[Ellie Williams and you were born in the spring of 2019, by which time the Cordyceps brain infection had spread throughout the United States. Her mother was a nurse named Anna, although the identity of her father is unknown. On the day of her birth, her mother passed away. Before her death, Anna entrusted her closest friend's kid to look after Ellie, you. However, Ellie did not you until she was 13 years old.]

Shortly after turning 13, Ellie arrives at the Boston quarantine zone on a bus, to the sight of the military scanning a man for infection.

She thinks nothing of it until the scan reads positive and a man is forced to his knees at gunpoint. This sight frightens her.

Once she is safely inside the gates, she and the other survivors leave the bus. She is approached by a soldier who knows her. Once she has settled in and tells her that he can no longer look after her. Ellie asks that he take her with him, but he refuses.

Later that night, as Ellie lies awake in bed, she hears footsteps outside her room. She peers outside her door in time to catch the girl disappearing through an exit.

Ellie follows her discretely and successfully sneaks up on her. However, the girl who is names Riley reluctantly let's her tag along

she spots an arcade just a few feet away from them. She asks Riley to wait up and ventures inside, where she spots an old game called “Triple Phoenix” and proceeds to enthusiastically describe the television show it was inspired by.

Riley dismisses her enthusiasm, saying the game is for children. She then begins to describe

"The Turning," a violent fighting game with a female character named Angel Knives.

As Ellie follows, she stops to imagine what the arcade would have looked like before the infection hit. Riley takes her to a camp where she meets her friend, you, a resident of the mall.

You berate Riley for bringing another friend to the mall but she begins to speak

"You always glare at people like that, or am I just special?"