I'm just going to poke my nose in this convo for two seconds because I have a suggestion regarding your concerns for ICness should your less than ideal scenario be put into play:

You all keep mentioning how codependent the TLOU cast is, but I'm fairly certain there are times of the day in which they are not all together at any given moment. Meaning it should be feasible for them to simply hang out in Joel or Tess's living quarters during certain hours of the day/night before the people who live elsewhere are "required" to return to their sleeping quarters for the night. Being required to sleep in a certain location doesn't mean they can't still be together while awake, and if they're that paranoid, there will still be consoles for instant communication.

It's a happy medium between them wanting to stay together and complying with the potential new housing requirements. As Li already suggested their quarters could at least be nearby one another, and it's not like the group of them wouldn't be used to the idea of forced militaristic restrictions, I do think that enough leniency can be made to make all parties happy, y/n?