| “ | No matter what anyone out there says or thinks... we're the only thing holding this all together.
―Captain Kwong
|
” |
The Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA) is an American government agency in charge of the quarantine zones (QZs) in HBO's The Last of Us.
FEDRA existed prior to the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak but eventually aligned with the United States military and established totalitarian dictatorships in the quarantine zones. Tasked with preventing the infection of the remaining population of the US by any means necessary, they govern and police the inhabitants of quarantine zones with an iron fist, fighting insurrectionist elements like the Fireflies and routinely executing lawbreakers under emergency powers granted to them during the initial outbreak.
FEDRA is one of the last known remnants of the pre-outbreak United States government, and despite 20 years of infection and civil unrest, is shown to still have significant capabilities in controlling the areas where they have active garrisons and outposts.[1]
History[]
Creating the quarantine zones[]
A FEDRA official checks ID badges early in the outbreak.
After the Cordyceps brain infection outbreak ravaged the United States in 2003, the U.S. government declared martial law in order to contain the outbreak. FEDRA, in conjunction with the US military, was tasked with managing the outbreak and preserving society by any means necessary. FEDRA subsequently replaced the civilian political leadership and other state organs of the U.S. government. They utilized the military's significant capabilities to set up fortified quarantine zones in major population centers across the United States, separating the remaining population from the hordes of infected that roamed the nation. These zones are heavily defended and policed, with massive walls surrounding the perimeter, coupled with barbed wire fences and routine foot, vehicle, and helicopter patrols to deter survivors from sneaking in or out.
FEDRA promised civilians still living in the surrounding towns and countryside that they could be transferred to quarantine zones, escorted by the military. However, this was only true for zones that had space. In places where the zones were already full, FEDRA instead had the military execute survivors they encountered. For example, days after the outbreak began in Lincoln, FEDRA officers escorted the town's residents to an open field and shot them after learning the Boston QZ was declared at capacity. According to Joel, these kinds of massacres were committed across America, with FEDRA's justification being "the dead won't get infected".[2]
Operating in the ruins of society[]
FEDRA Soldiers discover a child is infected with Cordyceps.
In the years since the initial outbreak, FEDRA forces civilians wishing to gain residency into the quarantine zone to be chemically cleansed and checked for any signs of Cordyceps infection. Those who fail the inspection or test positive are immediately killed, either by gunshot or lethal injection, and their bodies subsequently burned. To promote security and stability in the zone, FEDRA and the military established numerous checkpoints that residents must regularly pass through. FEDRA soldiers patrol the streets and monitor civilian work shifts, and soldiers are strategically placed as snipers across the rooftops of the zone, prepared to shoot anyone causing trouble below.[1] Citizens in FEDRA detention are supposed to be guaranteed the right to a lawyer, medical attention, a family visit, plus food and water. Kathleen Coghlan implied these rights were not always given, at least within the notorious Kansas City QZ.[3]
FEDRA soldiers supervise the disposal of infected bodies in the Boston QZ. Citizens could volunteer to work these shifts to earn extra ration cards.
FEDRA allows civilians in the quarantine zone to volunteer for work duty to earn extra ration cards for the opportunity of a better life in the zone. These duties usually involve physical labor, such as burning dead bodies, street sweeping, cleaning sewer systems, scrubbing subversive graffiti off city walls or helping with outside work duties. In Boston, soldiers also conduct helicopter patrols outside of the walls, and still had access to numerous armored vehicles that they use in patrols. FEDRA soldiers are heavily armed and armored within and outside of the zone's walls. A FEDRA soldier named Lee additionally mentions that the Atlanta quarantine zone had an operational factory that produces pharmaceuticals and bullets, demonstrating that FEDRA still has complex manufacturing capability even 20 years after the outbreak.[1] FEDRA, at least in areas firmly under their control, would also would apparently expand and contract the size of quarantine zones based on the zone population. According to Riley, the Boston FEDRA garrison was in the process of clearing, repairing, and opening several city blocks of new housing for QZ residents, since the population in that zone was swelling considerably and housing was scarce.[4]
In some cities, FEDRA had success in managing the population of infected in and surrounding the perimeter of their quarantine zones. According to Henry, around five years after the establishment of the QZ in Kansas City, FEDRA began a clearing operation that successfully drove the infected population of Kansas City completely underground. He elaborated that FEDRA continued to keep the surface clear of infected in and outside of the city for fifteen years before the zone fell. A FEDRA officer additionally told Henry that they had conducted a secret operation to even clear the tunnel systems within the QZ limits and were successful in doing so approximately two to three years before the zone's collapse. In Henry's words, "it was the only good thing those fascist motherfuckers ever did".[5]
Facing resistance[]
Lee, a FEDRA Soldier, detains survivors in the outskirts of the Boston QZ.
FEDRA's actions quickly drew discontent from zone residents and outsiders, inspiring the formation of the militia group known as the Fireflies. The Fireflies have grown tired of FEDRA's repressive tactics and suppression of civil rights and aim to restore pre-outbreak democracy. They also blame FEDRA for discontinuing research into a cure or potential vaccine for the Cordyceps fungus, leading the Fireflies to attempt to overthrow the FEDRA regime in quarantine zones across the nation.
The Fireflies conducted numerous terrorist attacks on FEDRA soldiers and positions, including bombings at checkpoints and the assassination of FEDRA officers, often with collateral damage. FEDRA responded to these attacks in equally harsh terms, notably executing any captured Fireflies in Boston.[1] According to David, in 2017, the Pittsburgh quarantine zone collapsed entirely because of intense fighting between the two groups.[6] By 2023, according to Marlene, FEDRA is winning the war against the Fireflies in Boston and other quarantine zones, regularly holding off their attacks.[1]
Fearing the Fireflies could beat them and cause chaos to erupt in the zones, FEDRA established military preparatory schools to take orphans left after losing their parents during or after the outbreak and help train the next generation of cadets. They would keep them in apartment rooms and subject them to curfews and discipline.[7] They trained them how to use guns,[3] sent them on patrol and subjected them to intense physical training to improve their fitness. According to Captain Kwong, the aim of this training was to create two types of soldiers: the grunts who would go on patrol, take orders, and fight against the Fireflies and the officers who would lead patrols, have their own room and eat the best food and could even avoid going out on patrol.[7]
FEDRA collaborators imprisoned in the Kansas City zone.
The Kansas City FEDRA garrison was notorious amongst the other quarantine zones for being especially brutal and corrupt, even by the standards of FEDRA in general. Their infamous nature and reputation was common knowledge to people like Joel living in the Boston QZ. They regularly hanged, raped, and jailed the inhabitants of the QZ, and were despised by many of the city's residents. They also limited ration supplies to entice civilians into collaborating with them, offering food, alcohol and medicine for information about the city's resistance movement. In late 2023, ten days before Joel and Ellie's arrival in Kansas City, Kathleen led a revolutionary movement that successfully overthrew FEDRA, with her followers slaughtering a number of FEDRA soldiers in and around their headquarters and driving out or killing the remainder of the garrison.[5] The revolutionaries quickly adopted similarly tyrannical methods after driving out the military, executing numerous captured soldiers and civilians they deemed "collaborators" and hunting outsiders, suspected collaborators, and former FEDRA soldiers that remain within the city limits.[3]
Known members[]
- Knapp
- Captain Kwong
- Lee
- Ellie (trainee, formerly)
- Riley (trainee, formerly)
- Bethany (trainee)
- Carol (trainee)
Collaborators[]
The collaborators were quarantine zone residents and civilians who worked with FEDRA for benefits and privileges in the Boston and Kansas City zones.
- Henry Burrell
- Sam Burrell (allegedly)
- Edelstein
- Carrie Schreiber (allegedly)
- Mark Anthony Halpin (allegedly)
- The Bergquists (allegedly)
- The Chans (allegedly)
Behind the scenes[]
- The name FEDRA resembles the real world Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 HBO's The Last of Us episode 1: "When You're Lost in the Darkness"
- ↑ HBO's The Last of Us episode 3: "Long, Long Time"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 HBO's The Last of Us episode 4: "Please Hold to My Hand"
- ↑ HBO's The Last of Us episode 6: "Left Behind"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 HBO's The Last of Us episode 5: "Endure and Survive"
- ↑ HBO's The Last of Us episode 8: "When We Are in Need"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 HBO's The Last of Us episode 7: "Left Behind"
