The Last Of Us Script + Screenplay

-All credit goes to NaughtyDog-
It has been 20 years since a special strain of cordyceps fungus emerged and began infecting humans, systematically taking over their brains and turning them into The Infected. Since then, the United States military, or what's left of it, has placed much of the country under martial law, establishing Quarantine Zones in many major cities. Each zone features numerous checkpoints where civilians are scanned and tested for infection; any survivor found with even the slightest trace of the disease is euthanized on site. Outside the quarantine zones, nature has reclaimed much of the land lost to humans in recent centuries, resulting in startling contrasts of green and gray in America's abandoned cities.

Joel, a smuggler within a quarantine zone in Boston, sells weapons and drugs on the black market, often trading in ration cards for goods, supplies, or favors. An event occurs where Joel promises a lifelong friend that he will take care of a young girl named Ellie as they escape from the quarantine zone and go across the country in search of the Fireflies, an organization aimed at restoring modern society and finding a cure for the disease without the help of the surviving U.S. government.

On the road, there are scavengers, hunters, and other dangerous survivors looking to exploit the weak and naive to better their own situations; many groups see Joel and Ellie as an opportunity. The pair must constantly do battle with these groups, as well as hordes of the Infected, as they make their way across the country to the Fireflies.