Timeline

This article is about the timeline of the HBO series. For the timeline of the video game series, see Timeline.

This is a complete timeline of all known and trackable significant events within HBO's The Last of Us.

1764

• The town of Lincoln is established in northeast Massachusetts.

1776

July

July 4

• The Declaration of Independence is signed and the United States of America establishes its independence.

Likely between 1956 and 1968

December

December 31

• Gail is born.

1967

September

September 26

• Joel Miller is born.

1968

• A talk show segment hosted by Murray and featuring two epidemiologists, Dr. Neuman and Dr. Schoenheiss, is broadcasted on ABC.

1972

• Tommy Miller is born.

1983

• Joel and Tommy gets themselves into trouble. Their father, Javier, despite being unhappy with their actions, finally expresses his regret of how he's treating them and urges Joel not to make the same mistake as he did as a father.

1987

• Gail and Eugene begin a relationship, eventually getting married.

1989

July

July 20

• Sarah Miller is born to Joel and an unnamed mother.

1990

• Tommy graduates high school and enlists into the United States Army.

1991

January or February

• Tommy, serving in the U.S. Army, is deployed to Operation Desert Storm of the Gulf War.

2000

April

April 3

• Kevin is born to Maria Miller and an unnamed father.

2003

September

September 23

• In a flour and grain mill in Jakarta, a woman is infected with the Cordyceps brain infection and attacks four people. 14 workers go missing following this.

September 24

• Mycologist Ratna Pertiwi is brought in by the Indonesian government to investigate the ongoing Cordyceps outbreak. She suggests bombing Jakarta to slow the spread and asks to be with her family.

September 26

• Joel's 36th birthday. Sarah goes to Lone Star Watch & Jewelry to have Joel's watch repaired as a gift.
• Tommy gets into a bar fight and is taken to the county jail. Joel goes to bail him out.

September 27

• The Cordyceps brain infection outbreak reaches critical mass, resulting in chaos breaking out in Austin.
• Sarah finds an infected Nana feeding on Danny and Connie Adler as Joel and Tommy save her. They attempt to flee the city in Tommy's truck.
• The truck gets into an accident, forcing Joel to flee with Sarah in his arms. They come across a soldier who opens fire on them, killing Sarah.

September 29

• Kevin dies due to unknown circumstances.

September 30

• The town of Lincoln, Massachusetts, and surrounding areas undergoes mandatory evacuation.
  • Bill is the only one not to leave the town.
  • FEDRA and some soldiers from the United States military, executes a group of civilians from Lincoln due to a lack of space in the quarantine zones.

2004

• Abby Anderson is born.

2005

• Jesse is born.

2006

• Riley is born.

2007

• The Baltimore quarantine zone falls.
  • Frank and a group of nine others from Baltimore begin to make their way to the Boston quarantine zone, but only Frank survives to reach Lincoln.
• Frank meets Bill and the two begin a romantic relationship.

2009

• Dina is born.

March

• Ellie Williams is born to Anna and an unnamed father. During the delivery, Anna is bitten by an infected. This results in Ellie having CBI from birth and, consequently, being immune to the infection.

2010

• Bill and Frank have an argument over whether to clean up, repaint, and repair the houses and shop surrounding their home. Eventually Bill relents and allows Frank to fix up the street, the wine shop, and the furniture store.
• Bill and Frank meet Joel and Tess, and they agree to trade, cooperate, and communicate via codes on the radio.
• Eugene Lynden leaves the Fireflies, having been tired of all the killing he had to do with them.

2013

• Raiders attempt to invade Bill and Frank's town at night but are killed by Bill and his defensive traps.

2014 or 2015

• Sam Burrell is born.

2016

• A community of survivors is founded in Jackson, Wyoming.

2017

• The Pittsburgh quarantine zone falls. David and a few others left the QZ and met with more survivors as they head west in search of a new home, eventually settling in Silver Lake, Colorado.
• Dina kills a raider who killed her mother and sister in a cabin north of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

2018

• Tommy joins the community present at Jackson. He keeps in semi-regular contact with Joel via radio.
• In the Seattle quarantine zone, Isaac Dixon defects from FEDRA to join the insurgent group known as the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), after killing other FEDRA soldiers. A FEDRA soldier named Burton chooses to join Isaac and the WLF.

2019

The Prophet, the leader and founder of a religious cult known as the Seraphites, dies.

2021

• Jesse begins serving as a Jackson patrolman.

2023

• FEDRA in the Kansas City quarantine zone is defeated by the local resistance movement. Soldiers are lynched in the streets, and many civilians accused of collaborating with FEDRA are detained and later summarily executed. Henry and Sam hide in an attic from the resistance.

August

August 28

• Frank, suffering from a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that rendered him weak and wheelchair-bound, is cared for by Bill.

August 29

• Frank decides he wants to take his own life. He and Bill get married, and Bill joins him in killing himself with drugged wine. Bill leaves a letter, his guns, and all his equipment to Joel.

September

• Ellie and Riley explore Liberty Gardens. They are attacked by the infected and bitten. Realizing she is immune to the fungus, Ellie is forced to kill Riley and escape.
• Tommy ceases communications with Joel at Maria's insistence.
• Marlene tasks Joel and Tess with escorting Ellie—a girl immune to Cordyceps and the key to creating a cure—out of the Boston QZ to a Fireflies extraction team. By nighttime, the trio escape. The Fireflies also withdraw from the city after FEDRA crack down on their hideouts in the zone.
• Joel, Tess, and Ellie reach the extraction point only to find the Fireflies dead. Tess sacrifices herself so Joel and Ellie can escape an infected horde attack.
• The following day, Joel and Ellie reach Lincoln. They find Frank and Bill dead. Joel commandeers a truck to take him and Ellie to Tommy's in Jackson. That night, they sleep in a forest.
• Joel and Ellie proceed to Kansas City where the resistance attacks them. They hide out in a skyscraper, where Henry and Sam find them by nightfall. The group team up and escape, but Sam is bitten during an infected horde attack on them and the resistance group. By morning, Sam turns into a runner; Henry kills him, then kills himself out of guilt. Joel and Ellie bury their bodies then proceed on foot to Wyoming.

December

• Joel and Ellie eventually reach Jackson, where Tommy welcomes them. They stay the night, where Joel decides he will take Ellie to the Fireflies at their base in eastern Colorado.
• Joel and Ellie reach the University of Eastern Colorado but are ambushed by survivors. Joel kills one of them but is wounded in the fight. He and Ellie escape on horseback. Ellie eventually shelters Joel in an abandoned house, stitching up his wound.
• A short time later, David and James locate Ellie's hideout. They capture her. Joel recovers and locates Ellie at Todd's Steakhouse, where she kills David and James. The pair flee.

2024

January

• Joel and Ellie reach the Fireflies' primary base in Salt Lake City. A Firefly patrol captures them. At the hospital, Marlene informs Joel that Ellie must die for them to find a cure. Joel fights back, killing several Fireflies, Marlene, and the head surgeon to rescue Ellie. The two leave the hospital and leave for Jackson.
• Over the next few days, surviving Fireflies Abby, Owen, Manny, Nora, and Mel bury their fallen comrades. Abby vows to kill Joel. The group soon sets off for Seattle.
• Joel and Ellie return to Jackson.

March

• Ellie purposely burns her arm to cover her bite mark. Later, Joel gifts her a guitar for her 15th birthday.

Autumn

• Benji Miller is born.

2025

March

• Ellie and Joel spend Ellie's 16th birthday at the Wyoming Museum of Science and History, enjoying the dinosaur and space exploration exhibits, and imagining the experience of a moonshot in the Apollo 15 lunar capsule.

2026

March

• On Ellie's 17th birthday, Joel stumbles into her room while she's smoking marijuana and getting intimate with Kat, who has tattooed a moth on Ellie's arm. Desiring more privacy, Ellie expresses her intention to move into the garage.

2028

March

• Ellie's 19th birthday. While on patrol, Eugene and his partner are attacked by infected. Eugene is bitten and later shot by Joel to prevent him from turning.

December

Late December

• Dina and Jesse break up.

December 31

• Ellie, Dina, Kat, and others go on the Alpine patrol run. Dina asks Ellie to the New Year's Eve party.
• Ellie encounters a new type of infected while on patrol. She and Dina report the discovery to the Jackson council.
• A new group of refugees came to Jackson, due to collapsing settlements and fleeing from the infected.
• Gail's birthday, her first without Eugene since meeting him. Joel visits her home to attend a therapy session.
• The town of Jackson celebrates New Year's Eve. Dina and Ellie kiss at the dance, causing an incident between Joel and Seth.

2029

January

January 1

• Ellie talks to Joel after the confrontation with Seth, where he reveals the truth about the Fireflies and the events in Salt Lake City. Ellie says she's willing to try to forgive him.
• In the early hours, Abby and her group crest a mountain, where they spot the town of Jackson in the distance. They take refuge in a nearby lodge.
• The next day, Abby is chased by a massive horde of infected, resulting in a rescue by Joel and Dina.
• The horde diverts toward Jackson and breaches the wall, triggering a large-scale battle within the community.
• Abby and her friends capture Joel and Dina, sedating Dina and torturing Joel.
• Ellie arrives at the lodge and, while restrained, is forced to watch as Abby kills Joel.
• Abby's group leaves as Jesse finds Ellie and Dina. They return to Jackson with Joel's corpse in tow.

Between January and April

• Jackson continues rebuilding and recovery after the New Year's Day infected attack.
• Jesse and Dina briefly rekindle their relationship, resulting in Dina becoming pregnant.
• The latest truce between the WLF and the Seraphites breaks because of a shooting near the border between WLF and Seraphite territories.

April

• Ellie is released from the hospital.
• In Seattle, a group of Seraphites are hunted and killed by WLF soldiers in the forest, outside of the city.
• In Jackson, several townspeople oppose sending a group to Seattle to track down Joel's killers; the council also rejects Ellie's proposal by majority.
• Ellie and Dina leave Jackson to Seattle.

Unknown day 1

• At the WLF stadium base, Manny wakes Abby and tells her to report to Isaac.
• Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle. Before arriving at the city, they find dead Seraphites who were hunted and killed by WLF soldiers.
• Ellie and Dina discover a WLF outpost at the TV station, where all WLF members are found dead. They flee into a nearby subway tunnel after being spotted by WLF soldiers.
• While hiding in the subway tunnels, an infected horde is triggered and attacks the pursuing soldiers. Ellie and Dina escape to a nearby theater, where Ellie reveals her immunity as Dina admits she is pregnant.

Unknown day 2

• Ellie and Dina witness a battle between the WLF and the Seraphites. They learn that Nora is at the Lakehill Hospital.
• On the way to the hospital, Ellie and Dina are attacked by stalkers. Jesse arrives just in time to save them.
• While escaping through the forest, Ellie, Dina, and Jesse witness Seraphites hang and disembowel a WLF soldier. After Dina is shot in the leg with an arrow, they split up to evade pursuit.
• At Lakehill Hospital, Ellie chases Nora into the spore-filled basement. There, Nora reveals that Abby's father was the Firefly doctor Joel killed while attempting to create a cure from Ellie. Acknowledging she already knew, Ellie beats Nora with a pipe.
• Ellie returns to the theater, where Jesse and Dina are waiting. She confides in Dina about Joel's actions in Salt Lake City and how he killed Abby's father.

Unknown day 3

• Ellie and Jesse travel through Seattle in search of Tommy and witness WLF soldiers capturing a young Seraphite boy and dragging him away.
• The WLF prepares to launch an invasion of Seraphite territory.
• Ellie and Jesse learn Tommy is fighting the WLF at the marina, and Ellie discovers Abby is at the Seattle Aquarium. Jesse goes after Tommy while Ellie heads by boat to the aquarium.
• The WLF invades Seraphite territory. After capsizing, Ellie is captured by Seraphites, but escapes when they leave to defend their village. She continues to the aquarium.
• Ellie arrives at the aquarium, where she confronts and kills Owen and a pregnant Mel. Tommy and Jesse find her and bring her back to the theater.
• After finding Owen and Mel's bodies, Abby tracks Ellie to the theater. There, she kills Jesse, holds Tommy hostage, and confronts Ellie over the deaths of her friends.