While on their way out of Boston, the trio accidentally confronts a group of evolved clickers that use sound to track their prey. After the intense battle, they escape unscathed — or so it seems. Tess eventually reveals that she was bitten by a clicker during the fight, and there is no way of preventing the infection from taking hold of her. With a horde of infected people approaching, Tess makes the executive decision to use the gasoline and explosives left behind by the Fireflies to take the swarming clickers down with her. Not only does this buy the other two enough time to escape, it also leaves Joel with a newfound sense of purpose that will drive the rest of his journey from here on out.
Tess also sacrificed herself in the video game, but it was a lot less bombastic and effective. She is still bitten by a clicker, but the impending threat is instead a group of very bad, living humans. Tess is killed after fending off a few of the attackers before the rest hunt down Joel and Ellie. The original scene led to a nail-biting stealth sequence, but in HBO’s “The Last of Us,” there is no obligation to fill the gameplay quota. While both versions of Tess’ death reinforce her desire to start saving people for the greater good, she goes out with a much bigger bang in the TV adaptation.