from the opening.
9	Michael Kiper	Firefly pendant	"Museum"	In a display case reached by walking along a thin ledge to the left of the ramp you walk up on entering the museum, when Ellie breaks the vase.
10	Firefly orders	Artifact	"The Capitol Building"	On a dead Firefly to the right and rear of the bottom of the stairs you go down just after the cutscene.
11	Melinda Davidson	Firefly pendant	"The Capitol Building"	In the stone rotunda, to the left of the water opposite the capitol building. The pendant is hidden under the water; from the entrance (it must be vaulted into) it is to the back and slightly right.
12	Smuggler note	Artifact	"The Capitol Building"	On the dead smuggler that Ellie gets her flashlight from, to the left of the tunnel after swimming under the debris and the train.
13	Shiyao Jiang	Firefly pendant	"The Capitol Building"	On a shelf to the left of the submerged room past the debris that can be swam under in the hallway behind the smuggler with the note.

Transcript

Main article: The Outskirts/Transcript

Behind the scenes

• This chapter marks the first appearance of a clicker.
• During the "Museum" section, even if Joel smashes the vase (by punching it or hitting it with a melee weapon) it will always be smashed again by Ellie.
• Ellie finds her flashlight in this mission, which she uses for the rest of the game.
• Interestingly, there was a game file present that would have spawned the assault rifle at the Capitol building for the player to use against the military. While cut from the game, it is still accessible via hacking.

Gallery

Joel looking off into downtown Boston.

The capitol building.