She later attends a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone, where she befriends Riley Abel, a fellow rebel who protects her from bullies, as depicted in the comic book series The Last of Us: American Dreams.[1] During the events of Left Behind, which take place several weeks before the beginning of The Last of Us, Riley returns to Ellie after a long absence and tells her that she has joined the Fireflies, a revolutionary militia group. While spending time together at an abandoned shopping mall near the quarantine zone, Riley reveals that she is about to be posted to another city, and Ellie hesitantly supports her decisions. Riley abandons her Firefly pendant when Ellie pleads for her to remain.